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does anyone know anything about cars? bmws in particular


Dr Gloom
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i have a 2007 bmw 325i. started acting funny so took it to the bmw garage. they did 5 hours of "investigatory work", which i'm having to fork out £800 for labour costs. only to tell me there is damage to the engine cylinder head and they recommend replacing the cylinder head, camshafts, vanos valve adjusters etc. To remove the engine sump, clean out as required. Rebuild and then to carry out two flushes to the engine.

 

i know next to nowt about cars, figured this sounded bad then got the quote for the work - over £7k!

 

the car itself in good nick is only worth about £6-8k

 

am i getting ripped off here or does this estimate sound legit? does anyone have experience with bmw garages? i can't believe that it's going to cost more than the car is worth to fix it. especially when i only put on about 6-7 thousand miles a year on it, and it was recently serviced.

 

there's no way i'm paying that money to get it fixed. i'd rather just sell it in its current state and cut my losses. that's if anyone would buy it from me.

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You're almost certainly getting the piss taken out of you. When I take mine to the Audi garage they always recommend a load of stuff that it needs doing to it. I knock them back and then I can take it to another garage 6 months later and they mention nothing of the stuff that Audi insisted needed imminent attention.

 

Take it to a reputable non-dealer mechanic instead, you may end up with a completely different and much cheaper diagnosis of what needs done.

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i have a 2007 bmw 325i. started acting funny so took it to the bmw garage. they did 5 hours of "investigatory work", which i'm having to fork out £800 for labour costs. only to tell me there is damage to the engine cylinder head and they recommend replacing the cylinder head, camshafts, vanos valve adjusters etc. To remove the engine sump, clean out as required. Rebuild and then to carry out two flushes to the engine.

 

i know next to nowt about cars, figured this sounded bad then got the quote for the work - over £7k!

 

the car itself in good nick is only worth about £6-8k

 

am i getting ripped off here or does this estimate sound legit? does anyone have experience with bmw garages? i can't believe that it's going to cost more than the car is worth to fix it. especially when i only put on about 6-7 thousand miles a year on it, and it was recently serviced.

 

there's no way i'm paying that money to get it fixed. i'd rather just sell it in its current state and cut my losses. that's if anyone would buy it from me.

Get rid.

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Dr Gloom, on 10 Jul 2014 - 2:01 PM, said:

i have a 2007 bmw 325i. started acting funny so took it to the bmw garage. they did 5 hours of "investigatory work", which i'm having to fork out £800 for labour costs. only to tell me there is damage to the engine cylinder head and they recommend replacing the cylinder head, camshafts, vanos valve adjusters etc. To remove the engine sump, clean out as required. Rebuild and then to carry out two flushes to the engine.

 

i know next to nowt about cars, figured this sounded bad then got the quote for the work - over £7k!

 

the car itself in good nick is only worth about £6-8k

 

am i getting ripped off here or does this estimate sound legit? does anyone have experience with bmw garages? i can't believe that it's going to cost more than the car is worth to fix it. especially when i only put on about 6-7 thousand miles a year on it, and it was recently serviced.

 

there's no way i'm paying that money to get it fixed. i'd rather just sell it in its current state and cut my losses. that's if anyone would buy it from me.

Go and get another engne from a breakers yard that deals in insurance write off's. You'll pick one up for pennies compared to what your getting charged.

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i presumed, perhaps naively, that the official garage would be less likely to rip you off as they would be inclined to do everything by the book. lesson learned!

 

not saying i don't believe the guy - the car could still be fooked - but i've got to get a second opinion. it seems unlikely given it's only 7 years old and it's only got 70k miles on it and we hardly ever drive the thing

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weird. i told the guy at the garage that i was going to take it to a different garage for a second opinion, he came back saying that as a gesture of goodwill they will process a warranty claim as long as i bring my service book in tomorrow. i don't get it. the car is 7 years old and no longer covered by any warranty. it looks like he's saying they're going to fix it for free as a gesture of goodwill because i kicked up a stink. i'll believe it when i see it but here's hoping.

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As above, BMW (along with most manufacturers garages) charge over the odds.

 

I was quite surprised that my new BMW doesn't require a service until it's two years old and even then it gives me a status report from the dashboard on what actually needs attention. Looks like it's going to cost much less to run than I thought.

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As above, BMW (along with most manufacturers garages) charge over the odds.

I was quite surprised that my new BMW doesn't require a service until it's two years old and even then it gives me a status report from the dashboard on what actually needs attention. Looks like it's going to cost much less to run than I thought.

Just you wait. It's a bank raid if something goes wrong :lol:

 

I did some calculations earlier and with what we've spent on servicing, repairs, etc we could have leased a brand new car for the same price without the hassle of taking it to the garage or having to sell a depreciating asset. Seriously considering it for the next motor.

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I think when people mention depreciation as a reason not to buy a new car, they forget the balance of a proper warranty and a degree of confidence that it wont need many repairs.

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same advice as everyone else - once it's out of warranty a good local garage will do a far better job at half the price - and often a lot quicker

 

We had a real runaround with Volvo, found a decent garage who do everything from Mini's to Ferrarris and have never regretted it at all

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