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My daughter has recently moved to Auckland, from the South Island. She is trying to find a garage as she needs to get her Toyota Corolla serviced and 2 shock absorbers replaced (she is an AA member). She has been to an AA accredited garage in Auckland, and they have quoted $300 for the service. This seems excessive to me, can you tell me what she should expect to pay for a service and even recommend a garage?

Garages are often on a hiding to nothing when it comes to providing estimtes to service or repair a vehicle especially for a new customer.

While one garage will give a low estimate (in this case an oil and filter change only) others will try and provide a bigger picture estimate to help reduce unpleasant surprises for the customer. The garages who provide the lowest initial price often work on the captive client theory, and ring the customer with additional work once the car is in their shop.

Where garages often let themselves down is not explaining to customers what work they want to do as part of the service. For example this particular garage may be allowing for the basic service requirements (oil and filter) but also taking into account the cost of other wear and tear items such as spark plugs, filters and fluids. They should also be giving their customers options and explaining the benefits of carrying out this additional work.

I would like to think most garages who have retained a customer over a long period would only do the work that is absolutely necessary and what their past records are showing has or hasn’t been done. In the case of your daughters car they do not have that luxury at the moment.

Communication is the key from both parties to be honest. Your expectation of a service could also be quite different than the garage.

I suggest you ask your daughter to make contact with the garage concerned again and ask for a breakdown of the costs. It may clarify or help justify their estimate. It will also give you the opportunity to remove some work and costs if you feel they are not necessary.

One of the big plusses of owing a Toyota Corolla should be their overall low running costs in comparison to some other brands. That doesn’t mean however that every service is going to be low cost.