Dealer charging £140 to diagnose a problem

[Jaygee]

I just wanted to get a general feel on what you forumites think about something that has me quite riled up.
The rear wash wiper of my 2yr 10 month old zs trophy long range stopped spraying.
The wiper works and I can hear the washer pump whir when the wash wiper knob is twirled. There is no spray. I contacted my local dealer who said that they will look at this. The work will be covered by warranty if it is a warranty issue. If not they will charge me a £140 diagnostic fee. Whatever repair they then do will be on top. I have never in my lifetime of owning some 10 different makes of cars over a 20 year period, heard of such a thing. This just has me very disgusted.
Is this something that is to be expected? If so what do people think of the diagnostic charge. What hourly rate are they charging?

 

[Roldorf]

Lots of threads on the forum search for rear washer, e.g.:- MG ZS EV Rear washer blocked

Usually caused by disconnected washer pipe.

 

[Jomarkh]

The first time mine went in for a service I had a 3-4 small issues I wanted checking and they said there was an inspection fee for each one. They were all done without a charge.

 

[maskull]

The first time mine went in for a service I had a 3/4 small issues I wanted checking and they said there was an inspection fee for each one. They were all done without a charge.

Same here . No charge

 

[fred12345]

Call another dealer, see what they say. Yes, lot of people want "diagnostic fee" for everything, from cars to washing machines...

 

[Kenp1]

It's quite a common thing, I had it was mentioned for my Kia when the clutch pack failed. The fee wasn't charged as it was a warranty fix.

 

[Data]

Same here. No issues with my MG, but lots of issues with my new Skoda. Each time there was a diagnostic charge, sometimes a very large fee. This was then waived after finding an issue if covered under warranty. I had so many big warranty issues with that car resulting in me rejecting the car & getting a full refund plus compensation.

 

[alvisbob]

I got ripped off by Dicksons of Inverness, they charged me a diagnostic fee of £312, I had to pay this before they would look at the problem with the front passenger electric window not working, they said it would be returned if the fault was covered by the warranty, as my ZS LR Trophy was only 11 mths old I was confident that it was covered, they diagnosed a motor failure and confirmed that it was a warranty item, I asked about the return of the diagnostic fee and they made some excuse of needing MG’s approval of the repair, the motor arrived and the car was booked in to have it fitted, but then they discovered it wasn’t the motor it was a fault with the wiring loom. They got and fitted a new wiring loom and I went in to collect the repaired car, I again asked about the return of the diagnostic fee and again they said MG needed to approve the repair, I wasn’t very happy and told them so but it was only the girl on the desk so I said I expected a refund asap and left, three days later I got a call from the service manager to say that as they had spent several hours on my car that MG would not pay for they were keeping the diagnostic fee to pay towards this, I argued that it was their mistake making the wrong diagnosis in the first place and I shouldn’t be penalised for this, they were adamant that they were keeping my money and that’s it, I tried to get it back from the credit card company but my claim was rejected as I didn’t have anything in writing to say the fee would be returned if the car was repaired under warranty

 

[fred12345]

I got ripped off by

Happend to me too on another faulty item but I think I'm going to take mine to ombudsman after I try nicely with my dealer. Not the same dealership as yours.

Garages seem to be near useless in figuring out what's wrong with the car

 

[salty]

I can sort of understanding, charging for diagnostics, as long as it's then waived if it's a warranty claim. On another forum (Mercedes) I still go on, a member on there, paid £400 for diagnostics. And it was proved to be a warranty claim, and apparently he's not getting that £400 Back. He's obviously fighting it. So it's certainly not just an MG thing.

 

[fred12345]

I can sort of understanding, charging for diagnostics, as long as it's then waived if it's a warranty claim. On another forum (Mercedes) I still go on, a member on there, paid £400 for diagnostics. And it was proved to be a warranty claim, and apparently he's not getting that £400 Back. He's obviously fighting it. So it's certainly not just an MG thing.

