I hold my hands up - I forgot that I bought a 3 year fixed annual service plan so missed the first birthday by a few weeks.

 

Called the local dealer and was offered a few dates and a few slots on a day that suited me - today.

 

Dropped off car. Waited a bit then got a lift into town. After some shopping and a couple of coffees was called to say car was ready and what time would suit for pick up. Okay Dokay. Snow now falling steadily so very slow trip back to dealer.

 

All paid for up front so just collecting the paperwork. No more stamps in old fashioned Service Books.

 

”What did you do?” says I. After a bit of grilling they admit to changing the oil & filter and adding some screen wash.

Looked at tyre treads. Didn’t check tyre pressures. Oh, washed car.

 

WTF - 2 recommendations. (1) change your wiper blades every 6 months (2) change your key fob battery every year. FRO are you mental?

 

What medication are these folk on? Condition based maintenance beats time based maintenance every time.

 

A few minutes after I depart I receive a 1.5 minute video clip text message from the muppet who was under the car car telling me “my tyres are ok”, “my suspension and brakes are ok”. WTF is that all about? 

 

We seem to be getting dragged down to the lowest common denominator of using “technology” for everything, just because we can - and that must make it believable. C.R.A.P.

 

And I’m given a sexy looking coloured print out to tell me that said wiper blades and key fob battery would only cost £55.44. Yikes!

 

Oh - and the battery condition test report print out was dated and timed 3 days ago so their machine is either totally F***** or they just print any old piece of stuff for fun.

 

This 21st century servicing lark is total nonsense.

£55.44 for the wipers + key fob battery? Yikes!

 

I replaced my wipers a few weeks ago - cost £28 for Bosch ones all in. Had to replace my key fob battery yesterday, 2x pack of CR2025 was about £2.20. Nice easy earner for the dealer if someone is silly enough to take them up on it. I agree, time based seems silly if stuff doesn't actually need replacing.

7 hours ago, BoxerBoy said:

And I’m given a sexy looking coloured print out to tell me that said wiper blades and key fob battery would only cost £55.44. Yikes!

 

Bargain

I remember renault charging me £10 for 100ml washer fluid concentrate so £55 doesnt seem too bad 

The trouble is, enough people are probably taken in by this to make it worthwhile and the money dealers make from pre-paid services is minimal (far lower hourly rate than you and I pay).  The only thing to do is ‘call out’ these ridiculous antics when you are asked for feedback by Skoda UK and on other surveys like JD Power.  If we identify this as equating to ‘poor service’ it will lead to a rethink by Skoda.  I would also challenge a failure to check tyre pressures - whilst people interested in their cars will check pressures regularly, many don’t and that is a safety issue that can easily be done by an apprentice or an unskilled person. 

 

As for changing wiper blades at 6 month intervals, this is excessive by any standards unless Skoda fit some sort of sub-standard blade.  Granted, that an annual change is ‘recommended’ in most circles.

Boxer Boy, I am with you on this one. Unfortunately modern “servicing” is all part of the cash cow which cars have become. The car now is an item which is used to sell finance, gap insurance, paint protection, smart repair etc etc. Once purchased the warranty is used to try and keep you at the dealer network for servicing, ideally with a service plan. The cars are easier to service than ever before and most 3 year/10000 mile plans will mean 3 oil changes and a brake fluid change, as the other filters (and spark plugs if petrol) won’t be done in that period. 

£55 for wipers every 6 months is a rip off, but they all do it including a lot of the independent specialists.

I know it’s the 21 st century but I think cars should still have a service book.

Mine was just serviced a day before I picked it up and I was sent the video of the underside, seemed like they've got too much time on their hands tbh! Once the warranty is up on mine I'll be looking for a specialist garage to carry out the servicing as I've always found them much better at telling you about what the car has had done and what it might need in the next week while.

I know £55 is a lot of money, but if wipers cost £30 a set, £25 would be 30minutes work for a dealer, so you can see why they charge it. 

