My Pug 407 is having it's first service today. (At two years old). Enquired with the supplying dealer (who were excellent when I bought it) and they wanted £261. They absolutely wouldn't budge from the price.
Decided to check with the other local Peugeot dealer (who didn't seem that interested in selling me one) and they're charging £132. What a huge difference in price. Thing is, the first dealer bend over themselves to provide customer service, and I feel almost guilty at going to the cheaper one.......but not that guilty to pay an extra £130!!
I can't understand why dealers price themselves out of the market like this. Seems to be akin to shooting yourself in the foot in the current climate.
(The Pug 207 courtesy car has proved to be very good as well)
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I understand Mercedes are worse..
see..tinyurl.com/c43ukl
also
tinyurl.com/dddxa9
Edited by madf on 20/03/2009 at 14:09
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''understand Mercedes are worese''. not in my experience. I'm on my third and Mercedes are no more expensive to service than the Volos I had or indeed the money I forked out to Fiat in bills. In fact my car being of a certain age costs around £50 an hour labour. Mercedes have a reputation for being wallet busters but they are no worse than many other brands....and you can change the headlight bulbs yourself!
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I can't understand why dealers price themselves out of the market like this. Seems to be akin to shooting yourself in the foot in the current climate.
As I have posted elsewhere, my local Honda dealer refused point blank to take more than £500 of list price of the CRV when I visited them on more than one occasion. I mean, you can pick up any car mag and it will tell you that you should be getting far more than that off list price during normal periods let alone this recession.
Even when I rang them up with the online price that I got they still would not come within 3K of the price despite, as others posters have shown, the deal now being common throughout Honda dealerships. For the life of me I cannot figure out how or why they would not want the business - it is not as if I am seeing many new Hondas on the roads locally let alone CRVs, nor was the dealer busy on the occasions I visited.
I simply cannot understand it.
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I'd want to know whether the work carried out would be the same at both dealers.
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It was only really an oil and filter change. Done with fully synthetic (I checked). The service report shows measurements for brake pads and discs. (Both are shown as not needing doing until next service, so no hard sell there). They could conceivably just make them up, but no reason to doubt that.
It's come back fully washed (through a car wash..arghhh!) and fully valeted inside. Definitely feels tight and has that 'just serviced' feel. Thank goodness for electric memory seats, no more hunting for your seat position again after the 5'2" mechanic has been in your car.
Edited by Webmaster on 22/03/2009 at 03:12
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It's come back fully washed (through a car wash..arghhh!) .........
I always specify "No screenwash fluid, and no car wash, thank you." In the days before automatically adjusting handbrakes I also used to specify the number of clicks on the handbrake lever before the handbrake came on so that they wouldn't over-adjust it and make the brakes drag. It's up to you to specify what you want doing and what you don't.
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It's up to you to specify what you want doing and what you don't.
Indeed it is, Snail; but that assumes that your instructions reach the mechanic, and he takes notice of them.
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>> It's come back fully washed (through a car wash..arghhh!) ......... I always specify "No screenwash fluid and no car wash thank you." In the days before automatically adjusting handbrakes I also used to specify the number of clicks on the handbrake lever before the handbrake came on so that they wouldn't over-adjust it and make the brakes drag. It's up to you to specify what you want doing and what you don't.
It was my own fault. I do normally state not to wash it, but forgot. A day of wax and sealing lies ahead!
First fault cropped up yesterday. They seem to have reset my Sat nav to the original setting. This thinks the car drives on the left and gets all confused at roundabouts. (In the secondary dash display) It was sorted with a software upgrade, but is back to factory setting now.
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They seem to have reset my Sat nav .... This thinks the car drives on the left
I know it's a French car and the electrics/electronics are garbage, but this one beats me ...
The SAT NAV must be really rubbish, or your driving must be even worse, if it gets confused by thinking that it should be driving on the left ...
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... your driving must be even worse ... >>
hxj: Does that mean that you think that the Traffic Police driving training is at fault, or that midlifecrisis is at fault and has failed to learn from it?
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neither - was probably a bit subtle for a Sunday afternoon on here.
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I also used to specify the number of clicks on the handbrake lever before the handbrake came on
Wow... I just throw my keys at the local independent and tell him to call me if he thinks he's found something horrendously expensive wrong with the car. I've never even thought about counting handbrake clicks. :)
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It might explain why L'escargot always has a good report of the dealers he uses.
I can imagine the service receptionist telling the mechanic "Be careful with this one! - the chap who owns it is so fussy, he'll be counting the clicks on the handbrake when he gets it back!"
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I can imagine the service receptionist telling the mechanic "Be careful with this one! - the chap who owns it is so fussy he'll be counting the clicks on the handbrake when he gets it back!"
