Vauxhall Corsa 2nd Service......

mardiemare2008

I have a Vauxhall Corsa that will soon be approaching it's 2nd birthday. It will need it's 2nd Service. For it's first service I took it to the Vauxhall garage I bought it from and it cost me near enough £180 for a yr 1 service.

I am reluctant to pay this amount again, but as my car benefits from the Vauxhall 'lifetime Warranty' Am I obligated to get it serviced with them?

I am also thinking about investing in a 'Service Plan' for 2 years for £279

http://www.arnoldclark.com/servicing/complete-aftercare/service.html

This is my first car so I am new to this - if any of you money savers can suggest anyway to save money on servicing and upcoming MOT's I would appreciate it

NeededToChooseAUsername

Service plan sounds good go for it.

Personally will go for a service plan if I buy a new car in the future as the price of even basic servicing is getting ridiculous.

Netwizard

mardiemare2008 wrote: »

I have a Vauxhall Corsa that will soon be approaching it's 2nd birthday. It will need it's 2nd Service. For it's first service I took it to the Vauxhall garage I bought it from and it cost me near enough £180 for a yr 1 service.

I am reluctant to pay this amount again, but as my car benefits from the Vauxhall 'lifetime Warranty' Am I obligated to get it serviced with them?

I am also thinking about investing in a 'Service Plan' for 2 years for £279

http://www.arnoldclark.com/servicing/complete-aftercare/service.html

This is my first car so I am new to this - if any of you money savers can suggest anyway to save money on servicing and upcoming MOT's I would appreciate it

You can take your car to any good independent garage and your warranty will not be affected so long as they use Genuine VX parts and stamp your service book.

£180 sounds a hell of a lot for a first service, which is basically an oil and filter change but I guess that's main dealers for you.

Arnold Clark's service plan is utter crap. Have you seen what it actually includes?

Fixed Price Service Schedule

• Check Horn Operation - YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Basic Instrument Operation YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Wiper & Washer Operation YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Heater & Air Conditioning Operation YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Hand Brake Operation YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check for Excessive Oil Leaks YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Exhaust Condition & Security YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Brake Lining Wear & Tear - YOUR LOCAL TYRE/BRAKES PLACE WILL PROBABLY DO THIS FOR FREE
• Check Brake Disc Wear & Tear YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Brake Wheel Cylinders YOUR LOCAL TYRE/BRAKES PLACE WILL PROBABLY DO THIS FOR FREE
• Check Brake Pipes & Hoses YOUR LOCAL TYRE/BRAKES PLACE WILL PROBABLY DO THIS FOR FREE
• Suspension Safety Check
• Steering Safety Check
• Renew Engine Oil
• Renew Oil Filter
• Check Lights Illuminate YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF

• Set Tyre Pressure YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Lamp Lenses for Damage YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Coolant Level & Anti-Freeze Content YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Brake/Clutch Fluid Levels & Top Up YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Lubricate Door Hinges & Locks YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Power Steering Fluid Level YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Battery Levels & Connections YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Advise if Timing Belt is Due Replacement SERVICE BOOK WILL TELL YOU IF THIS NEEDS DOING (AT 2/3 YEARS OLD, IT WON'T UNLESS YOU DO MEGA MILES)
• Advise if Pollen Filter is Due Replacement SERVICE BOOK WILL TELL YOU IF THIS NEEDS DOING (AGE/MILEAGE)
• Check Visible Drive Belts YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Wiper Blade Condition YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Air Filter YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Add Screen Wash Additive YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Check Spark Plugs (Advise If Replacement Required) SERVICE BOOK WILL TELL YOU IF THIS NEEDS DOING
• Check Tyres for Wear & Damage (Complete Report) YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF
• Road Test & Report

I have added my comments in blue. Basically all they are doing are checking the things you should be checking on a regular basis anyway. The only things that need doing on that list are the oil / filter, maybe the steering and suspension check (but I wouldn't think there would be anything drastically wrong with these anyway on a car a few years old).

The rest of the stuff is checking fluids, tyres and lights and they want £279 for that? A horrific rip off.

As for MOTs, get yourself to a council garage that JUST deals in MOTs and no repair work, then there will be no need for the garage to make up work to extract more money out of you.

Check your service book to see what age / mileage the cambelt needs to be changed at and make sure it is done by that time or mileage.

Most of those "Checks" can be done yourself in half an hour, if that.
At the end of every month, I check all my lights, tyres and fluid levels. That is 90% of Arnold Clark's checklist complete!

In terms of brakes, you will know when your discs and pads will need doing, but if your unsure, just drop by a decent friendly local garage, and they will advise you. As for things like brake lines and hoses, you won't have to worry about them on a 3 year old car.

The way I see Arnold Clarks fixed price service schedule, they are charging £279 for what is pretty much a few oil and filter changes. That's a hell of a lot of money!

cootuk

Servicing can often alternate annually between an interim or full service. Interims should be about £120, full service around £180 (not sure of exact Vauxhall prices).
Then there could be a separate brake fluid change - maybe £40

I would find out why your first service was so high...I guess it was a full service?

The two year deal might be an interin and full, so not neccessarily a big saving.

Strider590

Netwizard wrote: »

Arnold Clark's service plan is utter crap. Have you seen what it actually includes?

And half of that, they won't actually do because their "mechanics" will be doubtlessly be under strict and impossible to meet (off paper) time targets.

Problem with dealerships is the people in charge of the technical guys are almost always pencil pushers.

cootuk

But you will get charged for windscreen wash regardless

cheekyweegit

First service on my Yaris, bought from new was £43 or £48 from local independent I've used for years. Ok it was 3 years ago, but last years full service and MOT was £130 (which included cost of MOT and new wiper blades),then £132 for 2 Avon tyres from National which included insurance.

Very bad experience after a service at my Arnold Clark who told me I had to get services done with them to keep the warranty. One service left me with the engine over revving and faulty breaks. They had the car 3 days for a service and MOT, and over charged me for the privilege. You can probably guess the choice words I had with the service manager. Just because you're female doesn't mean you know nowt about cars and need patronised. I had a few words to say about that too.

JulieM

cootuk wrote: »

Servicing can often alternate annually between an interim or full service. Interims should be about £120, full service around £180 (not sure of exact Vauxhall prices).
Then there could be a separate brake fluid change - maybe £40

I would find out why your first service was so high...I guess it was a full service?

The two year deal might be an interin and full, so not neccessarily a big saving.

I have a Vauxhall Corsa which I have serviced by a main agent, the last interim service cost around £120 and the last main service around £230. These figures are only approximate as I've knocked off the cost of MOT and the VAT on that.

mardiemare2008

Thanks for your help guys -
I obviously want to save as much money as possible, but it was worrying me that my warranty would be void if I did not get my car serviced with Arnold Clark.

My car's brakes also stick when the car is parked over night (I think its the brakes) - When you try to drive off first thing on a morning you have to rev the car and put it in 1st gear then reverse to unstick the brakes (I think). This only happens intermittently and mainly in winter - so when I took it to Arnold Clark they apparently checked the brakes and said all was fine. Has anyone else heard of this before?

I have my warranty paperwork - this claims I need to:

1) Ensure that the vehicle is serviced in accordance with our recommended service schedule

2) Visit any Vauxhall retailer for a FREE annual re-activation check

So I suppose as long as I get the service booklet stamped this should be fine. How do I ensure the garage only uses Vauxhall parts?

Netwizard

mardiemare2008 wrote: »

Thanks for your help guys -
I obviously want to save as much money as possible, but it was worrying me that my warranty would be void if I did not get my car serviced with Arnold Clark.

My car's brakes also stick when the car is parked over night (I think its the brakes) - When you try to drive off first thing on a morning you have to rev the car and put it in 1st gear then reverse to unstick the brakes (I think). This only happens intermittently and mainly in winter -

This is normal, especially in the winter when its cold and wet and the car has been parked a while

With regard to the parts, I'm not sure if you could buy the genuine parts yourself and get a garage to fit them? They should still stamp the book, but I'm sure someone more knowledgeable on this will be along soon.

I quite often buy genuine parts off dealers on ebay. Best option would be to find a decent independent garage and have a chat with them.

Another option is, have a ring round some Vauxhall dealers locally. Play them off against each other when enquiring about servicing prices, try and drive the price down as much as possible and then compare it to what an independent garage would charge

vickssinex

Always worth ringing round a few dealers locally - I found prices ranged from £175 to £225 a couple of years ago for a second service for my Corsa.