2nd service cost

Any

Hi,

I've just booked my Suzuki Swift in for second yr service and apparently the cost will be £217. Is that normal? It seems a lot..

I could possibly get it cheaper at my local garage (this cost is with Suzuki), but I will loose warranty if I do that, will I not?

Ezmondino

Sounds about right to me tbh for a dealer. I find local garages tend to be cheaper than dealers.

You'll have to check your warrenty, but I'd expect that your warrenty says the car must be serviced by a dealer.

bosseyed

Sounds about right for a second service at a dealership.

Check your warranty, I suspect its the case that whilst you don't have to get the car serviced at the dealers, wherever you do get it serviced probably needs to be a Suzuki approved place and they need to use all Suzuki parts, right down to the type of oil used.

Generally I'd imagine it'll be less hassle in the future with any warranty claims if the only people who have touched the car are the dealers themselves - they can't then quibble or delay things waiting for proof of correct official parts etc from wherever you got the service done.

Any

bosseyed wrote: »

Generally I'd imagine it'll be less hassle in the future with any warranty claims if the only people who have touched the car are the dealers themselves - they can't then quibble or delay things waiting for proof of correct official parts etc from wherever you got the service done.

I think you are right, they would have to stop inflating the prices massively first though..

bosseyed

Any wrote: »

I think you are right, they would have to stop inflating the prices massively first though..

Yeah, they can be pricey. To my mind its just one of those additional expenses that comes with having a new car under warranty. We all know that generally the dealership will do anything they can to pass the buck when theres an issue, so I don't like to give them the ammunition to claim it was something other than the car at fault and neatly side step their obligations.

My car due its 2nd service in August and I'll be taking it to the dealer.

fivetide

Any wrote: »

Hi,

I've just booked my Suzuki Swift in for second yr service and apparently the cost will be £217. Is that normal? It seems a lot..

I could possibly get it cheaper at my local garage (this cost is with Suzuki), but I will loose warranty if I do that, will I not?

sounds right. If the car is under two years old you can get it serviced at an independent but I would buy all the parts from the dealer and save money on the labour. That way you can show that all original parts were used (although you could still get some issues if they call into question the mechanic's ability - that said, a Swift is not exactly complex thing to service).

find out what it includes and go from there. Might only be two hours labour so you could save £50 I'd guess.

5t.

rob7475

Hi,

I would avoid main dealer servicing costs if I were you. As long as you use a VAT registered independant who uses approved parts and stamps your service book, your warranty is still valid.

Renault quoted me £240 tor a service on my 08 plate megane. Wasn't a major service either, just oil, oil filter, air filter and basic checks. My local garage did the same service using approved parts and fully synthetic oil for £95!

The law changed about 10 year ago to stop main dealers forcing you to get your car serviced by them. A main dealer usually charges £80 upwards per hour labour. A good independant will be more like £30 per hour, maybe less.

It's your choice, but don't think you are forced to use a main dealer for servicing.

Any

No, I just read my Handbook and it doesn't say it has to be Suzuki dealership serviced.. It does say "competent fitting" and "proof of genuin part purchase"...

The warranty will only apply for another 6 mths after the service anyway (I bought pre-registered car and the warranty is 36 mths from registration) and there is nothing wrong with it so I am thinking that the extra is not worth it..

Local quoted me £100 tops. He is aware of the warranty and only uses approved parts.

jase1

On the few occasions that I've had a car under warranty, I've printed off the schedule for that service and asked the mechanic to tick and sign it as he goes along. And bought the service kit myself. That way it's almost impossible for the dealer to worm his way out of his commitments.

MrRedundant

We have this debate regularly.

The fact is yes block exemption exists and you can get your dealer serviced at any garage provided they use genuine parts and complete the service fully as required. I.e no short cuts, no mistakes, correct order.

Personally for the sake of £50 I would always use a dealer as the chance of error is far higher at a local garage on this which is all great. Until your turbo or something else blows and your asked to prove the grade of oil or find out it was the wrong one.

If you buy a new car christ pay the extra and get it serviced at a dealer. not worth the risk. There was a story on here fairly recently about a car warranty failure due to incorrect oil treatment.

I dont for a second believe that your average small independent fully uses the correct stuff and sequence and more just stamp the book. Great if it goees ok.

[Deleted User]

Always surprises me at the people who can afford a brand new car, depreciation hit, finance interest, etc. Then moan about the cost of a service.

If you don't want to pay out loads for a service, then get an old car and take it to any back street garage for a decent service for £90.