Randy_Baton

Already did, noticed it straight away.

(That GIF was lighthearted) Can I charge for thread views, a little short of cash right now... I'm not too bothered by the cost, I've got my car back now, it looks fine and doesn't have C**t written on the bonnet any more. Its just good to be able to drive and have people look at my car for the right reason (just don't start a topic on what a man could do with £2.5k). There was a point further back where I thought I had been quoted 3.5k rather than 2.5k which is probably why it seems more okay to me now. I don't have any issue with the workmanship and a few other forum members will vouch for their work. I don't mind paying a bit extra for decent work and also using someone local. It saves the price of a fuel tank and a day wasted hanging around garages or rubbish town centres (Watford/Dudley I'm looking at you). The main problem I have is work carried out without my instruction. And yes this is the first time I've had a service done to any car, its my first car and iv'e had it a year and no I'm not young, just levelling up. This is a tale of 3 parts Part one So I originally went in for the list below and had budgeted £700-£1K. I basically wanted everything changed that should have been changed in the last 10 years. I based my estimate on a days labour + ~£150 for oil + a bit of the unexpected + a bit of garages being garages Service items Engine oil filter and oil change (oil filter will be provided) Brake fluid change Spark plug change (spark plugs will be provided) Aux belts change (both aux belts will be provided) Gear box and dif oil change inc. Additional work (all items provided) New brake pads, all wheels - one of the brake had seized. Fit new wheel arch liners both front wheels Fit new radiator fan set (Non oem so needed rewiring) Re-attach under tray + W brace cover Investigate and fix rattling from back (this was the heat shield corroding, just needed bigger washers extend wires that connect LED reflectors with side bulbs I was quoted 5 hours for the service and an estimated 3-4 hours for the rest + parts. The seized rear calliper was an unexpected find and the fan replacement not being a straight swap caused issues (probably not 3.5 hours of issues though). Excluding the fan issue which was solved by a post on this forum the service part came in okay. This came into £1K , as above was more than I'd hoped but if the work was good so be it. Part two The brake issue occurred when the garage was about to take the car a out for a test drive. I was there at the time so could see the damage. I left them to investigate and they latter called back to say the pipes at the front were fine but the rear pipes would need replacing. However the work carried out was to replace all the brake lines, hoses and discs. I had already planned to change the discs next year and I've not been overcharged for them, but would have liked to have been consulted so I could have chosen my own. I wasn't going to swap to uprated/braided hoses but would have done so if I'd I known they were being changed, the hoses have been replaced with standard ones. I've seen my old parts and they are in a bad state (kind of knew this before the service), if it need to be replaced so be it but I've no idea if the cost is okay. The brake pipes have been completely replaced so have been routed from the front of the car to the back This came into £1.1k and is the major issue here. rusty bits.... Part 3 As some of you may know from my other thread a number of cars in my road were all keyed with rude words on the bonnet. I've been looking to get this fixed for a months now but the quotes I've been getting back have seemed ridiculous. The damage went from one side of the bonnet to the other so everyone has stated I'd need the bonnet and at least one wings resprayed. One of the wings had a spot of rust on it so I wanted that fixed anyway. I was also reversed into so wanted the bumper resprayed. I've been quoted close to a grand for all 4 panels by a number of places locally and £380 for the bonnet alone by a trader on here. Lets revisit this picture. The garage offered to do it at a reduced rate due to the extra cost incurred above. Usual rates would have been £780 but they did it for £420. It looks fine, the colour matches, any corrosion has been fixed and the whole front of the car fits together better than it did before. So this looks to have saved me £350-£500. Part 4 I know I said 3 parts but as an extra I had to cancel a days holiday because of this. I had a wedding to go to and usually do my driving in the day time to avoid the traffic, got the train after work instead. Its basically manic at work at the moment and I managed to make it look like I was working my day off to help out and got an extra ~£300 as a thank you. So I'm classing the bill as 2.2K plus a trip to the Belgravia clinic.

Blimey some of of us have work to do you know. I'm only aware of what's been going on here as a number of you have offered some solace via PM's. As for the rest of you .... **Tidied** ..... I'll post the bill up in a bit, then i'll leave the thread for you guys.

The brake work wasn't planned, the brake pipes exploded after the service had been finished so i was kind of stuck. The pads were changes as part or the service. The £745 I estimated for the brake work was based on information from here. Lets not forget the paint work was given at a discount, The price for 4 panels is almost as cheap as one of the traders on here quoted me for just the bonnet.

I just spoke to garage and got a more detailed breakdown the final bill is ~£2,500 inc VAT. I had the wrong end of the stick with the figures he gave me, some of the prices were cumulative and some were additional. He did finish by saying it would be 350 all in which I presumed meant £3.5k. He was just referring to the paint. Price is still a little high, but if the workmanship is good and they are local I guess its worth paying. I went into this expecting to spend £800-£1k on the service. I had planned to change the brake rotas at the next service and some of you may know why I also needed a respray (C**T mobile is no more ). Just which I hadn't just spent £2k on a bed... I'm tempted to ask for this thread to be deleted. I've not mentioned the garage in question but there are not many JAP specialists close to me. Breakdown £1K for the service and extras - I was already okay with this, it might be a bit expensive but I don't know any better! £450 for a front end respray - Bonnet, bumper and wings - cheap enough £1k for the brakes re work including 4 new discs - I don't know the full break down of this I estimated the brake work as £745 based on at £215 for the fabrication of the corroded pipes + fitting and fluid (I found a quote on here for £150 but added an extra hour as they are not Nissan specialists). £400 for new rotas + 2hrs (£130) to fit (generous I know)

This is the normal replacement, http://www.mishimoto.co.uk/mishimoto-nissan-350z-aluminum-fan-shroud-03.html its not a straight swap as the the wiring is different but its a simple conversion (there is a guide on the forum). The one above looks far too expensive for just a motor Zmanalex sells replacement motors for ~£50

They don't have a forum presence. It's not Abbey. There are details about costs and quotes further back in this topic but the hourly rate is £60 plus vat.

