Why get a car serviced at the dealer's garage?

lil_me

I never get a car serviced at the dealers/garages. Always do it ourselves. That way I know it's been done mainly because I know too many mechanics who will admit that services are frequently not done properly. Other reason is the cost of course, my Mother was quoted prices between £145 and £230 for her last service, the service parts cost us £48, just took a couple of hours (mainly stood doing nothing while oil drained)

I don't look at FDSH or FSH as a reason to buy a car for the same reason. I also know how easy it is to get a friend to stamp a book, I have friends with cars with FDSH which have never been to a garage, they just got a friend to stamp the book. Same goes for MOTs, don't trust them and would rather have one done myself by a mechanic I know is thorough. I have bought a car which they asked me to take back the followng day for an MOT and they never noticed a brake light was out, another which never checked the seatbelts because the middle one didn't work at all......I don't trust them and for very good reasons!

I prefer looking at the cars overall condition, checking everything myself, also take a lot of notice of the driver and their driving style (someone willing to boot a turbo'd car round a street immediately after starting a car then knocking it off put me off several when looking for mine)

Before anyone mentions it, I know not all garages or mechanics are the same, my partner is an ex mechanic who took pride in his work, but I'd rather do the work myself and know it is done.

vikingaero

Loss of goodwill is the main problem. If you have a fully stamped service book then manufacturers and dealers are more likely to make goodwill payments if you've been loyal to them. You can't have it both ways!

With Mercedes you lose the 30 year Mobilo Life cover if you venture outside the franchise servicing scheme.

deltic_2

lil_me wrote: »

I never get a car serviced at the dealers/garages. Always do it ourselves. That way I know it's been done mainly because I know too many mechanics who will admit that services are frequently not done properly. Other reason is the cost of course, my Mother was quoted prices between £145 and £230 for her last service, the service parts cost us £48, just took a couple of hours (mainly stood doing nothing while oil drained)

I don't look at FDSH or FSH as a reason to buy a car for the same reason. I also know how easy it is to get a friend to stamp a book, I have friends with cars with FDSH which have never been to a garage, they just got a friend to stamp the book. Same goes for MOTs, don't trust them and would rather have one done myself. I have bought a car which they asked me to take back the followng day for an MOT and they never noticed a brake light was out, another which never checked the seatbelts because the middle one didn't work at all......I don't trust them and for very good reasons!

I prefer looking at the cars overall condition, checking everything myself, also take a lot of notice of the driver and their driving style (someone willing to boot a turbo'd car round a street immediately after starting a car then knocking it off put me off several when looking for mine)

Before anyone mentions it, I know not all garages or mechanics are the same, my partner is an ex mechanic who took pride in his work, but I'd rather do the work myself and know it is done.

A good money saving idea but only if you are a qualified mechanic / technician.

lil_me

I'm not a qualified mechanic or technician, neither is my partner, but he worked as a mechanic based on his skills. He completed almost all of his training when the garage he worked for went bust (because of the bosses overspending not lack of work) he got his next job basically running a garage for performance cars based on his skills after a work trial. My partner and friends over the years have taught me how to service and look after cars. I could repair a lot on a car before I could even drive it (nightmare when you're reassembling a cylinder head alone and need some parts so have to send someone else) I helped put the engine, clutch, gearbox, interior etc etc in the last car I had, gear box in the current one. Just got to have someone to teach you and be willing to get your paws dirty!

Some colleges which teach mechanics offer night courses in servicing and maintainence which I have friends who have attended and said they did learn a lot (I know the lecturer for the local one) which seem like a great idea. My partner frequently is asked to service peoples cars even now he doesn't work in the industry and for those willing he will show them how to do basic service on their car, changing oil, filters etc he's taught several over the last 2 years, usually watches them the first time they have a go incase they get stuck on anything.

I've had so many bad experiences from both dealers and independant garages they've put me off using them apart from when absolutely necessary for life, nearly hitting a wall in a car which had just had a full service, MOT and safety check!! Been driven 3 miles when the brakes didn't work! Definately makes you a little aware of what can be 'ignored' and 'missed' like a massive hole in the brake lines (no wasn't my car) I don't believe they are all bad, I have friends who are very good mechanics who I do trust, but I would prefer to do what we can ourselves.

