Am due to get my Scenic serviced for the first time (18,000 service) and was just wondering in anyone with a Renault has gone to the dealer or has gone elsewhere.
I have phoned 3 dealers, Solihull, Birmingham and Leicester and the difference in price is £45 for the same job. Has anyone found this out as well or have they taken it to another type of garage, ie Nationwide Autocentre, etc.
Renault have confirmed that it does not need to go to them, but needs to be done at a VAT registered garage and use genuine parts - highest price I have had for the service which is basically an oil change, a pollen filter change and a general look over the car is £205! Anyone in the Birminghma area had a similar experience?
Cheers!
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Matt, what type of engine do you have?
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Matt, mine is the 1.9dci. I agree the price for the service is somewhat astronomical for what actually gets done.
However, the way I look at it, there is piece of mind built in to the cost.
1. There should be no queries or disputes with any warranty claims as dealer is in direct contact with Renault.
2. Every day these mechanics are working (mostly) on the same cars and should build up a good understanding of them and may have a better chance of finding any faults etc as they may have experienced them before.
Yes I understand that any warranty claims should be dealt with in the same manner, whether serviced by Renault or not, but that could mean the difference between getting your car back on the same day or waiting 3 days for authorisation, faxing proof of receipts etc etc.
Just my tuppence worth..
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So the cheapest is £160? And they'll probably loan you a courtesy car, wash (maybe even mini-valet) yours. I don't think that's too bad.
I'd be dubious about whether other garages (especially somewhere like a National Autocentre type place) would use genuine parts. Would they really change the pollen filter?
Also, are there any recalls or other non-recall but advised checks to do on your car? You often don't find out about these, they're just done automatically when you take the car in.
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For an oil change its outragious,I personnelly would not cross the threshold of a Renault garage your wallet is in extreme danger.
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highest price I have had for the service which is basically an oil change, a pollen filter change and a general look over the car is £205!
Have they told you that's basically what the service consists of, or are you just surmising thats what they will do?
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The problem is thye may change oil & filters but do little else.
DiL's Mini on TLC (£100 for 5 years) was in for service 8 weeks ago - service is oil cahnge & general check.
2 weeks ago it required a n MoT and it failed.
Seized piston on inside of back disk and as a result the disk had corroded - obviously this disk did not badly corrode in the intervening 6 weeks. The local BMW gargae refused to repair under warranty - they said it was wear & tear.
Got it fixed by a local indie and the upshot is the Mini goes & a Honda Civic takes its place.
2nd sale lost to BMW in 9 months - Son's 3 series traded in for Lexus after poor BMW garage Service.
Warranty work does not pay well whereas £85 / hour does
BUT then customers then walk rather than make a new purcahse.
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2nd sale lost to BMW in 9 months - Son's 3 series traded in for Lexus after poor BMW garage Service.
Write to BMW and tell 'em. They won't learn otherwise.
Warranty work does not pay well whereas £85 / hour does BUT then customers then walk rather than make a new purcahse.
I wonder who really funds these TLC deals - I bet the garage gets next to nothing out of it. To balance things, Honda gave us a free service after some issues, and I'm 90% certain the dealer never touched the car when I took it in.
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Can't be certain about BMW TLC, but I do know that on other free servicing offers (eg Hyundai) the dealers actually pay for it. They try to do the least possible in the shortest time available!
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Yep - they change the oil and filer, the pollen filter and have a look around the car. They do take the front wheels off to check the brakes, but for the backs they just look at them!
What I have done which may be of use to other people, I phoned around all the Renault dealers and the prices were different so as my local one was the most expensive, I told them that the another Renault garage quoted me £45 less for the same job and would they price match it and they said they would! So got £45 off the price!
So handy tip - phone round other dealers and see what the price is and if there is a difference see if they will match the cheapest quote!
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I have paid £530 for my 18K service on Megane 1.5dCi. Needed two new tyres, actual cost excluding tyres came to £330. Not too bad me thinks.
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Xileno, I too needed new tyres on my Scenic at its 18,000 service but the total bill (exc tyres) came to £140.42 exc VAT, broken down as follows:
3.50 Environmental Charge
89.70 Labour
30.00 Oil
0.88 Washer
6.30 Reducteur de fume (!)
6.05 Oil Filter
3.99 Screen Wash
Incidentally, when I got my tyres, the dealer price matched my cheapest quote as well.
