Basically i will try and keep this short, I have recently had alot of work done on my sti including a head gasket, clutch, cambelt kit, rad etc all at the same garage, i have known the guy for a long time and he is a very sound guy and trust worthy and he did a great job, however i have since been getting a rattle in the lower revs which i assume is one of the many heat shields, i noticed this the day i picked my car up and showed him that day. I also noticed that my A/C stopped working which again i showed him that day. He said he forgot to put the gas back in after doing all the work. Since then he is now asking for £40 to sort the heat shield and says he isnt licensed to do the gas and its £70 elsewhere. When i asked him to price the job i understand that he probably didnt realise how much work it would take and he did it for a great price at only £500 labour and i got all the parts so again he didnt makje any money on parts either. so i do understand where he is coming from when he says he did the job to cheap in the first place but i am just abit annoyed that i got a price and expected to pay that amount only to find out its going to cost me another £110 to get the car back in complete working order with no problems. the air con worked when i gave him the car and i had no problems with the heat shield either. I have had another garage try to find the heat shield problem but they couldnt. could it be anything else as the whole engine was taken out so i was assuming the metal rattle could be anything.

its a tricky situation and i do appreciate his side of things as he did alot of work for very cheap. he did rad,cambelt kit,head gasket, inlet manifold, thermostat, clutch, water pump all for that cost.

so basically just wondering if in my position would you just accept you got a great deal and take another hit for the gas and heat shield(if thats the problem)

or be pissed as you have more costs?

any help or opinions would be helpful.



Also he put 5l of oil in and checked it last week and it was all gone. infact it was bone dry, he said it was because of the work and he put 2 more in and now when i check the oil it seems over full, seems very weird so no idea if anyone else has ever had this problem. there is no leak and its not been burning as i have had no thick smoke from the exhaust.

 

IMHO, bite the bullet and sort it yourself. You may need a friend in the future...

dunx

 

I wouldn't pay tbh, air con didn't need to de-gassed / disconnected in any way other than unbolting the pump mountings & the heat shields should have been refitted correctly.
If there were any problems with the heat shields on removal you should have been advised before reassembly. thats my opinion anyway.

Dave

 

Agree with Dunx, You got a lot of work done for the very reasonable price of £500, Regarding the oil, Just undo the sump plug and let some out(Do not remove it fully as you`ll drop it all) checking the dipstick as you go, Then just top up if required.

PS, You can get your aircon regassed for about £40-50 if you shop about

 

Kwik fit re fill gas £30-£40 and that is cheap as Duncan said. go to a tuner and let them look just incase it's not the heat shield.

 

If I were in your position and especially as he has probably lost quite a bit in terms of the fact he could have taken on far more profitable work than yours then I'd look at paying for the AC regas and ask him to sort out the rattle at your cost.

As for the oil issue your car should only take around 4.5 litres of oil assuming no oil cooler fitted so I don't know what has happened there.

Of course the above all depends on whether you plan to use him again.

 

i wouldnt pay for the re-gas.
he knew that would need to be done, and he knew he didnt have the license for it. he should have either made you aware of this from the start, or allowed a cost for that in his quote to have someone do it for him. the rest, yer, i would accept.
if your gonna accept the regas cost, at least talk to him about it n point out the above. let him know you will pay it but that in the future you dont expect to have additional costs like that

 

Dude, i cant believe i am reading this. Are you having a laugh. Ok head gasket at least £1200.00 alone. And you are moaning about £110.00. Sorry dude, but people like you make my blood boil, You want your cake and eat it with a refund. OMG, i have seen it all. I hope the person that done the work for you, see's this thread, and never does work for you again.

 

Are you having a laugh? that post makes your blood boil? you need to get more quotes if your paying £1200 just labour on a headgasket and NO parts. everywhere i spoke to was quoting me £1000 including parts. and did you see me once say on my post it was expensive or i was unhappy with the price? and where did i mention a refund? if your not going to read a post properly dont reply asif someone has posted a personal attack on yourself.

Its a forum not every thread or post is aimed at yourself.

 

Then theres the other side of the argument..... Air con worked, and no rattle when it went in. The garage will have quoted him for the job and if hes undercharged then its not the ops fault. IMHO the car should come out in full working order regardless what the garage charged.

This is whay I do all my own work. I have only myself to blame if things go wrong.

 

He's done a fair whack of work there bud for £500
I would take it on the chin and pay elsewhere for the re gas...like mentioned you'll need his services again so it's best to keep him sweet.
No point rocking the boat for a hundred quid

 

Had same sort of thing but with wheel bearing . To start with he done the Wong side and it took him 3 weeks need lower arms aswell witch i got in the end . In the end he wanted 200 even tho he did Wong one .. Then took it to subaru to.get them to do right one when thay looked he ****ed it right up . I only go to subaru now coz if anything thay do ****s up thay put it right!

 

Listen. I never said £1200.00 just for labour. And its an analogy want your cake and eat it. Your bill should have been closer to £1600.00. So spot crying about spilt milk. Its another saying fella.

 

in total with parts it cost me £1600 and my car still isnt right. whats not to be unhappy with about that?

 

Labour charge £1600.00. My garage charges £40.00 per hour, with a flat charge for head gaskets, clutches, timing belts etc. So dry your eyes, and think yourself lucky you haven't used a Subaru garage.

 

subscribed carry on

 

Ok, tomorrow phone RCM, Scooby Clinic, and Api. Get a quote from them. And see if you have been hard done buy.

 

Tell me about it the place i use is 60 per hour so 40 sounds good where are u lol

 

Greersport are £40+Vat. North Aryshire

 

why such high prices for headgasket etc etc I would be shocked if I got quoted some of the above prices for head gasket cambelt work why are they so high seems crazy to me or am I missing something

 

Yes your missing something. They should split the engine and replace the bearing, there is a lot more work required than most people think. There's also the price you pay for a specialists warranty.

 

In all fairness if I do some work cheap for someone it doesn't mean I don't do a proper job, It was his decision to charge that amount, I have on occasion been half way through a job and thought I am doing it way too cheap but you can't take that out on the customer and not do things properly

 

what and why does the bearing need replacing not questioning it just would like to know as always handy for any future work needed to be done an how many man hours would you be looking at for such a job?

 

They are not very good and your more than halfway there work wise, They have a habbit of going not long after the gaskets are replaced, This then means your paying for the same work all over again, Not always the case but while your there change them

 

Your missing the point, its only £50 air-con and his dummy rattling. Lets hope he replaced the bearings, if not OUCH.

 

Should only take 3hrs max. So i been told now didn't know that at the time .needed doing coz it went Wong u get a funny sound coming from wheel

 

Exactly Pikey. More often than not, they will go.

 

what bearings should be replaced?

 

 

Dude do a search on here.