Friend of mine couldn’t start her Tigra the other morning. She got her spare key started the kar and went to the nearest garage where she was told that her key is useless now (she’s got the simplest key with no central locking – just old double sides teethed key + Immobilizer) and she needs a new one. I understand that they might not know how to pair the key with a car, or that Immo might be broken but the best thing it that they quoted her £160-180 for a spare key!! I said, that it’s a complete rip off but she just didn’t believe me, so I called local Vauxhall and it would cost her £78 +VAT to get one from them. She looked at me like I would be offering her a dodgy thing so advised her to call them herself.
I am so often so surprised how much people pay to dodgy garages for things they can get cheaper from car dealer, but they still base their price opinion on garage. quote “If garage offers me X price, then Vx will charge me 2x” - wrong! I know that dealer is not cheap but why don’t people just call them before making any decision? If I would have to pay £220 for a “mobile mechanic” to come and service my car (friend left his car 2 times and guy was too busy to come) than I would go to Southampton for example (Picador Vx dealer) and do a proper service with VX service stamp for £230. Where’s logic in this?