Question about Costs of Servicing Car

sarahj1990

I have been taking my car to the same garage to get it serviced for the last 7-8 years. The garage is a small family run business. When I started taking it there they charged me about 20% less than what a main dealer would have charged me. I checked the prices at the time. I recently got a full service and the price had gone up 23% from 2 years ago and now they are charging me the same amount as a main dealer. I know prices for everything has recently gone up but 22% increase seems a bit steep.

KimJongUn88

What’s the question?

forgotmyname

Some items will be a similar price and some maybe double their price over the past 7 years.  Maybe thats the cost they needed
to increase by to stay in business?

Are you sure Main Dealers have not increased their prices with similar figures?   I know the Ford service was £125 with discounts
often available is now £170 and I have not received or seen any discounts. Thats in just 4 years.

Grumpy_chap

sarahj1990 said:

I have been taking my car to the same garage to get it serviced for the last 7-8 years. The garage is a small family run business. When I started taking it there they charged me about 20% less than what a main dealer would have charged me. I checked the prices at the time. I recently got a full service and the price had gone up 23% from 2 years ago and now they are charging me the same amount as a main dealer. I know prices for everything has recently gone up but 22% increase seems a bit steep.

Using this calculator:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator

The price 8 years ago was 20% less than main dealer.

Say, the independent was charging £150 in 2013, that would be £175 now.  Up 16%.

Actual price rise has been 23%.  Does this reflect the fact that not all services are equal and, as the car ages, the "extra" work will likely be more?

What is the main dealer price this year?

Next year, why not get a price from the main dealer and a price from the local garage and then choose where to book the car in?

Grey_Critic

You can save money by supplying your own parts - I had many customers do that as the parts departments at dealers are a profit centre. They often discount service parts to joe public but insist on full price for sales via service department.

The question you really should be asking is what is the labour rates. Parts are roughly the same between franchised and independents. I pay around £50 per hour at an indepencent whilst the main dealer is about £90.

forgotmyname

Save money supplying your own parts?   Except the garage can often get the parts cheaper than you.

You supply the parts then you are liable for any faulty items taht you supplied. This could be additional labour

and replacement parts or downtime if your vehicle is taking up space they cannot use on the next vehicle.

You use the parts prices to haggle on the cost when booking the car in.  Unless your supplying inferior parts how
can you get it cheaper than a garage buying hundreds of items with large discounts?

sarahj1990

My car maybe 9 years old but has only done 40,000 miles and is in great condition as its always garaged when I am not using it. It had exactly the same work completed on the last service as it did 2 years ago. I checked the receipt and all the same parts were used, only difference was it cost me 23% more. The reason I posted my original post was I wanted to try and get some feedback from other members of the forum to see how the costs have increased in there garage. I know prices have risen because of high inflation but a 23% increase in 2 years seems a bit strong to me.

Flight3287462

Where is the biggest rise?  Parts or labour?

You need to break this down a bit so we can understand what's going on.  Some parts are going through the roof.

TBagpuss

Maybe they realised that they were undervaluing their work before so have changed to bring it up to market rates? If they were undercharging but have now increased their charges to market rates then it will be a bigger increase than the market average  but could still still good value over all. 

The issue surely is whether you feel you are getting value for money.  If they now charge the same as the main dealer, decide which offers the best service and go with that

I use an independent garage not primarily because they are cheaper than a main dealer but because I have a relationship with them and trust them. They will discuss with me what is necessary and what is merely cosmetic, they are not pushy, and I generally get to speak to the person who is actually working on my vehicle and can answer any questions. 

It's also bearing in mind that things such as making arrangements for Covid-safe working may well have had a bigger impact on smaller businesses so they may have needed to increase costs more to stand still.

elsien

sarahj1990 said:

My car maybe 9 years old but has only done 40,000 miles and is in great condition as its always garaged when I am not using it. It had exactly the same work completed on the last service as it did 2 years ago. I checked the receipt and all the same parts were used, only difference was it cost me 23% more. The reason I posted my original post was I wanted to try and get some feedback from other members of the forum to see how the costs have increased in there garage. I know prices have risen because of high inflation but a 23% increase in 2 years seems a bit strong to me.

You still haven’t said though what the main dealer would charge this year - you seem to be basing both on prices from 2 years ago. 

JJ_Egan

Have a look at the hourly rate for a Main Dealer service .

Price of parts as many other items have risen over the last few years .