Car told me something is wrong with ABS 👿
Rang Subaru to see what could be wrong, and for the effort of pulling a lever inside the car to release the bonnet (very hard and technical work), to locate the little lever under the bonnet and then carefully raise the bonnet (here comes another tricky bit) unclip the arm and put the end of it the right hole in the bonnet to make sure the bonnet stays open. (phew)

Now, they had to find the computer terminal plug in the engine bay (and I'm sorry if I lose you here, as it gets quite tricky) connect the lead to the analytics computer in the garage!

Press ENTER or some other fiendishly difficult set of commands on the analyitics computer (which I'm sure took many months training to master) and then look very concerned at a piece of paper said computer spits out to tell me which sensor is not working.

Cost?

£50! Based upon half an hours labour!

Give me a break!

You thing that's bad, £250 just to do a diagnostic on the steering on my BMW after whacking it into a curb.

£50! Based upon half an hours labour!

Give me a break!

And how much do you think that diagnostic kit costs to buy then?

Give me a break………

you wouldn't be able to design the diagnostics machine, design the software, deliver it out etc… for 50 quid though eh…

£50 isn't bad compared to some stories I hear of…

Wow!

I may even go back to driving pre computer controlled vehicles! Something simple lick a camper and old Lotus to get to work.

Would be greener too I wager!

The diag computers are in the region of 10K a pop and require software updates fairly regularly that they have to pay for. For things like ABS and transmission woes they're not even covered by the OBDII system so a "generic" £25 ebay code reader won't find it. Gone are the days when manufacturers included DIY style diagnositcs on things like that – my old toyota you short a connector and drive about for a bit watching the ABS light for fault flashes (like the old OBD1 engine management fault code flashers).

Peterpoddy, my issue is this:

If you go to a garage to find out what has failed on your car, why should you be charged in advance of the garage doing the work to fix said car?

I know a Lotus specialist that has to raise the cost of doing timing belts as the only piece of kit capable of measuring the correct belt tension is £4000! That I can understand.

Car dealers giving you a diagnostic report from a machine they no doubt have to ow to be a main dealer is part of a set up cost. Why pass this on to your customer?

Terribly sorry mr customer, your car developed a fault under normal use. We now intend to charge you for the privilege of finding out which bit failed!

That makes no sense to me.

If it took 3 hours to do a dict inspection of the car, then yes, I'd happily pay. But I'm taking umbrage for having to pay 0.5 hours labour to plug my car into a computer!

So keep your £50 and see how far you get by yourself.

It costs money to run a business, seems fair that if you engage someone to investigate something for you that they charge. Take the VAT off and it's £42:55 ish

If there is effort involved, I agree.

In my business, if a customer wants to know how much they use of our product, we as a company an spend many hours defining an accurate report for that customer, and we don't charge for this service.

Why?

Because customer service is not a thing to charge your customers for. If you show willing to help, the customers will buy from you, especially ( in this instance with my ABS sensor) I have no choice but buy from Subaru.

It seems nuts to me to pass on this cost directly to me in advance of making me pay for the replacement part to be fitted, as well as pay for the part it self, obviously.

Don't tell me that the garage does not cover their costs for the hardware and equipment and staff, and building rent etc from servicing and sales.

If you have a bike part failure, does your LBS charge you to identify which bit is broken? Or do they simply investigate, tell you the fault and offer up your options.

If you go to a garage to find out what has failed on your car, why should you be charged in advance of the garage doing the work to fix said car?

This is the price you pay for having a modern car. Why should they use their time and expensive equipment for free to tell you what's wrong so you can take it away and fix it yourself?

because I can't. The ABS sensor is not a part I can buy from anyone except Subaru.

Hence my umbrage. I'm a reasonable chap, and amiable too, but this just seems unfair.

I feel a MTFU coming my way now….

My garage charges a diagnostic fee but deducts it from the subsequent bill if you elect to have it fixed by them. Seems fair enough 🙂

there you go

a garage that understands customer service.

I rest my case

My garage charges a diagnostic fee but deducts it from the subsequent bill if you elect to have it fixed by them. Seems fair enough

Of course they do, that's right it would be that bit more if you went there and asked them to fix it without them first diagnosing it. I bet you get your insurance with the deals for 2 months free too.