Off topic concerning Renault service.

Looked under the bonnet of my other halves Captor after coming back from a service and look what I found. A rather dirty engine air filter. She paid £249 for this dealership rip off. It's the simplest of air filters to extract I ever seen.

Edited 30 October, 20196 yr by john999boy
Amended title.

What does it say on invoice? Did you pay for the air filter change? 

Did this service include the air filter change?

 

I'm old school so change mine every year no matter what mileage (average 4-5k miles) but some dealers (when I owned a Skoda) don't change the air filter at each one.

 

Obviously if they did include the filter change I'd be raging. I stopped having my services done by the so called experts last year when it became apparent I had paid for a brake strip down/check and I don't think it was done, I self service now.

Edited 30 October, 20196 yr by MickA

I have been on to them and it's been overlooked. Dealership going to ring back tomorrow.

Yes, I self service when cars are out of warranty and if I can't do it go to my trusted village mechanic.

29 minutes ago, benterrier said:

Yes, I self service when cars are out of warranty and if I can't do it go to my trusted village mechanic.

 

Sadly it was my trusted local mechanic that skimped on the brake service, they also lost some screws from the air filter box. It also came to light that I had an extra rubber sealing washer loose in the oil filter housing, if they didn't leave it in there then it was the previous service from the Skoda dealer.

Yes, it's a job knowing who to trust. I'm always on edge when I have tyres replaced. Have had great dents in sills on my MK1 not long after I had it.

21 hours ago, benterrier said:

Yes, it's a job knowing who to trust.

 

Ain't that the truth.

I've had terrible service from companies large and small and good service from large and small. But the best service from a good local independent.

 

My brand new Skoda went out from the franchise with 4 wheel nuts on one wheel. My motorbike came back from an indy without the petrol tank being fitted properly so it was leaking fuel through the engine (while I was on it).

On 30/10/2019 at 16:03, benterrier said:

Off topic concerning Renault service.

Looked under the bonnet of my other halves Captor after coming back from a service and look what I found. A rather dirty engine air filter. She paid £249 for this dealership rip off. It's the simplest of air filters to extract I ever seen.

 

Had my Clio done yesterday but I asked them not to do the air filter as I do it my self.  It is the easiest car I have ever had to change the air filter.

 

Had it done by an ex-Renault dealer here in Worcestershire who is also ex-Skoda and do an absolutely brilliant job on every car I give them to service and that is about half a dozen a year with the miles me and the kids do.

 

Much cheaper and I know they will go above and beyond.  They actually took the rear brake drums off just to give it a check over as they and not seen this car before bought from Renault Retail but I would not use an Official Renault outlet except for Warranty work.

 

Like Skoda UK Renault had some good dealers (who sold many Dacias as well as the Renaults) but these national distributors of cars want large dealerships and this has lead to a huge decline in dealership quality of service I have seen.  

The dealership rang today and apologised for missing the air filter and to take it back to fit a new one. They can't  explain how it's fallen through the net!

 

We had the car back in March. It was sourced by the local dealership as we wanted a certain spec.... Colour, diesel and auto box. It was apparently checked over and given a so called health check as it was in-between services. It just shows the air filter couldn't have been checked then either. It has left me with no faith in them. This air filter is the easiest I have ever seen to pull out and check. When the warranty is out we won't be using them again.

You don't have to use a Renault dealership to maintain the warranty; Block Exemption Rule.

 

The caveat is that manufacturers 'may' be a little more sympathetic when  it comes to out of warranty claims if the vehicle has been maintained within their dealership network.

 

My personal experience with SUK on trying to make a claim on an out of warranty repair on a fully dealer serviced vehicle was they still told me to ram it, but in a slightly sympathetic manner.

4 hours ago, Fin69 said:

You don't have to use a Renault dealership to maintain the warranty; Block Exemption Rule.

 

The caveat is that manufacturers 'may' be a little more sympathetic when  it comes to out of warranty claims if the vehicle has been maintained within their dealership network.

 

My personal experience with SUK on trying to make a claim on an out of warranty repair on a fully dealer serviced vehicle was they still told me to ram it, but in a slightly sympathetic manner.

 

Similar experience. My current Octy bought from Savilles at Worcs who were/are fantastic servicing of Dacia/Renault/Skoda and the sales to match and then when I had some flaking of the chrome on the DSG gear stick and I went to the official Worcester Skoda dealer ie Startin, they could not have made it more difficult to get it looked at never mind about resolved.  Unfortunately Startin have just taken over the Renault official dealership in Worcestershire.  Hope I am wrong but I fear I am right.  Startin showroom is just a 5 car showroom to cover Dacia and Renault so bit underwhelming  but they have the new Zoe so that was a good start.

 

Car servicing will change massively as we move to EVs but there will still be pollen filters to change as well as brakes and chassis even if the EV motors do not need the attentions that ICE cars do, thankfully.        

@lol-lol

Big shock coming to Skoda Main Dealerships then as the Citigo iV arrives then any other EV's.

So all that will not get done is the Oil / Filter & Air Filter changes.  
They will need to actually do stuff rather than just tick off as done.

Still that Free Wash & Vacuum.... Body Inspections, Checking, wipers, tyres, lubricate hinges that makes up servicing.

Then the stuff that heavier EV's really need and customers trust will be done, Brake Fluid changes, Brake Inspections, Steering Inspections, 

Checks of the EV systems, cooling systems, heater systems etc.

Edited 1 November, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

The moral is: DIY. Much cheaper and trustworthy

2 minutes ago, RicardoM said:

The moral is: DIY. Much cheaper and trustworthy

I completely agree. Being 65 I don't do some of the car repairs I used to do. I don't mind handing my money over as long as the work carried out has been done correctly. The Car servicing and repairs business is a vast industry. Horror stories of vehicle repairs being done incorrectly or skipped abound on forums. 

38 minutes ago, benterrier said:

Horror stories of vehicle repairs being done incorrectly or skipped abound on forums. 

 

There are 38 million cars registered in the UK. Given that people (such as yourself) only complain on forums when something goes wrong, it only takes a tiny percentage of problems to produce an apparently huge number.

 

38 million and just look how many are sitting on Garage / Traders forecourts and not on the road but might be again.

How many spend weeks, months or even years not on the road during their lifetime.

Then collectors cars, fleets, businesses, hire companies, local authorities, emergency services etc might be registered keepers so we never know how many Car Owners there are.

Plenty cars get no Dealership / Garage servicing, or maybe once while under Manufacturers Warranty and few and far between after that.

 

http://complaintexpert.co.uk/car-repairs-servicing-case-study.html

 

"Full dealership service history". Not necessarily a comforting reassurance. So much relies on the person carrying the work.

22 hours ago, Roottootemoot said:

@lol-lol

Big shock coming to Skoda Main Dealerships then as the Citigo iV arrives then any other EV's.

So all that will not get done is the Oil / Filter & Air Filter changes.  
They will need to actually do stuff rather than just tick off as done.

Still that Free Wash & Vacuum.... Body Inspections, Checking, wipers, tyres, lubricate hinges that makes up servicing.

Then the stuff that heavier EV's really need and customers trust will be done, Brake Fluid changes, Brake Inspections, Steering Inspections, 

Checks of the EV systems, cooling systems, heater systems etc.

 

Agreed.

Call it a safety and environmental service check.

 

Cannot come soon enough for me.  Pouring thousands of cubic metres of exhaust gases in between services and litres of oil of engine oil being taken out of the engine and have to be disposed of.

 

If only companies would change their financial support mechanism for drivers like me who do tens of thousands of miles but the combo of monthly car allowance and fuel car, £14k a year for me, needs an alternative company offering for EV is more on the car allowance circa £1k a month ie enough for a Model 3 LR and then payment for the Supercharge 150 kWh network charging and 7 kw home charger. 

 

Though a really do the Renault Zoe and might chop my Clio in for a 52 kwh DC charging Zoe in spring time if the deal is right, great spec machine, might order direct from Renault-Retail rather than through local Renault. 

Edited 2 November, 20196 yr by lol-lol

On 30/10/2019 at 16:11, benterrier said:

I have been on to them and it's been overlooked. Dealership going to ring back tomorrow.

 

Ah, that old chestnut, translated into main dealer talk - "no one checks our work, leave it be, it'll save us a few quid".

 

An apology and offering to do what you've paid them to do is all well and good, but what are they going to do to properly rectify the situation and attempt to recompense you for the hassle and inconvenience?

If you want something done right, do it yourself!

 

I can't think of many times I've paid for a job to be done and actually got an decent job, most you ever get is a 'quick' job, never quality