Is dealership servicing necessary?

roddydogs

mr_accountant wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]Essentially yes, a service on modern car (by modern I mean from 1990s onwards) is little more than an oil and filter change, on my Hyundai i10 the small service is exactly that oil and filter, everything else is check, this and check that.

Whether they check these items is also another matter, for e.g. I remember the service checklist (the one with all the ticks) at the Hyundai dealer, they ticked the box for ‘check hydraulic clutch’ and also ticked the box for ‘check rear drum linings’, so what’s the problem you may ask? well the car does not have a hydraulic clutch, its cable operated and, secondly the rear brakes are discs, when I told them they were still in shock as most people don’t know their left hand from their right when it comes to cars, and would not know what half the service checks are.

So I would doubt they do a full check, just a quick look under the car and ticked everything off and send a nice bill for what is essentially an oil and filter change.

a full service is as above plus filter and sparks an brake fluid, again simple cheap stuff.[/FONT]

What I meant was that if you phoned a main stealer & said "Can I just have an oil change & filter, I dont think they would play ball, or they would charge nearly as much as a full service.

mr_accountant

roddydogs wrote: »

What I meant was that if you phoned a main stealer & said "Can I just have an oil change & filter, I dont think they would play ball, or they would charge nearly as much as a full service.

i guess it would invalidate the warranty, as the car service schedule has not been followed.

on cars with the crazy 2 years between services, if you requested at 12 months an oil change only service, they may offer this as you are effectively over servicing your car, your warranty should remain in tact, though im not 100% sure on that. regarding pricing, probably not a big deal between an oil service and a minor service.

Johnmcl7

Horizon81 wrote: »

OP, have you compared their prices to local independents? You may find there is little difference. Many dealers aren't as expensive as what people on here think. In fact, having studied a Good Garage Scheme member's invoice, it was dearer than the dealers. Mind that's another story, please avoid the nonsensical good garage scheme.

Equally, OP, are you happy with the service your dealer provides?

I don't use an independent garage due to price, I use them because my local dealer have been completely clueless in diagnosing and repairing issues with my car and I wouldn't trust them anywhere near it.

John

Newly_retired

No, I haven't recently compared prices for servicing. I use a local place for MOT, as it falls two months later than servicing, and is quicker, more convenient for me and considerably cheaper.
Yesterday at my service I was told that one of my tyres had a deep cut, so had to be replaced. That would almost certainly have been cheaper elsewhere, as would the wiper blades they replaced too.
I am ok with getting it serviced at the dealership, but it is these other costs which I know would be cheaper elsewhere, not to mention, closer to home.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Deleted User]

bod1467 wrote: »

Wrong end of the stick ... the family find the concept of their 70 year old female relative doing home servicing amusing, not the concept itself.

yeah I get the concept of the family laughing their heads off at the thought of granny with overalls on scrabbling about under the car with an oil tray. I was poking fun at the rest of "the family " whatever that was, all sitting back doing nothing because they are all so useless. What is "hubby/grandson/cousin/brother / doing about it, can t she call on one of them instead of paying £200 for a gallon of oil and a filter. I do my 32 years old grandsons oil changes and I m an old git, I m teaching him bit by bit not to rely on some half asleep mechanic ticking off check boxes, or like my fleet car service when the cheating fiddlers never even changed the oil! (Text removed by MSE Forum Team) Anyone taking their car there , check the dipstick for amber coloured oil after the service.

=rizla=

Newly_retired wrote: »

No, I haven't recently compared prices for servicing. I use a local place for MOT, as it falls two months later than servicing, and is quicker, more convenient for me and considerably cheaper.
Yesterday at my service I was told that one of my tyres had a deep cut, so had to be replaced. That would almost certainly have been cheaper elsewhere, as would the wiper blades they replaced too.
I am ok with getting it serviced at the dealership, but it is these other costs which I know would be cheaper elsewhere, not to mention, closer to home.

Thanks for all the replies.

If it were me i'd ask your local mot place how much a service would cost, if its a lot cheaper then do your service a month later (if you're lower mileage then I doubt one month later service would have any detrimental effect on your car) and do your MOT a month early, if you do an MOT up to a month early then it goes on the date of the old due date plus a year, you can effectively have a 13 month MOT,


So far as the dealer telling you xyz needs replacing, you don't have to let them do the work, thank them very much for letting you know and take it to a cheaper place to get sorted.

Newly_retired

Brilliant idea, =rizia=. MOT is May, so I'll try to remember to get it serviced in April next year. Should be fine.

I usually do get my tyres done elsewhere, but as this one could have blown any time, I did not want to risk it. If it had been just the wipers I would have done as you suggested, and gone elsewhere for them.

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.