Well I don't want to name or shame until I'm 100% on what's gone on. I'm picking up the car on Monday/Tuesday. I saw the car after the service and everything looked good. I don't know how much of the brake work I'll be able to verify though. They have worked on at least 2 other members cars frequently and they have no complaints over the workmanship. They are currently respraying the front end for £350 (which was cheap due to the cost of the other work) but the colours not right. They said its been resprayed before so isn't an exact OEM tint (possible but there is no record of it) and needs a further respray. Even then £700 for bonnet bumper and wings is still reasonable. The first £1k was for the service and other bits, it was ready to go, the guy just wanted to test it first. The brake pipe issue was then found, so some of the manual work may have needed to be done twice (getting the wheels off, brake fluid, bleeding etc). I'm hoping I'm wrong and the brake issue is £800 not £1800.

The original quote was 5 hours for the service + 3 hours for the arch liners and brakes. This was agreed by email. I believe the fan took 1-2 hours as the wiring wasn't standard and there weren't any wiring instructions + say another hour for the the other bits that's 11 hours + there is the cost of the oil and un-seizing the brake calliper. I'm not too bothered if it cost ~£200 more if there were issues. Its the brake things that's putting me over the edge.

Yep, i provided the brake pads though. Brake pads was an advisory on my MOT

Service items Engine oil filter and oil change (oil filter will be provided) Brake fluid change Spark plug change (spark plugs will be provided) Aux belts change (both aux belts will be provided) Gear box and dif oil change inc. Additional work (all items provided) New brake pads, all wheels - one of the brake had seized. Fit new wheel arch liners both front wheels Fit new radiator fan set (Non oem so needed rewiring) Re-attach under tray + W brace cover Investigate and fix rattling from back (this was the heat shield corroding, just needed bigger washers extend wires that connect LED reflectors with side bulbs

Maybe I got the price wrong and its 1k for the service and £800 for the brakes + discs, not 1k +1.8k

Car was stationary in the bay, I had my brake fluid changed and brake pads changed so he was testing them out. I was there at the time.

They never mentioned cost and said the front of the car was fine 'like brand new' because the heat of engine had probably dried out any water trapped in the pipes. I was just expecting work carried out on the rear section of the pipes.

Its not the hoses its the fixed metal pipes that run from the front to the back. They said they cut out the corroded parts toward the rear of the car and fitted in new pipes that they fabricated themselves. You've got me questioning the price perhaps he did mean 1800 in total rather than 2.8k. I'd be more okay with that! Guess I'll find out on Monday.

They have said they have kept the old parts to show me. I think the only parts they have replaced and not fabricated are the corroded brake discs.

Don't want to start a slander topic, you probably wouldn't have heard of them if you weren't from the South East, but its an independent Jap specialist.

I left my car at a garage that was recommend by a couple of people on here (not an official trader though). I put it in for a full service and had everything changed that should have been done at some point in the last 10 years. Basically I wanted the service record to start again. I brought all the parts but non of the oils/liquids. I also had a few other things done and it came to £1k which was the upper limit of what I expected. When the mechanic was about to take it for a drive he hit the brakes hard and one of the rear brake pipes (not lines) exploded. He took a look at it and said both pipes were corroded and would need repairing. The bill for this has come in at £1800! He said the brakes disks were also corroded and needed replacing but he went ahead and did this without telling me. He also said the drop links would need replacing at some point and they would cost ~£250 each (parts only). I've checked on-line and its more like £80 each so I can't help but feel like somethings not right. I also had a front end respray which was quite cheap, but he just rang me up and said the car has been resprayed before and they didn't have the right tint to match the new colour so would need to respray it again when the new tint arrives on Monday. However the car would also be ready to be picked up on Monday. they have an oven so can paint and dry in a few hours, does this sound right? The bill is heading on towards half the amount I paid for the car but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if its reasonable or not. All prices he gives are ex VAT, who doesn't pay VAT on car repairs?

I vote 3, but I don't think any of the colours really work, I think there has to be a contrast and silver isn't the best base colour. Have you thought about an off centre version? Still it won't damage the car (presume your thinking of using vinyl?) and will be relatively inexpensive/easy to take off.

What's going on with that massive pedal in the driver footwell GLWTS

i'd second london calling + any of the scientist (reggae) album covers. I have this on my wall &

These are great on long rides. http://www.geigerrig.com/hydration-packs.html Only issue I enter found is the crush your sandwiches!

Flyboy was making them, there should be a post in the member traders section. I've not seen the post pop up in awhile so he may not be doing it any more. ***Edit *** looks like you found it by yourself! If anyone locates this post before the traders post the link is: http://www.350z-uk.com/topic/66311-flyboy-mirror-auto-fold-module-10-more-in-stock/page__st__260

Who did the carbon dip?

Surely you've done the BOSE hack and turned your Tape deck into an MP3 player already? No need for CD's, 2 *120GB Ipod classics is all I need in my car. Not sure I've even tried the CD player.