33% of garages 'overcharge'

28 March 2006

  • 70% overcharge when mystery shopped
  • Garages increase estimates of official repair times
  • Workshop industry says survey is misleading

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One in three garages overcharges motorists by claiming work takes longer than it actually does.

Leading independent warranty provider Warranty Direct says 33% of 125 garages it questioned charged more than the manufacturer's official repair times.

This figure shot up to nearly 70% when the garages were mystery shopped by a member of the public, however, with one workshop saying it would take 16 hours to do a six-hour job. Warranty Direct says with franchised labour rates as high as £150 an hour, motorists could end up paying through the teeth.

Warranty Direct's Duncan McClure Fisher said: 'Unfortunately the consumer does not have access to the repair times. When you see the differing repair times being quoted you should be further encouraged to phone around.'

Overcharging uncovered by the mystery shopper included an extra £863.62 labour charge for a cylinder head replacement on a Mercedes M-Class. The workshop said it would take between 20 and 25 hours instead of the official 13 hours.

Another garage quoted two hours for a 30-minute oil leak fix. The failed part cost £5.23 to replace, but the additional labour would have slapped another £52.50 onto the bill.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation represents both franchised and independent workshops and called the results into question.

Chief executive Matthew Carrington said: 'We condemn any garage that overcharges its customers – however, this survey is misleading.

'On close inspection the total level of perceived overcharging is 12.5% above the manufacturers' official repair times. This result hardly calls for sensationalist reporting.'

A new British Standards Institute Kitemark for workshops is aiming to improve the service offered to motorists. The BSI is confident that garages will embrace the scheme, and is hoping the National Consumer Council will tomorrow postpone a supercomplaint against the industry to give the Kitemark more time to get off the ground.