UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I took my polo for its MOT yesterday for it to fail on rear bushes. At hi-q they said they would cost £95 each plus half a days labour. I walked away from that thinking that sounds a bit steep. Ive gone to some1 i know that specialises in vw's and he said he could get me good quality 1s for £12 each! Bloody rob dogs! Has any1 else been ripped off by hi-q!? I reckon its just cos im female and i was alone so they thought id take them up on it. Im in 2 minds whether to make a complaint or not!

That's loads u can get polybushes for 60

I have no connection with Hi-Q and have never been near them, but, I'd reckon that they are quoting for replacing the complete consoles and not just the bearings as they and a few other places that employ "fitters" will not want to risk cracking the consoles when just replacing these bushes - and probably don't hold the tooling to do that job. The correct route will be as you have found, an indie that specialises in VAG cars. Maybe even ask them to fit the Seat Ibiza Cupra ones which should last a lot longer - though might cause a bit more road noise - not in my wife's car, it is a 1.4SE, but some folk have reported extra noise, I was warned about this but with this model of car there was no extra harshness, only better turn-in!

you did right to walk away, you could complain and see what they come up with for a laugh, i wouldnt waste the time on them though especially as it probably wont go anywhere, also if the specialist you know doesnt do mot's themselves ask them who they would reccommend so you know for next time

£95 each? That's garbage. You'd be able to get Powerflex bushes all round for that much!

Ash

Why complain? It is a free market after all. They are free to charge whatever they like for whatever job. If you don't like the price, then walk away. I don't see why that should be deemed 'criminal' and they should be lambasted on the forum for charging over the odds for the work? Main Dealers do it all the time with their £120 +VAT per hour labour rates...

You did the right thing in walking away. You really should never take your car to these places as they will always find something to fail the car on

I can put what i like on here! If ya dont like it dont look or write a reply..simple

ihpj wrote: I don't see why that should be deemed 'criminal' and they should be lambasted on the forum for charging over the odds for the work? Main Dealers do it all the time with their £120 +VAT per hour labour rates...

the dealers are "supposed" to know what they are doing when it comes to their own make of cars though (whether they do or not sometimes is a different story), hi-q and similar places should just stick to tyres and exhausts
either way labour rates are stupid.. the poor sod actually doing the work in most cases will barely get 10% of what was charged as hourly rate

anyway... to the OP hope you get it all sorted reasonably enough

88rsr wrote:the dealers are "supposed" to know what they are doing when it comes to their own make of cars though (whether they do or not sometimes is a different story), hi-q and similar places should just stick to tyres and exhausts
either way labour rates are stupid.. the poor sod actually doing the work in most cases will barely get 10% of what was charged as hourly rate...

I totally agree, but we're not talking about talking about competency or take home pay. Its about the feeling people have they are being 'ripped off'. Which they might be, but ultimately, you have to agree to the work (or not). So the choice remains yours.

fair doos i know that wasnt exactly the subject more of a little rant, anyway i think its more the fact theyre trying to say that parts that cost 12 quid or so elswhere are going to cost 95 quid, i think anyone who knows the prices can say thats a rip off
as to half a days labour, that could possibly be the case, but i wouldnt have thought that either with the correct tools

Yes, I agree that using a dealer with high hourly rates should end up being cheaper as they have the proper tools and and the training to use them, but it is my unfortunate experience to find out that yes you get charged the higher labour rates and mainly no the experience is not there, a few years ago I got both front hub bearings replaced and they ended up chopping the brake wear wiring on one side and tucked the ends up away out of sight, now last month they replaced both TRE and reused the original bolts which firstly have "crushed" nuts so should get replaced and secondly replaced one special bolt with an ordinary hex headed bolts that would have become a nightmare to remove few years down the line. So, why in the interest of working more efficiently, did they not order up a complete set of bolts to do this job (£6.88) as they had to order in a pair of TREs? I tend to do that even if it's slight OTT and might end up costing £10 more - when my car is in my garage up on stands it is unusable - and that is not good. Too many main dealers still think that private owner/drivers own a car just for fun - wake up! (that was another rant!)

Hi well i got my car done with the bloke i knew and it cost 125. No1 likes parting with money! But its better than the hundreds id had to have paid at hi-q. Ive got my re-test tues so it had better pass!! Forums are what rants are for and for people to help others etc so rant away if it helps..i did!

laura_82 wrote:Hi well i got my car done with the bloke i knew and it cost 125. No1 likes parting with money! But its better than the hundreds id had to have paid at hi-q. Ive got my re-test tues so it had better pass!! Forums are what rants are for and for people to help others etc so rant away if it helps..i did!

Glad you got it sorted, and a better price too!
Goodluck with the retest!

I had a tyre bulge so Hi-q replaced it (advised by dad who gets all work and family vehicles fixed there), paid a bit more and got a better one than the budget assuming it would be best.
3 months down the line the car makes a noise and the ride feels bumpish..assumed it was the wheel balancing so took it to a garage, they said infact it was it the tyre "its twisted as its an old tyre" it was only after i paid and drove out that it was the tyre i had Hi-q replace.
Wont be using them again.