i think this the write place to post if not sorry

got my local garage to fit my four branch which i got off someone on here.

They are mates known them since school so i always take my cars to them when needing work, arrived to say i was buying a four branch manifold and if they could fit it for me they said sure wont take long, opened the bonnet and suggested i go buy new exhaust gasket and get new studs and nuts too, a trip to vw later got them in one hand four branch in the other...

They took it that morning and i got a phone call to say the exhaust doesnt clear the supercharger bracket, i investigate this further from the guy i bought the exhaust from and i got told to cut it off as its "over engineering" so i ask the garage to do that, what they actually did was file out round the bracket to fit the manifold and filled one of the allen bolts on the charger!

the bottom of the pipe doesnt run flat with the car it sticks down towards the ground so brings the rest of the exhaust down with it,so much so i cant get over my kerb to my drive which is about two dvd cases high!!

next thing i find out the lambda sensor has been rounded off so i would need to get a new one, got one went to fit it and the lambdas sensor hole is, its been welded in place too far back so I'm driving about with a big dirty bolt in its place

next day i go to pick up the car and it started had to open the boot so off with the ignition, key out, and it wouldnt start properly, it wasnt earthed properly so they had to take it back and fix it

i sound like am giving them a bad name but they really are good mechanics etc i just feel a little wripped off

so after me getting all the bits lambda sensor, studs,nuts

i got charged £312.34 to fit the bloody manifold!!

i feel this is very steep

and tbh right now I'm feeling sick so fuking angry

any help would be great

You could crumble abit, pick at the invoice asking if they really needed to charge so much labour etc. Might get a few quid off. But you might wanna change garages then.

I was charged £200 to fit an exhaust when i was quoted £110, i asked why and they said they had to use new clamps and the invoice said they charged me £10 for them so i asked about the other £80 and the owner goes ok, we will charge you £120. But other people would have paid without questioning, after that i changed garages and I'm much happier and have since spend over £1000 their in the past 2mths on my cars.

That's ridiculous. I wasn't charged much more for Longlife to fit my manifold, drill and weld on an O2 senser bolt AND supply and fit a whole exhaust system.

Have you paid?

If you have the only thing you can do is not go there again. If you haven't you can go down and have a word with them. Request a detailed invoice stating parts and time charged for. Also I would try getting a few quotes from other people to show that that price is dam stupid.

Edited 10 January, 200917 yr by max_crox

i havnt paid for it yet and i did supply all the parts needed

i will get quotes from other places,

i just grrr am so angry there goes my deposit on my holiday :(

anyone else feel they have been ripped a new arsehole? twice

alright mate

when i fitted my 4 branch (race land ) it fouled in the same places , but instead of filing the bracket out i used a die grinder ( ten times faster ) and welded a nut in for the lambda as well ( in a good place ) , still needs a bit of tweaking as it touches on the gear stick housing , but it dont hang on the floor , but all in all it works for the mo .

the thing is they are a idiot to fit and if i knew this would have got a better fitting one , but what can you do . i`am a mechanic and was using a ramp , tock about an hour to remove old bits and about two and a half to refit the new one with all the messing about . so three and a half hours ish labour and the bits . it is alot of money but i can see the garages side that they have had to pay someone to do it and their is no book time for fitting a four branch , so you have to give them a little lee way .

oh and if i had broke your lambda ( unless it was unavoidable to bust it ) i would have had to buy another as replacement !