DPF and Exhaust Pressure sensor..

[racerx67]

Well had the DPF/Exhaust Pressure sensor failure at the weekend. Limpmodetastic!! Towing a caravan too... Nightmare! So took the car to a local auto electrician for a check and it cost £25.00 OK not bad for 5 minutes work but found and confirmed the fault I thought it would be. Exhaust pressure sensor.. Called Marshalls in Leicester for a price for the sensor and to fit..While I was waiting for them to call back I disconnected the sensor and the car still had a fault light showing but no more limp mode. No call last night so called back today and was quoted £160.00 to fit the new sensor. I asked why it was so expensive.. Told that was £45.00+vat for the part and then labour to fit and find the fault then reset the fault codes. I told them I knew what the fault was and it was a 5 minute job to swap the sensor and 5 minutes (being generous) to reset the fault code as I knew what the fault was and it just needed a reset. It seems that makes the ACTUAL labour charges about £600 per hour.

My solicitor charges me 1/4 that! I know they call the Seat dealers "Stealers" But that is not only theft but rape too!! I feel defiled just talking to the service department... So please tell me how that price is justified! I am in the Bike trade and build specialist one off sportsbikes so I know what work is done and I am realistic about prices but that is madness! No wonder I service the car myself!!!

 

[CrispDust]

Save some money and get VagCom. Seat servicing like alot of others is a complete rip off. And they rely too much on the computer read outs.

 

[racerx67]

I am going to.... I know I can reset the service notice without but fault finding would be a pain if I had to see the auto electrician for a fault code again.. But I had an idea what it was so for £25 to check then the cost of the part it has saved me about £80!!

I still feel dirty thinking about calling the service department.. Going for a shower now as I still feel defiled.. 0 hahaha,,,,

 

[CrispDust]

had a read around on this - cleaning the tubes to the sensor can make a difference.
DPF ectomy seems to be the long term answer!
Another duff design from VAG. must be costing them a fortune in warrenty claims and call outs

 

[racerx67]

Been thinking about this today.. Thinking about gutting the DPF and leaving the sensors attached. This wil keep the ECU happy and not trigger any faults. Plus it seems there will be about 10 to 15BHP increase and better fuel economy in normal use. I have just got a bluetooth OBD II unit and will be looking at iPhone and laptop software for it as I would love to look into re-mapping it too as I have some experience with MOTEC ECU's and the software too.
Not sure how much it is costing them when an out of warrenty car could be making them £600 per hour labour! 10 minute job and over £100 labour charge...

 

[racerx67]

OK swapped the sensor over.. it took a bit longer than I had hoped.. mostly due to one of the clips being a pain to get to and quite strong to release.. So it took about 12 minutes in the carpark of the seat dealer... SO I guess that drops the Seat labour to under £600 per hour for this little job. Plugging into to reset the lights.. Well took about 10 restarts to clear the last emissions light. So as we were away and stopping off at loads of places it cleared before we got back to the cottage. The car runs great now but I am still looking into having the DPF cut open and gutted. It will keep all the sensors and not need the ECU reprogramming to ignore the them as with some of the replacemnt pipes you can buy.

Now just need to sort out the arial problem.. Seems the radio doesnt like to find anything other than radio 4 at the moment... I guess it is the amplifier on the arial that is at fault... I dare'nt call a dealer for the cost to replace that!!! I still feel defiled from the call at the local dealer when I called about a job I knew would only take a few minutes....

 

[CrispDust]

Did you challenge the dealer about the cost? I'd write a snotty letter and threaten with trading standards since that is bordering on extortion/fraud.

 

[racerx67]

Did you challenge the dealer about the cost? I'd write a snotty letter and threaten with trading standards since that is bordering on extortion/fraud.

I did... The comment I got was "That is the book time from Seat and we check and reset the fault codes.. If you are not happy then do it yourself"

So I didnt buy the part from that dealer either.. I do work on bikes for a living and even make one off parts in Carbon too...

I know the value of good quality work and specialist work too.. But that is nuts... I have always serviced the car myself and a sensor failure only needed hooking up to check the fault codes.. A few pounds to get it checked was worth while... I only needed to undo one torx screw and unclip two spring clips to remove the rubber pipes then re-fit the new one..... I dont think it will get too far making threats like that as the trading standards guys will just accept that they cannot do it themselves and need an "Expert" to do that work and you pay for that skill... Still horseshit.. But I do feel it is on a beating to nothing...