Ask an expert

Hi
I had a breakdown with my European built Ford Fiesta Ghia '03, that turned out to be the heating core. I was told it was a labour intensive job but a fairly cheap part - approx $100 - 200 with about 5-6hrs labour. I was not given a quote or any more of an estimate than that. I was expecting a bill for about $1000 but was staggered to get a bill yesterday for $1897.60. 16hrs labour and part $388.63. Talking to Tony he said access was a major problem, considerably more than usual. I have used this garage for years and have had no problems with their work but feel this is excessive and would like an opinion on the expected labour for this repair.
Thanks Anne

Hello Anne. This is a very labour intensive job and I would have guestimated around 8 hours as the dash would need to be removed. I'd have to say 16 hours does sound excessive, but perhaps there were extenuating circumstances, which your mechanic should have explained to you.
The price of the part doesn't surprise me, but again, if you were told $100-$200, it would be a shock for you to find it was twice that.
In all, your mechanic should have informed you once he got into the job and found that both the part and labour were running well in excess of his estimate.
Unfortunately, mis-communication is the biggest cause of disputes between service providers/repairers and customers (not only in the motor industry), and it seems that your mechanic has been guilty of this.