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

banger9365

well my 03 vectra is getting on in live (going on tuesday)it's always been serviced with the dealer and any work thats been needed the dealer has done,
now the silly thing is ,ive always got a quote from the local garages before taking it to the dealer,the local garages has always been £50 to £60 more to start with ??
every time i go to pick it up from the dealer thay have done over stuff to it (they always ring me first)so i get the bill and theyhave discount it even more to cover the cost of the other stuff
eg totaly new brakes and disc from local car shop £270 (not fited)at dealer £368 with new stearing arms {fited}(speed bumps again)so for me i go to the dealer because they are the cheepest for me
another one timing belt kit £210 to buy then you had to get it fitted from dealer put for the dealer to fit it it was £205 inc water pump?? same kit and they fitted it for £5 less and a pump how do that work,they must (she) like me

vikingaero

jeannieblue wrote: »

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.

You can get goodwill payments for out of warranty jobs.

And all those tiles, glass and potted plants costs money!:D

jeannieblue

vikingaero wrote: »

You can get goodwill payments for out of warranty jobs.

And all those tiles, glass and potted plants costs money!:D

Might not have needed 'goodwill out of warranty' jobs if serviced properly etc in the first 3 years! Who knows?

We've got a plant in our reception - its not doing that well, keep forgetting to water it. Our carpets are not up to stealership standard either - as guys come in from workshop to talk to customers, often about football as well as the cars................ and spread all the grease about on their boots........ still, can't have the personal touch without it:D

cyclonebri1

jeannieblue wrote: »

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.

Sorry not read any further posts than that above, but that is exactly the rubbish we are led to believe.

Jeannie is right, the main dealer typically has one senior tecnician that knows what he is doing, he has to supervise a team of lets say "less technically abled lads, that are working for a pitance.

My money would go to the local garage every single time.


Sorry Jeannie, I was talking about the post you took exception to.

cyclonebri1

banger9365 wrote: »

well my 03 vectra is getting on in live (going on tuesday)it's always been serviced with the dealer and any work thats been needed the dealer has done,
now the silly thing is ,ive always got a quote from the local garages before taking it to the dealer,the local garages has always been £50 to £60 more to start with ??
every time i go to pick it up from the dealer thay have done over stuff to it (they always ring me first)so i get the bill and theyhave discount it even more to cover the cost of the other stuff
eg totaly new brakes and disc from local car shop £270 (not fited)at dealer £368 with new stearing arms {fited}(speed bumps again)so for me i go to the dealer because they are the cheepest for me
another one timing belt kit £210 to buy then you had to get it fitted from dealer put for the dealer to fit it it was £205 inc water pump?? same kit and they fitted it for £5 less and a pump how do that work,they must (she) like me

If you have found a dealer that works for you then stick with them. I've no doubt that there are a few good ones around, just unfortunate that the majoirity drag them down,:T

jeannieblue

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Sorry not read any further posts than that above, but that is exactly the rubbish we are led to believe.

Jeannie is right, the main dealer typically has one senior tecnician that knows what he is doing, he has to supervise a team of lets say "less technically abled lads, that are working for a pitance.

My money would go to the local garage every single time.


Sorry Jeannie, I was talking about the post you took exception to.

S'Ok - knew what you meant! Think Deltic may work at a stealership :eek:

I work for an independent...........

gingerdad

My 2p's worth, I run a small fleet of 4 vans/1 car, we always get our services done by an independent garage, they even offer a loan car and valet all our vehicles.

I have used main dealers in the passed and would never bother again. I have used Vauxhall, Ford, Renault, Citroen and Land Rover main dealers the only one I would go to again was the Land Rover.

All our servicing is done to the makers spec and parts used, and we have had a couple of warranty claims without any issues.

I do know it’s a Renault main dealer who supplies the bits for our Vauxhall/Renault vans.
Regards

GD

jeannieblue

gingerdad wrote: »

My 2p's worth, I run a small fleet of 4 vans/1 car, we always get our services done by an independent garage, they even offer a loan car and valet all our vehicles.

I have used main dealers in the passed and would never bother again. I have used Vauxhall, Ford, Renault, Citroen and Land Rover main dealers the only one I would go to again was the Land Rover.

All our servicing is done to the makers spec and parts used, and we have had a couple of warranty claims without any issues.

I do know it’s a Renault main dealer who supplies the bits for our Vauxhall/Renault vans.
Regards

GD

We use main dealers parts departments to order all our 'bits' in - to be honest, don't know of any other way to get them - there are Trade parts centres, which seem to be based at main stealers....

fas3robinj

Keith wrote: »

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

Well said Keith. I've been doing my own servicing for 45 years. I'm not qualified, just a DIYer, with a fair bit of experience. Some of the things you pay a skilled mechanic to do include items like checking the screen washer bottle and wiper blades, and quite a lot of other very basic items.

In my opinion the most important service parts of a car from a safety point are brakes, suspension, tyres, and steering. I want the skilled man to look at those items, not the screen washers, lights and wipers.

A full service history on a car doesn't mean a car is safe, or in good condition. I drive my car with a great deal of mechanical sympathy, and checked / service it myself, because then I know it's safe. If I find anything needs doing, then I take it in to a garage.

It's in every drivers interest to know as much about the condition of their vehicle as possible, and to take an active interest in it's serviceability. It doesn't take a lot of skill to look under a car and say "that doesn't look right, I'll get it check out", but a high proportion of motorists never do it. Looking for faults on your vehicle can save you money too, if you spot them early.

lil_me

Definately agree with what Keith said, in fact my cars are probably serviced more often and better than if they had full SH from a garage, because there is less of a cost issue when it comes to servicing. 2 of the repairs we did for friends who snapped cam belts were ones where they'd put it off because of the cost, see we'd have done it ourselves and it would have cost about £40, instead it cost them to replace most of the engine internals. We've even had tools machined to replicate expensive ones which dealers use to put in the cams when changing the belt on my last car, cost me £8 for a tool they wanted £98 for. Just a piece of metal cut correctly really.

We're currently considering a LPG conversion on one of the cars, something we won't do ourselves but we are researching many of the places which do them in the area because of the trust issue. We could do it ourselves but then of course the insurers would be fussy about it, not worth the hassle.