Been stung with a large bill? Tell me about it
 

Hi all,

I’m writing an article for Auto Express, on the high cost of putting small things right on a car. Something like a huge bill to replace a wing mirror after it’s been knocked off, or the £150 charge to replace a sidelight bulb. I’m really after stuff that relates to cars no more than five or six years old, ideally.

Have you been stung with a large bill for something really tiny like this? I’m not after bodywork or paintwork anecdotes, but if you’ve got anything else please tell me about it! If you could email me direct at mail@richarddredge.com it would be great. Any responses need to be by mid-day on Monday 8 May.

Thanks,

Richard Dredge

£99 an hour to service an A3 and the service guy at pains to tell me about the great inside and outside clean the car had been given ...... Dont think i've ever seen that on a service schedule before? and undoubtably I payed at least £50 for it ....... grrrrrrr

I asked for a set of car mats for my girlfriend's Honda Civic when I took it to be serviced. When I got the bill they'd charged £5 for fitting them! :lol1:

How about the good news stories...

...BMW 5 series - test PDC and refit faulty sensor, full wash and clean inside and out - £42!

Cheaper than getting it valeted! :D

20 p per tyre to check pressures

"But you never charged for that before!"

"Sorry, Sir, but that's inflation for you........."

(drives off quickly :))

Looks like it's going to be a bad week to buy Auto Express! :lol1:

yeah i put car in for MOT and it failed on front wishbones (so thought yeah go ahead and sort em not gonna cost much)

came back with a £400 bill :O

i didnt know what to do or say and had to pay it!

Gearbox repair on my old 106GTI stung me £750!!

A while ago now but I had a Golf serviced and there was a problem with the fuel sender. To get to this they had to remove a dog guard which was in the rear hatch area (to undo carpet in boot). A Halfords job which was a free standing unit but kept in place by tightening a couple of wingnuts. Probably took less than 30 seconds to install or remove.

The overall bill was quite steep and when I checked the small print I saw an item "To removing Dog Guard £50" :mad:

Sparshatts again, but a friend of mine made the mistake of telling them to fix a slight oil leak last week, she needed the car back to pick the kids up (no courtesy available, one would assume).
The fact she was charged £50 for the part that can be had anywhere else for under £20 wasnt so bad, but the fact they charged her over £350 to fit said part is a bit rich.
poor girl got lumped with a bill for over 400 sovs