A scania dealer who I won’t name has just tried to rip us off grand style,
I work for a small haulier (5 trucks all scania)in the north west,
On Thursday broke down in the south West with major gearbox problems (manual)on my 57 plate topline,after being towed in to dealer in south West sat most of day then got rent truck to carry on they said monday or Tuesday to repair,that’s all OK ta and went on my way.
On Friday they ring my boss
“Gear box is in a bad way it’s not economicly repairable,we can supply a recon box for 9k”
My boss"I’m not paying that on a 57"
Scania"we can supply a 2nd had working but not recon,no warranty for 5k"
Boss “I’ll have a think”
He rings our dealer in North West and tells them,they say they can look on the system see what they have done and what the diagnostics are,
Turns out from the report our dealer would be able to repair the box for 2.5-3k!!!
Our dealer rang swdealer and had strong words with them and they agreed to repair it!!!
I find this unbelievable a disgrace
I would name them but no sure i can,I will if a moderator posts it’s ok
It’s Scania, you’re paying for the name.
So far all the stated facts are hearsay and not permissible so very greatly doubt you should be thinking of naming them for fear of getting ‘yer arse severely kicked’ 
I won’t name them only going off what the boss told me
Main dealers don’t really like repairing anything. The blokes in the workshop are “fitters”, not mechanics- they fit things, they don’t fix things. Virtually all main dealers would fit a new starter motor for £800+, when all the old starter motor needs is a £4 pair of brushes and an hour of a mechanic’s time for example.
I doubt they have the staff with the skill to repair it, it needs to go to a transmission specialist the most challenging thing they probably ever do is the occasional clutch.
My personal by word is that dealers do only two things well, guns and drugs and should be avoided for anything else wherever possible.
Muckaway:
It’s Scania, you’re paying for the name.
I don’t pay for it mate if I did it wouldn’t say scania on the front
Harry Monk:
Main dealers don’t really like repairing anything. The blokes in the workshop are “fitters”, not mechanics- they fit things, they don’t fix things. Virtually all main dealers would fit a new starter motor for £800+, when all the old starter motor needs is a £4 pair of brushes and an hour of a mechanic’s time for example.
Why couldn’t they have said it’s repairable lwe’ll send it away which they are doing now only cos our dealer sussed them out,
nedbro:
Harry Monk:
Main dealers don’t really like repairing anything. The blokes in the workshop are “fitters”, not mechanics- they fit things, they don’t fix things. Virtually all main dealers would fit a new starter motor for £800+, when all the old starter motor needs is a £4 pair of brushes and an hour of a mechanic’s time for example.Why couldn’t they have said it’s repairable lwe’ll send it away which they are doing now only cos our dealer sussed them out,
obviously they would sooner sell you a box with loads of profit in it for them, plus it would be a quicker turnaround. and less work for them
If it’s any consolation, a certain dealer of MAN and Isuzu trucks in Oxfordshire (Cardboard Willies) are also a sack of excrement. Frustrating really because our secondhand MAN is a great underrated bit of kit (didn’t come from them) and my boss is loathe to even try a demo MAN with a view to replacing mine because the local dealer is so crap.
Scania,Volvo ,MAN,Merc all the same
robbing shysters. From Scania for a citibus
An instance 4 X 10 X 55 mill shanked bolts (standard 8.
with flanged heads 24 quid
Plus 4 X 20 mill spacers 58 quid.
These SOBs are takin the ■■■■.
Better to go to a local engineering works get a hundred spacers made and what you dont use you sell for a quid a piece.
We have just started using an independent garage for ours, and I’m very impressed over our old Scania Dealer.
But I don’t sign the cheques, so what do I know?!
Can’t belive people run lorries that are so expensive to repair ,my lorry was £6000 now I know not everyone wants to drive a w reg but I have a spare gearbox and can get a recon for £1150 , complete madness .
Punchy Dan:
Can’t belive people run lorries that are so expensive to repair ,my lorry was £6000 now I know not everyone wants to drive a w reg but I have a spare gearbox and can get a recon for £1150 , complete madness .
Could not agree more , I always look to fleets like WJ Riding , Ernest Thorpe , JR Adams , all well maintained fleets in their day !!!and two of them still in business , real hauliers !!! .
Punchy Dan:
Can’t belive people run lorries that are so expensive to repair ,my lorry was £6000 now I know not everyone wants to drive a w reg but I have a spare gearbox and can get a recon for £1150 , complete madness .
I apply the same principle with cars. Why put yourself £16000 in debt for a new car when a £600 car does the same thing but much cheaper?
I’d call it a tempted fraud for the stunt they tried to pull,if my boss would have agreed to the 9k recon would they have reconditioned our 'non repairable box and got another mug to part with 9k!
Wonder if they may have contributed to anyone’s business going ■■■■ up
mike68:
it needs to go to a transmission specialist
■■■■■■■■ it does, any qualified mechanic should have the skills to do it. We were taught how to rebuild gearboxes in the City & Guilds I did. When I worked at a main dealer I stripped a gearbox there to replace an input shaft bearing which had prematurely failed.
Trouble nowadays is mechanics are lazy or they’re scared of anything that looks remotely difficult and customers don’t want to pay the labour. Lots of stuff gets swapped out because the diagnosis to component level and labour costs for replacing one part of it cost almost as much as a recon part does, not to add the difference in time the truck is off the road.
Conor:
mike68:
it needs to go to a transmission specialist■■■■■■■■ it does, any qualified mechanic should have the skills to do it. We were taught how to rebuild gearboxes in the City & Guilds I did. When I worked at a main dealer I stripped a gearbox there to replace an input shaft bearing which had prematurely failed.
Trouble nowadays is mechanics are lazy or they’re scared of anything that looks remotely difficult and customers don’t want to pay the labour. Lots of stuff gets swapped out because the diagnosis to component level and labour costs for replacing one part of it cost almost as much as a recon part does, not to add the difference in time the truck is off the road.
You’ve partly answered your own question, in any case but, another consideration is the investment in training vs the amount of that type of work. With auto boxes now widespread mechanical problems with the cogs side of a gearbox is getting more rare and most faults are down to various actuators and ECUs. In your example, you replace a failed bearing but what if the bearing failed because of a knock on from another problem with the box and the vehicle’s stranded at the side of the road? Suddenly that warranted reman box from a transmission specialist looks more attractive.
Punchy Dan:
Can’t belive people run lorries that are so expensive to repair ,my lorry was £6000 now I know not everyone wants to drive a w reg but I have a spare gearbox and can get a recon for £1150 , complete madness .
Ok, if you’re lucky, or have researched it well but a lot of trucks, of that sort of vintage, parts are getting pretty rocking horse ■■■ we’re starting to find.
Own Account Driver:
Punchy Dan:
Can’t belive people run lorries that are so expensive to repair ,my lorry was £6000 now I know not everyone wants to drive a w reg but I have a spare gearbox and can get a recon for £1150 , complete madness .Ok, if you’re lucky, or have researched it well but a lot of trucks, of that sort of vintage, parts are getting pretty rocking horse ■■■ we’re starting to find.
It’s like preventative maintenance really except your stocking the parts store instead !
Another thing is its knowing where to buy from some place don’t want to know ,others sell pattern rubbish ,but there’s plenty of new old stock around when your in the know ,like this week I want some rear cab struts ,I could go to Daf and get bumbed or buy cheap like Bison but have found some Monroe from a ex Foden dealer ,the front ones came via eBay genuine Daf new unused £30 each .