Yes, I agree, it's the norm these days for all dealerships... And yes, I can understand charging £100 or so to diagnose the fault if not obvious, but I can't accept £200 to check the first item, find out it's not that, then charge £200 for the second item just to find out it's not that either, then charge £200 for third item .. and so on...

Not an MG thing so no complaints about MG. And also, I see no reason why would MG pay for mechanics inability to diagnose properly...

 

[BOB353]

I would be finding another stealer, they are just getting it both ways.

 

[salty]

I would be finding another stealer, they are just getting it both ways.

They'd probably do the same thing. You can't expect them to spend, say an hour, looking for a fault, (That's not obviously, obvious) only to find it's not a warranty claim. They could spend hours a week, doing that. Don't get wrong, I'm no fan of dealers, but let's be realistic.

 

[Robf]

Ah dick sons of Inverness (and Dingwall, not sure if they are still there), how that takes me back. Give citizens advice a call, they will not only give you advice with one of their experts over the phone, but willl also supply you with letter (and email) templates you can use to put them properly in their place. Its important to do it the right way but is so easy and satisfying.

 

[salty]

You won't pay the diagnostic fee. If it's proven to be a warranty item. You probably spoke to someone, who didn't know what they where taking about. Which wouldn't suprise me at all.

 

[Gadget Geek]

My first recourse would be to contact MG yourself and clarify that the work was under warranty and get them to email that back to you. You then have evidence to present to the shady dealer that the money you paid must be returned. Give them 7 days to put it back into your account, and if they don't, go to the small claims court and issue a summons for the amount plus expenses.

 

[Data]

As per what Gadget Geek says above. But it's also important to realise not all faults are easily diagnosed & can often need considerable work to check. And of course errors do occur. You may still not get your money back in a small claims court.

 

[salty]

As per what Gadget Geek says above. But it's also important to realise not all faults are easily diagnosed & can often need considerable work to check. And of course errors do occur. You may still not get your money back in a small claims court.

If the dealer has stated and you've got proof, (proof is the important part, word of mouth can be denied) that's it's a warranty issue. You almost certainly would. How can you not?

 

[Data]

If the dealer has stated and you've got proof, (proof is the important part, word of mouth can be denied) that's it's a warranty issue. You almost certainly would. How can you not?

I was a tech years ago. Manufacturers will often pick up most of or even all of the diagnosis costs even if the diagnosis isn't quite right. If it's wholly wrong they may not. That's been my experience. When diagnosing a fault, particularly electro mechanical or pure electrical you would mostly always be right with your diagnosis. But sometimes it would turn out that your diagnosis would be wrong due to an unexpected issue such as a loom fault rather than a component fault. It's difficult to distinguish between these situations sometimes. To make a diagnosis you've already carried out significant work & your diagnosis turns out to be wrong. This work still has to be paid for even though the diagnosis is wrong if the work carried out was reasonable in attempting to fix the issue. But often our service dept would not charge the whole amount to the customer if the diagnosis was incorrect. It is recognised in law that there has to be some give & take on behalf of both parties in cases like this. As long as the garage is acting in good faith (that's usually provable) & the court can see no attempt to mislead has taken place then the verdict may not go completely in favour of the customer. But the court may recommend sharing of the costs if that hasn't already been offered. Frequently if a customer goes to court the case is either thrown out after a hearing or the costs of the work are split between garage & customer. Some cases can look clear cut but often that's not the case when you look at the detail. Customers often don't understand the complexities or the law.

The only other thing to remember is that court cases can be a nightmare for both parties. Don't ask how I know. I've been an expert witness in several cases over the years. Usually these were simple cases that should never have gone to court...but such is life.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The small claims court is not a magistrates or county court. You pay a fee, fill out the form, giving all the dates, proof, etc, and then the summons is issued. The defendant has 14 days to respond to the summons. If they ignore it, (which was the case in the first summons I ever issued) they lose by default and either pay up or the baliffs pay them a visit.