Today I changed the oil and filter on the Lancer. 20 quid for 5 litres of Mobil 200 semi synth. The genuine Mitsubishi filter from my local dealer was a fiver. All good stuff, oil change with good oil 25 quid.
While at the dealer I asked about a new rear wiper blade. Its pretty non standard, short blade with a funny clip and fixing arrangement.
THIRTY TWO QUID Plus VAT That is as close to legalised theft I have ever come across. I would like to say I was speechless, but my language made the parts guy laugh.
Needless to say the rear window stays a bit smeary.
Post your outrageous spares prices here.
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You will get one on Ebay for under fiver.
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Yeah Thats what I am hoping
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How much is it online at the many Jap parts places in japan?
I bet it's cheaper to buy abroad and post it than it is here to buy it.
Done ok in the past with vauxhall as they offer me cash discount as they do to taxi drivers and im not one it's just something they seem to do taxi discount for cash paying customers.
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A few from memory, all plus VAT :-
1990 cavalier power steering pump 350 quid ish
1990 Carlton headlamp wiper motor 160 quid.
1996 Omega V6 HT leads 250 quid.
My current wiper blades were 1.50 in the local surplus shop, seem to be lasting well and non smeary/squeaky.
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>> 1996 Omega V6 HT leads 250 quid.
You win :-)
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...1996 Omega V6 HT leads 250 quid...
Good thing they never made a V12.
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>> ...1996 Omega V6 HT leads 250 quid...
>>
>> Good thing they never made a V12.
>>
In theory they were supposed to last 100K, but on the earlier V6s the plastic can covers warped slightly, so the spark plug ends of the HT leads ended up bathed in hot engine oil, 'which wasn't terribly good for them. A pattern part set form Autovaux was around 100 quid, still rather painful for a few bits of cable.
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One of the strings that hold the parcel shelf up in my Avensis broke, so I enquired to the Toyota dealer after a new one... "Sorry sir, we don't sell that bit separately, but you can have a new parcel shelf with them already on for just £180."
I soon found an old tube of superglue to fix it!
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Replacement rear wiper arm for A3: £37 - plus another £40 for replacement blades all round .. but that's probably better value than the mark up on a battery from Audi dealer - £117 "but that includes VAT and 3 year guarantee, Sir". Via my indy who uses Audi parts supplier: same battery came in at £57. Outrageous is just one word .....
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Vauxhall wanted close to £500 to fit and diagnose the MAF on my Corsa. I guessed that my diagnostic was correct with the help of people in HJ and bought a genuine Bosch one for £90 online and fitted it myselff. I could have got an aftermarket one even cheaper.
I paid £11 for 1 littre bottle of 10/40 for my Panda but it did come in fancy retail packaging and was special FIAT compliant stuff which I have to use for warranty purposes.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 17:00
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35 p each for speedclips for ka bumpers from the dealer
pure robbewey
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Someone must be paying these rip off prices to sustain the glass palaces.
Or the owners yacht parked in the Bahamas.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 17:18
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The spares prices are inflated to make up for the very slim margins in the OE pricing charged to the manufacturer I would guess.
In my industry the equipment manufacturers make a very slim margin on the stuff they supply to us, but then charge at last 3.5 times the price in the aftermarket to make some margin
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Cant you just change the rubber?
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...Cant you just change the rubber?...
Shouldn't that be in the 'How often do you do it?' thread?
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>>
>> Cant you just change the rubber?
Would have been my first move, but the rubber blade itself is unique, with a small block and cutout in the stiffener groves at one end where the fixing prong goes.
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>> Cant you just change the rubber?
I did just that with the one x 19" and one x 17" blades on the front of the pick up, still stung me for £17.
I didn't pay, done under goodwill, same pick up...4 x injectors, 4 x injector pipes, 4 x injector seals (washers)...£1700 just parts.
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When I used to write software for a well known US car company I saw the actual data and found the parts margins went something like this:
Supplier charges £1 for a widget to the manufacturer, who keeps it in central stock.
Manufacturer charges the dealer £5 for the widget.
Dealer charges the customer £20 for the widget but offers free coffee and pretty receptionists.
