Needing opinions from engine wise golf owners, Problem Solve Please

[Swainey32]

Turns out it was the air mass sensor,
the useless mechanic ordered the part the stealerships, then put his mark up on it, after I told him to contact me before ordering parts as I knew I could get them from america for a lot cheaper.
charged me $506 for the part, found it from my american parts site for $128.

Also, why on earth has he charged me $200 for an oil change??
This is the first time I've done an oil change on a euro car, but surely $200 is a bit rich for oil? has he used the world greatest oil? or is this just a standard cost for the privilege of using german engineering?

All in all, $950 bill for myself, but I'll have my car back, could have been worse.

Cheers

[just_quietly]

I thought so. I'm glad you got it fixed. Now you can enjoy your car.

[Swainey32]

Will be on the phone to John tomorrow to organise my viezu tune,
then time to start purchasing some new parts

You wouldn't happen to know whether $200 is ridiculous for oil change would you, got nothing to compare it to, and if his over charged I'll ask him about it tomorrow before I pay him.

Cheers

[just_quietly]

Oil, oil filter and labour, it sounds about right.

[Swainey32]

This is what he sent me for the costs of the work.
It implies that it was $200 for the oil, thats whats got me confused, if it included the filter and labour it would make more sense haha

Air Mass sensor - $505
Plugs
Air/Oil/Fuel Filter
Labour 3.5 Hours
Sub Total $741

Oil Change - $200
TOTAL $950

Cheers

[Swainey32]

Got her back finally just now.
After driving a 01 lancer for the last few days, I was reminded just how smooth the golfs are

Mechanic thinks that previous owner might have been a bit dodgy, even though there's 9000kms until next service, oil was low, black and thick. Lids had carbon deposits indicating non frequent oil changes and also said factory plugs where still on which should have been replaced ages ago. Also air filter and oil filter were full of crap and he reckons air filter has never been cleaned.

Car is running so smooth now, gear change transition seems to have improved, fuel economy has improved, throttle response is much better, and I can idle without stalling.

Yay