 

You’re lucky it’s not me working on your car, I’m booked out at £750/day and the customer gets charged for my travel time as well!!

I quite like to receive the video - they have easy access to the bits that you can't easily see whilst it is up on the ramps.

 

Wiper blades are consumer items and easy to change yourself - I would expect to get two years service of a pair of OEM Wipers.

 

I always have my car on the fixed interval, I do less than 10K per year and like to know that the oil is changed at least once a year., if I was doing 20K a year it would be a different matter and Longlife would be acceptable.

 

2 hours ago, Miz said:

I know £55 is a lot of money, but if wipers cost £30 a set, £25 would be 30minutes work for a dealer, so you can see why they charge it. 

 

That's why it seems so extortionate, why pay a dealer 30 mins labour for something you can easily do yourself in 5?

6 minutes ago, ahenners said:

 

That's why it seems so extortionate, why pay a dealer 30 mins labour for something you can easily do yourself in 5?

And indeed if you lack the ability to DIY through infirmity, this is an ‘unskilled’ task which doesn’t need a manufacturer trained tech on a three figure hourly rate to undertake.  If for some reason I was not able to do this myself, this is the level of job I’d entrust to a acne ridden Saturday boy in Halfords over a main dealer!

6 minutes ago, Falmouthboy said:

And indeed if you lack the ability to DIY through infirmity, this is an ‘unskilled’ task which doesn’t need a manufacturer trained tech on a three figure hourly rate to undertake.  If for some reason I was not able to do this myself, this is the level of job I’d entrust to a acne ridden Saturday boy in Halfords over a main dealer!

The garage may charge a 3 figure hourly rate (unlikely at Skoda), but remember the Tech will only get small part of that. 

19 hours ago, Falmouthboy said:

And indeed if you lack the ability to DIY through infirmity, this is an ‘unskilled’ task which doesn’t need a manufacturer trained tech on a three figure hourly rate to undertake.  If for some reason I was not able to do this myself, this is the level of job I’d entrust to a acne ridden Saturday boy in Halfords over a main dealer!

 

Even if he is just an apprentice.  The total hourly cost for him is probably £15+ an hour. 

 

People seem to forget that an employees hourly pay is just a small part of the charge. The cost of me to the company I work for is just under £60 per hour. I can assure you, I don’t see anywhere near £60 an hour in my pocket though. It’s all overheads.  

5 hours ago, SC03OTT said:

 

Even if he is just an apprentice.  The total hourly cost for him is probably £15+ an hour. 

 

People seem to forget that an employees hourly pay is just a small part of the charge. The cost of me to the company I work for is just under £60 per hour. I can assure you, I don’t see anywhere near £60 an hour in my pocket though. It’s all overheads.  

I appreciate that, also that dealer overheads are significant hence the hourly rate can be justified.  My point is, this is an unskilled job that you can easily entrust to Halfords for a £5 fitting charge if you really don’t want to get your hands dirty.

When service or MOT is due, I am straight on the internet for any local garage service or MOT, Halfords is usually my first call, enter my reg get a print out, hop down to my dealer and say 'match that'. They always do! The service is then on your Skoda record should you need a goodwill gesture at some later date and you've taken a chunk of their profit as well - win/win in my book.....

14 minutes ago, ajw1100 said:

When service or MOT is due, I am straight on the internet for any local garage service or MOT, Halfords is usually my first call, enter my reg get a print out, hop down to my dealer and say 'match that'. They always do! The service is then on your Skoda record should you need a goodwill gesture at some later date and you've taken a chunk of their profit as well - win/win in my book.....

 

Interesting tactic.. how much do you usually end up paying for minor/major services?

 

Just tried halfords and an annual is £175, compared with £159 for a minor at a Skoda dealer. Wouldn't fancy telling them to match that! 

 

An annual -major- service is usually more than a minor -interim- service.

I have always beaten the dealer service charge doing it this way.....the comparison needs to be like for like.

 

My wife's last MOT was full price at the dealers (£54 I think) she paid just around 2/3rds of that with a Halfords printed out quote.