I'm not exaggerating. This is how motor factors/ebay can undercut the dealers and still make lovely profits.
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Forgot, engine wiring loom on the Benz, and i mean just the engine £550.
Luckily the ECU was repairable when said loom took it out, other wise over £1200 for that one part.
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It is the best thing about old Fords, parts are very cheap. I think cheap parts are one of the reasons we still see lots of old Fords on the road but most old BMW 7 series of that era are now scrapped.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 17:48
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>> It is the best thing about old Fords, parts are very cheap.
Not always, in 1986 my 2 year old Granada 2.5 Diesel's vacuum pump diaphragm split...IIRC £140 for new pump (lot of money then), sealed unit no service parts.
Peugeot 505 (which is where theGranada engine came from) serviceable Vacuum pump, repair kit £15.
Don't worry, they thought of everything, it was impossible to refit one to the other, all mountings different.
Edit, i hadn't learned by then, was on first name terms at the parts dept...can't say that's ever been the case at a Japanese car dealers premises.
Last edited by: gordonbennet on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 17:55
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On on the more normal run of the mill parts you there is a big choice of used and after market parts making them cheap. I could probably get a working coil pack for £15, water pump £20 but the engine has never needed any parts other than a thermostat (£3.50) and service items (plugs and air/oil filters) not bad for a block which is essentialy 50 years old.
The biggest bill on my Panda long term will be when the power steering unit fails, but I can get the unit remanufactured for about £250 - a lot cheape than the £600+ FIAT will want.
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>> The biggest bill on my Panda long term will be when the power steering unit
>> fails, but I can get the unit remanufactured for about £250 - a lot cheape
>> than the £600+ FIAT will want.
Love the pesimism there Rattle - cheer up; it might not fail ;-) In 20 years of driving I've only had one major mechanical failure, and that was a blown turbo in a '98 A6 1.8T, which was an inherited company car that had done 80k miles in just under 2 years.
Other than that, nothing, and that covers 1 British, 2 Italian, 5 French and 15 German cars between myself and my partner over what must be knocking on 500k miles.
I've certainly never felt the need to find out the possible replacement costs of major parts of an almost brand new car!! I realise that this might be tempting tempting fate...
Peter
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>> The biggest bill on my Panda long term will be when the power steering unit
>> fails, but I can get the unit remanufactured for about £250 - a lot cheape
>> than the £600+ FIAT will want.
>>
Should've bought the Hyundai mate, five-year warranty y'know! ;-)
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But over long term ownership the Hyundai would have cost me over £1k more in insurance. I might just buy an extrended warranty online when the three year one is up depending on how much they are.
The only thing that seems to go wrong with the petrols is the power steering but I know a couple of ADIs who have done 80k in them without an issue.
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I haven't done much of it myself, but the little subsidised business motoring I have done, as it were in company cars, indicates to me that in the past a lot of companies simply didn't bother with trying to manage car costs but just went to the main dealer for every little thing and paid whatever was asked. Presumably these high prices had been written into the calculations for running that car and so it went. No one gave a damn because money grew on trees.
Perhaps this applied more to small high value added or totally fraudulent companies than big firms which might even have a transport manager who wasn't a halfwit. If the company's doing all right and there isn't a proper motorist in a position of power in it, everyone else is going to be far too important and busy to bother about the cost of replacement windscreen wipers. There's a sort of Loadsamoney mentality which has crept into every corner of our society, in a very patchy sort of way.
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I wonder if there is a business model for outsourcing fleet management?
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>> I wonder if there is a business model for outsourcing fleet management?
>>
That's what leasing companies do...
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>> 35 p each for speedclips for ka bumpers from the dealer
>> pure robbewey
>>
Sump plug washers at around £1 each always irks me.
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>>Sump plug washers at around £1 each always irks me.
>>
Better not buy a modern Ford then :-)
You have to buy a new sump plug as washers on their own are not available..
Last edited by: henry k on Tue 15 Feb 11 at 09:46
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As you might expect, the price of spares is generally inversely proportional to the quantity manufactured.
