I took my MY00 Turbo into Haddocks in Colchester to have a new battery fitted and a check engine light investigated. When I picked it up, they had fitted the battery and reset the fault code and said if it happened again they would order the required part. Fair enough I thought, no point paying if it never happens again. The bill for doing this was £158! £58 of this was the battery, so the other £100 was the labour (with VAT) to fit the battery and check and reset the fault code ,how long can this take 10-15 minutes max?

Why do I always feel so ripped off when I've been to a Subaru dealer?

 

Well paid staff there then

 

sounds about right to me !!

 

Its only the same as most dealers VW, Toyota etc. Welcome to rip off Britain!!

 

They probably charged you 1hr per job, so it does sound about right. Those shiney workshops don't pay for themselves you know!
That's why I do any work on the scoob myself.
Most jobs are covered right here on scoobynet! Plus, the scoob is quite easy to work on. (exept rocker cover gaskets and spark plugs, grrrr )

 

Time to find yourself a specialist

 

XS @ Boreham

 

£158 isn't that bad actually ......... my battery is still original at 5 1/2 years old - so, if you can look forward to 6 years out of the battery, £58 is excellent IMO.

Then, you have to pay someone else to reset the ECU, read the error codes, look them up, make a decision, he/she has a manager who needs to be paid, there is a nice sexy receptionist to take your call and managers in the upper offices looking out their windows ................ oh, yes, nearly forgot - he has to refit your battery and reset your alarm and immobiliser.

They also need to pay to have the old battery disposed of in an enviromental way!

£100 for that is spot-on I think .......... remember £17:50 has gone to some 14 year old Chav with 6 Chavettes to bring up and new hoop earrings to buy for Xmas!!

Pete

 

Thanks Pete, I feel much better now.


By the way, the check light came on the very next day after they reset it, surprise surprise, I'll wait and see what they charge to actually replace the part.

I have considered using XS at Boreham for servicing, does anyone have any views on how good they are?

 

You'll be pleased to know that the person who actually did the work will have been paid less than £10 p/h. Be ready with the Kleenex when your local dealer states theres no money in running a dealership....


Oh and my local Ford dealer is £120 per hour!

 

Cost me about £65 all in to get a new battery fitted to an MY00 recently. Not from a dealer, I might add.

 

all depends on dealer and your relationship with dealer,i have had 2 ecu resets and not cost me anything
martin

 

when they changed your battery, they probably left it off for 2 hrs, hence theres ur ECU reset LOL !!!!!!!!!!

no offence, but if u cant change a battery urself then ur asking to be robbed, i went to halfords the other day for some bulbs, only place open at 7:30, and a bloke paid the place £6.50 to fit his damn new wiper blades, i mean, he was like 30 yrs old so wasnt an old duffer who id expect to pay for this service, too much money to burn u guys have !!!

good luck with it tho......

 

We had a new 530d arrive at work a week ago - because someone fiddled with one of the seats a warning light came on ...... the BMW man came out and reset it in about 20 seconds - plug in, look at display on 'laptop', see was an error + push button to reset. Unplug and off. Even allowing for a chat to tell him how said light was actually set off he was only there for 10 minutes !

 

Paul,

Used XtremeScoobies several times now on my 00MY - very satisfied for regular servicing and upgrades. Most jobs done whilst I waited. Good advice on tap.

An interesting drive down the back lanes to get there during a dark, wet winters evening with dirty standard Subaru headlights ! All for the want of a £3 dash switch bulb!! I think another upgrade is due

Regards,
John

 

erm, i think £100 is a little over the top, im sure the rate at my local dealer is £65 per hour for the labour charge, i would check that out, seems like you have been ripped off,

i may be wrong here, flame suit at the ready



John

 

go back and ask them what the book times are for battery replacement & ecu check reset,

once you have that do the maths,, if over the top complain

if they withold the book times, just mention trading standards..


Mart

 

xs are the mutss nuts .


yep i did right hand rocker cover and they a tight bitch to work on

 

I guess the moral of this story is to avoid Subaru dealers at all costs. It's a shame because it's nice to have a local dealer where you can just pop in and get some advice or get something checked out, without fearing for your overdraft. Maybe those good old days are gone!

Thanks for all the advice, I'll go to XS for my next service anyway.

Paul.

 

I certainly wouldn't have done the job for £100!!

How many on here WOULD??

Not many I would guess??

Pete

 

i can still do that for 2 dealers fiskens in forfar and stan palmers in carlisle both are spot on for advice/quicl look or fitting you in asap
martin