Price check - power steering repair

[superleeds]

Evening all

This might be an impossible ask but I was hoping someone could verify or give their opinion on a quote I received today for some repair work.

Through entirely my own stupidity, I have damaged my power steering and have been told I need a "power steering loom cable" replacing as well as some protective trays/plates under my car. I came off a high curb quite hard and there's a broken power cable-looking object dangling from below and there is no power steering.

Audi have quoted me circa £1100 for the work so I just wanted to ask if anyone has had any similar experience of replacing this part or something similar and that this isn't a hugely inflated cost.

Appreciate it might be hard to judge without knowing part specifics but any feedback would be much appreciated.

Many thanks!

[Guest 2]

To aid your warranty get Audi or an Audi Approved accident repair place to fix it.

[superleeds]

Thanks, A6_Chris. It's with Audi now, they collected it under the assist scheme - I just wanted what people through of the £1100 price tag for repair for an electronic part.

[Wuffles]

Thanks, A6_Chris. It's with Audi now, they collected it under the assist scheme - I just wanted what people through of the £1100 price tag for repair for an electronic part.

Go on, I'll bite.

I expect that's a perfectly normal price, hideous though it is, but is it worth ringing a couple of other dealerships and gauge their response re. pricing? Leeds is North of me, and anything North of me is probably right next to each other. So try Aberdeen or Newcastle or the other one around the corner from you in Birmingham and see what they'd reckon it should cost.

Presume you have some kind of breakdown of the costs from them? Just might give you some leverage - although with them having your car you're a bit screwed, but you never know.

You knew all this and have probably considered doing it first thing anyway.

[zollaf]

well, my first thought is that if its just a broken cable then a repair to that cable using old traditional methods, i.e. solder, heatshrink and your noggin, might be the order of the day. without seeing it i could not say for sure, but if it could be done at 10 % of audis quote then its a no brainer. audi wouldn't do it, you would need to get it to some seedy back street garage like me.

[ukgroucho]

well, my first thought is that if its just a broken cable then a repair to that cable using old traditional methods, i.e. solder, heatshrink and your noggin, might be the order of the day. without seeing it i could not say for sure, but if it could be done at 10 % of audis quote then its a no brainer. audi wouldn't do it, you would need to get it to some seedy back street garage like me.

Presumably lots of heatshrink and a layer of gaffa tape to ensure it does not separate are you hoon into a tight motorway interchange bend at 80 mph and are left needing arms like Popeye to prevent you kissing the armco

[zollaf]

well its badly designed in the first place if its vulnerable to dropping off a curb and loosing power steering. thankfully the op wasn't escaping from terrorists at the time, but he may well have been if he was a chauffeur for a diplomat.

[superleeds]

Thanks guys - not sure about the self-repair!!

Got the documented quote from them and the parts are only £133 plus VAT but they are charging 6.5 hours labour, totalling £850 plus VAT!! The description on the quote is "power steering rack wiring loom broken. Req new loom and undertrays"

I've asked for someone to call me who can explain why the labour charges are so high for relatively cheaper parts. Spoken with another dealer too and just awaiting on how long they thing it would take to fit these parts.

[wja96]

I think that's your answer. My local dealer (Norwich) will match any quote from an Indy, so I'd get a couple of quotes and if necessary get the car picked up and moved to somewhere with a more sensible labour rate.

[ukgroucho]

I think the last time I looked at a bill from my Audi dealer in detail (a couple of years ago) labour was £90 an hour (plus VAT) which is pretty steep but £130 an hour (+ VAT) seems very steep unless inflation is a lot worse than I thought.