Service madness

[mender]

Parents have a 64 plate Vauxhall Agila 998cc, just been in for its second service (first at 10,000 miles) at 20,000 miles/12 months old......which cost a staggering £260 at the main dealer...  

 

They missed the worn out rear wiper (on a year old car!) and had it for ages trying to fix the loose seat cover under warranty which came off again on the way home again.

 

My Mother is spitting blood!

 

I rang the competitor in the next town to ask their service price.....£309     

 

The GM oil is £14 for 5 litres and the service kit (genuine parts) is £40, what else have they done?

 

SHOCKING

 

[Ally_bassman]

I really don't know where they make these prices up from!

 

That's more expensive than it cost's me to get me 3 series serviced at a main dealer... and they joke that BMW are expensive.. :think:

 

Vauxhall cars are reasonably priced, maybe it's part of their business plan? Sell them cheap, but charge more for services etc...

[999pooch]

I really don't know where they make these prices up from!

That's more expensive than it cost's me to get me 3 series serviced at a main dealer... and they joke that BMW are expensive.. :think:

Vauxhall cars are reasonably priced, maybe it's part of their business plan? Sell them cheap, but charge more for services etc...

Think Lexmark printers, that's their business model

[gullyg]

Sounds like Kia. We were told by the local main dealer a minor service was about £250 and a major £450 for a Kia Rio.

That and other Arnold Clark-esque tricks by the salesman to try and force us into buying "RIGHT NOW" or else lose a load of discount had me heading for the hills.

Mind I don't think he was too happy when I just about spat the dummy over the servicing cost compared to the vRS!

[Ally_bassman]

It's always worth checking the services costs before buying a car, but then again, you don't have to get it serviced at a main dealer.

[KenONeill]

20k miles isn't bad life for a rear wiper blade.

[Auric Goldfinger]

Parents have a 64 plate Vauxhall Agila 998cc, just been in for its second service (first at 10,000 miles) at 20,000 miles/12 months old......which cost a staggering £260 at the main dealer...  

 

 

 

 

My Watch Sercive is almost that price and your cars got more oil in it than my watch   Gets serviced every 2 years and I get a little stamp in the service book.

[Jigger72]

My Watch Sercive is almost that price and your cars got more oil in it than my watch   Gets serviced every 2 years and I get a little stamp in the service book.

 

What watch is it that you need to service it every two years? Most modern autos have a 5-year recommendation, most quartz 10 years, and many of us watch bods play by the 'If it ain't broke… ' rule.

 

I can understand every two years if it's used for diving, in which case it'll need seals checking and a pressure test, but otherwise…?

 

I'm genuinely interested as I'm a bit of a watch freak

[Auric Goldfinger]

I wear a Breitling Super Avenger.  I've had it over 12 years, never missed a beat  

[Jrjg]

What watch is it that you need to service it every two years? Most modern autos have a 5-year recommendation, most quartz 10 years, and many of us watch bods play by the 'If it ain't broke… ' rule.

I can understand every two years if it's used for diving, in which case it'll need seals checking and a pressure test, but otherwise…?

I'm genuinely interested as I'm a bit of a watch freak

Mine is a Rotary and has a lifetime 'rolling guarantee'; as long as it is serviced every 3 years - pretty sure that gets new seals/gasket.

JRJG

[Jigger72]

I wear a Breitling Super Avenger.  I've had it over 12 years, never missed a beat  

 

Lovely watch, but I'd save yourself the expense and bother if I was you because I bet it wouldn't miss a beat with a service every 10 years     

[oilburninnut]

My Watch Sercive is almost that price and your cars got more oil in it than my watch   Gets serviced every 2 years and I get a little stamp in the service book.

not got an omega then, 5 year service nearly £500.....

[hatchy]

Anyway back on subject, (enough of the willy waving over watches  )to answer the OP. I expect you'll find that because they supply and then fit the parts they charge a lot more for the parts. I remember years ago with my last car (facelift Vectra 2.5 GSi) that the owner had it always serviced by Vauxhall in Blandford and he'd kept all the receipts. The one I'll always remember was when he had the front discs done,they charged him £177 just for the discs. If you went into the parts department and asked for a pair of 288mm discs they would have cost less than half that. :no:

[mender]

I really don't know where they make these prices up from!

 

That's more expensive than it cost's me to get me 3 series serviced at a main dealer... and they joke that BMW are expensive.. :think:

 

Vauxhall cars are reasonably priced, maybe it's part of their business plan? Sell them cheap, but charge more for services etc...

Car was cheap at £6999 pre-reg as opposed to £10500, but don't want to pay the difference back in servicing!

[mender]

Sounds like Kia. We were told by the local main dealer a minor service was about £250 and a major £450 for a Kia Rio.

 

Blimey, that is what pays for the 7 year warranty then...!  We thought £165 and £260 was mental.

[mender]

It's always worth checking the services costs before buying a car, but then again, you don't have to get it serviced at a main dealer.

You're right, it is going to my local garage who will invoice genuine Vauxhall parts and we will have to pay Vauxhall £25 to check it over and re-activate the "lifetime warranty"

[mender]

20k miles isn't bad life for a rear wiper blade.

Mine last 50k, but I use it sparingly.

 

Stupidly the Celerio (which replaced Agila/Splash and Alto models) deleted intermittent rear wiper setting.....drives me crazy.

[mender]

I wear a Breitling Super Avenger.  I've had it over 12 years, never missed a beat  

I don't get these big watches, that by impeccable build quality and engineering claim to be super-accurate.....

