Is £250 a rip off for major service?

mrbadexample

Seems expensive to me. I've just had a full service on an '03 plate Volvo S60, plugs, filters, oil etc for £140.

I reckon you should be looking nearer to £100.

OrangeProse

£250 is a bit steep considering that the car's 10 years old. It sounds about standard for a main dealer, though.

I'd ring round a few local independent garages and get a handful of quotes. Also ask them to provide you with a list of what they do for that quote. You'll find that they vary wildly!

If you go to www.goodgaragescheme.co.uk you can search for independent garages by your postcode. Pick the 10 closest to where you live or work and ring/email them.

This site also allows people to post feedback on the service that they received, so it's in the garage's interest to look after people a bit more. I had a cambelt change and service done on my 12 year old car recently at a garage sourced through this site, and I was very happy with both the price and the service.

If it's gone 18 months (or possibly longer) without a service then it'll need one, regardless of how much mileage you've put on it. But there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get the price down to something a bit more reasonable.

It's a good idea to consider the cambelt thing, by the way. Check any service history that you have for the car and see when it was last done - it would normally be listed on an invoice or scope of work. Intervals vary on different cars and I don't know off the top of my head what a Fiesta would be, but usually cambelts have to be changed every 40,000 - 60,000 miles, or every 4 years. But do check.

My inclination would be that a £250 main dealer service wouldn't include a cambelt change - a lot of main dealers charge £250 just to do a cambelt, as they tend to take time and effort to get at. Again, try the independents - you could potentially cut that in half and still get a good quality job; it's just a case of finding the right garage.

Hope you get a better quote than £250!

2_litre

so it needs less servicing because its an old car
dear me do ANY of you lot have the first clue about cars ?
(apart from ginger nuts who seems to be clued up)

Ginger_Nuts_2

Perhaps I should try another helpful post like, I got a service done for £50 instead of trying to assist the op with their question. I dont think we have heard how many miles it has done since it's last service yet, perhaps it will need spark plugs, which may have seized in the head, theres so many things that arent posted that would let us know and give a better idea as to if the car could require £250 worth of work thanks

Miss_B_4

Thanks for all your input so far..Very interesting and useful information!

I use the car mainly for town driving but it does do the odd motorway drive and as I said was worked hard over the summer holidays zooming around the country. I've probably done about 10-15,000 miles over the last 18 months, not a huge amount but I must admit I'm not great on keeping up with home maintenance.:o

Other info: This is my first car so I have no experience of servicing and just rang the independent garage I get my MOT from and the Ford dealer to compare, asking for a 'full service'. I think I will ring around some more places.

ArsenalFC

2_litre wrote: »

so it needs less servicing because its an old car
dear me do ANY of you lot have the first clue about cars ?
(apart from ginger nuts who seems to be clued up)

You seem to have misunderstood what people are generally saying. Spending less on a car doesn't necessarily means less servicing. This is a 10 years old car, we are talking about economy service - to value of car. The car is worth approx £800 and spending a lot on servicing is not always a good idea as it doesn't add any value to the car like a newish car. Also most people who own a quite old car (like OP and me) may want to change to a newer car soon, in a year or two. So, in many ways it would be a waste of money to spend a lot on servicing other than the essentials - oil and oil filter. OP if you do want a full service then it should cost u no more than £150 from a garage.

Many people here are a lot more knowledgeable regarding motoring than u think.

Ginger_Nuts_2

Miss_B wrote: »

Thanks for all your input so far..Very interesting and useful information!

I use the car mainly for town driving but it does do the odd motorway drive and as I said was worked hard over the summer holidays zooming around the country. I've probably done about 10-15,000 miles over the last 18 months, not a huge amount but I must admit I'm not great on keeping up with home maintenance.:o

Other info: This is my first car so I have no experience of servicing and just rang the independent garage I get my MOT from and the Ford dealer to compare, asking for a 'full service'. I think I will ring around some more places.

Now from what you say, I would think that £250 is a bit steep, if it is a 1.3 fiesta, be warned that the spark plugs can and do regularly seize in the head if they havent been removed and replaced reasonably regularly, if so, the cylinder head really needs to be removed and the spark plugs replaced which adds considerable expense, several hundred probably. Really over that sort of mileage and length of time, oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and the brakes getting a check over would ensure that your car would continue to give you decent service for the foreseeable future;) I do most of my own servicing and for parts, without any trade discount I would imagine the above would cost around £40-£50, if you are leaving it into a garage probably 2 or three hours labour if everything goes to plan, I would like to think that most independents (depending where you live of course, if you're central london labour costs are much higher for instance) would charge probably around £100-£150 all in. Again if it were me, I would ask them for a price for a service rather than a major service, then ask them what gets replaced for that cost, then ask them to check the brakes and how much that would cost on top;) Hope that helps you be prepared for your next phone calls, and make sure you phone around and ask friends and family for recommendations for independent garages they use;)

goldspanners

ArsenalFC wrote: »

You seem to have misunderstood what people are generally saying. Spending less on a car doesn't necessarily means less servicing. This is a 10 years old car, we are talking about economy service - to value of car. The car is worth approx £800 and spending a lot on servicing is not always a good idea as it doesn't add any value to the car like a newish car. Also most people who own a quite old car (like OP and me) may want to change to a newer car soon, in a year or two. So, in many ways it would be a waste of money to spend a lot on servicing other than the essentials - oil and oil filter. OP if you do want a full service then it should cost u no more than £150 from a garage.

Many people here are a lot more knowledgeable regarding motoring than u think.

well said arsenalfc.
i wonder if 2 litre has any useful information................

















....nope,didn't think so.:rolleyes:

jeannieblue

I can get a full service done on my car for £5!

Yeah right.

If we are not genuinely realistic here, then we are not helping the OP or anyone.

A full service (note the word full), £250 is not that horrendous! This poor car has done around 15k since it has been looked at. Its an old car - doesn't mean 'don't bother with it'. It may need more than a newer car, likely even, I would say.

If you lot keep going on about how 'I got a full service for 15p' etc, then it isn't really very helpful is it. It gives the OP the wrong impression and if they then go to a good garage and it is more than 15p, thanks to you, they will think that they are being ripped off!

Lets be realistic - moneysaving - and honest.

2_litre

goldspanners wrote: »

well said arsenalfc.
i wonder if 2 litre has any useful information................

















....nope,didn't think so.:rolleyes:

no only 25 years working as a mechanic as experience, tit
so whats essential that needs doing and what doesnt ? a badly serviced car costs more to run a service is not just change oil and filter its a check of the cars roadworthyness aswel or is that not worth checking

ive read some of your posts nobspanners and you say ive got no useful info :rolleyes: