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So car died on me on the other day...I stuck it into the Audi dealer who tells me it's the alternator, + are going to replace V-belt...what do you think of this quote?

1) £672 for 5.5 hours labour (they said the front-end "basically" needs to come off)
2) £435 for parts (that includes VAT at least
3) I was charged £144 just to diagnose the problem/hook it up to computer

So £1247.

I see other members of the forum were recently quoted £650-700 to get the alternator replaced, am I just being totally ripped off??? I saw Grizz said it was a 3 hour job also, maybe Audi dealership guys are just a little slow??

Normally an alternator change is about 700 quid, I thought. All in.

grizz wrote:The alternator is £259.07 + vat . Book time is 3 hours . No need to remove the front end.

lindowkid wrote:I paid £660 inc.VAT at my local Audi dealer.

morginator wrote:Mine went on a busy dual carriage way at 70mph I lost all power and closed the road until the AA arrived. I used my local garage who charged me about £450 all incliusive for a genuine new Audi alternator.

I hope the jumbo tub of vaseline is included in your price.

Shoppinit wrote:

grizz wrote:The alternator is £259.07 + vat . Book time is 3 hours . No need to remove the front end.

lindowkid wrote:I paid £660 inc.VAT at my local Audi dealer.

morginator wrote:Mine went on a busy dual carriage way at 70mph I lost all power and closed the road until the AA arrived. I used my local garage who charged me about £450 all incliusive for a genuine new Audi alternator.

I hope the jumbo tub of vaseline is included in your price.

Plus a reacharound.

Ha, i figured as much. Just dunno what to do, dont know if it's just Central London pricing or what. Given the thing won't start it's kinda tough moving it to another garage! I'll just have to bitch 'n' moan until they get it lower. Cant believe they charge £144 just to figure what's wrong with it (esp as AA boy already said it's prob the alternator...)

Update!

Camberley Audi quoted me £669 all-in, parts/labour/VAT. waiting to hear back from the central london one to see if they wanna match...

Another question, is it reasonable for them to charge £144 quid to figure out the problem? Would you expect to pay that on top of the regular price?

Unfortunately, from my experience, most main dealer garages will charge to run diags (even if you've brought along your own VAG-COM print-out!). Usually charge around half that figure, though (and can sometimes be absorbed if you're getting subsequent work carried out).

TechNick wrote:Unfortunately, from my experience, most main dealer garages will charge to run diags (even if you've brought along your own VAG-COM print-out!). Usually charge around half that figure, though (and can sometimes be absorbed if you're getting subsequent work carried out).

+1. I really can't believe they would spend a solid hour looking for a fault as common as an alternator failure.

tb wrote:Update!

Camberley Audi quoted me £669 all-in, parts/labour/VAT. waiting to hear back from the central london one to see if they wanna match...

Another question, is it reasonable for them to charge £144 quid to figure out the problem? Would you expect to pay that on top of the regular price?

£144 for a diag! Man, your booty must be proper reamed out of shape, your ass must whistle when you're stood in a cross wind. Just continue to pat it clean, no wiping for at least a week, in three or four days you should be able to cut one off again.

BTW, just demand that AA flatbed it to Camberley. Say that the city Audi promisied they'd fixed it but it failed again, tell the AA guy you'd had it serviced at Camberley recently, they'll flatbed it there.

guys i can get this alternator for a good fee if required.. then you can have fitted where ever..

PM me in you need one

tb wrote: 3) I was charged £144 just to diagnose the problem/hook it up to computer

That's an expensive 2 minutes.
Did they know the car has a volts gauge?

bam_bam wrote:

Shoppinit wrote:

grizz wrote:The alternator is £259.07 + vat . Book time is 3 hours . No need to remove the front end.

lindowkid wrote:I paid £660 inc.VAT at my local Audi dealer.

morginator wrote:Mine went on a busy dual carriage way at 70mph I lost all power and closed the road until the AA arrived. I used my local garage who charged me about £450 all incliusive for a genuine new Audi alternator.

I hope the jumbo tub of vaseline is included in your price.

Plus a reacharound.

Is your cheek sore aswell? I think for that price they tried the old ''rusty hook'' i,e nailing you from behind while sticking a finger in your mouth and pulling your face to the side.

The original quote wasn't from Victoria Audi by any chance? I had them quote £1000 for two CV joints which were done by QST for a few hundred! Worth comparing Camberley and QST...

Just to update this....I told Audi Finchley to poke it (they had not interest even getting close to Camberley's price) and ended up paying someone £150 to transport it on the flat bed to Camberley....looking forward to never going to Finchley again! It wasn't the first incident of eye-gouging and I strongly suggest you completely avoid them.

Add to the list in post :Untrustworthy garages.