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Actually my present car suffers from highish parts prices, but good quality parts can be found on line and anyway the main running gear is fairly reliable. What you can't find on line is mechanic-friendly driveline layout to reduce labour costs (steering fluid, coolant and a/c hoses threading in and out of the cambelt for example).
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I have to remove the rear shelf of my car from time to time, to fit a wheelchair into the rather small boot. It is retained on two horizontal fixed pivots, on which it rotates when the hatch is opened, by 2 springy plastic grips shaped like horseshoes. One of them broke and I easily removed it from the shelf and took it to my local dealer. "Oh no, they don't supply them seperately, they come as part of a complete shelf." Price £92 incl VAT!!!!!! It really couldn't cost £5 to make so I have bodged a new grip from a cable tie (£! for 25). As the mollusc has noted, it is probably pricey as there isn't much demand for parcel shelves!
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 19:09
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Rear steering rack on Skyline GTR-32 £5k
Headlight - £800.
Think that trumps everything :-)
With the wiper just get a Bosch one with the universal fit thingy. Probably be £7 or so.
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IT prices make car parts look cheap.
Inter Co billing $100 = £100 to UK
15% packing & del = £115
Multiply by 7 = £805 + VAT = £966
Agent / Dealer adds 25% typically
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Not a GTR but a Yaris.
Four years ago the main dealer servicing this year 2000 Yaris put in writing
Coroded exhaust.... £894.94
Guess what? It is still passing its MoT on the original box.
I guess some would pay that price :-(
For a Focus I needed a small strip of rubber that seals the top of the headlamp unit to the bonnet. You will to buy a whole headlamp unit.
I am sorry I did not pause to enquire the price! so I guess this one does not count.
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New front wiper blade (there is only the one), put on by main dealer last week. £15 all up including fitting, which I was happy with.
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>> With the wiper just get a Bosch one with the universal fit thingy. Probably be
>> £7 or so.
Alas not, its not a universal arm with the U end. Its an aerodynamic plastic shroud thing.
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>> Alas not, its not a universal arm with the U end. Its an aerodynamic plastic
>> shroud thing.
>>
Have a look in Halfords Z, I have seen Bosch plastic blades specifically for plastic rear wiper arms.
Or one of these
www.wiperblades.co.uk/mitsubishi-lancer_estate-2003-to-2008-rear-wiper-blades/
Last edited by: Old Navy on Mon 14 Feb 11 at 21:13
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Thanks, been there, looked at that, wrong one.
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Is there no specialist jap factors you could ring?
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I have the same problem, KIA changed to standard hook front blade attachments for the 2010 facelift. None of the online suppliers have figured this out yet. Even the ones I have e-mailed with the info. As for rear blades, forget it online, Halfords stock them but don't realise what they fit.
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I will toddle down and have a butchers.
Fortunately there is a good burger van outside our local halfords.
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Motorcycles are the worst offenders. Ballpark dealer genuine parts prices for a typical Japanese 600cc sportsbike:
Front brake discs - £300-£400 per pair
Exhaust system - £800-£1000
Rear shock absorber - £600
Ignition coils - £150 each
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How the heck can they cost £300-£400 a pair????? Blimey.
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>> How the heck can they cost £300-£400 a pair????? Blimey.
When I bought the ZZR (first bike) with warped discs, I knocked the guy down £100 thinking in car parts price terms. He must have had a right laugh at me.
Nothing on these is cheap. I guess it's partly down to lower production volumes.
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£900-1100 for a re-CON 'box for the Master. That is without fluids £20-30 and without fitting £200-300 and for the benefit of anyone still here....................PLUS v.a.t.
Waiting for it then.....come on......bring it on.
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>> I will toddle down and have a butchers.
>>
Tie-wraps, Zedman. The answer to all your problems !
Ted
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Lower suspension arms for a KIA Pride, £2.50 a pair, postage £10, outrageous. They do weigh around 5Kg
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>> Thanks, been there, looked at that, wrong one.
>>
Is the rubber blade itself changeable?
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>> >> Thanks, been there, looked at that, wrong one.
>> >>
>> Is the rubber blade itself changeable?
The actual blade has a moulded block at one end, with an indent where a clip cams into the rubber. So yes its changeable but its not just a standard rubber blade.
