Hi

This does seem a lot of money when it still isn’t fixed and looks as though you’ve been charged an hour’s labour time. I work for the AA as a Technical Specialist and several members have complained about similar charges. Service Departments at garages have to allocate work so they cover a mechanic’s time – there isn’t any slack for free diagnostic work. It also seems much more difficult to quickly diagnose faults now, however you’d hope a dealer would be able to give you a better idea of the likely cause of the fault. Franchised dealer staff get lots of training on the manufacturers’ individual models and customers should benefit from that increased knowledge.

I have owned a Vauxhall vehicle for the past six years.

I use the main dealer often, rather than go to a local garage.

I have found that on three occasions, on two different vehicles, the dealer will not check for a fault on the vehicle without charging.

The last time I went to the dealer was when the central locking broke down and the boot would not open. Upon collecting the car, they asked for a cheeky £95.00 even though it was under Network Q warranty.

They said they never check vehicles and give free quotes as by the time they have dismantled the part, they have done half of the job anyway. They did not even telephone me to advise of a cost. My view is : Tough! It's the name of the game! I do not expect to pay for a boiler repair if the man has opened the cover to see what the fault is but does not actually repair it!

This may be normal practice for dealers in which case I bow my head in embarassment - any thoughts?