Buying a Service Plan from a Dealership

fred246

Changing the cabin pollen filter is normally an annual job on the service schedule. When I went to purchase my first one at GSF car parts they said "You do know mechanics don't bother changing these?".  Some garages charge extra even though they are a standard item. Some say that they inspect them and put them back. If you take your car to garages for servicing you end up not having a clue what has actually been done. Some people mark them and ask for the old ones back and then check the marks. If you have no idea you just assume things have been done that haven't. If you just want stamps in the book to prove 'MAIN DEALER SERVICE HISTORY' you aren't really bothered what has been done.

motorguy

fred246 said:

I am pretty sure that people will realise that the servicing hinges on taking finance which won't be good value. Car servicing is a completely unregulated activity. It's fine if you aren't bothered whether your car is serviced or not. If you just want stamps or the digital equivalent you will get that. What's actually done is anybody's guess. Garages 'services' are all totally different. All the undercover investigations I have read have always shown very poor standards.

It will be if everything else is equal.  ie, if someone is getting 2.9% APR at one dealers and a £79 servicing deal, that is better than getting 2.9% APR at another dealers with no servicing deal.

That is the point here - when all other things are equal then a £79 servicing deal is exceptional value.  It wont be cheaper to buy the parts and attempt to do it yourself nor will it be cheaper to get a driveway mechanic to do.

Hence, why do you keep persisting with those option when they are not relevant to the O/P?

motorguy

fred246 said:

Changing the cabin pollen filter is normally an annual job on the service schedule. When I went to purchase my first one at GSF car parts they said "You do know mechanics don't bother changing these?".  Some garages charge extra even though they are a standard item. Some say that they inspect them and put them back. If you take your car to garages for servicing you end up not having a clue what has actually been done. Some people mark them and ask for the old ones back and then check the marks. If you have no idea you just assume things have been done that haven't. If you just want stamps in the book to prove 'MAIN DEALER SERVICE HISTORY' you aren't really bothered what has been done.

Again you are merging two different things to confuse people.

Main dealers will NOT be buying their parts from their local motor factors.

When people ask for a service of their local mechanic they generally ask for "an oil and filter" service, and thats what they get.  Few will say "please service this car to full manufacturers schedule".

If one mechanic does all filters and a brake fluid change, charges £300 then likely the end customer will be outraged - "i didnt ask for all that, i just wanted the car serviced" and he'll lose the repeat business.  He may well ask "do you want me to do X, Y, Z also?" but generally speaking "a service" is an oil and filter service to a lot of people.

motorguy

fred246 said:

If she got the car ON FINANCE she could have that plan. God knows how much the finance would cost. (1) There is a lot in this thread that concerns DIY servicing. (2) People are worried about the quality of the service. (3) They have no idea if the garage will do it correctly. (4) If you DIY you always know it's done correctly. A lot of people have trouble dropping the car off at a garage. If you DIY you pick a warm day and go and do it. Take a beer out with you. No stress.

(1) Only because you brought it up and are persisting, when it is irrelevant to the O/Ps ask

(2) No they're not.  You are purposely undermining main dealers and garages with unsubstantiated untruths.

(3) Yes they do.  The main franchised dealer is tasked and audited by the manufacturer to do the work.  If they actively avoid doing the work they will loose a franchise worth millions of £s per year.  Granted, mistakes can happen but it is wrong to say "franchised garages avoid doing the work to save money but charge the customer anyway"/

(4) No you dont.  As per my example with my 6 series.  the bloke did it himself no doubt from a you tube video and made a mess of it.  Didnt know he had.  Fortunately me and my mechanic picked up on it but that guy's wife could easily have ended up running that car without water.

LouiseAH

motorguy said:

fred246 said:

I am pretty sure that people will realise that the servicing hinges on taking finance which won't be good value. Car servicing is a completely unregulated activity. It's fine if you aren't bothered whether your car is serviced or not. If you just want stamps or the digital equivalent you will get that. What's actually done is anybody's guess. Garages 'services' are all totally different. All the undercover investigations I have read have always shown very poor standards.

It will be if everything else is equal.  ie, if someone is getting 2.9% APR at one dealers and a £79 servicing deal, that is better than getting 2.9% APR at another dealers with no servicing deal.

