Avoid this car dealership-garage as they will rip you off

[Barry Scott]

Add a signature to your profile of the below arriba. It'll come out as the links at the base of my post.

[url=http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html]Swindon Motor Park[/url] [url=http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,48736.0.html]Swindon Motor Park Review[/url]

This will provide links in all of your posts to this thread. By using the words Swindon Motor Park and Swindon Motor Park Review, it'll help it get, with any luck, some chance of being found in Google when people search for them and perhaps get word out a bit more.

Swindon Motor Park Swindon Motor Park Review

[Batch]

Not got the most glowing reviews already

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews142871.html

[Arriba]

Thanks for that barry. Hate rip off merchants and the main reason for my original post was to warn others so hopefully others will now see it.
Can highly recommend Auto Electrixs in Westmead as they did a decent job for me,phoned me when they diagnosed it and gave me a price.

[Sippo]

Fish bros skoda have pissed me right off. Twice this week I've had to call out skoda assist as my car wouldn't start. Have to say the assist people were superb. Take it to the dealers yesterday. Despite two good health checks on the battery performed by the assist guys, the dealer has come back and said it is the battery and needs changing. It is going to cost me £50 for the half an hour diagnosis and
£111 for a new battery!!

[Batch]

Either they are taking the piss by charging £50 for a 30 second job of sticking a meter on it, or they are incompetent at fault finding! I'd argue that £50

[ronnie21]

Fish Bros. are a rip-off, pure and simple.  When I had a company vehicle (Renault) I was aways getting a horrible asbestos -type smell outside.  It went back into them several times for fault finding under guarantee, they claimed there was no problem, I told them I thought it was the clutch.  On about the fifth visit back there they said they were going to change the clutch under warranty.  They had it about a week and it was still smelling awful.  Finally the clutch gave way - coming Crickley Hill out of Gloucester.  All hell broke loose as Renault said they would not honour another clutch under warranty as it must have been my driving style!  My company were hinting that I should pay for this "third" clutch!!  Eventually it was agreed that they would fit a new clutch and the company would have to pay half (never came back on to me!) - guess what, smell had gone and there was never a problem again.  I am very suspicious that the first "replaced" clutch ever found its way onto the vehicle at all.  No way of proving it of course, but a nasty experience with them all the same!

[Sippo]

Either they are taking the piss by charging £50 for a 30 second job of sticking a meter on it, or they are incompetent at fault finding! I'd argue that £50

Half an hour is the minimum labour charge apparently...robbing bastards.

[Samdy Gray]

It doesn't take 30 seconds to run a multi meter across the battery. Is the car under warranty?

[Arriba]

Go to motorists discount on broad street. They will rest it and sell you are battery if needed. Tell fish brothers to get fucked

[Sippo]

Under warranty but surprise surprise the warranty doesn't cover the battery. I am tempted to go elsewhere but I don't think it is the battery as two health checks came back as good. I still have to pay the diagnosis check whatever I do, but if It isn't the battery and it gets changed there at least I have some fire power.

Whats pissed me off more than anything is this 30 sec job costing me £50!

[Samdy Gray]

So, when it doesn't start, is the battery completely flat? i.e. it doesn't try to turn over at all?

[@MacPhlea]

If any of you guys get want a garage that doesn't rip you off then go to Bridge Garage in Wootton Bassett...  Been using them for 10 years without a hitch - they would have checked your battery for free and would give you an honest opinion... ive referred loads of people there and not one has come back with a complaint...

Mate of mine has a audi A4 quattro convertible and was getting quoted £3,000 by Audi to change the gearbox because of a rumbling noise that they couldn't diagnose - went to Audi/VW specialists and they were quoting £2,600 - went to Bridge Garage, and like true engineers they went to work in pin pointing the problem... turned out that, as stupid as it sounds, they Audi Garage that sold the car to him put cheap shit tyres on and as they wore down they created excessive road noise... new set of decent tyres and £2k saved... they didn't charge any hours for diagnosing it.

Their ethos is that if they ain't good enough to find and fix the problem then you shouldn't have to pay for their failed attempt of diagnosing it... The battery case in mind they wouldn't have charged you for testing it - if it had been good they would look for the root cause, if it had been bad they would have put a new one in.


p.s.
They've been looking after my Subaru since I got it and that's why it's now clocked up 220,000 miles with only the clutch being changed during that time...

[Arriba]

If it's been tested twice then why did the garage say it was the battery? I can't see how it can be ok then the garage say it isn't.

[Sippo]

So, when it doesn't start, is the battery completely flat? i.e. it doesn't try to turn over at all?

If used every day its fine, but if left for a day standing it won't start. Nothing whatsoever. There is a drain somewhere. On both bits of paper work from the assist guys it says the battery is fine, the dealer has seen this paperwork.

If it's been tested twice then why did the garage say it was the battery? I can't see how it can be ok then the garage say it isn't.

That's correct. Someones got it wrong somewhere. My betting is the dealer, but that's why I will probably get them to change it as if I do have an issue I can take it back to them and kick off.

Have to say though, Skoda Assist have been spot on during this, but the dealer has been most unhelpful. Not even offering a courtesy car. Tomorrow I have to walk back from Mannington with my little girl to North Swindon because they can't help. I will be writing a letter of complaint once the car is sorted.

[Simon Pieman]

If you bought the battery and fitted it yourself you'd probably halve the cost.