Buying a Service Plan from a Dealership

AdrianC

fred990 said:

Indeed, one might hope that the brakes/steering would be included in an 'oil & filter' service?

Is there perhaps a good clue in the name?

motorguy

fred990 said:

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? 

Because they're talking about DIY and we arent?

This is not a thread about DIY however you and your alter ego seem - as usual - determined to keep it derailed.

fred246

Just looked at VW service plans for my car. The pollen filter is supposed to be changed annually. They helpfully say it will be replaced IF REQUIRED. What a joke. How do they decide that? Turn the blower on? Air comes out? Not needed. So you could spend thousands on VW services and still have the original pollen filter in your car. If you pay for a service plan it comes from VW financial services and includes a major and minor service. However the major service does not include a fuel filter change which is in a major service normally. Assuming they don't replace the pollen filter they are charging £496 for servicing which would cost me £60. So it looks as if service plans may omit items which are normally considered necessary. I guess you need to compare what's in a service plan to the service schedule.

LouiseAH

motorguy said:

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.

I was going to go for a hire purchase deal, are the hire purchase APR rates normally slightly lower than the PCP rates?

motorguy

LouiseAH said:

motorguy said:

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.

I was going to go for a hire purchase deal, are the hire purchase APR rates normally slightly lower than the PCP rates?

Yes, that sounds about right.

Do check for a cheap personal loan though and compare APRs.  The dealer you are buying your car off might be able to match the APR also so might be leverage.  Just be aware that the headline offered APR is not always what you get.  Theres a personal loan section on the main board.  Might be worth having a quick read at it.

motorguy

fred246 said:

Just looked at VW service plans for my car. The pollen filter is supposed to be changed annually. They helpfully say it will be replaced IF REQUIRED. What a joke. How do they decide that? Turn the blower on? Air comes out? Not needed. So you could spend thousands on VW services and still have the original pollen filter in your car. If you pay for a service plan it comes from VW financial services and includes a major and minor service. However the major service does not include a fuel filter change which is in a major service normally. Assuming they don't replace the pollen filter they are charging £496 for servicing which would cost me £60. So it looks as if service plans may omit items which are normally considered necessary. I guess you need to compare what's in a service plan to the service schedule.

You've made that mutually exclusive?  "supposed to be" is not the same as "if required."

But anyway, at least now you can accept you were wrong earlier when you 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."

You're now saying its a check and replace yearly only if required.

Its nonsense like that that just confuses people - and i'd find it hard to believe this is not all deliberate.  Which is fairly bad for the people who get sucked in to your world.

AdrianC

fred246 said:

Just looked at VW service plans for my car. The pollen filter is supposed to be changed annually. They helpfully say it will be replaced IF REQUIRED.

If the manufacturer says "replace as required", then by what definition is it "supposed" to be changed annually?

So you could spend thousands on VW services and still have the original pollen filter in your car.

Of course, if it hasn't been replaced, then - by definition - it didn't need to be replaced in the assessment of the manufacturer-trained skilled technician who does this day-in-day-out...

Assuming they don't replace the pollen filter they are charging £496 for servicing which would cost me £60.

Somebody seems to think that time and infrastructure (workshop space, ramps, tools, power) have zero value.

fred246

When you buy the car it comes with a service record that says the pollen filter should be changed annually. All the service schedules say it should be changed annually. On the VW website where it says 'what's included' it says pollen filter if required. So they don't have to do it if they can't be bothered. The fuel filter should be changed every 3 years but if you buy a 'serviceplan' it seems like it doesn't need doing. So if you have a 'VW service history' you have no idea if the pollen filter has ever been changed. If you have a stamp saying major service it will have had the fuel filter changed unless it was part of a service plan when it wouldn't have been done.

motorguy

fred246 said:

When you buy the car it comes with a service record that says the pollen filter should be changed annually. All the service schedules say it should be changed annually. On the VW website where it says 'what's included' it says pollen filter if required. So they don't have to do it if they can't be bothered. The fuel filter should be changed every 3 years but if you buy a 'serviceplan' it seems like it doesn't need doing. So if you have a 'VW service history' you have no idea if the pollen filter has ever been changed. If you have a stamp saying major service it will have had the fuel filter changed unless it was part of a service plan when it wouldn't have been done.

Wheres your evidence that they dont do it if "they cant be bothered"?

You cant seriously put statements like that unless you are willfully trying to mislead people.

fred246

It's very suspicious why they have changed an essential job to one that is only done 'if required'. It's not an easy job. It's not a job where a customer would easily know if it had been changed or not. I was told that mechanics never bother changing it. Human nature would dictate that a mechanic is not going to do it unless he has to. He doesn't have to do it because they have changed it to 'if required'. Would be interesting to set up some secret cameras but I predict the number being changed would approximate quite closely to 0%.