I don't care what the service receptionist (or anyone else for that matter) says about me. If everyone thought in advance about what they wanted, took the time and effort to communicate their exact requirements, and found out in advance what service or object the supplier intended to supply there would be far less moaning by people who think they have been hard done by, scammed, ripped off, conned, diddled or whatever you like to call it. I'm amazed by the number of Backroomers who whinge about car dealers and car manufacturers. In a large number of cases a bit of calm and rational communication would have prevented/solved their problem. You can't expect other people to be mind readers.
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I agree, L'escargot, but you still haven't answered the most important question.
How many clicks? :)
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I agree L'escargot but you still haven't answered the most important question. How many clicks? :)
Nowadays I don't find it necessary to specify the number of clicks because there is invariably a certain amount of free movement designed into the lever travel before it gets to the first click on the ratchet. This wasn't always the case. At one time there was no free movement before the first click, and if the handbrake was adjusted such that you could only get, say, two clicks of movement of the handrake lever the handbrake(s) would drag. I used to specify 4 to 5 clicks. My request never gave rise to any complaints from the dealer, and their compliance with my requirements resulted in me never having to complain.
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I used to specify 4 to 5 clicks.
And the Haynes manual for the 205 says, for adjusting the brakes, 'the handbrake should be placed on the seventh notch ...'
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>> I used to specify 4 to 5 clicks. And the Haynes manual for the 205 says for adjusting the brakes 'the handbrake should be placed on the seventh notch ...'
That would certainly ensure that the handbrake never dragged, but it would be just a little too much travel for my own personal taste.
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Wow... I just throw my keys at the local independent ..........
Ye sow so shall ye reap!
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A 5'2" mechanic?
That would explain the cheaper price.
It was serviced by an apprentice!
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I'd want to know whether the work carried out would be the same at both dealers.
Me too - the dealers must have been quoting on a different scope of work. Perhaps one was quoting little more than an oil change and the other a more major service. Maybe the dearer quote included brake fluid change, normally recommended every 2yrs.
Having said that, I've found dealers will justify a higher than expected price by reeling off lists of things that "need" to be done. So you accept that, but then when you collect the car those things turn out to have not been required but the price is still the same.
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I can't understand why dealers price themselves out of the market like this.
It does seem odd that two Pug dealers charge amounts that different. But the nearest one to me (I have several about 6-10 miles away) used to have a standard tariff posted in the reception area, so I don't suppose they budged from that. Others worked differently. But as I always go to an indie I can't make useful comparisons.
But as yours is still trading it seems they are still in the market. Presumably there are enough owners who don't shop around, or just go back there for whatever reason, that a business can be maintained. A large profit on a few cars may equal a smaller one on more, and you need fewer staff.
Edited by Andrew-T on 20/03/2009 at 17:17
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You may find that one dealership looks to sell volume at low margin, and makes up by having a high margin on servicing.
The dealers who hardly budge from list may then offer better prices on their servicing, thus keeping their big profit buyers sweet.
Just a thought.
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We found smaller differences when getting our 2007 (Fiesta based) Mazda 2 serviced when it's first service was due. The supplying dealer (Erdington) wanted £ 199, another branch of the same dealer (six mles away - Solihull) wanted £ 188. Different dealers in Stourbridge and Wolverhampton each quoted £ 150.
The supplying dealer couldn't explain the cheaper price of their other branch, and again wouldn't budge from the £ 199.
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12500k service at Jaguar gatwick was about £470 & £260 at Harwards Bristol so it was worth a drive £ 40 in Derv & coffee in Mcd's arhhh So still saved £170
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The dealer quotes were for exactly the same service..an 'A' service at 20'000m. I rang and checked with each what work was to be carried out and what parts replaced. They were exactly the same.
Regards the sat nav. It has a main colour display, which works fine. There is a small secondary display between the dials, which features just an arrow for left, right etc. The secondary display gets confused at roundabouts. When the 'voice' states.."take the first exit" the secondary display shows an arrow pointing right (as would be the first exit if you're going around the roundabout on the Continent (are you keeping up!). The main colour display reads as it should and that's the one I refer to anyway, so doesn't cause any problems.
It was sorted with a quick software upgrade by the supplying dealer. I don't think it's a coincidence it's reset to the original setting straight after the service.
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The dealer quotes were for exactly the same service..an 'A' service at 20'000m. I rang and checked with each what work was to be carried out and what parts replaced. They were exactly the same.
In that case it's impossible to fathom the difference. Parts prices would be the same (surely would need fully synth oil for 20K services) and the labour time would be standard. There may well be a range for the dealers hourly rates, but the service time is so short that even an unlikely wode difference in rates wouldn't account for the difference.
Be interesting to hear how you get on - perhaps the cheaper price is a hook and they expect to add more value to the job once they get the car in?
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... Be interesting to hear how you get on - perhaps the cheaper price ... >>
See MLC's post further up above:
Fri 20 Mar 09 16:43 - midlifecrisis
" no hard sell ....
It's come back fully washed (through a car wash..arghhh!) and fully valeted inside. .... "
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Thanks - read original post as being serviced on Monday!
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