Sratstones quoted £696 to change air springs

[bdinsley]

My off-side rear suspension spring leaked on my 2004 TD5 discovery and so I called the Land Rover Service Centre, Stratstones at Houghton-le-Spring near Sunderland to ask them to quote for suplying and fitting two new air suspension springs. The service manager quoted £696 incl Vat. Astonished, I asked him how much the air springs were and he replied £234 each!!!

I bought two new ones from Paddock parts for £63.8 each plus Vat plus £5 for delivery. It took me just less than 1 hour to fit them following the very comprehensive instructions I found on the Landy Zone forum (many thanks for that!).

I can only conclude that Stratstones like to make a huge mark up on their parts and on their labour charge too. How can they justify such a simple job for just short of 700 quid? Incidentally, the service manager told me they would calibrate the height sensors. But, why would you need to do that if you don't touch them when replacing the air springs?

My new springs are working well and I'm very pleased with the job that I did for less than £200.

The phrase "daylight robbery" springs to mind.

 

[blackvulcan100]

It just goes to show what fecking robbers main dealers are,I would not go near them.
If I cant do it myself I have a good local garage who I can trust, used them for years,never been robbed.

 

[sierrafery]

That's one reason for why i'm carrying all those bits and tools in the boot.

 

[cobra_mark]

Well it took me a morning to fit at a leisurely pace and cost me only the price of the dunlop airbags from Paddocks, £696 seems steep!!!! look at www.discovery2.co.uk great guide.

 

[Mr Noisy]

What a joke!

They would do better off of the charged reasonable prices for lots of jobs than crazy money for a few rich people.

Two springs, 150 quid, and about 30 minutes - job done!

 

[sierrafery]

What a joke!

They would do better off of the charged reasonable prices for lots of jobs than crazy money for a few rich people.

Two springs, 150 quid, and about 30 minutes - job done!

why???...it's a kind of management policy.....they'll end up after a week with the same money but more rested...........untill their business will rest for good.......or not

 

[discool]

It costs my company just under £300 to keep an electrican plus vehicle, plant fuel, parking etc per day, thats before they have left the office, then there's the office staff, phones, PC's etc etc.

We don't have no where near the overheads of a Land Rover Main dealer with their fitters, support staff, tools and stock, but we only charge on a day per electrician bases so if he finishes early who's going to pay for the rest of the day he's not going to start another job at 3:30pm so the customer must.

It's only after a break down on the Stratstones prices and another Main dealer can we judge if it's unfair/ too expensive. Stratstones in London did charge £65 + vat ph when my disco was main dealer serviced..

My disco's full service at an independant a month ago was £550 and it was completed in a morning an LR main dealer would like £800 plus.

I'm glad I DIY the basic oil changes my self around £30

 

[Snowey]

.

I'm glad I DIY the basic oil changes my self around £30

Buy yourself the two filters and take them along to your local Kuik Fit.

They'll charge you £25 for the oil alone, and they will probably be happy to fit your filters.

I did this recently. For £25 that is a lot of oil and they do it for you.

 

[CharlesY]

Buy yourself the two filters and take them along to your local Kuik Fit.

They'll charge you £25 for the oil alone, and they will probably be happy to fit your filters.

I did this recently. For £25 that is a lot of oil and they do it for you.

Then all that oil is taken away, fitered, washed, graded, and sold to their customers next month.

CharlesY

 

[discool]

Buy yourself the two filters and take them along to your local Kuik Fit.

They'll charge you £25 for the oil alone, and they will probably be happy to fit your filters.

I did this recently. For £25 that is a lot of oil and they do it for you.

I'm also including with the engine oil the two axle diffs and the Tbox oil in my costs and all of that takes me just over a hour

If I gave Kwik Fit two filters I bet they would keep one and tell me both have been fitted

 

[Snowey]

No, oil is new semi synthetic.

Besides I know someone who works there.

And yes I did watch them do it.

 

[M6SJG]

I've just had a full service done on my Disco at an independant Garage in Notts for £280 and they did a great Job, noticable difference - I think £550 is exorbitant never mind the main dealer prices...

