Dealer diagnostic charges

[marks2l]

Hi-

New to the forums- recently bought a used 03 Convert that had some known issues with airbag light and tranny. Took it to the dealer last week to get an idea of what it might cost to fix. They called and said they'd have to run diagnostics for $80, so I said ok.

When they called with the final repair estimates, I said 'no thanks' (after I got my breath back..). Picked the car up on Saturday and found they had charged me for TWO diagnostics, one for the air bag and another for the transmission.

Now I've been reading a lot on this board, and it seems there is only ONE diag port on the car..so is this a scam? (There were no service folks in on Saturday to ask.)

any opinions welcome

cheers

[warren]

welcome to the .org!

one diagnostic charge? i'd be irritated with it, but would pay...i mean, the tech is taking some time to look at things...and they aren't getting the repair job.

i've been fortunate...dealer i go to for service (two VWs) is very fair on diagnostics. they've looked at things i've asked them to, no charge... they know they'll be seeing me regularly anyway.

gotta wave the flag on the second. nothing more than the dealer padding their bottom line.

just my $.02.

[noR]

It's not technically a scam... they diagnosed 2 problems.

You didn't specify you were paying them to 'do' anything, so it doesn't matter if they did it once, or did it twice.

"diag" could just as well be a visual inspection. ("Yup, broken axle alright.")

It's dealership experiences like this that have made me feel worth while to purchase my own personal scan tool.

[marks2l]

thanks- I could have bought the tool with the $$ I paid the dealer.

anyway, it sounds like a good investment..should help me save more in the future.

thanks!