I'm not booked in the same day, but did buy their full cambelt kit off them

 

Why do people care about the cost of RCM? If you don't use them it doesn't effect you?

The last negative thread on RCM was a joke with zero facts and loads jumping on the bandwagon.

 

Can anyone do one small thing. And pop up hour rates at

Api
Scoobyclinic
Engine tuner

To name a few, it's been years since I went to api and I've never had work carried out at the others so can't comment. Just curious to know if you would class them as expensive

 

You could pop over to see Rob the master technician At Stan palmers for a job like that and stop in a decent hotel and have a decent meal and buy the misses a dress ( and get a sh##) and still have change

 

Do they let you keep the little black boxes?

I love them little boxes

 

I know its not original question but cam belt literally takes a few minutes to swap the actual belt,it's the cam cover and auxiliary belts that are in the way that take the time and possibly removing radiator and refilling/bleeding,which i probably wouldn't do anyway (but my engine was out when i done mine).
Oil & filter 5minutes! Whole job 2hrs maximum. So depending if you get the kit from somewhere like eurocarparts or rcm or subaru their self and how much you pay depends on those factors, plus whatever a couple hrs labour is at whichever garage you choose. I know the mechanic i use now would charge about £100 max plus parts.

 

I have just done rear diff, gearbox, engine oil and coolant, had to take the rad out because I was swapping to samco hoses and the bottom clip was seized, bent and in a very awkward to get at spot. Drain plugs took about 2 mins each (on my back) and getting the oil filter off about the same, 5 mins to get the rad out, total time with a bit of p1ssing about was about 3 hours and I was in no rush and had to rob a hose clip off my jeep as well a d1cking around with jacks and axel stands, bit's of hose to re-fill everything.

Fully equipped garage with mechanics that do this stuff day in day out should **** it in a little over an hour including the cam belt, then add a bit for faffing, if there are no problems like I had, a propper mechanic that can't do it in 2hrs needs a slap.

 

£50.00 + VAT per hour here.

£55.00 + VAT if you stand and watch.........

£75.00 + VAT if you help......



David

 

This is from the RCM site for the service with timing belt

D service
Oil filter£11.66
Timing belt£124.92S
Sump washer£1.29
Engine oil (5 ltrs @ £9.69 / ltr)£48.45
Labour (3 hours @ £49.95 / hour)£149.85
Sundries£3.95
Environmental£3.95
Sub-Total£344.07
VAT @ 20%£68.81
Total£412.88

If you look at their labour rate it is actually reasonable !

 

Oh all right then! 49.94 per hour at API .....

 

Under cutting the competition, I like it.

 

I don't see a problem with those prices.
Except the sump plug washer come with the oil filter.

 

 

Don't think they should charge 3hrs,its should only be 2hrs maximum.
My mechanic changed my gearbox in 3hrs for £150

 

Who knows what problems they might encounter? Snapped bolts that need drilled out and tapped are typical if old jap stuff.

 

People saying that they can do things in certain amount of time i'm taking with a pinch of salt... It takes a bit more then 5 minutes to do oil! Although I would love to see a vid of somebody doing it properly that quickly... Personally I would rather it not be rushed!

It takes me about 5 mins to get ramps out and get the car up and safe. 5 mins to remove the undertray and sump washer and filter. I then leave it about 20mins for the oil to drain out. While doing that pre-filling the filter and letting air settle out of it. Then another 5 to refit filter and plug and undertray. Add a couple of mins to refill. Remove crank sensor. Build pressure check levels, check for leaks. I'm sorry but that's not a five minute job.

Add to that each new car that comes in is an unknown quantity.... I know my car is held together with nice unrusted bolts and all is right. Some cars that come in will be rusted and bodged.

Cambelt is a far better job and easier to see timing marks with the rad out. Refilling and burping the coolant takes time!

Yes professionals should be quicker but they shouldn't rush. That's how you cross thread things and miss things. End of the day as has been said. If you don't like the prices, go elsewhere...

