The filter can be had over the parts counter for £17 inc. VAT so the dealer is earning a tidy £28 for removing four screws in addition to the margins on the filter itself.

 

Nice work if you can get it!

 

Not really, they still need to run a dealership, rent, business rates, wages blah blah blah

I don't dispute the need to make margins to cover the associated running costs of a business.

 

A 53% mark-up (based on their retail price for the filter) is about right.

 

When you consider the actual cost of the filter is likely to be no more than £5 then the 89% mark-up is a tiny bit excessive.

Buy the filter and DIY  

 

That was the plan after I'd had the filter fitted that I thought I was about get under the service plan.

 

The car is out of warranty in July, well before the next service is due so I'll be doing to whole lot DIY.

The fuel filter and air filter are £55 and £45 respectively.

We were in the final throws of a tough negotiation so the environment was already quite tense. Agreed I shouldn't have taken the salesmans word for it.

He was so clued up on all non-car related items (Autoguard, GAP insurance, extended warranties etc.) I wrongly assumed he'd know the exact value of the service plan and how it could potentially impact the bottom line on each sale he used it for.

Nevermind, as has been mentioned I'm not financially worse off, I was just a little annoyed when my dealer said the items weren't covered by the plan after I'd been told they were.

Of course he was clued up, as that's where he makes all his commission.

When I rejected all of these, I had 4 different people/managers selling me the benefits. When I said a final NO their attitude towards me changed and they couldnt be bothered with me.

I noticed this too.

 

I cut him some slack, I let him run through his well rehearsed Autoglym speil, even allowing him to drop some water on a pre-treated patch of seat material.

 

Yawn.

 

I did end up having to be honest. "I'm here to buy a car, only a car, please let us talk numbers".

 

The game was embarassing, back and forth to his managers office. What should have taken 30 minutes max ended up taking most of the bloody day!

I know for a fact in most dealerships if the service schedule says it needs inspecting and replacing if required at xxxxx miles (in Octavia/Yeti/Superb thats 60k for air and fuel filters) the casing won't get opened til that time. And even then it's only to open it to change it!

Technicians don't get paid enough to spend all day checking filters if they're not going to change them and get paid for it. The actual person working on your car doesn't see the 25quid the dealership has charged you for the filter change. Or at least that's my experience of the industry!

Same as cambelts on the 1.4 16v engines of old, Skoda said inspect at 60k/4years and inspect every 20k after. That basically means don't bother inspecting it til 60k and then advise the customer it should be changed.

 

FWIW, I don't agree with alot of the practices in the motor industry and it winds me up on a daily basis. Like when I advise a set of pads being 70% worn on a 40k service, and the service adviser sells it to the customer even though I've put on the report to check them at the next service as my 9years experience tells me that car ain't gonna wear the remaining 25-30% of the pads in the next year (approx 7k miles in this case). But then that doesn't pay the bills and bonuses I suppose, selling people stuff they don't really need does.

Edited 9 March, 201412 yr by DanSej6

I can't see much wrong to be honest. I'm sure sure the salesman's intention was to make you believe all aspects of the servicing were included AS REQUIRED. It's not as if a customer would expect things to be replaced for the sake of it, ie when they weren't worn out enough to warrant replacing.

You've got to be careful with these service plans, especially in combination with variable servicing regimes. You've got the protection if the parts are required. If they're not then so be it.

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