Dealer price to replace alternator

[Radorik]

Does anyone know the ballpark for a VW dealer to replace an alternator on a T6 204PS (has dsg and 4motion if that makes any difference)?

Van was towed to a main dealer in Germany after breaking down on an autobahn. The battery light came on while driving, 10min later DSG jumped into neutral and coasted to stop in a lay-by. Now in hire car.

Being quoted £1350 from main dealer.

 

[Lubrown]

Main dealers charge brain surgeon money for school leaver mechanics.
From what I can see an alternator (not genuine VW but is there much difference?) can be bought for around £150-£200. I guess a genuine VW packaged one (probably made by one of the aftermarket suppliers) would have a worldwide two year warranty?
Even so UK main dealers charge around £140/hr.
So seems at the steep end to me.
Thankfully I haven’t had to have a new alternator yet so can’t give a recent price. Hopefully someone will be long soon that can.

 

[Radorik]

Thank you, it does seem steep to me, last time I changed one on an old golf cost about £100 and took around an hour. Nowhere near what they’re asking but I may be missing something, or being taxed because I have little choice unless I want the van brought back to England then repaired, but that will take up to 28 days.

 

[Sasquatch]

You're looking in the £300-400 region for a pattern part from one of the more reputable names. Some chime in cheaper, but considering the labour involved it'd likely turn out to be a false economy to go for sub £200 rubbish and risk having to pay the labour to replace it gain in short order.

The alternator itself is buried deep and difficult to access and a lot needs to be removed for access and to reinstate it afterwards. It's not a simple job like it would be on a hatchback on your driveway, so labour is significant.

Bank on 2 or3 hours labour, plus part, plus VAT, and you're probably still down the road for £700ish, which is a saving.

But, it's a risk too. The VW part has double the warranty of a pattern item. If the latter failed 20 months in you might find yourself wishing you'd gone to VW. In that sense you get what you pay for.

There's also the assurance that the genuine part is 100% compatible and won't cause miniscule voltage anomalies that upset CANBUS, that sort of thing.

On the other hand, you could, probably get a Lucas one fitted for a little over half the price. £500 saving is still £500.

So no right answer, pros and cons with either approach. Personally I'd go to the dealer on the basis that I'm driving the wrong vehicle if I can't stomach the bills that go with it, but the next man or woman might feel differently.

 

[Radorik]

Thanks for all that info, indeed I thought it may be more involved than my old Golf, this is just that I have no details other than ‘1600 euro and replace generator’. I’ll go with them, just wanted to check it sounds about right so cheers.

I bought the van new, and has had a complete new engine from VW in the last 20k miles (now on 195k). In the last year or so I have spent over £30k with VW. Alternator obviously not included.

I definitely had the stomach, but finding it hard to justify supercar prices for a VW (people’s) van. I can see a lot being scrapped soon due to the economy of fixing, think (and told a lot) I’m mad but now stuck with it.

 

[Sasquatch]

You'd certainly be doing no harm by asking for a break down of parts price, how many hour labour, etc. I'm guessing it'll have a new belt as well, which would add a few shekels to the total, plus whatever the local taxes are.

Either way, best of luck getting back on the road swiftly.

 

[Howzat]

Try and find out who supples the VW alt then ask a reputable indy to SUPPLY and FIT. If it fails within 2 years then the indy should replace it foc and claim for the part from VW BUT ask them before they carry out the work because most indy's won't like taking that risk of refitting for free and especially if you source a cheap version yourself. Having said that the indy should also realise a decent pattern alt WONT fail within 2 years so they may be willing to take the risk of a warranty claim to secure the work.

 

[oldiebut goodie]

Try and find out who supples the VW alt then ask a reputable indy to SUPPLY and FIT. If it fails within 2 years then the indy should replace it foc and claim for the part from VW BUT ask them before they carry out the work because most indy's won't like taking that risk of refitting for free and especially if you source a cheap version yourself. Having said that the indy should also realise a decent pattern alt WONT fail within 2 years so they may be willing to take the risk of a warranty claim to secure the work.

Bit difficult when you are travelling abroad!

 

[Sasquatch]

Try and find out who supples the VW alt then ask a reputable indy to SUPPLY and FIT. If it fails within 2 years then the indy should replace it foc and claim for the part from VW BUT ask them before they carry out the work because most indy's won't like taking that risk of refitting for free and especially if you source a cheap version yourself. Having said that the indy should also realise a decent pattern alt WONT fail within 2 years so they may be willing to take the risk of a warranty claim to secure the work.

The genuine VW part only has the 2 year warranty if fitted by a VW dealer, at least here in the UK.

 

[Radorik]

With this case I think I will have to stick with VW abroad as not too confident with the language, should hopefully get the normal summary of what has actually been done for my records and if I have any warranty issues with the new engine (2 years from fitted I believe).

I am supposed to be back to pickup the fixed van on the 2nd Jan, although they haven't confirmed that due to parts availability so may be late and get a schools fine.. .

It also went to limp mode 30min before this with fuel rail low pressure warnings, hope that doesn't turn into something else. Does do that occasionally, up a remote mountain in Spain where is spluttered to a stop at 40oC out temp was eye opening. Reset it with Carista and was ok, went back to dealer, no problems found.

Had a T4 5-pot, used to thrash that across Europe (85mph was its max) and seemed to thank me for it, simple days.