Use your dealer for parts!

[vikingaero]

Sounds weird this doesn't it?:D

Well I took my dads Micra to my local Nissan dealer for a service and they rang up with a few things that the car needed. One was new front and rear wipers for £18 inc VAT & fitted free. I suspect that I'd be paying £24.99 for the front pair in Halfords and £11.99 for the rear one.

Also they fitted a couple of bulbs free and only charge 69p for each bulb.:money:

[swiftnick]

Sometimes dealers can be more competetive than factors. Always worth having a shop round for parts and as a rule genuine parts are of a better quality.

Nick

[AdrianHi]

I've found on a number of cars dealer supplied original wipers fit better, work better and are cheaper than alternatives.

[Tigert]

Doesn't always work though - I've just phoned a main dealer for a price on Brake Pads and Disks and their quote is double that of my local garage for exactly the same genuine part! (And I'll get free tea and biscuits while they are fitted at the local garage!)

I find main dealers vary greatly those that are part of a big group are generally a rip off - Those that are local garages with a dealership attached tend to be better value.

[pogofish]

IME, quite a few dealers are happy to overlook little jobs like this, just to look good & secure your custom. They will then absolutely shaft you for some more major bit of work later-on. :(

[TiTheRev]

About time we had a thread like this ;)

Just for the record our wipers can be as little as £8/9 for all three, but up to £25 for the newer models. Bulbs are 49p and fitted free.

[goldspanners]

Sounds weird this doesn't it?:D

Well I took my dads Micra to my local Nissan dealer for a service and they rang up with a few things that the car needed. One was new front and rear wipers for £18 inc VAT & fitted free. I suspect that I'd be paying £24.99 for the front pair in Halfords and £11.99 for the rear one.

Also they fitted a couple of bulbs free and only charge 69p for each bulb.:money:

or you could use the trade card and get them much cheaper and fit them yourself,it only takes 2 mins to fit wiper blades.

[goldspanners]

About time we had a thread like this ;)

Just for the record our wipers can be as little as £8/9 for all three, but up to £25 for the newer models. Bulbs are 49p and fitted free.

how did i guess this would be right up your street? :p

[johnmc]

I drive a Fiat and can't praise my local dealer enough. For example;

Okay here's one for all you petrol heads!
Fine on acceleration and deceleration. When holding a constant speed, however, it feels as if it is only firing on three cylinders.

I changed the spark plugs, but this had no effect.
I took the car to Grays Garage, Warwick who checked the computer for errors and only found records of my poor driving (amazing what gets thrown up when you stall the car!). Gave them a carte blanche to sort it out (oops! Check the wallet!).
They had the car for 5 days, ringing me each evening with a progress report.

I suggested a blocked fuel filter. Wasn't that.
Grays suggested the Lambda sensor at c.£90 or an air leak. They changed the sensor. Wasn't that! Air leaks are a b1tch to find, but they had a go ................... and couldn't find any.

Removed the injector rail and cleaned the injectors. Wasn't that!

Checked timing. Wasn't that!

They even traced through the wiring loom ...........


...... it was 2 broken wires in the "throttle potentiometer". Apparently it's a rheostat that measures the position of the throttle for the computer thingy that controls the fuel injection.
They had never come across it before, so they must have one hell of a good Technician to work it out! They soldered the wires in and now it's fine.

One week off the road, all unneccesary parts removed and a bill of only £92.53 incl.

A full diagnostic, fuel system clean out, electrics and ignition checked thoroughly for less than the price of a regular service. Excellent VFM, I reckon.

20/10 for Grays!

[goldspanners]

I drive a Fiat and can't praise my local dealer enough. For example;

Okay here's one for all you petrol heads!
Fine on acceleration and deceleration. When holding a constant speed, however, it feels as if it is only firing on three cylinders.

I changed the spark plugs, but this had no effect.
I took the car to Grays Garage, Warwick who checked the computer for errors and only found records of my poor driving (amazing what gets thrown up when you stall the car!). Gave them a carte blanche to sort it out (oops! Check the wallet!).
They had the car for 5 days, ringing me each evening with a progress report.

I suggested a blocked fuel filter. Wasn't that.
Grays suggested the Lambda sensor at c.£90 or an air leak. They changed the sensor. Wasn't that! Air leaks are a b1tch to find, but they had a go ................... and couldn't find any.

Removed the injector rail and cleaned the injectors. Wasn't that!

Checked timing. Wasn't that!

They even traced through the wiring loom ...........


...... it was 2 broken wires in the "throttle potentiometer". Apparently it's a rheostat that measures the position of the throttle for the computer thingy that controls the fuel injection.
They had never come across it before, so they must have one hell of a good Technician to work it out! They soldered the wires in and now it's fine.

One week off the road, all unneccesary parts removed and a bill of only £92.53 incl.

A full diagnostic, fuel system clean out, electrics and ignition checked thoroughly for less than the price of a regular service. Excellent VFM, I reckon.

20/10 for Grays!

thats all well and good but what does that have to do with buying parts from the parts counter?

[zappahey]

I suspect that I'd be paying £24.99 for the front pair in Halfords and £11.99 for the rear one.



It might be better to change the subject to "Don't use Halfrauds for parts" as they're usually way more expensive than the motor factors.

[goldspanners]

It might be better to change the subject to "Don't use Halfrauds for parts" as they're usually way more expensive than the motor factors.

or use this.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=676691

[harveybobbles]

Sounds weird this doesn't it?:D

Well I took my dads Micra to my local Nissan dealer for a service and they rang up with a few things that the car needed. One was new front and rear wipers for £18 inc VAT & fitted free. I suspect that I'd be paying £24.99 for the front pair in Halfords and £11.99 for the rear one.

Also they fitted a couple of bulbs free and only charge 69p for each bulb.:money:

It's all psycological stuff. The wipers were probably ten quid, but theyu charged you 18 and offered free fitting of them and bulbs.