What made up your £330 bill?
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And going back to the original post, I took my Scenic in to garage earlier this week to try and get a problem with a "clunking" gearbox fixed, and also to diagnose a rattle behind the dashboard.
They diagnosed a new gear selector reqd which they ordered, phoned me yesterday to say that it was in and booked it in for today. Whilst they were diagnosing that, they also noticed a faulty strut mount on front and changed that within warranty.
Re the dashboard creak, they have booked that in for next week, a couple of days and they will give me a courtesy car whilst it is in. Again under warranty.
Presumably if you go to an independent and they diagnose a fault under warranty, does it then need to go to a Renault garage for the repair and authorisation etc. Who foots the bill for the independents labour diagnosing the problem in the first place etc etc.
May be costlier going to the dealer but, in my opinion, its a lot easier and possibly less stressful in the event of warranty claims.
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4.50 Environmental Charge
102.00 Labour
44.65 Oil
2.50 Washer
12.95 Reducteur de fume (!) // fuel treatment I think
8.20 Oil Filter
2.95 Screen Wash (ha ha mine's cheaper than yours!)
3.50 Consummable products
9.21 Wiper blade
17.95 Wiper blade
7.44 Keycard batts
1.82 Motrio W5W
197.99 Continental 89V tyres
19.25 Pollen filter
3.00 Handy Lube
I think that's all. Tyres are expensive on my car, they're the low profile 89V rated ones.
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OK, the screen wash is almost a rip off we've got used to, but:
Environmental charge! Reducteur de fume!! Consummable products!!! Handy Lube!!!!
ALL that stuff should surely be taken off by the hourly labour charge. I'll lay odds thats the leasing companies won't wear these charges.
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...but how stange that one poster is most unhappy at £160, and another thinks £330 is 'not too bad'!
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The service excluding tyres came to £330. For that I can drive for 18K miles before another service, meaning a service cost of 1.8 pence per mile. How much is the depreciation per mile...
In reality I have an interim 9K oil change done during one of my trips to France where it's a bit cheaper than UK. To me quality of service is more important than saving a few pounds here and there. I know we cannot name garages but my dealer gives good customer service and are quick and competent. To me that's worth paying more for, also the main dealers have access to the latest bulletins.
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Interesting the difference. If you are quoting exc VAT prices, then your oil was £15 more than mine, I din't get a pollen filter etc etc.
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your oil was £15 more than mine,
they both seem stunningly cheap to me, unless the 1.9DCi only holds 2 or 3 Litres. Fully synth oil in my local MB dealer is £12.95L (+VAT) = £15.22, and I need 6.5L of it. I took my own.
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£2.50 for a sump plug washer!!!!
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>> your oil was £15 more than mine, they both seem stunningly cheap to me, unless the 1.9DCi only holds 2 or 3 Litres. Fully synth oil in my local MB dealer is £12.95L (+VAT) = £15.22, and I need 6.5L of it. I took my own.
When I spoke to the Renault garage about the price of the oil for my 1.6 Scenic, their recommendation was only £5.50 a litre!
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"When I spoke to the Renault garage about the price of the oil for my 1.6 Scenic, their recommendation was only £5.50 a litre!"
I expect they are quoting for semi-synthetic. dCi engines must have fully synthetic - and a good one as well.
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Xileno, you have me worried now - my Scenic had Castrol Semi-Synthetic Oil put in at the service - presumably this is what is recommended by Renault?
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My understanding is that the dCi needs fully synthetic, that is certainly what my dealer puts in at about £11 a litre.
Maybe yours is an older model or something. If you've had it serviced at Renault, then they should know what's right so stop worrying, it's only Monday...
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£11 PER LITRE ,£12 for five litre in Makro fully synthetic.
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Never heard of it. Anything that cheap would be of concern to me. It may be good but with a comon rail diesel engine costing thousands, I want something I know. Amsoil is regarded by many to be about the best you can buy.
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Makro is one of the largest cash and carrys in the UK ,the oil is Comma or Castrol.
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£11 PER LITRE ,£12 for five litre in Makro fully synthetic.
Does it say Synthetic on the front, yet the back says semi-synth?
Fully Synth oil in Makro is about £25.
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