Cost hike for service/mot

wolfehouse

When I booked my 2015 car (43,000 miles) for annual service/mot with a main dealer, it seems the price has been hiked to £220 for a minor service compared to £180 last year.
The garage worker said the alternative was to book it in for a filter and oil change only (which would cost £120) and an mot.  The difference is they would not then ‘inspect’ anything else.
There is now no warranty on the car to ‘protect’ due to car age although they might not sign the service history book. I assume important issues would be picked up by an mot anyway.
Can I please ask for your thoughts on what would be best to do?
(thanks in advance)

Grumpy_chap

Standard MOT fee is £55, so the "minor service" is £165 (£220 - £55).
The oil & filter change is £120, so saving £45.

What is the garage going to do for the extra £45?

As for not "inspecting" anything else, is it not in the interest of the garage once they have a vehicle to generally "inspect" everything as a means of (a) protecting their liability and conscience that they do not send a car out that is unsafe (b) generating the follow-on work?

Username03725

Assuming you’re thinking of going to an independent, a main dealer service will pick up any non-safety recalls and reworks that might apply to your make & model, and will give you a little extra bargaining power if you need goodwill from the main dealer in the future.

an MoT inspection will only pick up on items that need checking as part of the test, so it may miss non-safety things that need attention. Fwiw I’d prefer to avoid that scenario.

in the end though it’s just £45 on top of your total annual motoring costs, so not a significant amount in the grand scheme of things.

wolfehouse

Thanks grumpy.  

He said they do a full check of exhaust, fuel lines etc etc…sort of sounds like things that would be picked up either on an mot or by car not ‘behaving’.  Being a fancy dealer they send you a video and list faults as  (red)must repair or (amber) advised etc.   although I’m sure they would never ever try to scare you into panicking. (Which is my natural reaction).

so I assume you are implying the cheaper option would suffice.

400ixl

They will only do what is on the job sheet, anything else is not their liability and they will not be paid for the time to do it, so no it is not in their interest to do free work.

To the OP, it isn't as simple as minor or major services as there may well be other things that are age or mileage related. If you had a minor service last year, it will be due more than another one this year.

If you are not wanting to pay the price of a main dealer (and I can't see why you would on a car of that age) then find a specialist for that brand locally and get them to do the proper service for the year / mileage.

The MOT will NOT pick up some issues which come to light, especially ones that are OK today, but may need attention in the coming months.

wolfehouse

It had a major service at the main dealer last year.  I did not begrudge the price of that at all.

sheramber

After the car was out of warranty we used a local independent garage. Cheaper and more convenient than the main dealer.

400ixl

wolfehouse said:

It had a major service at the main dealer last year.  I did not begrudge the price of that at all.

Ok, apologies, I read it differently.

I would still find a local specialist for a car of that age if there are no additional benefits for going to the main dealer.

molerat

I get a year full breakdown / recovery with a main dealer service so worth at least £50.