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>> The genuine Mitsubishi ...
I was amazed to be able to get a full set (4) of proper Mitsubishi carpet mats for our Colt for £22 from the dealer. I only asked the price in passing, thinking they be in the £60-80 region.
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The one where it says "no rear wiper blades available for this vehicle"?
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ARRGH. Point taken i never looked for the rear one sorry. :-(
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Dont worry, I am astonished how any car maker can use such a unique part for such a fundamental, well used and well known application.
The fact that most people dont stock it shows the problem.
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What length is it this wiper?
A google search is coming up with 16".
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And that shows the degree of confusion about this part. Its actually 12"
So it works out at near 3 quid per inch,
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 15 Feb 11 at 10:49
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My VW Sharan had a mirror and light in the sunvisor - a little flap turned the light on and off, except the little plastic flap broke, leaving the light on all the time. To avoid a flat battery a new sun-vispor was needed. Cost £60 - and this was about 10 years ago now.
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or... take the bulb out. I could have saved you £60. Ah well.
John
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What and do without an illuminated vanity mirror?!?! Whatever is the world coming to?
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>> My VW Sharan had a mirror and light in the sunvisor - a little flap turned the light on and off,
>> except the little plastic flap broke, leaving the light on all the time.
>>
Same poor design on my Mondeo.
>> To avoid a flat battery a new sun-vispor was needed. Cost £60
>>
Or tape it up !. I do not need an illuminated vanity mirror and SWMBO has to manage via her map reading light and a hand held mirror :-)
2 x £50+ today NO chance.
Seen them S/H on fleabay but my excuse is I do not know the colour of the interior trim
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The Golfs both have these illuminated mirrors on the visors too. This pointless feature is not something I would even consider spending money on to repair if ever it malfunctioned in any way. I'd even begrudge the cost of replacing one of the bulbs.
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And the issue is resolved, using a combo of skill, and ON's and Cheeses suggestions.
A trip to Halfords to peruse what they had in stock, came up with refill blades with plastic stiffeners and metal arrow shaped clips.
With some deft use of a stanley knife, and a file on the clips, voila we have a replaced blade (with the fixing clip at the other end of the arm)
Cost? £7.99 for two blades, so I now have a spare..
< Gives Mitsubishi spares department the finger >
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Excellent! But have you dared use it yet? :-)
John
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Oh yes - tested. Its no bodge.
Anyone reading they are available from Zero Supplies, £9.99 per blade inc postage.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 16 Feb 11 at 16:10
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the art to saving money on blades is to make sure any plastic clips are nice and warm so nothing brittle can break as you slide bits together
i never buy fancy rear wiper blades as an example but keep part worn fronts in stock to fix them with
oh and well done zero
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>> And the issue is resolved, using a combo of skill, and ON's and Cheeses suggestions.
>>
>>
>> A trip to Halfords to peruse what they had in stock, came up with refill
>> blades with plastic stiffeners and metal arrow shaped clips.
>>
>>
>>
>> With some deft use of a stanley knife, and a file on the clips, voila
>> we have a replaced blade (with the fixing clip at the other end of the
>> arm)
>>
>>
Good news, that is pretty much what I did with the Clio though the blades were cheaper at an indy car shop (IIRC £2.99 for an 182 length) and no knifing or filing was required.
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Zero Supplies has a solution here as well. £9.99 a metre.
Oygen free copper, solid core, ultra compact speaker cable that can be clipped and painted to disappear into your décor.
Some may call it bell wire but its more than that.
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 16 Feb 11 at 16:33
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That will be Rattle broke for a while then. :-)
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The £4.99 I paid in Aldi for a pair of wipers (one for my Astra, one for Mrs RR's Saxo) doesn't seem so bad now ;-)
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I just paid £33.82 for a set (front and rear) of genuine 2003 Ford Focus wiper blades from our local Ford franchised dealer. They offered to fit them free of charge. When I said I'd fit them myself they said I should go back to them if I had any problems. I'm well pleased.
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My god £33 about £20 over the odds no wonder they can afford those glass palaces.
