Recently my Vauxhall Insignia had a bad day. It was obviously due some bad karma and karma delivered in fine, if bizarre style. In a car park, a little old lady in a disabled van bumped in to the back. Shortly afterwards, a pigeon randomly fell from the sky and bounced off the front, taking with it the Vauxhall griffin badge from the front grill.
I have now come to suspect that the pigeon was actually working for Vauxhall and is responsible for keeping them profitable (read on).
My car was due for a service at the local Vauxhall dealer so I figured it would be no big deal, I asked them to replace the badge along with the other £500 I spent. I got a phone call asking me to confirm I was happy with the price of the badge replacement – I thought this was odd until I heard the price: £280!
I was absolutely stunned, it turns out that the breakdown of this is £150 for the labour (it apparently requires a specially certified mechanic to handle the glue used) and £120 for the badge (a shiny bit of chrome plated plastic).
Needless to say I politely declined.
Since then I’ve noticed an increasing number of Vauxhall Insignia’s driving around missing their front badge and now I know why.
Seriously Vauxhall, even if you have to charge £150 for the labour because the mechanic has to be trained by ninja monks in TIbet, how can you possibly justify £120 for a bit of plastic that should never have come off in the first place?
It seems I’m not alone either: http://www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/index.php?threads/insignia-front-badge.264405/
I complete agree. Even doing the job yourself which isn’t difficult not only do you need the extortionately priced griffin badge bur the adapter plate too. The hole left showing the Opel logo needs the correct adaptor plate to fit the Vauxhall badge, which should not have come off in the first place. I don’t use a car wash mine come off on the road somewhere.