Freelander 1 track rod end-price-rip off?

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
D

dave1419

New Member
Posts
69
Location
newcastle upon tyne
:mad:Hello everybody,can you tell me if this is right.agreed to have my Freelander 1 given an MOT and 60000 ml service,price agreed of £320inc vat- ish,during service got a call to say car needed OSF track rod [one]end,thought he said £36 +vat.they called back to say car was ready,total cost for job is £320 as agreed + £136 +vat for t/r/end.i went ballistic with them,managed to get £50 notes back but £136+vat for one TRE,was told that all 4 wheels had to be retracked/is that correct?The Land Rover dealer is in Cleveland/North East and i thought that they were half decent,but this has clearly changed my mind.Will use independents in future.BANDITS is the word that comes to mind---Cheers Dave:mad::mad:
 
your sure some of that price is not for fitting the part? as i know 4 wheel tracking can cost 70plus
 
sounds right to me....

TRE + fitting + 4 wheel alignment.

Most wheel alignment equipment does 4 wheels now. Even if the back cant be adjusted the gauges have to be fitted as it works out thrust angles such like. They probably have a set price for wheel alignment, we do, 1 hour @ £74 ( 74 + tre + fitting) youd be the same price here :D
 
I had four wheel digital alignment ( properly ) carried out on the FL last Saturday for a cost of € 40 ( £33.31 ).
Unfortunatley one of the two locking setscrews on the NS steering arm sheared which meant I had to remove the steering arm to free off and remove the sheared stud.
It entailed splitting the TRE and unbolting the torx headed bolt from the rack. Took 5 minutes at most . This allowed me to carry out the job on the vice.
Replacement took the same time so if I was only replacing TRE it would have taken me 10 minutes.
So 10 minutes labour or 15 minutes if you include jacking up and placing axle stands under car !!!!! cost of TRE + alignment .
You decide .
 
It doesnt work like that....

Times are set by the manufacture, it doesn’t matter if your some kind of super hero car fixer that can fit a TRE in 30 seconds, if the book says half an hour then that’s what you pay. The time includes driving car in to workshop, raising car on ramp, getting part from store, fitting part, rebuilding. All the same tasks it'll take you, an Indipendant or main dealer, only it WILL take you longer to get the part in the first place. :D



But the time does not include spending half an hour looking for the locking wheel not key and phoning the customer only to find out that “that’s what that thing was...hmmm is in the shed”!! Some folk so deserve to be ripped off!!
 
My brother has just had a full service done on his freelander (Old version 1) and he needed 2 track rod ends. It also included a full brake disc and drum inspection/ all new filters (Pollen/fuel/crank case etc.) and 5 new caps for the wheel nuts and removal tool. Its also included a minor SRS fault diagnostic. He paid £360 all in. Thought that was a damn good price.
I would say you were overcharged !!!
His was done by Alltrack4x4. A small local 4x4 garage.
 
Last edited:
Well thanks for the replys my friends,i just thought that they were taking the w**,why do they have to check and adjust all four wheels,has it got something to do with the perm 4 wheel drive.mind you would not part with my motor,been a godsend during the last weather we have had up north.--Cheers DAVE
 
EeEk said:
It doesnt work like that....

Times are set by the manufacture, it doesn’t matter if your some kind of super hero car fixer that can fit a TRE in 30 seconds, if the book says half an hour then that’s what you pay. The time includes driving car in to workshop, raising car on ramp, getting part from store, fitting part, rebuilding. All the same tasks it'll take you, an Indipendant or main dealer, only it WILL take you longer to get the part in the first place. :D



But the time does not include spending half an hour looking for the locking wheel not key and phoning the customer only to find out that “that’s what that thing was...hmmm is in the shed”!! Some folk so deserve to be ripped off!!
Click to expand...

Sounds like you've taken the Main Dealers or Independents to heart .;)

I deliberatly suggested that Dave 1419 decides what is or is not value by merely pointing out the actual time and ease involved in changing a TRE on a FL.
And sorry but nobody deserves to be ripped off . Not every one is a super hero car fixer .........
 
Last edited:
Just managed to squeeze 50 notes out of them,still think they think that we are all walking around with wads of notes in our trousers and they would like nothing better that rip us off.---Dave
 
Well at least you got summut back from them. Mind you, the buggers shouldn't of robbed ya in the first place.
Out of interest what did you say to them to get the 50 notes back ?
 
:violent:Just told them to pay up OR ELSE. I argued the toss to them about charging 136 +vat to fit a 15 quit track rod end, i would not let the matter go,and now they have lost some of the paperwork out of the handbook-waiting to hear about that! Anyway-anybody local to Newcastle/Tyne who can recommend a decent LR garage.--DAVE:rolly:
 
To be fair if you use a main dealer costs are astronomical. If you don't agree with it learn how to do it yourself or refuse to have the work done and go else where. Only you can agree to have the work done, if you didn't agree to having the work done in the 1st place and they charged you for it anyway don't pay it.
 
At the end of the day did you ask for four wheel alignment or just the TRE to be fitted? If the latter then that's what they should have done. Anything more should have been cleared with you beforehand or explained that it may be necessary; and I bet they didn't need to change anything at the back end. A couple of runs over a Trakrite gauge would give an indication as to whether the new end was on far enough. OK it's not a laser aligner costing thousands but............
 
Last edited:
dave1419 said:
:violent:Just told them to pay up OR ELSE. I argued the toss to them about charging 136 +vat to fit a 15 quit track rod end, i would not let the matter go,and now they have lost some of the paperwork out of the handbook-waiting to hear about that! Anyway-anybody local to Newcastle/Tyne who can recommend a decent LR garage.--DAVE:rolly:
Click to expand...

have you tryed the landrover garage at the teams vally near the angel of the north they are cheaper than the main stealers?
 
hippolover said:
At the end of the day did you ask for four wheel alignment or just the TRE to be fitted? If the latter then that's what they should have done. Anything more should have been cleared with you beforehand or explained that it may be necessary; and I bet they didn't need to change anything at the back end. A couple of runs over a Trakrite gauge would give an indication as to whether the new end was on far enough. OK it's not a laser aligner costing thousands but............
Click to expand...
Hello my friend,they insisted that that was normal practice and it did not matter if it was for one or both TRE's,i told them that the rear axle had not had any work done to it and there was no adverse tyre wear at all.Another thing they said that was the car had to be LOADED! to be tracked properly-ie,the car would have to be filled with passengers to enable a proper tracking procedure to be carried out.i asked the question-when LR are having these cars made have they a squad of blokes waiting for the cars to come along so they can all climb in and the vehicle will be tracked {proper like]!,i think its a load of tosh-thanks for your veiws--Dave
 
i think its a load of tosh
Click to expand...
Your right it is. The wheel alignment is just to make the wheel line up squarely. When its got weight in it the wheels will still line up, its only the camber that will change with weight in the car.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Track Rod End & Ball Joint
Replies
5
Views
667
Andy Warren
Andy Warren
R
Freelander 1 td4 “the misfire”
Replies
10
Views
1K
Ross Tait
R
300bhp/ton
Freelander vs Range Rover off road flex test....
Replies
16
Views
2K
GrumpyGel
GrumpyGel
R
Freelander 2 intermittent dashboard cluster
Replies
6
Views
1K
Nodge68
Nodge68
CarlosVanDango
track rod end taper size
Replies
3
Views
960
RangeRoller dt
RangeRoller dt
Back
Top