Wheel bearing risk

does seem a shocking amount! the rare times i get someone to do some mechanicing i always source the parts myself, at least then i can ring round and get the best/cheapest parts, depending on which car
 
Drums and bearings are reasonable prices, you could have got them a little cheaper but not by much. There must be some mistake with the brakes shoes however. Brake shoes and pads are always supplied in a complete set for both wheels, i.e. you get four shoes or four pads in a set. £40 would be quite expensive for a set of shoes (unless genuine Renault parts?), but if they have really charged you £80 for a full set then I would question that.

3 hours labour in a properly equipped garage seems well over the top. The bearings on the Clio are usually supplied already pressed into a new hub which makes changing them a piece of cake. Obviously the old drums were difficult to remove, but I think I'd be a bit ashamed if that took me two hours in my driveway, let alone up on a ramp with access to air tools etc.
 
Dogbreath said:
Obviously the old drums were difficult to remove, but I think I'd be a bit ashamed if that took me two hours in my driveway, let alone up on a ramp with access to air tools etc.
Click to expand...
Same here. If you have a really stuck drum that needs replacing anyway, then you can always cut it with an angle grinder (carefully) which takes about a minute or so. Then get a bolster chisel and lump hammer and crack it open and it will fall off in 2 pieces. Whole operation is literally a 5 minute job.
 
i would have guessed around £310.


but iam not entirely surprised, dont be too put off by comments on here most folk i the ocuk motors section seem to believe that everything including pulling out a crankshaft is a 15 min job and they can source a complete engine themselves for a tenner.


just be glad you dont have a newer car a lot of rear wheel bearings now are getting closer to £150 each.


garages, not a charity.
 
Lopéz said:
I've driven for months with a moaning wheel bearing, but it isn't best practice.
Click to expand...

Years ago I did the same, drove for months with a droning wheel bearing which eventually shattered while I was in the middle of the Lake District, miles from anywhere and no mobile phone. That was a fun day trying to first find a phone, and then explain to the AA that I had no idea where I was.
 
dalin80 said:
garages, not a charity.
Click to expand...

They are a business providing a service, and you expect to pay a reasonable fee for that service. In this case it's far from reasonable; would it honestly take you three hours to changes the hubs, drums and shoes on a Clio? It took them 15 minutes to get the drums off, that's 2 hours 45 minutes to remove the brake shoes, clean up, replace hubs, replace shoes and put the drums and wheels back on. A three hour job, honestly? You know it isn't.
 
In terms of arguing the labour time, how would you do this? If I say that I know it shouldn't have taken 3 hours, then they're clearly just going to say "well, it did". Full breakdown of time maybe? But then they can equally easily lie with that so then where do I go?
 
was it a main dealer or an indy?

main dealers usually have a set amount of time for each job, which they put on the invoice
 
Ok just got the itemised bill read out to me over the phone, as follows:

Rear shoes (two) - £32.50
Rear drums (two) - £74.00
Rear wheel bearings (two) - £60.00
Front wheel bearing (one) - £31.60
Front tyres (two, Firestone's, H-rated) - £88
Labour (3 hours on rear, 1.75 hours on front) - £212.50

Total £499.60 (£574.54).

Total is obviously a lot and is going to nail me for the next month or so, but actually looking at everything itemised it does seem relatively fair. What do you guys think?
 
Shoes are a tiny bit more than they should be. Drums should be £30 each MAX. Bearings should be about £20 each. Tyres seem ok, as long as that price is for both fitted. I just can't see how they can justify that much labour, that's a three hour job max for any competent mechanic.
 
Janesy B said:
Shoes are a tiny bit more than they should be. Drums should be £30 each MAX. Bearings should be about £20 each. Tyres seem ok, as long as that price is for both fitted. I just can't see how they can justify that much labour, that's a three hour job max for any competent mechanic.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I think I can cope with the parts being £10 over at most. And yes the tyre cost is for fitting as well.

I can't remember what he said they'd done to the back plates as mechanics terms tend to go woosh over my head, but he said they'd wire brushed them down and the 'painted' them (possibly), but not primed them, if that makes sense to anyone.

Edit: So really I'm only paying 1.75 hours more than I "could" be, so £85 ish. That's not as bad as I'd hoped - when everyone here was saying I'd been royally shafted I thought I'd be paying more than double what I should be :p.
 
Hmm dunno.

DSC00368.jpg


I never bothered with the backplates. It seems they want to drag it out a bit. I had the wheel cylinders done too. £6 each for the cylinders and it's worth doing.
 
That's after they were cleaned and with the new parts. I never got to take a pic of what they were like before, but they were awful. 5 mins with a wire brush and they were clean :) I only paid about £20 an hour for labour so I was very lucky.
 
Whats the engine size on your Clio? I ask as I'm having a wee look on the ECP site and the parts prices are somewhat cheaper.
 
dalin80 said:
i would have guessed around £310.


but iam not entirely surprised, dont be too put off by comments on here most folk i the ocuk motors section seem to believe that everything including pulling out a crankshaft is a 15 min job and they can source a complete engine themselves for a tenner.


just be glad you dont have a newer car a lot of rear wheel bearings now are getting closer to £150 each.


garages, not a charity.
Click to expand...

Oh get over yourself.:rolleyes:

Shoes for a clio are over priced and the labour is taking the absolute mickey. God alive, to change a hub requires releasing 4 wheel bolts and a large nut attaching the hub. Even if badly stuck on, it would take no more than 15 minutes literally. Last time I replaced brake drums, shoes and pads on a Megane (the same setup) it took 2 hours with me having lunch in between.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom