Car Service...dealer or independent?

DoctorFoster

sam1970 wrote: »

so..after few phone calls this is what I got for an MOT and interim service:

1- Local dealer £199
2- 30 miles away dealer £182
3- Independent garage £165
4- Halfords autocentre £139
5- Kwikfit (with discount code) £119

decision..decision

Forget 4 and 5. They'll just look for extra work.

oldagetraveller

sam1970 wrote: »

so..after few phone calls this is what I got for an MOT and interim service:

1- Local dealer £199
2- 30 miles away dealer £182
3- Independent garage £165
4- Halfords autocentre £139
5- Kwikfit (with discount code) £119

decision..decision

You still haven't provided the model. Toyota fixed prices start at £99 for an interim/intermediate service and last year my dealer did the MOT for £35.
MOT and inter for a Yaris then was £154
No decision needed regarding 4 and 5!:)

sam1970

oldagetraveller wrote: »

You still haven't provided the model. Toyota fixed prices start at £99 for an interim/intermediate service and last year my dealer did the MOT for £35.
MOT and inter for a Yaris then was £154
No decision needed regarding 4 and 5!:)

Hi ..it is verso 2.2 litres diesel

jazzy

If it's a Verso with a 2AD engine (Prod. Date: Apr 2005 to Nov 2008) . I would continue to have the vehicle serviced with Toyota. There is a 7 year extended warranty for the engine (up to 7 years old and 111,846 miles (180,000 km), whichever the sooner), the engines are prone to head gasket failures and if serviced by Toyota they will be covered for a free replacement engine from Toyota.

Quiet_Spark

OddballJamie wrote: »

So I take it you only trust grumpy indies?

Definitely works around here.
A man called Chris Plummer started at BMW and 30 years later he is on his own charging £45 per hour as opposed to £70 per hour at the dealers.

Trust me when I say he is one miserable f***er, but he does exactly what he says and (quite honestly) it's a no brainer on where to take a 58 plate E92 when servicing/work is required.

As an example of work, I found myself last year needing a new rear light lens (LED's built in to lens). The dealers wanted the best part of £300, Chris Plummer did it all in (using genuine parts) for £135 and had the car for no more than 15 minutes.

Granted I didn't get a crappy cup of coffee (although I could have had a mug of tea if I wanted), but I also didn't take it up the jacksey and my rear lights did exactly what I wanted them to do and had a warranty to boot.

I'm not promoting the man in any way, shape or form (especially as he's only good to local people), but that shows you the mark up to be made if you decide to take it home every year.

haz25a

I've used both for over 20 years and definitely prefer a good independent garage than a dealership.

I've always had really good mechanics who don't rip you off and only do the work that needs done and they do it well.

I suggest you find one in your area with a good reputation. I have always asked around and found them through word of mouth.

Definitely stay away from Halfords and Kwik Fit, they use cheap parts and their mechanics aren't usually as well trained as an Independent in my opinion.

When buying a used car, service history is very important to me but dealership history would definitely not sway me towards buying it.

sam1970

jazzy wrote: »

If it's a Verso with a 2AD engine (Prod. Date: Apr 2005 to Nov 2008) . I would continue to have the vehicle serviced with Toyota. There is a 7 year extended warranty for the engine (up to 7 years old and 111,846 miles (180,000 km), whichever the sooner), the engines are prone to head gasket failures and if serviced by Toyota they will be covered for a free replacement engine from Toyota.

I found about that , by chance, last year and I had a new engine fitted by Toyota...thats why I am leaning more towards the dealer service as the new engine has done just 9000 miles

OddballJamie

sam1970 wrote: »

I found about that , by chance, last year and I had a new engine fitted by Toyota...thats why I am leaning more towards the dealer service as the new engine has done just 9000 miles

Phone up your local dealer and tell them the prices you can get a service elsewhere. I do it every year and my local dealer always price matches.

OddballJamie

Quiet_Spark wrote: »

Definitely works around here.
A man called Chris Plummer started at BMW and 30 years later he is on his own charging £45 per hour as opposed to £70 per hour at the dealers.

Trust me when I say he is one miserable f***er, but he does exactly what he says and (quite honestly) it's a no brainer on where to take a 58 plate E92 when servicing/work is required.

As an example of work, I found myself last year needing a new rear light lens (LED's built in to lens). The dealers wanted the best part of £300, Chris Plummer did it all in (using genuine parts) for £135 and had the car for no more than 15 minutes.

Granted I didn't get a crappy cup of coffee (although I could have had a mug of tea if I wanted), but I also didn't take it up the jacksey and my rear lights did exactly what I wanted them to do and had a warranty to boot.

I'm not promoting the man in any way, shape or form (especially as he's only good to local people), but that shows you the mark up to be made if you decide to take it home every year.

£70 an hour at a BMW dealer, do you have their number?
That's a bargain!

sam1970

OddballJamie wrote: »

Phone up your local dealer and tell them the prices you can get a service elsewhere. I do it every year and my local dealer always price matches.

that is what I did but as you can see my local wanted £199 while I told him that another dealer offered to do it for less and he refused to price match..actually I did not like his arogance over the phone...I think I am going to go independent