Dealer servicing vehicle do you trust them VW

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ididgetwhereiamtoday said:

I don't trust them. They are there for one reason, to make money.
But I need them to stamp my service book for the warranty. 
The actual servicing they do for the £250 is bollox. We know that, they know that. It's just a game.

Exactly. I need that stamp for the warranty, and because not having it would subtract more than the price of the service from the value of the car.

I don't know if this has always been the case, as I've always serviced my own cars before, and done most jobs around the house, but I find that the big difference between doing these things properly yourself and paying a professional to do them is "that’ll do."

When I do something it has to be done properly.

When they do something "that’ll do". 

So I always end up checking over any work I have done, and often finishing it off myself. (clean up any spills, fit covers correctly etc.)

I could take it back and complain if it is the car, or get them back to do it if it is the house, but they more than likely still wouldn't get it right, and then I'd be checking it again. (Plus it is quicker to sort it out than take the car back)

WellKnownSid

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ididgetwhereiamtoday said:

I don't trust them. They are there for one reason, to make money.
But I need them to stamp my service book for the warranty. 
The actual servicing they do for the £250 is bollox. We know that, they know that. It's just a game.

Exactly. I need that stamp for the warranty, and because not having it would subtract more than the price of the service from the value of the car.

I don't know if this has always been the case, as I've always serviced my own cars before, and done most jobs around the house, but I find that the big difference between doing these things properly yourself and paying a professional to do them is "that’ll do."

You don't need a stamp from a main dealer for the warranty.  Pretty much any independent garage will do provided they use genuine parts.

Servicing and items such as brakes are the simplest jobs any technician can carry out so the chances are the least experienced (and cheapest) staff will be put on the job.

You may pay £150 an hour but the person doing the work will be paid £7.55 an hour if they are a first-year apprentice.  Yes they will have "oversight" from a qualified technician but they may only be on £14 an hour.

A light vehicle technician is a not a professional qualification - it is a vocational one.  Same as builder, plumber, etc.

I am an engineer which means I have an engineering degree, membership of a professional body and post nominals after my name.  That's what makes a 'professional'.

Frozen_up_north

VW Group vehicles no longer have a service book, it’s done on-line by the garage (including independent ones).
My Seat main dealer is hopeless, I had a problem with the brakes and took it for one of their free checks. They said nothing was wrong, even though the brakes felt like you were driving through gravel when braking. They also pointed out it needed an air con service as it was outputting cool rather than cold air.

I took the car to an independent garage who found a seized rear brake cylinder and the inside of the front discs badly corroded. They also said there was nothing wrong with the air con and the output air temp was 10C, ie pretty darn cold.

I’ve not been back to the main dealer since.

ButterCheese

Main delaers are always much more expensive but that's the price you pay for adhering to the servicing requirements of a new car to maintain the warranty.  After that, I just use independents.  My local one for example is a natinoal chain of tyre specialists but they do MOTs and other stuff, and for motorcycles as well.  prices are very good, the mechanics are very honest and overall they just do a good job with minimum cost so I always go back to them.  I wouldn't touch a main dealer with a barge poll unless I absolutely had to

WellKnownSid

ButterCheese said:

Main delaers are always much more expensive but that's the price you pay for adhering to the servicing requirements of a new car to maintain the warranty.  After that, I just use independents.  My local one for example is a natinoal chain of tyre specialists but they do MOTs and other stuff, and for motorcycles as well.  prices are very good, the mechanics are very honest and overall they just do a good job with minimum cost so I always go back to them.  I wouldn't touch a main dealer with a barge poll unless I absolutely had to

Once again, you do NOT need to visit a main dealer to maintain the warranty of a new car.  They just need to use original parts and the correct spec oil (if the car has an engine).

Warranty extensions granted every year with a main dealer service (e.g. Dacia, Toyota, etc) are different but for the new car it can be serviced anywhere.

A friend of ours has a company lease car and all their leasing company pays for all servicing to be done at Halfords!