That is the point here - when all other things are equal then a £79 servicing deal is exceptional value.  It wont be cheaper to buy the parts and attempt to do it yourself nor will it be cheaper to get a driveway mechanic to do.

Hence, why do you keep persisting with those option when they are not relevant to the O/P?

Did you use 2.9% just as an example, seems a low APR rate?

motorguy

LouiseAH said:

motorguy said:

fred246 said:

I am pretty sure that people will realise that the servicing hinges on taking finance which won't be good value. Car servicing is a completely unregulated activity. It's fine if you aren't bothered whether your car is serviced or not. If you just want stamps or the digital equivalent you will get that. What's actually done is anybody's guess. Garages 'services' are all totally different. All the undercover investigations I have read have always shown very poor standards.

It will be if everything else is equal.  ie, if someone is getting 2.9% APR at one dealers and a £79 servicing deal, that is better than getting 2.9% APR at another dealers with no servicing deal.

That is the point here - when all other things are equal then a £79 servicing deal is exceptional value.  It wont be cheaper to buy the parts and attempt to do it yourself nor will it be cheaper to get a driveway mechanic to do.

Hence, why do you keep persisting with those option when they are not relevant to the O/P?

Did you use 2.9% just as an example, seems a low APR rate?

Yes.  Most typically you would see that on a new car only with a manufacturer subsidised finance rate.  Those sorts of rates (and lower) are out there, but almost always only on new car deals.

If you're looking at used, your best best to get the lowest rate is a personal loan.  Theres a board here on MSE about how to find the cheapest.  There were / are some about at just under 3%.  Halifax are doing from 3.5% which is still good.  

A personal loan at a cheap rate would work out cheaper overall (even if you have to extend the payment term to keep the monthly payment palatable) than a PCP on a higher APR rate that is often quoted.

LouiseAH

motorguy thanks for the info. Do you know what a good APR rate would be to buy a 2nd hand car from a dealership?

motorguy

LouiseAH said:

motorguy thanks for the info. Do you know what a good APR rate would be to buy a 2nd hand car from a dealership?

Is it a PCP type deal?  if so they tend to be at quite a high rate.  7.9% APR to 12.9% APR is not unusual.  If it is, it would be well worth checking the cost of a personal loan by comparison.  A 4 year personal loan would almost certainly be cheaper than a 3 year PCP (and you'd end up owing less at the end of year 3).

If its straight finance, gut feeling is probably 4.9-7.9% APR.  You "might" get a manufacturer incentivised finance deal on an approved used car which would maybe be at the lower end of that or less.

Did i see on another thread your budget is £12K ish?  If so i'd definitely explore a personal loan.

Also, if you're looking at say, a year old car on a PCP you might well find you can get a new car for the same or even less monthly payment as they well likely have a heavier incentivised offer on new.

fred246

motorguy said:

fred246 said:

Changing the cabin pollen filter is normally an annual job on the service schedule. When I went to purchase my first one at GSF car parts they said "You do know mechanics don't bother changing these?".  Some garages charge extra even though they are a standard item. Some say that they inspect them and put them back. If you take your car to garages for servicing you end up not having a clue what has actually been done. Some people mark them and ask for the old ones back and then check the marks. If you have no idea you just assume things have been done that haven't. If you just want stamps in the book to prove 'MAIN DEALER SERVICE HISTORY' you aren't really bothered what has been done.

Again you are merging two different things to confuse people.

Main dealers will NOT be buying their parts from their local motor factors.

When people ask for a service of their local mechanic they generally ask for "an oil and filter" service, and thats what they get.  Few will say "please service this car to full manufacturers schedule".

If one mechanic does all filters and a brake fluid change, charges £300 then likely the end customer will be outraged - "i didnt ask for all that, i just wanted the car serviced" and he'll lose the repeat business.  He may well ask "do you want me to do X, Y, Z also?" but generally speaking "a service" is an oil and filter service to a lot of people.

I have never heard anyone say that they have asked for an oil and filter service. I have heard things like minor and major or A & B. I think people expect that the mechanic will do whatever should be done at a service. The last trading standards report that I read says every garage basically does what they feel like. One garage's major service is totally different to another's.

fred990

Indeed, one might hope that the brakes/steering would be included in an 'oil & filter' service? Maybe not if you don't ask....!
It's interesting the number of non-diy'ers that get triggered here yet I've never noticed on diy forums the reverse, I wonder why?