Car breakdown, reliability and repairs


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Years ago on a tour of the Williams F1 facility they had a Ferrari given  to them under a deal to release Alesi from his contract. The engineering they said was superb, but the electrics were so amateurish they looked like it came from a FIAT500

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VW - Virtually Worthless

Toyota - The One You Ought To Avoid

Honda - Hopeless Owners Never Drive Again

Kia - Kick It's Arse

Lotus - Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious

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For the last few years I’d had breakdown cover with Green Flag, although I‘ve never had to use them

 

When the renewal came up a couple of weeks ago the price had gone from £74 to £95, which I thought was a bit steep.

 

A visit to Money Supermarket produced several quotes around £35-£45…..including one from Green Flag.  Their renewal of my long-standing membership wanted £95; if I went to them from their website as a new customer I’d get the same coverage for £40.

 

I went with the RAC for £38.

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On 3/31/2024 at 7:15 PM, Cliff Ton said:

Their renewal of my long-standing membership wanted £95; if I went to them from their website as a new customer I’d get the same coverage for £40.

This practice of giving new customers discounts to join or become members really pi$$es me off. Obviously loyalty gets no rewards. It then becomes necessary to shop around for a new deal every year and of course the companies rely on customers not doing so. A rip off in a new guise.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/31/2024 at 7:15 PM, Cliff Ton said:

Their renewal of my long-standing membership wanted £95; if I went to them from their website as a new customer I’d get the same coverage for £40.

The company I buy my electricity from, we do not have a mains gas supply here, is offering new customers a $200 credit on their first bill if they switch to them. What about their existing loyal customers? They get SFA. Thanks for your loyalty.

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We got the rear light bulb problem on our Audi S8  finally sorted yesterday at AMB near the Range roundabout by Meadow Lane.  Despite Poole Audi and Nottingham Sytner Audi not being able to locate the necessary parts required.  A slight crack on the lens caused damp to get inside.  The bill was just short of £1000 !! 

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39 minutes ago, LizzieM said:

The bill was just short of £1000

What happened to the days when you could just open the boot or the hatch, pull back a bit of the carpet, take off a cover. twist the bulb out and pop in a new one. A few quid and away you go. Ease and cost of assembly of the vehicle trumps serviceability every time. Quite often the visibility of the modern light clusters is a lot less than the older cars.

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That figure explains why car insurance is so high these days. 

 

Imagine a car involved in a minor shunt and the front end being slightly bent; if one headlight costs £1k how much would the whole front end cost (eg. radiator, bumper, grille, etc).

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Thats why so many motors are written off these days

 

Rog

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4 years ago i purchased a new Audi when it had 800 miles on the clock a van cut me up and put a small dint on my front wing and a mark on the headlight , the other drivers paid for a new head light, £1000, and a new wing . It took them a week to do this and I was loaned a brand new Skoda 4wheel drive SUV ,how much all this cost I hate to think. You are correct this is why insurance rates are so high the garages must enjoy this.

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That’s one of the downsides of LED lights on modern cars. When there’s a problem, the whole cluster usually has to be replaced.
 

A quick search of the internet shows that rear light clusters for an S8 retail at just under £420, so the rest must have been a charge for diagnosing it, fitting it, and reprogramming the car to recognise it.

 

And from my experience, cracks in rear light clusters are mainly down to the screws being over tightened when they were fitted.

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On the itemised bill the Lens was £396, Chrome Trim (that cannot be removed without breaking it) was £147, 3 hours Labour £240, total £783.50 + VAT, Total £940.20.     Never mind, it’s only money!! 

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