Just had a quote from local dealership for my 2nd year service, oil ,oil filer pollen filter and inspection total cost £373.26 WTF ??? on Skoda website oil and filter £185 plus pollen filter £35 with inspection no brake fluid change or any thing else car is a MK III 1.0 TSI with 9000 miles from new,  had oil and filer changed last year with inspection and cost £140 how come  such a big jump in cost for same service plus cost of pollen filter

What's listed in the quote?

 

I have, Oil & Inspection Service - £184, Pollen Filter £35.

 

At an average of 4,500/year don't be tempted to skip servicing and maintenance work as you need it more, not less, for some items because of the low mileage, and lots of short journeys won't help your car battery and it's systems.  If you don't already do so you need to give the car occasion (better still regular) Itailian tune-up (blow out) runs sustained higher speeds and revs to clear the systems out and restore a bit of battery life so that the computers are kept happy and nourished.

  

Yep that's all the work that was detailed in the quote, rang them up and they insisted the price was correct but i told them to cancel the service as I'm not paying double for an oil and filter service just because the car is a year older, i have always serviced my own car, and yes car has a 50-100 mile run at least once a week and motorway drive included and have always used genuine spares when servicing  for many years, our last Fabia MK II 2008 was written off in 2019 that's why we changed the car and only had a 2nd year service on that model  I just took over doing it from then on due to filters not checked and changed air filter was so dirty it was nearly black but was not checked or changed after 2 years yet i got charged for a diesel injector flush and clean HA HA so put me right off dealership servicing, have always used good oil and genuine spares so looks like I'll start this car servicing myself a little earlier but keep all parts bill

Further update from Skoda uk the price on servicing that's quoted on the internet is for cars 3 years and older this pricing does not apply to cars over 1 year old and under 3 years old, but i could not see this in the small print another reason not to trust dealerships

Ring around, I'm sure other dealers will oblige with a more sensible price. My dealer used to say they price match (written quote required) 

 

All your car really needs is an Oil and filter change and an entry in the Skoda service record system to keep warranty happy. I doubt at 9000 miles your pollen filter will be bunged up much. 

Unfortunately I totally understand about you not trusting everyone in the car trade to do even a reasonable job let alone a decent job and there are those that do ****-poor work or simply rip you off too - not that I'm saying that's the case with the dealership that gave you the quote, as I can't know if they're good or bad.

 

I've a 48 year old British (BL) car so it always needs something doing to it and now I do much of the work on it myself and all of the servicing and maintenance, not because I want too as I LOATHE doing anything with cars other than perhaps driving them.  I'm not mechanically or technically competent but I just got fed up of paying garages and supposed 'specialist experts' to do ****-poor or bad work work or plain rip me off.  If I'm going to employ an idiot it might as well be me, at least I'm not over expensive.

 

I've only started doing stuff on the Fabia this year as I found the dealership is so used to dealing with the vast majority of customers (you can get ****-poor and bad customers too) that insist on the minimum work being done that they don't ask about doing the servicing work I'd expect to be done just the schedule.

 

Although an engine  oil and filter change is necessary the engine is relatively one of the least important components on the car the services should be more about checking and attending to the important items like brakes, steering, suspension, (all include the tyres), lights (horn), windows (wipers/washer).

 

Now of course you have to battle with all the truculent computers too so sorting the car battery (and keyfob batteries).

 

Things like pollen filters aren't expensive and if you replace them yourself you can also clean out the housing too.

 

Let me know if you do a good job and you can take over the Fabia and to really make you suffer the Midget too, you wouldn't believe how bad the modern made parts are for that because most 'classic' vehicle owners are so tight-fisted and short-sighted that they insist on the very cheapest parts as they never really driver their vehicles so the rest of us have to suffer from their purchasing power.

 

I'm a grumpy old git, and a lot of it was caused by the British motor trade. 

 

 

Edited 4 August, 20214 yr by nta16

Yes my friend when i contacted the service manager about the cost and how it was double for the price for a oil and filter change he tried to make out that the pollen filter was a tricky job and it added labour time to the cost, that's why i then cancelled the service as i told him he did not know his backside from his elbow as it takes all of 5mins to change pollen filter the hardest part is paying for it you just  slide 2 clips to the middle of bracket and pull down, how many people who don't know believe this rubbish why do they think they are so clever spouting lies i do not know, I have now found a Skoda dealership that will do the work and update the service for £249 still expensive for what's being done but keeps warranty intact, I always check my tyres and brakes+ steering every year for any problems I worked for many years serving cars but pulled out due to pressures to cut corners and charge for work not done then try to blame fitters for bad work when it went wrong,.

Yes I've had those kind of troubles, being treated like an idiot by a service manger (lower case intentional) and them or the foreman not letting a good mechanic do a good job.  Unfortunately many mechanics don't make good business men if they set up for themselves but if they do then you can never get to them as they always have more work than they can handle.

 

Like you, when I could afford to that is, I paid 'hassle money' that is I paid out so I didn't have the hassle of doing the work myself but then I was having to pay someone else or redo or correct some of the work I'd paid for myself ,and I repeat I'm not a competent mechanic or have the aptitude for it.

 

I  have thought about doing interim oil and filter changes on the Fabia as it does so many short journeys but it's a right fart to get the car 3" off the ground so that I can get the undercover off and at the underside then there's the mess and disposal of it all plus I literally ache from being on the ground.  I've had the Fabia coolant for two months waiting for the 'can-be-arsed' to come back into stock and I've got to clean the (brand new) reservoir and again flush through the clutch fluid on the Midget because of **** poor rubber seals.  I know if I done the work instead of moaning it'd be done but I wouldn't have to moan or repeat the work if things were just reasonable, not even good.

 

We'd normally be in Wales in September, when usually the tourist and schools are back so I could have left the car with you for a couple of hours to sort things whilst we're at a pub. 

 

Edited 4 August, 20214 yr by nta16
speeling and stuff