RDS watches cost £15 and are more accurate and change with the time zone and season; they have cheaply by-passed the need and made them ornaments.

 

My mates are into posh watches, I don't get it.

I've got a £3.78 genuine 2015 Casio F91-w which keeps to 60 seconds a year and I correct it to my RDS clock when the OCD kicks in 

Can't bring myself to spend the £15.

[mender]

not got an omega then, 5 year service nearly £500.....

Vauxhall Omega....? 

[mender]

Anyway back on subject, (enough of the willy waving over watches  )to answer the OP. I expect you'll find that because they supply and then fit the parts they charge a lot more for the parts. I remember years ago with my last car (facelift Vectra 2.5 GSi) that the owner had it always serviced by Vauxhall in Blandford and he'd kept all the receipts. The one I'll always remember was when he had the front discs done,they charged him £177 just for the discs. If you went into the parts department and asked for a pair of 288mm discs they would have cost less than half that. :no:

Spot on, they charge a premium for everything unless challenged to price-match or not get the work.

 

We re-priced the service at my local chap at a heady £94 all in, using all OE Vauxhall parts.

The main dealer receipt states they use "appropriate parts which may not be sourced from the manufacturer" which really takes the plss......

[silver1011]

Just looking at the Vauxhall website and their fixed price servicing, it is very similar to Skoda price wise...

 

Interim service (oil and filter) £149 (£139 @ Skoda)

Major service (other filters) £249 (£259 @ Skoda)

 

Not sure where your dealer got £260 from.

 

As with Skoda you need to be sure that your car is due the extra filters, if it isn't the dealers will still happily charge you the £249 despite only carrying out a £149 service.

 

It pays to do your research before booking it in.

Edited 27 January, 2016 by silver1011

[SuperbTWM]

Just looking at the Vauxhall website and their fixed price servicing, it is very similar to Skoda price wise...

 

Interim service (oil and filter) £149 (£139 @ Skoda)

Major service (other filters) £249 (£259 @ Skoda)

 

Not sure where your dealer got £260 from.

 

As with Skoda you need to be sure that your car is due the extra filters, if it isn't the dealers will still happily charge you the £249 despite only carrying out a £149 service.

 

It pays to do your research before booking it in.

 

Will skoda let you pay for another minor service if no extra filters are needed or do they insist you pay for a Major service and then just do the minor service?

 

I will definitely be questioning them next time mine goes in

[silver1011]

In my experience they don't want you to do your homework, they don't want you to know what items your car needs or which type of service is due. They don't want you to ask questions.

 

They just want you to book it in and pay the price they tell you when you pick it up.

 

I never pay for a major service, always a minor service. If the car needs the extra items I pay for them as extra's off their menu pricing on top of the cost of minor service, it is always cheaper than the major service.

 

There are caveats that some dealers will enforce if you ask too many questions. Fixed pricing is only available for cars three years old or more. It is in the small print.

 

My dealer honoured the fixed prices for my 2 year old Superb.

 

Some dealers won't agree to resetting the service indicator to variable (long life) intervals if you've only paid for a minor (fixed) service. They rolled out the "we use better oil for the long life service" line. Once I told them that I knew this was rubbish they soon backed down.

 

I knew too much. Knowledge (and being firm but fair) is power. 

Edited 27 January, 2016 by silver1011

[SuperbTWM]

In my experience they don't want you to do your homework, they don't want you to know what items your car needs or which type of service is due. They don't want you to ask questions.

 

They just want you to book it in and pay the price they tell you when you pick it up.

 

I never pay for a major service, always a minor service. If the car needs the extra items I pay for them as extra's off their menu pricing on top of the cost of minor service, it is always cheaper than the major service.

 

There are caveats that some dealers will enforce if you ask too many questions. Fixed pricing is only available for cars three years old or more. It is in the small print.

 

My dealer honoured the fixed prices for my 2 year old Superb.

 

Some dealers won't agree to resetting the service indicator to variable (long life) intervals if you've only paid for a minor (fixed) service. They rolled out the "we use better oil for the long life service" line. Once I told them that I knew this was rubbish they soon backed down.

 

I knew too much. Knowledge (and being firm but fair) is power. 

Problem is before you brought this to my attention in another thread I have already pre-paid for 1 Major and 1 Minor + brake fluid flush at a discount of £100 as this would see me through 3 years and I could start doing it myself so if I did get my way I would have to take the car in on year 4 to claim my Major service and stump up another £150 for a minor in between. (car has just had its first service at 10k 6 months old but I will probably do less than 10K a year)

 

So I'm still better off letting them do it their way and then doing the fuel filter and pollen filter myself in year 4 at 40k

Edited 27 January, 2016 by SuperbTWM

[VWD]

I really don't know where they make these prices up from!

 

That's more expensive than it cost's me to get me 3 series serviced at a main dealer... and they joke that BMW are expensive.. :think:

 

Vauxhall cars are reasonably priced, maybe it's part of their business plan? Sell them cheap, but charge more for services etc...

Depends on dealer. Before Furby, I had an Astra. I had one occasion of indicators locking up and not flashing. Visit to local dealer, and parts /service manager cured the ( well known common problem), and showed me how to cure it,with advisory that it might not always sort it. No charge. Another problem- rough running and engine management light on. I had a warranty, but another dealer told me that warranties don't always cover fault diagnosis, and it could cost me £60 .I called out AA to find it was plug fouled, and had self cleaned. Well known fault on vauxhall engines on the small plugs,from time before.

From dealer No1,performance, I'd have had another Vauxhall, then came the profit based second dealer. Bit like a Skoda dealer  I would never let near my car. .