Brie

I took my VW to back to the dealer for an MOT a few years back and was surprised to see that they had said I was low on windscreen washer (ok, not full but certainly far from empty) and so had filled it which cost £10.  This was the price of 1 litre of VW brand washer fluid.  I asked how much was needed to fill it up.  They said about a cup, so about 1/4 litre.  So I asked where the rest of my washer fluid was.  They admitted they used the rest to fill another car (& likely charged them for the same 1 litre).  I told them to take the £10 off the bill. 

Later with a different VW there was a block in the drain from the front window which caused the car to fill with rain water.  VW says it's not a design fault but I ended up with 3 inches of water in the floor of the car.  I asked how much would it cost to sort this out (i.e. unblock it) and was told north of £1k as they had to remove the wipers, take out bits of the engine to access the bits that were blocked etc etc.  I called Halfords and they said no problem, bring it in for a £50 diagnostic and we can probably sort it all under that.  Which they did.  Which is another reason why I go to Halfords instead of the dealership for anything.   

Now I go to Halfords.

Goudy

I take my car to the main dealers for it's servicing.
They do the checks and consumable changes that are part of either it's A or B service but I don't let them do anything else (expect once for a set of wiper blades that were only £22).

The checks and health report are written and videoed and sent to me by phone/email before I pick the car up. 

The schedule for my car is A and B plus recommended items at different points in it's life, then anything like brakes they pick up on it's health check.

So every other A service it's recommended the brake fluid is changed.  At 4 years the coolant is changed and at 5 year or 60k the spark plugs are changed.

My next service is just another B service but it's recommended that the aux belt and tensioner are changed plus the DCT gearbox needs an oil and filter change.

I just won't pay them for these at the dealers. I don't need to pay them £265 to change four plugs that cost less than £35 a set and take me less than an hour to change and I'd rather my local garage/family friend earned a few quid to change brake fluid or a belt.

The straight A and B can be booked on the manufacturers website/app and I have a choice or around three or four dealers within the same sort of distance. The prices between them can vary a few quid but a straight A is less than £190 and B less than £280.

As for the other bits I do myself or get the local to do, I can just buy genuine or OEM parts cheap and easily enough and my local gearbox specialist have quoted me less than half the price of the dealer to service my gearbox. 

ididgetwhereiamtoday

I know you don't need to use the main dealer servicing for warranty but I don't want the hassle of arguing over potential warranty claim.
They will try it on in the event you've not spent your £250 car wash and tyre tread check every year with them.

chrisw

WellKnownSid said:

ButterCheese said:

Main delaers are always much more expensive but that's the price you pay for adhering to the servicing requirements of a new car to maintain the warranty.  After that, I just use independents.  My local one for example is a natinoal chain of tyre specialists but they do MOTs and other stuff, and for motorcycles as well.  prices are very good, the mechanics are very honest and overall they just do a good job with minimum cost so I always go back to them.  I wouldn't touch a main dealer with a barge poll unless I absolutely had to

Once again, you do NOT need to visit a main dealer to maintain the warranty of a new car.  They just need to use original parts and the correct spec oil (if the car has an engine).

Warranty extensions granted every year with a main dealer service (e.g. Dacia, Toyota, etc) are different but for the new car it can be serviced anywhere.

A friend of ours has a company lease car and all their leasing company pays for all servicing to be done at Halfords!

Maybe not for the original warranty but I had over £11000 worth of 'goodwill' repairs on my 5 year old car because it had a full manufacturer's service record.

Grey_Critic

I have no idea what various people do for a living and their comments about dealers - plus the suggestions they are con merchants and don’t do the job they are paid for. Everybody is entitled to their point of view - BUT - whilst I will accept that there are a few technicians who cut corners and do not do the job I believe most of them do a good job. The actual cost of a service is an entirely different matter that I will not go into BUT TO GO BACK TO MY BUT - If I was to suggest that a lot of those who run off at the mouth are just as bad then I think a lot of people would get upset - Rightly or Wrongly - Not everybody does what they are supposed to and are quick to deny.

When I was running workshops we had a great deal of fun fastening bits of cotton of various colours to components that people were suggesting we had not replaced or adjusted - I also got a great deal of pleasure when one particular critic produced evidence that he had reported a problem *well out of warranty* claiming he had reported it within.

Names, dates etc. recorded in his diary. Except the person he identified was out of the country when he claimed to have reported the matter.

There are good and bad in all walks of life.