How Many Mechanics Does It Take To Change A.....

[Yadrah]

No, not the lead up to an old joke.

04 Avensis. Just had my aux belt replaced by a main dealer. It was a normal main dealer experience, very polite, a coffee, comfy seat and a washed car afterwards but the bill was £171 in total. It was in there just under an hour in total but I was charged for 1 hr 50min (I was originally told to expect to wait two+ hours). When I questioned this I was told that it took two mechanics to change it. Seemed a long time and excessive for two mechanics to be needed. Anyone else had this done recently who could comment?

Edit - it's a 1.8 T2 petrol

[alan333]

Not sure which model you have but i changed the alternator belt on my t25 1.8vvti in minutes.

[gazza1286]

The belt from eBay costs 22.99 so will be available locally for a similar amount. (genuine from Toyota about 50pounds?). Changing the belt consists of removal of a couple of plastic shields to gain access - 5 mins. Then release the belt tensioner which allows the old belt to come off and the new on back on - 5 mins. Then replace the shields - 5 mins. The rest of the time would be checking emails/texts and playing Angry Birds. So 1hr 50mins sounds about right to me.

[Druid Boy]

Unfortunately as they told you to expect a couple of hours and you let them do the job you are b*gg*red. It seems a bit steep though.

[Yadrah]

Thanks all. It does rather sound like I've been done over. That'll teach me for not shopping around and relying on 'Main dealer' honesty. Well I won't be going back there again.

[pauljj]

blimey,i kept asking my garage to change mine and they said it doesn't need doing,when i got rid of it it had done 171000 thousand mines as a taxi,more like 250000 to a normal car,no problems at all

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

If i may so...1hr 50mins...is absolutely C.R.A.Z.Y...I remember doing the drive/aux belt on my 2001 1.8 Avensis SR in under 20mins...and did it on my current 1.6 2006 Corolla last year in under 5...literally...its so easy...and i'm a woman...so long as you put the new 1 on in the same way the old 1 came off and you pay strength and attention that your spanner doesn't slip off that tensioner...your laughing!

[Waterford26]

my belt changed within 10 minutes by myself in front of my house ;)

[Druid Boy]

Um, I'm not sure that we are helping Yadrah feel any better just now, with our tales of 'my kid did it in two minutes and he's only two years old' stories..............

I guess its just another of those lessons in life we all have filed away in our memory banks, chalked up as 'experience'.

Yadrah, we've all been there. Every last one of us. We just don't like to admit it.

[Yadrah]

Well thanks for all the replies, amusing and constructive alike. You (mostly :P) went a long way to supporting my view that the garage was taking the p*ss.

I decided to go to Toyota directly. They've take the details, opened a case and said they'd get back to me. Hopefully this will end in me getting some satisfation and the dealer in question not being so quick to rip off loyal customers. On the other hand it may end up with my name going up in the dealers 'black book of customers to avoid'

I'll let you know the outcome.

[mrpj]

"On the other hand it may end up with my name going up in the dealers 'black book of customers to avoid' "

Or on the other hand it might end up with the dealer's name going into your little black book of those to avoid! :P

[Yadrah]

Latest and probably last update. The dealership rang to tell me that, they had been reviewing their paperwork and had discovered I had been wrongly quoted at 1.8hours for the job when it should have been 0.8 hrs and that quote had then ended up on the final bill. As a result I've been refunded £43.53.

They are still adamant that two technicians are required to do the job and that between them it takes 48min, something I still find hard to believe.

I told him I'd been in contact with Toyota customer services and asked if they had been in contact with him. He said no they hadn't ....strange that 'cos when I rang Toyota to chase the case I'd raised with them they said they contacted the dealer and asked them to look into it and to be more careful on quoting for jobs. I can't see that changing their culture nor will it pursuade me to ever go back there

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

NICE 1

However at £171.00 and then a refund of £43.53 = £127.47 charged... just to change a drive belt is still pretty expensive in my books...considering that they mis-charged you i would have asked for more...but then thats the dealers/stealers for you...even if they do have massive overheads

But atleast you got a result...good on you mate!