£5,000 bill to replace cylinder head,please anyone help!!

[Medieval Dave]

73 hours is just rubbish. I could do a head in a weekend (20 hours tops including teabreaks) and I'm not a mechanic, you can see every job I've done on my surf from the oily fingerprints in the haynes manual.

I'm sure TonyN (who posts on here and has done major engine work for a lot of people on here) has done heads in a day.

[Medieval Dave]

73 hours is just rubbish. I could do a head in a weekend (20 hours tops including teabreaks) and I'm not a mechanic, you can see every job I've done on my surf from the oily fingerprints in the haynes manual.

I'm sure TonyN (who posts on here and has done major engine work for a lot of people on here) has done heads in a day.

Make sure you get those invoices though. That's proof of the going rate and they would have to explain why it was so much more. Our opinion or anecdotes isn't proof.

[da SLUG man]

toyota should have a book time for head replacement which is already over estimated.

call them and ask.

[DaveD]

I would suggest a call or email to Watchdog highlighting the fact that you use the truck for business and the fact that you are female. 73 hours is waay over the top thats 2 weeks labour.

[Sancho]

I don't think there's much left to say about whether that's a rip off or not. Suffice to say that any responsible garage wouldn't even suggest doing £5k of work on a £2k vehicle. It might have taken 73 hours if they'd hand carved the head from a block of iron.

From his ad, it looks like Stevo does heads in a day. Tony didn't take very long to do mine and certainly didn't charge me 5 grand.

As they are the two people who most on here have had their heads changed with, might it be worth starting a thread for everyone to give permission for them to mail copies of the invoices over? If they're willing to do that, obviously.

[windymiller]

toyota should have a book time for head replacement which is already over estimated.

call them and ask.

I have tried talking to Toyota and they won't officially give a book time because it is an import vehicle,they work to time apparently but one mechanic i spoke to told be verbally 15 -20 hrs.

[Medieval Dave]

Definitely talk to Stevo,

He is 'engine co ltd' click on his advert on the banner. I know this will make you wince. this is a DIRECT quote from his advert:

New 2.4TD Head (2LT & 2LTE) complete including Exchange Camshaft, Valves, Lifters etc, New gasket set, Stretch bolts and Cam Belt

Supply Only

£799.99 inc VAT & P&P (UK Mainland)

Supply and fit

£995 + VAT---------------------------------

[windymiller]

Can I suggest that EVERYONE who has had a head replaced should make the effort to dig out the invoice and mail it to Windy? a handfull of invoices would be a lot better than just one.

I'm betting that none are more than two and a half.

TonyN - do you have any thoughts

IMHO 5k is just theft. and anyone who wants to believe a second failure is entirely unrelated needs the other sort of head checked.

Dave.

Thanks so much Dave thats a wonderful idea,please anybody who has had their cylinder head replaced please e-mail me a copy of your invoice (don't necessarily need a scanner just a close up photograph) to kate_e_miller@hotmail.com

[Diezel Weazel]

I have tried talking to Toyota and they won't officially give a book time because it is an import vehicle,they work to time apparently but one mechanic i spoke to told be verbally 15 -20 hrs.

Sorry to here of ya problems gal, spoke to the man, Mr Tony this Mornin, he's away till Monday, all the same send him a PM or a thread for him on here.
Good Luck
Jesse

Mr Tony (The Man) www.4x4toys.co.uk 'You break it, we'll fix it'

[mooter]

That would be great thanks! The only additional work done was to replace exhaust front down pipe and middle section,but our cylinder head was £830 plus vat without all the gaskets and twiddly bits etc these have all been charged extra.The main issue we have is the 73 hours of labour which to me sounds excessive to say the least,also even if the second breakdown was due to something they did or didn't do they could be in the process of covering it up as we speak before the 2nd opinions come in.So i think that we will end up going to small claims court for the overcharging only.Feel very helpless,i am a female (although thats no excuse in this day and age) my husband works in London all week and the surf is mine for my doggie business so i am the one dealing with the garage.it has really been disastrous from the outset.They lied to get the work in the first place,saying head gasket,£800 would take a week to do,on day 6 i rang to see how things were going and they hadn't even started work on it and we were going on holiday 2 days later so had no time to arrange to get it to another garage which in hindsight would have been the sensible thing to do.While on holiday rang 3 times to see what was going on and was told we had accrued £1100 of labour,it was the cylinder head and they wanted paying for labour to date and parts before they would do anything else so paid them £2400 incl vat.Was expecting final bill to be £800 - £1000 at most because all it was supposed to be was labour to put back together and the bill came back at £2600,NIGHTMARE they had us by the short and curlies because they had the car and they knew i was desperate to get it back.

look at it another way... 73 hours of labour... that means it took one person, a whole 7 day week, working 10 hour days, to do the work listed.

that's just bulls*it.

ask the garage how experienced the mechanic was. has he ever worked on a surf before? has he had much experience of 4x4's in general? what about replacement heads?

if the garage owner tries to tell you he is the most experienced mechanic in the world, there is no way it shoudl have taken him 73hours. If he has no experience then the owner has to admit that the time is excessive.

you'll need to take someone down there who knows their stuff. someone big preferably! I would also call the police if he refuses to release your vehicle. you have paid up so he has no right to keep it on the premises. if he insists then insist you will have him arrested for theft.

at the end of the day you need to be very firm with cowboys like this...give an inch and they take a few miles.

if all else fails give me their number and your details and i'll call up pretending to be your solicitor

[skyhooked]

repair times for surf

the mechanic i used had the repair times for the surf head swap on a disc on his pc - and quoted me for a 5hr job. he started it this morning (not last night after all) and i;ve just spoke to him, its all back together and the oil is being changed

i'll send over the invoice once i get it from him. also - big question mark over the price of your head - 800plus vat plus gaskets! well you know all this

lets hope you collate many invoices and get intouch with your local trading standards too

BEST OF ALL THOUGH - give the local paper a call. get a photog of yourself looking disconsolate holding the invoice for 5k. they love a good story like that - hit the garage where it hurts them most - good will and reputation

[Medieval Dave]

hit the garage where it hurts them most - [/COLOR]

For about 5% of that garage bill you can arrange to have them met in a dark alley and hit EXACTLY where it hurts most. but I don't reccomend that sort of beheivior

[surfcarl]

.....BTTT........

CARL......

[da SLUG man]

For about 5% of that garage bill you can arrange to have them met in a dark alley and hit EXACTLY where it hurts most. but I don't reccomend that sort of beheivior

3 grand to get their entire families to leave town if you want it!...

[andy]

Just had a look at my Autodata disc and it say's time allowed is 8.6 hours.


Dont know the garage.