:cat: I pinched this article off our mid-day news from yesterday.

17/02/2006ReutersGetting a car serviced in Britain has become so expensive that many drivers are paying their mechanics more per hour than a doctor or lawyer earns, according to a survey on Friday.

An investigation by a motoring magazine found consumers were often paying more than 100 pounds per hour for labour rates at franchised dealers.

In contrast, a locum doctor would charge up to 500 pounds a day while a junior lawyer might invoice for as little as 30 pounds an hour.

"Consumers could save hundreds of pounds if they shopped around and did their research. Quite simply, dealership labour rates for repair bills are just too high," said What Car?'s Steve Fowler.

The magazine's group editor said his researchers discovered that advances in technology have turned once simple tasks, in the past often undertaken by many owners, into fiddly, time-consuming jobs.

Replacing a main-beam bulb on an Audi A2 model for example can cost as much as 66 pounds -- with the bulb costing just 3.96 pounds.

The What Car? survey revealed there were wide regional variations although the capital was consistently the most expensive.

Motorists feeling the pinch should consider using non-franchised dealers and consider travelling further to get a better deal.

"One option I will be considering is to book my car in at the cheapest garage, even if I have to travel to it -- the savings I can make will pay for a night in a hotel and a decent meal," Fowler said in a statement.

The magazine shopped around for quotes for a full service on a number of mainstream cars -- such as Audi, BMW, Citroen and Ford.

They discovered the widest gap was for a full service on an Audi A4 1.9 TDi. In Scotland it was 220 pounds compared with 440 pounds in London.

WoW...

Yeh its certainly an eye opener. Be interesting to see the variances in price from North to South.

We certainly live in a messed up country.

To top it all there are rumers that the EU is trying to make it ilegal to work on your own car :haha:

Give me strength.

Pegasus R alloys genuine volvo $800 US about £400 UK
same alloys UK £2000 about $4000 US
volvo ht leads / spark plugs / dizzy cap and rotor arm for those parts at local volvo dealership £250 or $500 US $150 to $200 including air filter
K & N panel filter £49 or $98 US $39
got quoted for bonnet/hood re-spray £360 that`s $720
in England we to use the word `Mug` alot, describes someone whose a muppet a loser, someone who knows their getting mugged off but they`re too much off a mug to do anything about it. you could call them proper mugs.

England the land of proper mugs.

could say i`m the biggest mug of them all driving a car that does about 18 to the gallon at £4.50per gal or about $9

On the subject of labour charges, customer service and the like... I saw the flg the other day (probably not limited to NZ):

Customer service, NZ style

When the customer asks for something – do nothing, just give him bemused and condescending look.
When customer asks again – still do nothing
When the customer asks a third time – carry on doing nothing
When the customer gets mad and threatens to wring your neck – call police and report verbal assault.

It's a great life!!!