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>> My god £33 about £20 over the odds no wonder they can afford those glass
>> palaces.
>>
I doubt if Halfords would charge less for spurious copies ~ Bosch or Halfords own-brand.
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Items such as wiper blades will not be made by a car manufacturer. They will be bought in from a supplier. A good quality branded aftermarket item will have exactly the same performance and longevity as a Ford/Motorcraft branded "genuine" item, but minus the dealer markup.
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>> Items such as wiper blades will not be made by a car manufacturer. They will
>> be bought in from a supplier.
Bosch probably
A good quality branded aftermarket item will have exactly
>> the same performance and longevity as a Ford/Motorcraft branded "genuine" item, but minus the dealer
>> markup.
Like Bosch probably.
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Can you still find Trico blades, if so please tell where.
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"Can you still find Trico blades, if so please tell where."
They are available from wiperblades.co.uk.
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Many thanks Z and Skip...i seem to recall Trico were one of the few blade makers who sold replacement rubber inserts, i hope that's still the case...if it is i'll get their complete blades next time so i've got the correct pattern.
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>> >> Items such as wiper blades will not be made by a car manufacturer. They will be bought in from a supplier.
>>
>> Bosch probably
>>
>> A good quality branded aftermarket item will have exactly the same performance and longevity as a Ford/Motorcraft branded "genuine" item, but minus the dealer markup.
>>
>> Like Bosch probably.
>>
Bosch wiper blades do NOT work on the back window of the Focus.
They do not flex enough to follow the contour of the glass.
I had to return the one I bought and request the company amend their data base and send me another brand.
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>> >> A good quality branded aftermarket item will have exactly the same performance and longevity
>> as a Ford/Motorcraft branded "genuine" item, but minus the dealer markup.
>> >>
>> >> Like Bosch probably.
>> >>
>> Bosch wiper blades do NOT work on the back window of the Focus.
>> They do not flex enough to follow the contour of the glass.
>> I had to return the one I bought and request the company amend their data
>> base and send me another brand.
>>
Bosch blades didn't work on the back window of my Focus either, for the same reason. And when I fitted Bosch blades on the front, the inner ends of the rubber elements touched each other. I had to cut 4 mm off the inner ends of each rubber element. I informed Bosch about the problem and their response was that the problem was with my car, not their blades! They said that the centre distance between the wiper arm spindles was probably undersize.
No manufacture of non-genuine parts will have access to the original drawings, so it's understandable that non-standard parts sometimes don't fit properly. The price of genuine Ford wiper blades is within pence of Bosch bought from Halford and they (the genuine ones) always fit (and work) properly, so I see no point whatsoever in buying Bosch.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Thu 17 Feb 11 at 07:11
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>> No manufacture of non-genuine parts will have access to the original drawings, so it's understandable
>> that non-standard parts sometimes don't fit properly.
They dont need it. They can laser scan the OEM parts and produce micron perfect drawings.
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>>
>> >> No manufacture of non-genuine parts will have access to the original drawings, so it's
>> understandable
>> >> that non-standard parts sometimes don't fit properly.
>>
>> They dont need it. They can laser scan the OEM parts and produce micron perfect
>> drawings.
>>
They can't tell by measuring parts what the nominal dimension is on the original drawing, nor the tolerances. The parts they measure could be anywhere within the tolerance range ~ and they won't know just where. For their own drawing they then need to choose what they think is the nominal dimension, and also decide what tolerances to put on.
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In the modern world with modern manufacturing techniques, tolerances have pretty much gone out the window. You work to an exact measurement (at a given temperature) and materials specification.
Anyway as described above, the drawings and materials spec for most of the kit on the car gets sent out to multiple component suppliers.
However in your case the cost of the blades is on par with the other ones, so there is no reason not to use the Ford ones.
On the Lancer, Mitsubishi charge 160 quid for a pair of brake disks, and 50 quid for pads
I can get aftermarket disks for 60 quid and pads at 30.
I will have no qualms in going for the cheaper items.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 17 Feb 11 at 09:31
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>> In the modern world with modern manufacturing techniques, tolerances have pretty much gone out the
>> window. You work to an exact measurement (at a given temperature) and materials specification.
