Had ny civic 3 door 1.6 sport in for the 2 year service ,only on 20,000 miles not the 25,000.
The cost a whopping £271 to check it,sparkplugs ,oil change etc
Talk about rip off!
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Could you give us a breakdown so that we can comment on individual items?
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L\'escargot.
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with pleasure;
*screen wash( the reservoir was alresdy full)£1.49
*oil filter £7.56
*element assy air £15.80
*element filter £20.00
*washer ,plug £0.29
*4 spark plug £20.88
*engine oil £28.60 yes!!
all prices ex vat so grand total invoice £271.86 incl vat.
My wife took the car and was told upon arrival thats the set price,if I had gone i would have come home with no service!
At a min Honda dealer
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Assuming it is still under warranty, you've little choice.
Seems remarkably cheap compared to VW prices ;v).
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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I really don't see the problem?
Major two year service
Respected brand of car
parts prices not unreasonable - and the screeen wash trick has the standard response
Car given a good going over by trained technician
If you wanted a car that was very cheap to run, buy an Ford Cortina. If you want a reliable car, it needs to be maintained to keep it reliable.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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yes still under warranty!
I have now a Golf but hopefully will work out cheaper with the long service regime??!!
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Assuming it is still under warranty, you've little choice. Seems remarkably cheap compared to VW prices ;v). --
Really! I have been quoted £135 total price for the first service on my mkV Golf at 18k miles. This is cheaper than the £180 or so I was expecting to pay. The oil in the Golf is more than £50.
In the original poster's car I would check the service schedule as there seems a couple of things that have been changed early. My mate with a type-R only paid about £100 for the first service in his at 12k miles. Even the second service was nowhere near £250.
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So the labour charge was £160.68 inc VAT. I must admit that that sounds high. I wonder how many hours was booked and what the rate was ~ perhaps it's not apparent from the invoice. If the engine oil was fully synthetic then that price sounds OK. If the spark plugs were a sophisticated type then £24.53 inc VAT probably isn't outrageous. I've had screenwash added to a full reservoir myself, and the reason given was that the washers were tested first. One dealer agreed not to add washer fluid if I said not to at the time of booking. I can't comment on Honda filter prices. If you're not happy, ring the service dept. at another Honda dealer in the same area to compare the full service price, and also individual prices for parts at their parts dept.
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L\'escargot.
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Civic servicing costs are 1st-cheap, 2nd-expensive, 3rd-cheap, 4th-expensive etc, unless anything major needs doing!
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I don't get why people exclaim at the cost of servicing at a main dealer. Surely you enquired about typical servicing costs before purchasing?
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Most Ford dealers have a "menu" on show in the service area and also have quotes on their websites.
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Most Ford dealers have a "menu" on show in the service area and also have quotes on their websites.
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Last time I asked my local Ford main dealer it was £80 per hour plus VAT but they do seem to be the most expensive in the land.
These are London rates
So the labour charge was £160.68 inc VAT. I must admit that that sounds high.
That is possibly just 2 hours labour charges.
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Our Jazz had its 2 yr service recently, but because it's only done 12,000 miles they didn't change the plugs (8 in a Jazz) or the pollen filter.
So basically they changed the oil - for £180.
If they'd done everything it would have been £250.
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Sounds about right to me, my Hyundai coupe is due its 20,000 soon & i have been quoted £320 & £280 from 2 dealers - labour charge is £75/hr
You always have the option of having the car serviced by an independant - any VAT registered garage can service the car & the warranty will not be affected provided the manufacturers service schedule is followed, it isnt necessary to use dealer parts now either.
Just had my 2yr Fiesta serviced at an independant & saved £50 against the dealer & that's with OEM parts fitted too !!!
Must admit in the past I have always stuck with the dealer (& will do so for the Hyundai) but the Ford dealers around me are that cr*p I just won't give them my money, only time the car goes to the dealer is for warranty work
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spark plugs after 20,000 miles seems a bit much.My mazda is having its 2 year service(25,000 miles)next month,which involves just an oil/filter change and a brake bleed(£140-just for a stamp in the book)
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Seems about right to me also. I use a trusted independant garage who charges me £40 + £7 vat per hour. I have just had my 2 year service and I purchased the parts and took them myself, oil filter=£7.29, air=£20.75, 2 x pollen=£20, 4 x plugs=£20.12, all plus VAT, Magnetec Oil=£13 from Costco. I was charged 2 x hours @ £40 plus £5 brake fluid change plus VAT = £99.88, the plugs and air filter were returned because of my low mileage, so in total it cost me less than £150.
