Get simple telephonic quotes before saying yes

<p>This a long overdue but necessary complaint. I took my vehicle to Bosch to have my brake pads and discs replaced, while there I asked them to have a look at my starter as it occasionally doesn't start when turning the ignition. They gave me a quote to replace my starter which I received in writing; R5000 for the starter and another R1000+ for labour.</p> <p>Now I ALWAYS do part pricing myself to ensure I'm not being **********. A Ford starter, directly from Ford parts would cost less than R2500, and the same for a Bosch part. How on earth did they get to more than double the price for the part itself, I understand most dealerships/service shops inflate pricing a part by another brand should never be more than the original (Ford in my case) part pricing. I asked them if there isn't just a smaller part that can be replaced, I was advised that they would have to replace the starter as a whole.</p> <p>In the end I took it elsewhere where they replaced my solenoid for (R750 for part excl. labour) and that's all that needed to be done.</p> <p>Just my advice to everybody, please always check part pricing elsewhere (only takes a few phone calls) before authorizing repairs to your vehicle. They were very 'nice' but clearly didn't care about ripping me off.</p> <p> </p>