Repair costs- Main dealer or not

[studentphil]

When your Car needs a repair is it cheaper to go to Main dealer or an independent garage?

Thoughts welcome!!

[brazilianwax]

When your Car needs a repair is it cheaper to go to Main dealer or an independent garage?

Thoughts welcome!!

Are you serious???!!!

For the majority of cars a dealer is the most expensive option you can take!

[Nelski]

Except if you have a warranty on the car then you have to take it to the main dealer

[brazilianwax]

Except if you have a warranty on the car then you have to take it to the main dealer

Depends what kind of repairs for that.

[Nelski]

Depends what kind of repairs for that.

true
but if they think you have done anything yourself it may make the warranty obsolete and in the long run that could be a problem

on the other hand why I am posting on this thread:confused: :confused: I know where we are going with this

1. someone will ask phil why

2. phil will say hes thinking ahead to when he gets a car

3. we will ask how the heck he is going to get a car when he cant drive and has no job

4. we sneek nicely back into the phil is a very poor person who we should all feel very sorry for and ................on and on

5. I will get flamed for posting on the thread by a newbie or an oldie who is still on side

6. Quasar comes on and sorts it all out:D

7. I vow never to post on an sp thread again

8 I post on an sp thread and see 1-8:rotfl:

[shellsuit]

Haha Nelski!!

What's up with your parents car Phil?

Seeing as it's their car, can't they get it sorted out?

If there's nothing wrong with the car, why do you ask, cos it's not like you need to know is it?!

[studentphil]

Haha Nelski!!

What's up with your parents car Phil?

Seeing as it's their car, can't they get it sorted out?

If there's nothing wrong with the car, why do you ask, cos it's not like you need to know is it?!

Yes, it needs a service and naturally my family wish to get it done at the cheapest cost.

[plane_boy2000]

Depends on age etc, plus in some cases a main dealer can be cheaper as they can identify problems and fix them more quickly than an independant dealer due to their knowledge of that car.

A friend had a sensor fail on his car - his local garage kept chaging them until they found the right one - a main dealer would have used his diagnostic tool and only chaged one so would have been cheaper.

[brazilianwax]

Yes, it needs a service and naturally my family wish to get it done at the cheapest cost.

What car is it? How old etc.

[Yogibear]

you should try and get some recommendations from mates/friends main dealers charge £70 hourly plus, in Edinburgh I always use independants,well one particular garage.

[studentphil]

What car is it? How old etc.

GM Corsa 4 years old.

[brazilianwax]

GM Corsa 4 years old.

Vauxhall Corsa. If you aren't aware with any problems with it, I'd get it MOTd and serviced at an independent garage.

The main thin is that you trust the garage. Just cos it's a dealership doesn't mean you can trust them, and just cos it's a backstreet garage doesn't mean they won't treat you well.

Even with a major service and MOT it shouldn't cost you more than about £120.

If you want to reduce the cost further, supply your own fluids (oil, brake fluid etc).

[Need_More_Money]

Except if you have a warranty on the car then you have to take it to the main dealer

I think it's now illegal for main dealers to insist that warranty work is done at the main dealer. If you go elsewhere though, you have to make sure that they use genuine parts

[aurora borealis]

Yes, it needs a service and naturally my family wish to get it done at the cheapest cost.

What do they normally do?

[studentphil]

What do they normally do?

Go to the dealer where the labour can run to Hundreds.

[poppy_f1]

i have a corsa and take it toa independant mechanic

[brazilianwax]

Go to the dealer where the labour can run to Hundreds.

no warranty for them to protect, so shop around!

[epz]

can i vote for do it yourself, i grant you i like older cars which chan need a little more care but after years of paying garages over the odds for poor service i had enough and just do all but the most major stuff myself. the real straw that broke the cammels back was being told my electic window wasnt repairable and my abs was fine when i fixed the window with 1/2 hour research and an hors work and tracked down the abs fault to a sheared earth wire.

i mean seriously unless you are swapping engines or need heavy duty lifting machinery cars are pretty simple to get at and at least you will know its been done right.

[movilogo]

Though most of the time main dealers are prohibitively expensive, sometimes they can be cheaper too!

My car's cambelt change, independent garages quote from £125 to £200. Main dealer quoted £140.
In the end I did from independent for £125 though.

So, just shop around before committing. There are some complex, you have to go to main dealers!

[plane_boy2000]

I think it's now illegal for main dealers to insist that warranty work is done at the main dealer. If you go elsewhere though, you have to make sure that they use genuine parts

I think the point was that you need to take your car to a main dealer to have warranty work carried out rather than the servicing

[saintjanet]

There have been loads of threads about this and loads of opinions about the the pros. and cons have been discussed.why not do a search and find even more opinions?.

[Need_More_Money]

Though most of the time main dealers are prohibitively expensive, sometimes they can be cheaper too!

My car's cambelt change, independent garages quote from £125 to £200. Main dealer quoted £140.
In the end I did from independent for £125 though.

So, just shop around before committing. There are some complex, you have to go to main dealers!

Exactly the same thing happened to me, I was amazed that the dealer was quoting cheaper than all the independents I phoned

[Need_More_Money]

I think the point was that you need to take your car to a main dealer to have warranty work carried out rather than the servicing

But you don't, you just have to make sure the work is done using parts approved by the warranty

[scotsblood]

Just remember if a job requires a manufacturer special tool then any garage other than a main dealer will have limited options;-

-try to source a special tool from themselves - expensive from manufacturer if its only for the odd job, or in the trade from another dealer who may be closing?!

-work around the lack of the tool, either bodge it or try to use other tools and techniques

or worst of all not do the part of the job that needs the tool!!

The forums are full of tales of people who bought used cars that had been maintained by "specialists" but who "couldn't" replace the cambelt as they were supposed to at the XXmile service as they didn't have the special tool needed!

A friend had a Camry that had a history just like this and the true story only came out after the cambelt failed and warranty company started digging.

Main dealers Menu Pricing can sometimes work out much better than a smaller garage charging you "how long it took" for an unfamilliar job without the special tools!!

[plane_boy2000]

But you don't, you just have to make sure the work is done using parts approved by the warranty


May be the case for the third part aftermarket warranties which cover very little, but for a new car warranty you will HAVE to have the warranty work carried out at a franchised dealer. A manufacturer will not pay a back street garage to perform warranty work on a car when they have their own dealer network. However you may have your car serviced at any VAT registered garage using genuine parts, but in the even of a waranty claim they may ask you to prove that the manufacturers servicing schedule was followed and all the checks carried out. This may be difficullt to prove.

[brazilianwax]

There's a difference here between servicing and warranties (in which case NMM is spot on) and manufacturer recalls where parts are changed under the warranty (planeboy is right on that).


Neither of these are relevant in SP (OP)'s case though!!!!

:rotfl: