This page exists because the honest answer to what does it cost is another question, and that can feel like a dodge unless somebody explains the reasoning. There are four variables in this work, and once you understand them you can price the job in your own head before you ring anybody.
None of them are invented. They are the same four factors any competent mobile operator is working from, and if a quote you have been given ignores all of them, that is worth noticing.
One: the hour
Daytime on a weekday is the cheapest time to need us, because it is the easiest to staff. A three in the morning call on a bank holiday is the most expensive, because someone has to be awake, insured and equipped at that hour on the chance that the phone rings. That is what an out of hours rate pays for, and it is stated before we travel rather than discovered afterwards.
Two: where the vehicle is
Distance is only half of it. A driveway in the middle of the patch is quick. The far edge of the coverage area at rush hour is a longer round trip. Awkward access, meaning stacked car parks, blocked in vehicles, tight terraced streets and underground bays, changes the equipment as well as the time, and that is why we ask exactly where the car is parked rather than just the town.
- Open driveway or a clear kerbside space: quickest and cheapest
- Supermarket or retail car park: usually straightforward, tell us the bay
- Multi storey or underground: access matters more than distance
- Blocked in or nose to a wall: no donor vehicle can reach, so equipment changes
Three: the vehicle, and four: what it needs
A small petrol hatchback and a cold three litre diesel van place very different demands on boosting equipment and on time. Then the scope decides the rest: a boost alone is the smallest job, a boost with a full battery and charging test sits above it, and a test with a battery supplied and fitted is the largest because it includes a part.
- Car or van, petrol or diesel, and roughly what engine size
- Stop start with an absorbent glass mat battery, which is a dearer part if it needs replacing
- Whether the battery needs registering to the car after fitting
- Whether you want it boosted and gone, or diagnosed properly
How to get a quote that does not change
Give us the hour you need us, the postcode, the access, the make and model and what the car actually does when you turn the key. With that, the figure we give on the phone is the figure at the end. Vague information is what produces quotes that move, and neither of us wants that conversation at the roadside.
The four variables side by side
Which direction each one pushes the figure, and what you can control.
| Variable | Pushes the price up when | Within your control? |
|---|---|---|
| Time of day | Nights, weekends and bank holidays | Sometimes, if the fault is a known one you can act on in daylight |
| Location and access | Far from the patch, or the car cannot be reached | Partly, by describing it accurately when you ring |
| Vehicle type | Large diesels and high specification batteries | No, but knowing it avoids surprises |
| Scope of work | A battery is supplied and fitted as well | Yes, and testing tells you whether it is genuinely needed |
Questions
Q.Is the quote I am given on the phone the final figure?
Yes, provided the information you give matches what we find. The things that change a quote are the ones people leave out, usually access, so tell us if the car is blocked in or in a stacked bay.
Q.Do you charge more for a van than a car?
Generally yes, because a large diesel needs more from the boosting equipment and takes longer, and van batteries themselves are higher capacity and cost more than car ones.
Q.Why does the postcode change the price rather than just the town?
Because travel time is not the same across a town. A postcode tells us the actual round trip and the likely traffic at that hour, which is what the travel element of a quote is based on.
Q.Can I get a cheaper job by waiting until morning?
If the vehicle is safely parked and you do not need it overnight, a daytime visit is the more economical option. If you are stranded or somewhere unsafe, do not wait. Ring us.
Get the figure before anybody travels
Four details on the phone and you have a firm quote: the hour, the postcode and access, the vehicle, and whether you want it tested as well as boosted.
Every quote given before we travel, day or night.