Hi all - haven't been on here for awhile...

I recently - yesterday - had some work done on my 2012 Westminster by a local garage I kinda trust... trust in that the owner seems to listen to what I want done, and what I don't want done. But yesterday when my initial booking for a new battery change (It has been very clicky-clicky have to try starting three to six times to get started more and more lately - and I know it's getting colder) turned into what was called a knackered starter motor with an OKish battery I was shocked at the price, first of all (£350 think it was Denso to exact replace the old) and that I would have to pay a surcharge of £100 to keep the old starter motor?!? What's that all about? £100 surcharge to keep your replaced motor parts? He said he had to pay this up front on top of the price of £360, for the brand new replacement stater motor... Is that the norm? Have I been living in a cave for far too long?
When I searched on Tinternet (not just Ebay) the highest price I could find for a replacement starter motor was £249.00 - so was a bit shocked at the higher price - and that bloody surcharge fee... Did I mention that bloody surcharge fee?!?

Also had windscreen wiper rubbers replaced, a new hand-break lever or switch as fault warnings where popping up, and secured a loose heat shield above rear silencer...

He did politely ask me to sit down as he handed me the total bill for £747.10

I told him that if the clicky clicky problem (which is why I wanted the battery changed initially) didn't go away after his suggestion of doing the starter motor instead, he'd better invest in some extra fire safety initiatives around his workshop pretty soon...

We do kinda get on though - in a strange, other-worldly and beguiling way!!!

Did I mention the £100 surcharge fee by the way?

Perfectly normal to have a surcharge on certain vehicle parts if you wish to retain them, as the old one is normally returned for refurbishment. Purchaser pays the surcharge up-front and gets a credit upon returning the old unit. They also have the hassle of packaging and sending the old ones back. Starters, alternators, (some) brake calipers, steering racks etc.

Remove the plastic undertray and check that you've actually got a new unit (easy to see as it will be shiney). If so, don't be too hard on the guy.  The older I get, the more I realise that people confuse wrinkles for wisdom

Maybe I'll put the RPG back in the shed then!!!
Cheers for that info..

I had to pay a surplus on a new alternator Got - 2017 SDV8 Autobiography in Loire Blue
Had- 2008 TDV8 Vogue SE in Java black
Had - 2007 S/C in Stornoway Grey

Same story with my new front brake calipers. ( Unfortunately I did not have the time to refurbish them myself.)

Refurbishing some items is standard practise and better for the environment, Then you can drive a FF and still be 'green'.

Have never minded doing my bit for the environment - as most have this past 20-30-years in particular, so happy with this. Though I suspect (as with most green and climate and environmental BS currently being waged by the wacky brigades) peeps are making money from it, at our behest (tax payers), while advertising it as them being green or planet friendly. Yeah - these guys really care about the climate... all the way to the bank.

Yeah I was also hoping to do a bit of refurb on the starter motor - using one of the many amazing refurbishment posts right here on this very forum - so maybe that £100 squids could have gone to me: for saving the planet!!!

I thought I recalled reading some stuff before I got my FF (3 or more years ago now when the German reports appeared showing/finding that diesel was better for the environment, as it happens) stating that it was one of the most environmentally friendly 4x4s in town?!? Was I dreaming that? I certainly remember the German reports though, as I'd been interested in REAL (not the money grabbing crap currently being peddled) environmental issues from around 20-30-years ago, after doing an OU course in the sciences.

Fingers crossed I don't get anymore clicky clicky start ups for awhile.

Then it's only the recurring 3 codes keep popping up almost every trip over fifteen minutes long. At least I don't get a heart attack when they happen now, and simply press them away....

Mmm, whilst mindful of the environmental considerations, the quoted base price is substantially more than I paid LR Parts for mine (a Denso) back in January. Indeed, their currently listed price (£274 inc VAT) is still barely more than I paid back then. Nor did I have to pay a surcharge.

As is sometimes (often ?) the way with goods/parts sourced by trades people engaged to supply and fit, I suspect that the final invoice may have included an inflationary element (mark-up) in respect of goods supplied which would have been in addition to labour charges.

