Scottish Elises

phew,........

Ive not posted on here in months and months and months. (and my Exige hasnt been on the road for even longer!)
After paying £650 for a "standard" service at Ricky Gauld in July!!!! - I decided that enough was enough; lack of use and big expense was reason enough to sell it.

And my missus had already announced she was due ............baby arrives at the beginning of January

However, just at the weekend, she told me that I really should make more of an effort to drive it - and infact, maybe I should just keep hold of it because its the toy I always wanted......Im now thinking about hill-climbing it in 2009

There is really no reason to tell you guys this other than the fact that Ive now got a bit of the old festive cheer on!

Happy Xmas everyone - have a good festive period - and maybe next year some of you will see the yellow wasp back on the road again

£650 for an A service?

Id like to know what you got for 650!
Thats about the cost of a head gasket replacement on a K series.

philthy wrote:Id like to know what you got for 650!
Thats about the cost of a head gasket replacement on a K series.

Isn't an head gasket and an 'A' service the same thing for a kseries

and I am a k-series fan

You want to know what I got for the money - I personally think it was really good value: - replaced a windscreen wiper, driving lamp and alternator belt.
serviced the front brakes (i provided the pads), and flushed the engine.

I complained BITTERLY - but Rickys new premises - Coach House 4x4 replied and simply snubbed me. I was £145 for the same service in 2007 - but apparently you cant compare Rickys "old" premises with his new place in Dyce. For a standard service (car has done 12K), I could have driven to Edinburgh, had MMC service the car AND drive it home for that sort of money.

I actually wish I had posted something at the time - because 1) I could have asked you guys to give me some example pricing of servicing around the country and 2) I would have told you all not to bother using Ricky again. Oh, and I also put my car in for service on in the 1st week June - and didnt get it back until we returned from our summer holiday - last week of July (because, as Ricky said - he was "really" busy).

Anyway - suffice to say, ill be taking the car south from now on if there is anything needing done to it.

Driving lamp is £45ish, alternator belt £9, wiper blade £12.99.

Shame none of us could have helped you fit them, wouldnt have taken long at all.

philthy wrote:Driving lamp is £45ish, alternator belt £9, wiper blade £12.99.

Shame none of us could have helped you fit them, wouldnt have taken long at all.

i t'was a lot of money to spend to get the wee booked stamped. but then, i was so busy with work - that having a garage that was 2 miles down the road was just SO handy. I will not be making the same mistake again. I need 2 rear tires now too - so MOT, service, tires - thats a £1100 plus year for me - with approx 1500 miles of driving. Man, thats expensive.

Hopefully next year will be cheaper!!

Oouch - £650 for an A service. I was going to use Ricky @ Coach house for next year's service but that's a bit

I've had a couple of big bills this year too but I was putting it down to experience.
I think the C service + pads + MOT was £ 803 (high but not too bad) and that was followed 8 weeks later with a head gasket bill of £995 (which my old man thought was OTT - he retired from 50 years in the trade earlier this year).

well, i would say that this was my experience of Ricky. There are allot of people on this forum that have lots and lots of nice things to say about him and his experience - so i wont knock that. INFACT - I think that in this instance he was definitely the puppet - and the puppet master (Coach House) had full control over the final cost.

im sure that Ricky himself would probably struggle to justify the upturn in costs which he has had in 12 months - but again, thats down to his change of venue (i guess). He is still handy for Aberdeen - and he has vast experience. However, in the spirit of healthy competition - Ill be going elsewhere next year, and hope that my experience is better!!

My service is due in April....... think I'll still make the trip to Ali's. Even with a 360 mile round trip it's not going to be anywhere near that kind of cost

Chris

Since when could you not do your own service on a ten year old S1? You have a garage and a pit, and the jobs that you have done on my car amount to far more than a service. Plus Craig and Alan around the corner.

Throw your Tampax away and come out of the closet..............

tut

£650

I didn't think Ricky's prices were too bad. I got a 'C' service (without cambelt) with a power run on the dyno and the bill came to £390ish. Then had it in again to check the cam timing, another power run and to change my brake pads, which I supplied and that was £235

Anthony,

Yep stick in with the car, my own missus was massively supportive and we have two sproglets now and still no sign of forced sale of the wee pocket rocket! Longer you keep it, the more it makes sense to hang onto it. Servicing options...you have many many more open to you than you might think, shop around for recommendations.

btw, that your legs in your avatar? A pair to be proud of sir.

Campbell

campbell wrote:
btw, that your legs in your avatar? A pair to be proud of sir.

Campbell

j2 lot wrote:

campbell wrote:
btw, that your legs in your avatar? A pair to be proud of sir.

Campbell