We also only usually use the local council MOT station, so we are not overcharged for repairs which don't need doing.

moonrakerz

lil_me wrote: »

I don't look at FDSH or FSH as a reason to buy a car for the same reason. I also know how easy it is to get a friend to stamp a book, I have friends with cars with FDSH which have never been to a garage, they just got a friend to stamp the book.

That is why a main dealer uses the manufacturer's data base to record all services done on your car - that is somewhat more difficult to forge !

toasterman

I used to work for a company which offered company cars. With lease cars, you quite often don't get a choice where you go for servicing. Here's what me and colleagues experienced with our company cars at idiot main dealers.


Renault. Car all of 2-3 months old, fault occurs. They take car, order part. It'll be a week. Courtesy car in mean time, but very small (3dr) and owner has needs for a larger car (elderly mother, plus aging wife and kids - hard to get in/out of a 3 dr).
Part has been ordered, it arrives, but they can't fit it - turns out theres some kind of mounting kit they 'forgot' to order at the same time. Their words by the way - they said they just forgot they needed it. Another 3-4 days later, car comes back working.


Nissan (diesel). Car about 5 months old. Handbrake doesn't work. You can move the car just by pushing it. Also, the battery keeps running flat. They won't replace the battery and alternator at once, so they want to keep the car for a couple of weeks and run tests on it, see if the battery runs flat, etc. In the meantime, driver has to use a petrol Nissan Micra, which increases his fuel bill, and is completely impractical to his job.


Vauxhall. My car!
I had a choice of two main dealer garages in Bristol. Theres one in the centre, and they won't answer the phone. It rings and rings and rings til it cuts off. When I *finally* get through I try and book my service, only they can't find my car as being registered with Vauxhall at all - despite it being leased directly through Vauxhall's leasing company. This is repeated every single time I book a service.

*Eventually* they find it, I explain some known faults with the car, drop off.
When I come to pick it up, I question some faults - for example the fact that the driver-side electric window switch is broken. Engineer's report says "no fault found". But there is a fault! It's physically broken.. doesn't sit where it should properly, and only works intermittently.

Next service it goes back, I mention the switch again. When I go to pick it up, I ask if it's been fixed before I get my keys.
"Yes - we fixed it".
Great!
I take my keys, go back and get in my car and... it's exactly the same as when I brought it in.
I go back into the garage, query this, and he gets out a load of paperwork for the car and goes "oh yeah.. no.. we haven't fixed it - we haven't got the parts".

After several instances of this (they don't have replacement wing mirror covers either, nor could they get them next day, or even in the next couple of days), I get fed up with them, and decide to try the much further away Vauxhall dealership.
Three rings and the phone is answered! They find my car straight away!
They tell me if I want a courtesy car, there's going to be a wait of 2 months. I delay my service and book it in anyway.
2 months down the line, I'm unfortunately ill the day of the service, so I'm not leaving the house.
My company phones the garage to apologise and reschedule and they tell them.... "we didn't have it booked in for today".
After all that wait, they'd never booked it in at all!!

A friend of mine who lives on the other side of the country, was also getting his Corsa serviced at a main dealer Vauxhall garage, and they would do things like trying to charge him a few quid here and a few quid there for "helpful" things. Like £5 for topping up screenwash.
Now most people can manage that, but fair enough - it's a service offered. Only it wasn't. They didn't actually top it - because he checked the level of it before and after the service.
He soon realised they weren't doing numerous other things, it said they were doing. He voted with his feet and found a local independent garage.


Since leaving that company, buying an old Rover to get me about, I started out at a main dealer Rover garage (they sell other cars now too obviously) thinking parts might be tricky to get what with them being bankrupt. After getting stung for expensive services and having to drive miles from my house, then having a fall out with them - I stopped using them and found a local guy round the corner from my house.
Brilliant is all I can say!
If he needs parts, he gets them in and fits them on time. He has agreements with garages all over Bristol as I understand it, so some parts he can get the same day. In a jam, he can adjust bits or even make his own replacement parts.
If you ask him to look at things, he does.
He always answers the phone.
He knows me as soon as I give him the make and colour of my car.
*And* he's cheaper.
Ok, I don't get a courtesy car, but as all his repairs are done the same day - I'd much rather just take a day off, get it over and done with, and get back to driving my own car again.

Keith

deltic wrote: »

A good money saving idea but only if you are a qualified mechanic / technician.

