Better to get servicing done by main dealer or not

property.advert

You forgot option

8. Don't bother with services.

Flyboy152

property.advert wrote: »

You forgot option

8. Don't bother with services.

Aah, the last great option of false economies.

[Deleted User]

Why would anyone pay a dealer to wipe a stone enriched sponge over your car?

:rotfl:

jase1

Flyboy152 wrote: »

VAT registered independent/any make
Back street mechanic

There's a difference between these two? I thought they were one and the same? My mechanic is VAT registered but operates out of a back street (although it's a fairly sizeable operation with multiple bays).

My problem with main dealer servicing is what you get for the service from some of them. The £120 service at my indie covers much more than the main dealer -- the latter's "service" amounting to little more than you would get if you paid National Tyres £30 to change the oil and filter.

Once a car is out of warranty, assuming it's not an exotic model there is little point in going to anywhere else than a trusted back-street indie. As the car gets older and older the advantage of using a main dealer recedes further -- do you really want to be paying main dealer prices for parts on an 8 or 10 year old car, worth maybe £1000?

In recent years a Daewoo dealer has wanted £82 for a standard GM idle control valve worth £20; a Mitsubishi dealer has asked £130 for a water pump worth £25; and a Nissan dealer had the bare-faced nerve to quote £560 for a PAS pump :rotfl:that I could get hold of on an exchange from a specialist for around £100 (or the £20 from a scrapyard option I went for).

Some networks aren't as bad as that, but I wouldn't want to be held to ransom with prices like that (and nowhere else to turn if you only use main dealer servicing as the prices are a cartel as well -- you try pitting one dealer against another!).

roddydogs

We all know Main dealer servicing is dear, it subsidises the new price of a car, but how many people want to chance saving a few bob and risking the warranty?.
yes
i know that the warranty is not voided by using non main dealers, but you then have to prove the right Oil, etc. And someone recommending KF??

Flyboy152

jase1 wrote: »

There's a difference between these two? I thought they were one and the same? My mechanic is VAT registered but operates out of a back street (although it's a fairly sizeable operation with multiple bays).

My problem with main dealer servicing is what you get for the service from some of them. The £120 service at my indie covers much more than the main dealer -- the latter's "service" amounting to little more than you would get if you paid National Tyres £30 to change the oil and filter.

Once a car is out of warranty, assuming it's not an exotic model there is little point in going to anywhere else than a trusted back-street indie. As the car gets older and older the advantage of using a main dealer recedes further -- do you really want to be paying main dealer prices for parts on an 8 or 10 year old car, worth maybe £1000?

In recent years a Daewoo dealer has wanted £82 for a standard GM idle control valve worth £20; a Mitsubishi dealer has asked £130 for a water pump worth £25; and a Nissan dealer had the bare-faced nerve to quote £560 for a PAS pump :rotfl:that I could get hold of on an exchange from a specialist for around £100 (or the £20 from a scrapyard option I went for).

Some networks aren't as bad as that, but I wouldn't want to be held to ransom with prices like that (and nowhere else to turn if you only use main dealer servicing as the prices are a cartel as well -- you try pitting one dealer against another!).

I was differentiating between a legitimate business and someone who has set themselves up in a shed somewhere and called themselves a mechanic, because they wanted to turn their hobby into a business.

TiTheRev

pendulum wrote: »

That still is expensive!
I can buy a car for £250, that works! With MoT!
If you wanted to give more detail about what you did in the services it may change my mind?

For example, the major service: you say "all filters and plugs". I'd get a coolant change as well, wouldn't I? Brake fluid done too? What else?

Because £249 for filters, plugs and oil (I do get oil don't I?? ) seems dear to me!

You get an oil change, air filter, pollen filter, fuel filter/plugs. All the levels are checked and topped up if necessary. Usual other bits like check the brakes/tyres/exhaust/suspension etc.

Coolant shouldn't need replacing unless it's leaking/contaminated. Brake fluid is extra but only done every 2/3 years, so not necessary on every service.

The parts alone come to over half of that value (inc the oil), so if you are spending less than £120 for a full service including labour then it must be a huge compromise on the quality of filters/oil.

bigjl

My Subaru dealer was actually cheaper when it came to the routine servicing of my Legacy.

As previously said it does depend on the make of vehicle, would I but a Citreon that had never been serviced by the main dealer from new? Probably not.

I personally always keep it main dealer till the warranty is out then have no issue going to independants, but unless the car is mega valuable or really complicated I just do my own servicing, as I can be sure of the quality of oi put in the engine and then just use garages for tricky stuff like the rear brakes on my mk3 Mondeo or clutches etc.

I can do a full service, oil, oil filter, sump plug, air filter and diesel filter for less than £90, though a big chunk of that is oil £46 for Mobil 5w30 10 litres and over £30 for a diesel filter.

The sump is 6 litres hence why I buy 10 litres, buying 1 litre makes no financial sense, and I only change the diesel filter annually.

I see no reason to pay anybody £150 to do the above.

Especially when for £150 you would not get Mobil 5w30 and a diesell filter would be extra.

So the true price comparison would be £150 versus about £60 and an hour behind the house, I keep all reciepts as proof.

If however I did this with a newer car I would devalue it more than I have saved I would expect.

jase1

Flyboy152 wrote: »

I was differentiating between a legitimate business and someone who has set themselves up in a shed somewhere and called themselves a mechanic, because they wanted to turn their hobby into a business.

Got you

So my mechanic is an indie (he has four full-time mechanics on his books in addition to himself and an admin person), even though he himself refers to himself as "a back-street mechanic". Hence the confusion :beer:

Strider590

Solution.... Do what I did for my Vectra, buy the genuine GM oil, filters, etc. Change what you can yourself and get some other garage to do the rest. Most garage's will charge £15 for an oil change if you supply the parts.

Dealerships cash in on people who literally don't know (or want to know) how their car works, as far as these people are concerned there might as well be a pink elephant under the hood.
Nobody knows what a service actually consists of, or how simple it is to do yourself. They have this romantic idea of a mechanic checking every last inch of the car, tightening bolts, greasing joints and whatever.

In truth they change the oil, the filters, maybe the spark plugs, then go over the car briefly to milk the customer for addition work later on.
They then have it cleaned by a school leaver with a dirty sponge and stamp your little book.

Some don't even bother doing the work, because far too many people will be fooled by the nice clean appearance and just assume everything is good.