Regards Chris.
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Honda dealers will price match -obviously Honda franchise or VAT reg independent with the right facilities. You have to have your radar switched on when getting a service! Ask before hand next time- the valve clearances will need checking at 25,000 if not before, so it'll be even more.
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I'm sorry.
Maybe I'm being dense. But do I understand you buy a NEW car and not find out what the likely costs of servicing will be .. before you buy?
If you do, then it's a bit late to complain afterwards.
Ford fixed price servcing here in deepest darkest Staffordshire where we can't see the sun for the smoke and dust ranges from about £125 to £200 - fixed tariff..And yes I check before I buy cars.. (one reason why I could not buy a new Subaru ..:-(
madf
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I'm sorry. Maybe I'm being dense. But do I understand you buy a NEW car and not find out what the likely costs of servicing will be .. before you buy? If you do, then it's a bit late to complain afterwards. Ford fixed price servcing here in deepest darkest Staffordshire where we can't see the sun for the smoke and dust ranges from about £125 to £200 - fixed tariff..And yes I check before I buy cars.. (one reason why I could not buy a new Subaru ..:-( madf
The last service for my Subaru - admittedly a minor service at two years was less than £160 inc VAT. Not particularly expensive for a Japanese car with sophisticated engine and 4x4 system.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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£140-just for a stamp in the book
And the oil and the filter and the direct labour costs and the overheads and the profit and ......
Also, don't forget that servicing includes checks on umpteen items for the benefit of owners who don't know anything about cars or who are prepared to pay someone else to get their hands dirty.
If it was £140 just for a stamp in the book, and you knew this, why did you have it done?
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L\'escargot.
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£140-Just for a stamp in the book.The oil and filter cost £20.the other £120 is the labour,overheads etc.As for umpteen checks,your having a laugh.most dealerships get the vehicles turned around too quickly to be thorough(25 years in the automotive business-i know)a lot of important checks get missed.Thats why i do all my own checks,and servicing.The stamp in the book is just for re-sale.
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£140-Just for a stamp in the book.The oil and filter cost £20.the other £120 is the labour,overheads etc.As for umpteen checks,your having a laugh.most dealerships get the vehicles turned around too quickly to be thorough(25 years in the automotive business-i know)a lot of important checks get missed.Thats why i do all my own checks,and servicing.The stamp in the book is just for re-sale.
Agree. I wouldn't mind dealer prices if they did it properly, but in practice it's all too often a lick and a promise. I wouldn't trust most of them to wash the car let alone service it, especially when the 'technicians' are on bonus.
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So that would be err £271 for a service for the last 10,000 Miles I'm assuming. So that would work out at... 2.71p per mile. Hardly huge in cost compared to the 12.5p/mile (33mpg) on petrol, the 4.5p a mile in insurance (I've guess an annual premium of £450) and the 18p a mile (£1800 or so) in depreciation it lost in the last 12 months.
Total cost per mile - 37.71p of which servicing made up 7.2% - is it really worth complaining about?
If all my motoring costs per mile were as low as my servicing cost per mile (1.8p since you asked, £290 service at 16400 miles on an Audi A3) then I'd be happily driving an RS4 not an A3 TDI. Unfortunately they aren't. Pity that.
Sorry just adding my cynical perspective.
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My A3 TDi is reminding me it needs it's first service (looking at about 17,000 on VSI) so your charge of £290 is a good marker for me when I call for quotes. If I wanted cheap servicing I'd be back in a 10 year old Fiesta and letting the local drive in centre do it for £50!
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Took our Nissan Almera in to main dealer a few weeks back for annual service. They quoted £185.I mentioned that last year I only payed £85.They did it for me £85. Result!
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Took our Nissan Almera in to main dealer a few weeks back for annual service. They quoted £185.I mentioned that last year I only payed £85.They did it for me £85. Result!
That's a huge difference - they must have missed out a lot of things. Did they just wipe the oil filter clean and stamp the book?
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It's not that high actually... a look at the file shows it was £268.06 for the service so 1.63p/mile - pretty good for a premium brand car.