Utter poppycock!
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Not actually, you are landlocked in ancient engineering.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 17 Feb 11 at 17:02
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>> Not actually, you are landlocked in ancient engineering.
>>
(:-D
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>> .............. no wonder they can afford those glass
>> palaces.
>>
Personally speaking, I prefer to do business with a company (any type of company) which takes a pride in the appearance of its premises. Slap-dash premises often indicates a slap-dash approach to the customer.
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>>Items such as wiper blades will not be made by a car manufacturer. They will be bought
>> in from a supplier.
With the possible exception of machined components, motor manufacturers buy in virtually everything that they need for production and spares.
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>> >> .............. no wonder they can afford those glass
>> >> palaces.
>> >>
>>
>> Personally speaking, I prefer to do business with a company (any type of company) which
>> takes a pride in the appearance of its premises. Slap-dash premises often indicates a slap-dash
>> approach to the customer.
>>
>>>>>i agree,within reason
i dont like shops and even major players are guilty where doors entrances and even windows sometimes havent been cleaned in ages
i will never go in a food shop selling unwrapped food unless it looks spotless and im even fussier at cafe emporiums or dare i say it ,scruffy pubs
scruffy=dirty=uncaring and or bad management
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...scruffy=dirty=uncaring and or bad management...
Agreed.
A motor business needs some front, but doesn't have to be a glass palace.
Older premises can look the part part provided they are clean and well cared for.
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Just read in the latest issue of car magazine, £846 for a Mercedes wing mirror!
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Perhaps their DOOR mirrors are cheaper?
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>> Perhaps their DOOR mirrors are cheaper?
>>
Some of Merc's mirror glasses are around £300.
That's because they are not just glass, but a self-dimming LCD assembly!
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>> >> Perhaps their DOOR mirrors are cheaper?
>> >>
>> Some of Merc's mirror glasses are around £300.
>> That's because they are not just glass, but a self-dimming LCD assembly!
>>
>>>>> said to the m and s theme these arent just mirrors they are mercedes mirrors..........
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The best car parts place I know is a complete hovel. Dusty, dingy, piled with boxes seemingly stacked at random.
But staffed by the most knowledgeable, helpful people you could ever hope to meet. As in, you walk in there with a part and they can often identify what it is and what it's come off before you tell them. They then walk to a stack of bits, and pull out the correct part. We have tried many times to fathom their filing system, and have failed, but it clearly works for them.
Open 8:30-8 7 days a week too.
If they don't have it, they can get it within 24 hrs. Never had anything from them which didn't fit or work fine.
Would still be my shop of choice if I didn't now live 50 miles away.
Glass palace? Pah. ;-)
Last edited by: DP on Sat 19 Feb 11 at 15:10
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Appearences are deceptive
My MB indy's premises would on first second and thorough inspection glances look like a MB graveyard/scrapyard.
However with in his workshop...equally chaotic...lurks skill and knowledge not found at any glass palace, he too can lift the part you want from this disaster zone.
Factor in i'm not paying for image important staff with snazzy haircuts, computer systems, knee deep carpets, and the general bull found at main dealers, and i'll put up with having to wade through the cobwebs in his dingy office when i go to pay him a refreshingly small amount for a job done well...that's when he eventually bills me umpteen months later.
I'm not going there for surgery or a gastronomic evening, i want my car fixed properly for a fair price.
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?
Last edited by: Perky Penguin on Sat 19 Feb 11 at 18:59
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A mirror for the outside of the car - whatever! Suggest a move the the pedant thread if people are going to be that picky!
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My MB commercial Dealership is no glass palace but when I was in getting some non aftermarket bits for the van, I thought I would buy some genuine front pads, after breaking the MB hologram and opening the branded box, inside were a set of Ferodo stamped Pads!
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>> My MB commercial Dealership is no glass palace but when I was in getting some
>> non aftermarket bits for the van, I thought I would buy some genuine front pads,
>> after breaking the MB hologram and opening the branded box, inside were a set of
>> Ferodo stamped Pads!
I had exactly the same experience with Renault pads.
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Outrageous Spares Prices. - Collos
