... and WHY oh WHY did you go to that dealer after all the advice in this thread, knowing that you could proably get it done a lot cheaper elsewhere ?!

Let's be gentle with Jas - maybe there aren't too many dealers in his neck of the woods .....

Originally posted by spc in this post

Why do we allow people to quote us ex-vat prices? :rant: I've got to pay vat which is bad enough, but don't rub my nose in it by drawing attention to how much it is. If you're a normal punter, like most of us are, the vat content is of no intetest. Just tell me how much we have to pay...end of story.

I like my prices this way. I want to know how much the government is screwing out of us. Visit America and you will find that nearly every place is like that, the average consumer wants to know how much the actual product is not the tax so they can have a good moan! Infact in Oregon there is no sales tax at all! My company gives a VAT free price as well as VAT inclusive prices on the till reciept. However all the prices displayed are VAT inclusive to help the average punter.

I think what Paul is referring to is the practice of quoting an ex-VAT price to entice the customer and then slapping the VAT on at point of payment. Customer - "er - I didn't realise it was plus VAT"... Salesman (with shark-like grin) "oh yes sir, all our prices are ex-VAT". Customer "oh well ...."

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

I think what Paul is referring to is the practice of quoting an ex-VAT price to entice the customer and then slapping the VAT on at point of payment. Customer - "er - I didn't realise it was plus VAT"... Salesman (with shark-like grin) "oh yes sir, all our prices are ex-VAT". Customer "oh well ...."

Nick your choices of words is better than mine.....you've got it in one!!!

My rear right hand side disc - Its not "really" totally, ya know. Its just got chunks coming off the outside edge. I think a stone/grit got caught in the pad and its done some damage. Its not got any worse in the last few thousand miles, so I'm going to leave it until something really starts to affect my ability to stop... (plus I can't afford new pads/discs at the moment...)

edit: just read the last page....

No - there are sod-all Skoda dealers down my way unfortunately. Perhaps the monopoly effect is what pushes the prices up, having done economics at uni? AND, the cylinder for the drivers door is still in bloody CZ being made, so I still have to unlock the car on the passengers side!

I feel quite bad paying that sort of cash, though. :(

Jason, it's common for the outer edge of discs to rust and flake away, what's important is that the braking surface is not scored or otherwise damaged. When the discs are due for renewal is simply a matter of how much thickness there is left, assuming there is no other damage. A quick check with a vernier caliper or a micrometer would tell you how close they are to needing renewal. No doubt your dealer did this as part of the service. If you needed new discs you can be sure they would have told you, and insisted on changing them, as a safety measure.

Originally posted by devonutopia in this post

No - there are sod-all Skoda dealers down my way unfortunately.

You should be able to go to an independent without it affecting your warranty though - there's been a big shake up recently on this policy, as the Office of Fair Trading consider it to be anti-competitive...

Rob.

I'm go to start looking into indepenedants soon, with even more expensive service intervals coming up...

I dont care what the EU commision has to say, motor manufacturers will never honor any work carried out by any third party on the grounds of safety/training/ability etc. The only choice you have as a paying consumer is to almost throw away your warranty and go the third party route and save money, if you know you can trust the garage. Its mainly down to company cars as the companies dont really have the time or incling to go looking for cheaper servicing, because they got the cars cheap in a big deal with the maker on the understanding that all servicing is carried out at the franchised dealer, who are free to charge what they want.

Did anyone else see that little survey recently detailing how dealer labour rates had gon up over the last few years? VW was pretty bad, but BMW was over

The labour rate for my service was

Dev-Jas

You WERE warned though

The last time I had an Audi (in 2000), the labour rate was

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

I dont care what the EU commision has to say, motor manufacturers will never honor any work carried out by any third party on the grounds of safety/training/ability etc.

Andy - would disagree with you on this point and my guess is that we will start to see the first test cases in October 2003 when the reforms to Block Exemption rules come into place. :mw:

The reforms are set out reasonably clearly on the DT site here . I can see quite a few large garage chains testing main dealerships on approval for servicing.

The way I heard it, a Nissan dealer said they couldn't invalidate a warranty even if servicing wasn't carried out at a Nissan dealership. I guess it's much like with aftermarket tuning - if you go to a dealer saying your engine's broken and you want it fixed, and they find it's had the wrong oil in it, they have a right to say it hasn't been used as intended and to not carry out the work under warranty. If you maintained the car perfectly yourself and it broke, then why shouldn't they fix it under warranty?

Rob.

Come to Swindon - labour rate =

Looking forward to using a local garage that we used to use for my wife's old Polo (Volksline in Canterbury). They are all ex-VW staff, have all the right gear, give excellent service and charge

Well I posted the cost of my 40k service at the time, can't remember now but it was around the

Took Wendys L&K to Winchester Motor Co Yesterday , our new Skoda dealer (formerly VW), its on variable servicing but as it had 17000 on it & had been topped up with 1/2 litre of the normal diesel oil so we decided to get it serviced early prior to the French trip, the dealer rang us & said they could see no point in servicing it this early & they didnt want to take our money needlessly but would give the car a quick check over before the Continental trip so we agreed.

Collected the car last night, all levels checked & car given a quick look over & the cost was nothing, didnt take long, no point in charging said the dealer

I think we will be using them more often, just got to gently see how mod friendly they are now !!

Stuart

Originally posted by KentStu in this post

Andy - would disagree with you on this point and my guess is that we will start to see the first test cases in October 2003 when the reforms to Block Exemption rules come into place. :mw:

The reforms are set out reasonably clearly on the DT site here . I can see quite a few large garage chains testing main dealerships on approval for servicing.

You may well see multi brand dealerships and the servicing there, but manufacturers will not honour work carried out by your local first rate on his own garage mechanic, apart from anything else "full service history" will mean diddly squat if all you have to do is buy a John Bull printing set.

Andy

Just had 20 k service done on my vRS for