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It's not that high actually... a look at the file shows it was £268.06 for the service so 1.63p/mile - pretty good for a premium brand car.
A3 TDI a premium brand car? Mmm
Given the A3 is the same(in servicing terms) as its VW/Skoda/Seat equivalent, why should 'Badge Engineering' command a higher servicing cost?
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Given the A3 is the same(in servicing terms) as its VW/Skoda/Seat equivalent, why should 'Badge Engineering' command a higher servicing cost?
Shinier glass palace?
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That's the beauty of badge engineering - if you're clever, like VW, you can exploit brand image and the "must have" sentiment of buyers, and sell a proportion of your production at a very high profit.
It's the job of the sales department to maximise revenue by maximising the portion of production sold with the up-market badge. The total increase in profit due to all after-sales aspects of the deal is remarkably high.
Good money if you can get it.
659.
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The £100 difference of the Almera service above is down to the fact that if your car is still under warranty,they supposedly have to do lots of 'checks' that don't really need doing,they told me(reading between the lines).However once out of warranty there is no point and all you need is a basic service,but you have to quibble over the cost for them to offer you the cheap deal!
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- I paid UK£8 quid per spark plug yesterday, and my Volvo needed 5 of 'em for its 36000 mile service! Is this reasonable?!
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A3 TDI a premium brand car? Mmm Given the A3 is the same(in servicing terms) as its VW/Skoda/Seat equivalent, why should 'Badge Engineering' command a higher servicing cost?
So far as I can see, it doesn't. Touran just been booked for a service too at near enough the same mileage (ok it's 1200 short, but it does more local miles) at a quoted price of £257 from the dealer. Not much difference there IMO.
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It's not that high actually... a look at the file shows it was £268.06 for the service so 1.63p/mile - pretty good for a premium brand car.
Premium brand? LOL! They hooked you nicely there, didn't they?
Anyhow, cost per mile is irrelevant, divide any number by a big number and it looks better. Doesn't make the cost of the service any cheaper.
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How is cost per mile irrelevant?
If you fill up with £10 of fuel does that make the car cheaper to run than putting £50 in, but 5 times less often? Physcologically sure, in reality? Nope.
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Serciving at dealers - just don't do it
(My first ever post - felt moved to comment!)
My Golf 1.8T20V
Time spentin VAG dealer since new (1999) - zero
Milage - 115000
Breakdowns - Nil
Serviced - Oil & Filter with Halfords premium every 5000 for £25 £7.50 9 (my own greasy hands -10 minute job)
Other bits - independent specialist to change timing belt & water pump & coolant & brake fluid & plugs at 65000
Difference to resale value (now) - nil
Incidentally I am still on original brake pads but they are about 2/3 worn now!
I actually despise VW UK - bought the car in Holland for £12K - still have a bit of time for VW though!
Please - dont believe the dealership bull about serviing modern cars........
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Although i occasionally use dealers for the odd part which i can't locate elsewhere (i drive a honda), i totally agree with you.
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Had ny civic 3 door 1.6 sport in for the 2 year service ,only on 20,000 miles not the 25,000. The cost a whopping £271 to check it,sparkplugs ,oil change etc Talk about rip off!
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Think yourself lucky !
Try Saab or Audi service costs if you really want to see a rip-off ! My Saab dealer even charged me for battery top-up fluid when it was impossible to top up the fitted battery.
Hatefull people dealers......
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>> Think yourself lucky ! Try Saab or Audi service costs if you really want to see a rip-off ! My Saab dealer even charged me for battery top-up fluid when it was impossible to top up the fitted battery. Hatefull people dealers......
I agree. Stevegolf, see the recent thread "First MoT" to see some really eye-watering service costs!
I take my Saab to a v. highly respected Saab independant who charge £70-80 less than main dealer. They do the full Saab service routine; mechanics are ex-Saab trained mechanics. Customer service is 10 times better.
Don't take it to a main dealer when it needs its MoT; take it to a non-garage "MoT only" that will not fail items to make work for themselves ...
;o)
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Further - I would actually consider a main dealer when the car is getting old and has a niggly fault. They are usually common problems and the dealer might know them all too well and sort them faster and cheaper.
Better still, wander round the back and speak to the mechanics direct for free advice - usually the older the better in my experience with a Renault dealer.
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