 

[bdinsley]

It costs my company just under £300 to keep an electrican plus vehicle, plant fuel, parking etc per day, thats before they have left the office, then there's the office staff, phones, PC's etc etc.

We don't have no where near the overheads of a Land Rover Main dealer with their fitters, support staff, tools and stock, but we only charge on a day per electrician bases so if he finishes early who's going to pay for the rest of the day he's not going to start another job at 3:30pm so the customer must.

It's only after a break down on the Stratstones prices and another Main dealer can we judge if it's unfair/ too expensive. Stratstones in London did charge £65 + vat ph when my disco was main dealer serviced..

My disco's full service at an independant a month ago was £550 and it was completed in a morning an LR main dealer would like £800 plus.

I'm glad I DIY the basic oil changes my self around £30

It could be that they only want to do warranty work. That way, they can charge the earth for parts and man-hours, and only Land Rover can complain??

They quote massive charges for simple jobs because they don't really want the job. It's not lucrative enough???

 

[discool]

I've just had a full service done on my Disco at an independant Garage in Notts for £280 and they did a great Job, noticable difference - I think £550 is exorbitant never mind the main dealer prices...

All filters, plugs, all fluids except coolent and a visual check on every thing to full LR service spec I thought was good, there's a bit of work involved in changing the ATF and filter which does add to the price. The last main dealer service was £720.

Move down south for £3.40+ a pint of bitter and larger at £4.00+.

 

[bdinsley]

All filters, plugs, all fluids except coolent and a visual check on every thing to full LR service spec I thought was good, there's a bit of work involved in changing the ATF and filter which does add to the price. The last main dealer service was £720.

Move down south for £3.40+ a pint of bitter and larger at £4.00+.

Eye by gum lad... it's cold up north! 3 and 6 for fish n chips, A night at the pictures and there's nowt left from a quid!

 

[discool]

It could be that they only want to do warranty work. That way, they can charge the earth for parts and man-hours, and only Land Rover can complain??

They quote massive charges for simple jobs because they don't really want the job. It's not lucrative enough???

I could believe that, with new vehicles to maintain the warranty conditions they must service the vehicle. Go into the very nice dealer workshops and on the ramps are all newish vehicles.
Both my LR's had extended warranties so 5 years each which was £700-£900 a year on top of the annual servicing.

I'm glad I don't have an Italan sports car with a £5000 servicing.

 

[spanishlair]

Main dealers can charge whatever they can get away with for non warrenty work. Warrenty work is differerent. All issues are covered in a guide issued by the vehicles maker. It sets out the time they say a job will take. So for example replace air springs...45 mins ( targets are often not realistic). That is all the maker will wear for a labour charge under warrenty... As related by the ex service manager of Nissan Sunderland, drinking my beer on my sofa.

 

[bdinsley]

Main dealers can charge whatever they can get away with for non warrenty work. Warrenty work is differerent. All issues are covered in a guide issued by the vehicles maker. It sets out the time they say a job will take. So for example replace air springs...45 mins ( targets are often not realistic). That is all the maker will wear for a labour charge under warrenty... As related by the ex service manager of Nissan Sunderland, drinking my beer on my sofa.

"As related by the ex service manager of Nissan Sunderland, drinking my beer on my sofa."

You should charge him three times what you paid for it

 

[M6SJG]

Servicing cost - Just for info the breakdown on mine was £82 for materials £147 for labour and the rest on VAT. My guess is that the labour is simply cheaper up here (or I've found a cheap garage!). I'm getting my transfer box stripped down and all the seals replaced tomorrow and the quote was £260.

 

[bdinsley]

Servicing cost - Just for info the breakdown on mine was £82 for materials £147 for labour and the rest on VAT. My guess is that the labour is simply cheaper up here (or I've found a cheap garage!). I'm getting my transfer box stripped down and all the seals replaced tomorrow and the quote was £260.

Hope it goes well. You never know, you may actually have found a garage offering fair value for money. If they do a good job, then they're worth going back to.

I've been checking on-line and found a LR specialist just a few miles along the road from where I live. Next time my Disco goes tits up, I'll give them a try, unless it's a relatively straight-forward task, because I like tinkering. Changing the air springs was quite an easy job which I enjoyed doing!

Cheers,,,, Brian