Some of us aren't qualified, yet our cars are serviced to the manufacturers recommendations.

adrian2000

Hi, My Citroen C3 had a spring break on the front Suspension, luckily the car is still just in warranty.for about another two weeks. I phoned the dealer where I purchased it from and was going to get the RAC to take it to them, but the RAC would only take it 10 miles, which meant I had to take it to another Citroen dealer which is actually better for me, but weren't a Citroen dealer at the time I made the initial purchase.

I asked them to change both of the springs, but was informed that they would only do the one under warranty.

So I contacted Citroen head office and logged a call for one of the managers to call me back as was not very happy as the spring just snapped over night whilst on the drive and did not want the other one to go once it was out of warranty, and the fact that it may cause a serious accident.

Citroen head office phoned me back and said that the dealer should replace both and contacted the dealer to change both.:T

Also as the warranty runs out in about a week I asked them to do a MOT and a service, so if anything else was found to be faulty that they could also be rectified. The car was last serviced in July last year at 24000 miles.

Got a call back to say the windscreen wipers needed replacing, although they were only 7 months old (£34.00) and also needed two indicator bulbs as the paint had come off and they would be (£34.00) fitted. Thought the bulb's were a bit steep as they would only cost at most £10, but was told the cost included labour. Told them to leave the bulbs as I could get them done myself, but was then told it would fail the MOT, but I said that I could get them and fit them and have a re-test within a few days. Anyway had to phone them back for something else and was told that they had spoke with the workshop manager and they would fit them for free.:T

Received a call to say the car was finished, so asked what the cost was and was told £435.00:mad: I asked why it was so expensive and was informed as it was a major service and they had to replaced, Whole list of things, such as Air filter,oil filter plugs etc.

I then checked up to see how many miles it had done since the last service, about 6000. Taking that a major service is only needed every 2 years or 20,000 miles I asked the question, why they had done a major service when it did not need one?:mad: I was then asked if the service book was in the car and replied yes. They will look into and call me back!

Called me back to say that the technician had made a mistake and done a full service so the charge would now be £69.00 plus the wipers,bulbs and the MOT charge etc.:T

I would have thought that would have been an impossible mistake, as surely Citroen, would have all of the details, on computer so would have known what service it required.

If I have not been aware of the service intervals, I could have been ripped off and had to pay again when the car got to 40,000 miles. Also when they were doing the service and the MOT you would have thought the labour charge would have covered the fitting of the two indicator bulbs!!

Just a watch out for people who do go to the dealership to get their cars serviced/repaired.

Do you think I can get the service book stamped to say it has now had the 40,000 mile service, or do you think that is asking a bit much!!!

The garage by the way was Luffield Cars Citroen delership in Loughborough

Adrian

jeannieblue

deltic wrote: »

Reasons to use a franchised dealer and not an independent:

The level of technician training on your make/model is much greater and they are more capable of diagnosing any issues much quicker (and cheaper). Training standards are much higher and provided by manufacturers.

They are often no more expensive than an independent once you get the bill.

They will use original parts and not spurious and possibly very cheap parts bought from a motor factor which could be sourced from anywhere and may not be original spec.

They will more likely use the right specification of oil and not a generic oil spec.

They will offer you courtesy services if you want them e.g. loan cars.

You will get more 'goodwill' if things go wrong just out of warranty.

The car may be more attractive to a buyer when you come to sell it.

Remember that people only ever tell you about bad experiences with dealers and never good ones. For every bad instance of repair/service there are probably another 100 who are satisfied with what they receive.

Twaddle :rotfl:

One or two so called Technicians if you're lucky... plus alot of youngsters (I shouldn't generalise, but s*d it), who basically don't give a t*ss...

A good independent hands down anyday! They can order in genuine parts you know - and, they care - which is really important!

You shouldn't have to buy 'goodwill' by being blackmailed to going to the main stealers for over priced, often badly done, servicing. Its under warranty, fix it. End of.

They'd get more business, if they charged sensible prices and did the job properly.

goldspanners

i used western commercials main mercedes dealer to get my company van serviced.merc vito,if your vehicle service or repair had been started by one mechanic and he hadnt finished it by the end of his shift a mechanic from the next shift would come along and pick up from where he left off,or he would try,humans arent robots so this is going to be immpossible to do it perfect,you have had 2 different people with thier own way of doing things,on your vehicle,its not surprising they always missed things and didnt know what was going on,my company has now agreed to let me use a local merc specialist that i know and trust to carry out repairs and servicing.