 

"Like"

 

Well if they snap a bolt on one of the idlers/tensioners they'll charge on top of the 3hrs I'm sure! And i wouldn't wanna pay £50 a hr to get say a snapped cam cover bolt out lol. And what about the ones that go smoothly? I bet you don't get charged less

 

Yep! I've just paid nearly 6 hours labour for a snapped turbo bolt during sports cat install.

 

If its on a car lift it's alot quicker to change oil,which I'm sure is how a garage would do it. i don't think any of the 4 I've owned have had the under tray,but fair point.
So maybe it takes 15minutes lol

 

I have removed my undertray, and I never said 5 mins to change the oil, undoing 4 bolts, sump, gear box and 2 on the rear diff and an oil filter takes less than 10 mins, I then left the oil to drain and started on the hoses and rad bolts of which there are 2 then the 2 electrical connectors, unclip and remove the 2 small hoses from the header tank and top rad hose, i'd already tried to do the bottom hose as I was under the car anyway, and realised there was no way it was coming off the rad side with the clamp the way it was so out it had to come, that lot took me 20mins max and I was on my back, spent maybe 10 mins with ramps 2 jacks and axel stands.
So half an hour total, and like I said I wasn't in a rush, I had already primed the filter before I started and was topping it up along the way while it was sat in the box on my bench.

Then I cut the dodgy clamp off and went to my trooper to get a rad clamp off that maybe 5 mins, put the fresh clamp and bottom hose on the rad and had a *** and a few sips of beer cleaned the various sump plugs up, went under the car with a rag and gave everything a wipe before putting engine and gearbox drain plugs back in. scrambled back out got the filter and fitted that, faffed about a bit getting the rad back in and bolted up on top, rubber locater came out at the bottom so had to lift it up a bit and fiddle with that, then hoses on and another smoke and sip maybe took an hour and a half to get to that stage, got my hose out put it on the diff oil bottle, put the bottom rear diff plug back in and filled the rear diff, bit tricky to get the last bit in and you need about 2 foot of hose to get the bottle up into the wheel arch to get the last 2/300 mil in, maybe 10mins to do that on my back with no fancy tools or pumps.

Then same deal on coolant and gear box oil, slowly filling both took maybe half an hour. unclip crank sensor, bit fiddly but done it loads of times 2 long screw drivers does the job nicely, build pressure with a few 15 second cranks wait a min in between cranks (don't want to burn the starter out) re-connect crank sensor heaters on full bore and away she goes, Then back to the header tank check coolant level and top up, drop the back end, off the ramps and up the road 1 mile, turn around and come back switch of and check for leaks, cap off again check level and run engine till coolant is at normal temp with heaters on full bore. smoke drink beer and put tools away, pour used oil into empty containers, general tidy then go for a 5 min drive, jobs a good un.

I'm a pretty competent DIY mechanic having done all my servicing and repairs for 30yrs, engine build on my Type R, quite a few engine and gear box swaps and worked in the motor trade for over 20yrs as well as being in other engineering / servicing roles, so not a novice when it comes to twirling the spanners, I have also learned planing and methodology is the key to being quick without rushing.

 

So I take it no one else is booked in lmao

 

They only need the one customer a day with those prices!
I am joking

 

 

Must just be me that thinks £50 an hour for labour is taking the ****.

 

Well it's £60+vat at the audi dealer

 

Lol you'll,pay double that over here at a non specialist, when I worked for jaguar we used to take £250 perhour

 

It's about right, and actually cheap compared to main dealers

 

That's why I DIY, Imagine how much it costs for a full fluid change, brake pads front and rear then cambelt.

I'm not questioning their charges, just not prepared to pay so much money for something so basic.

Last mechanic I spoke to to do the head gasket on my Rover wanted £800 which is what I paid for the car 4 yrs ago, did it myself for £120 including all new belts, took me 8hrs going steady.

 

It's the complete kit, but £400 is where the problem lies. I can't see what would be different between their kit and someone else's.