DIY replacement of the starter motor on an L322 (albeit doable) is not trivial - you may have seen the various threads here on this forum. So the labour charge implied by that invoice amount is probably about right. You perhaps paid about £85 more than you needed to for the starter motor - I'm assuming that the surcharge was refunded.

Mind you (and I'm not sure if I've read your post correctly on this point), if the invoice also included a new battery, then the amount charged was perhaps pretty fair. But if so then I do suspect that said starter motor might not have been a Denso (although at £360 it jolly well ought to be) and the battery not necessarily one of the better brands either. The combined cost of these two components does not leave a great deal of headroom for labour given the other bits and pieces you've mentioned.

Alternative would be to grit teeth and source/fit the parts yourself.
Or (perhaps) prevail upon said trades person to accept and fit parts that you have sourced yourself. But bear in mind that this solution will become complicated (and expensive) in the event of subsequent failure of any parts that you might source. 2011 L322 TDV8 A/b Orkney Grey
2008 Defender 90 XS TDCi Java Black
2002 L322 TD6 Vogue Zambezi Silver (gone but not forgotten)
And one or two bikes - Ok, maybe more than one or two....

We replaced the starter motor on ours with a Denso unit from Euro Car Parts. Cost of the part was around £350 from memory.

At the time there was no surcharge on it but it can vary from supplier to supplier. Quite normal for it to be charged though. Starter motors and alternators are common place for it.

David. 2002 4.6 Vogue SE - Alveston Red with Lightstone Leather
2007 Range Rover Supercharged in Java Black with Ivory Leather
2012 Range Rover 5.0 SC Autobiography in Indus Silver with Jet/Ivory Interior
2012 Range Rover 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography in Baltic Blue with Sand Interior

If you get the starter motor replaced by a LR dealer the same applies, credit for the old one going back to LR for refurbishment, was about the same when mine was done, so extra £100 if you want to keep the old unit. Only Range Rovers since 1988

No there wasn't any new battery included in that price. The quote for a good battery additionally was £260 without labour fee, which wasn't bad - forgot the make, but AGM obviously. 'WE' decided to go just starter motor replace instead though - to try sorting the problem I've had for 3-years (CLICKY-CLICKY NO STARTY FOR SEVERAL OR UP TO SIX ATTEMPTS!) even though only once did the big beast ever let me down... which was on the second day of the very cold snap last December - after not using vehicle for about a month... it may have been following one of those illegal & divisive lockdowns, can't rightfully recall.
But, thank the lordy and with fingers, toes and drippy nostrils crossed, the beast has started PROPERLY a dozen time since new starter - so a nice warm feeling in tummy, as yet.
Forgot about petrol malarkey today and accidentally filled up, half expecting Doris' storm troopers to charge out from behind the station toilets, as my eyes darted around the petrol station to check there was no minimum fuel amounts, especially for a fascist 4.4 litre vehicle, that it probably more eco-friendly that most.
Drilled out the rear light cluster as my silicone bodge from summer time hasn't lasted well... Can't win them all...
Now do I go new battery and C-TEK before the REAL winter arrives?!? We are entering a grande solar minimum, after all...

Just a little update on the new starter motor that was fitted around a month ago now... And although I'm somewhat loath to utter so, but the big beastie (L322 Westy) has started FIRST TIME every single time since the starter was renewed - and I've had the well known clicky-clicky repeated pressy-pressy start-stop button starting problems for three years now. And I've been asking the four garages/outlets (two non LR RR and two LR RR) I use for those same three years what the repeated clicky-clicky problem was all about, and they often-times had scratched their heads about it...
I'm averagely convinced that ALL (OK most) car garage/service/outlets no longer have pride and engineering competence, and are quite happy to simply be high-end component fitters instead... for an easy life...
When I was in business some number of years ago - that ethic would have lost me probably all of my customers!
It seems to be a namby pamby world we live in now...


I still get the three regular alert-warning lights pop up though, and wonder if the new battery I had three years ago (because of repeated start/stop clicky-clicky) wasn't logged into the vehicles system?!? It was after having the new battery fitted that the alert codes thingies started happening...