Hilarious over quotes

[mirrabucca]

$15 for a rear number plate light on a VS ute
$280 supply and fit front pads on a VZ ute as they were 'in desperate need of replacing, they might have another few thousand Km to go'. Drove around for another 30,000Km and even when they did get replaced they didn't really need to be.

Both from Gerald Slaven Holden in Canberra.

Very old thread, but I was just browsing and found this post.
Had experience with them a LONG time ago with my VX (I've had it for 19 years).
Booked in for a routine service. Dropped the car off in the mornnig (early). Came back as arranged at about 4:30 to collect it. It was parked where I left it. (No problem, that could be a fluke). When I got to the sevice desk and told them who I was and I was here to pick up my car, the service receptionist phoned to workshop. Then I saw a mechanic race out, jump in my car and drive into the workshop! I asked if they were going to do the service then and there? Its now about 4:55PM. I said "Don't. You cant do that service in 5 minutes" DIdn't pay. Never took it back.
Done all the services myself since then. I have a great local mechanic (Canberra, so ask me!) who does any stuff I couldn't be bothered doing (like a rear engine seal for example. Mechanic quoted me around $700 as the rear alloy casting can corrode and they cost $$. Ended up costing me around $300 as the casting on my engine was ok. He could have just said they'd replaced it).
But..
If I need parts, I always call Slavens, as well as the usual suspects. Why? Because often the genuine parts are comparable, and in a lot of cases, cheaper than the usual places. I had the hot water valve fail at about 250,000 k's. Replaced it. The hose that feeds it failed (should have listened to the guy at Repco!). Went to Supa Cheap and bought a set of the hoses (all of 'em). Replaced them all. New coolant etc as the hose that failed was the first of the original Holden hoses that failed (at 250,000 k's!). Next day one of the new hoses failed while I was driving. Green dye all over the windscreen!.
Called Slaven. Bought a set of proper Holden hoses. Price was significantly less that the Supa Cheap set. (And no more problems!)
I had to replace a "water manifold" on the wife's Cruise (very common fault). None available after market. Called a few dealers, around $140 for the part. Rang Slavens, $93.
So I call them when gathering prices.
And be careful of ebay stuff. Had a failed crankshaft sensor at 300,000 k's. Bought an ebay one. It worked ok but if I revved it out (kickdown into first at 40k's+) the engine would rev to about 5000 then stop. No error code. Sometimes it would restart sometimes I had to wait.
Went to Ripco and bought one. Sealed box... Got it home, opened the box. same brand as the ebay one. AND it was faulty. Car had a miss and would not run propery. Put a scope on the output. It was all noisy. Bought a real Holden one. A lot more expensive than ebay and Ripco, but that was 30,000 k's ago. No more problems.