Overcharged for oil change?
Discussion
Fox- said:
berlintaxi said:
Allow for heating & lighting,business rates,rent,wages, admin costs, cost of disposal of your old oil and other parts etc. You can soon see where the need to make a margin on parts comes from.
Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
If it's not over the top then how come it's cheaper at a BMW Main Dealer?Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
Fox- said:
berlintaxi said:
Allow for heating & lighting,business rates,rent,wages, admin costs, cost of disposal of your old oil and other parts etc. You can soon see where the need to make a margin on parts comes from.
Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
If it's not over the top then how come it's cheaper at a BMW Main Dealer?Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
The point being they don't offer those prices on all work because they couldn't sustain their business model on that pricing.
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hstewie said:
hstewie said:Nedzilla said:
My car is going into Audi on Tuesday for a big service and the cost of the oil change alone is £565! I asked if I supply my own oil what will I save and they told me £250. So quite a mark up on oil there as you can buy 10 litres of the stuff they use on eBay for just under £50.
I've also decided to supply my own spark plugs!!!
I'm intrigued what car or dealer can cost more then five hundred quid for oil and filter as even at £20/l or something daft that suggests 20l of oil is required?I've also decided to supply my own spark plugs!!!
On a more general note, I do think some people (not you Nedzilla this is a general reply) forget that garages need to make money to stay in business and they make some of it through mark up on parts.
Generally you want to pay a fair price for a good job rather than a race to bottom where all that matters is the lowest cost.
And again, who on earth leaves a car with a dealer or garage without agreeing a price up front?
The remaining £300 is labour which also seems a bit excessive though I am told draining the oil from an R8 is a bit of a process with 5 different drain points including draining the oil cooler and also removing the cars undertrays.
When you take into consideration a main dealers hourly labour charge £300 doesn't go far.
J4CKO said:
What does the "Flush" involve ?
Or is it just a line item they add to the invoice to add £15 ?
Its basically a detergent, cleans out parts where the oil builds up and solidifies. Not necessary on anything vaguely new, but Ive used it in the past on high mileage (150k+) cars where I don't know the history. Its probably does get some gunk out of the crevices, and for £10 when doing it myself it wont hurt. Or is it just a line item they add to the invoice to add £15 ?
Out of principle I'd be annoyed at having to pay for something I didn't ask for. I'm fortunate enough that I've always supplied my own parts to my mechanic.
How do they calculate their mark up? A garage I used ages ago charged me almost twice as much for a part compared to BMW. Granted it wasn't a huge amount of money (£10 vs £18) but is it common to have to pay more for dealer specific parts through an independent?
How do they calculate their mark up? A garage I used ages ago charged me almost twice as much for a part compared to BMW. Granted it wasn't a huge amount of money (£10 vs £18) but is it common to have to pay more for dealer specific parts through an independent?
berlintaxi said:
How do you know that the BMW dealer isn't running it as a loss leader, get somebody in for a service on an older vehicle, try and sell them a new one whilst there are there.
Because I used to have my E39 serviced in exactly the same way and not once did they try and 'find' additional work or attempt to sell me anything at all. They just serviced my car at what I felt was a reasonable price.It doesn't cost anyone £159 to change the oil and have a quick look around a car, there is profit for the main dealer in it at that money for sure. They are using a BMW value line microfilter at 20 quid, 6.5 litres of Castrol Edge which you can pick up for about 60 quid online and an oil filter at a fiver. Those are consumer prices so even if we assume the dealer gets themselves ripped off buying stuff in bulk that still leaves £74 contribution to labour and fixed costs on a 30 minute job.
bhstewie said:
hstewie said:Fox- said:
berlintaxi said:
Allow for heating & lighting,business rates,rent,wages, admin costs, cost of disposal of your old oil and other parts etc. You can soon see where the need to make a margin on parts comes from.
Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
If it's not over the top then how come it's cheaper at a BMW Main Dealer?Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
The point being they don't offer those prices on all work because they couldn't sustain their business model on that pricing.
itcaptainslow said:
Yes-very common to offer fixed price, cheaper servicing for older vehicles. The logic being that invariably these older vehicles need work doing, which the dealership hopes to capture. The cheaper service isn't a loss leader (it's still profitable, especially if it keeps a technician occupied who would otherwise be standing idle) but instead of a labour rate circa £90 p/hour, it would more likely be something like £50 p/hour.
This logic applies equally to independents though, who are more likely to get that extra work, given the average 330Ci owner is going to politely decline a main dealers offer to fix a pile of problems at over £100 an hour yet an indy with a more reasonable rate might well get the work.Well the larger chains seem to be charging about £200 for a full service (based on my car with the 3.0d engine).... as far as I can work out a full service is just an oil change and fluid top up. So your price doesn't seem that outrageous, but it is a bit more than I would expect. TBH if you don't need the stamps in the book it is far more cost effective to do it yourself. Oil and filter is dead simple on most cars - really basic tool kit and a driveway is all that is required.
The last time I used a small garage for some repairs I was quite surprised at what the bill came to to be honest. I think what they deduct in labour rate they just claw back in mark-up on the parts.
The last time I used a small garage for some repairs I was quite surprised at what the bill came to to be honest. I think what they deduct in labour rate they just claw back in mark-up on the parts.
Fox- said:
itcaptainslow said:
Yes-very common to offer fixed price, cheaper servicing for older vehicles. The logic being that invariably these older vehicles need work doing, which the dealership hopes to capture. The cheaper service isn't a loss leader (it's still profitable, especially if it keeps a technician occupied who would otherwise be standing idle) but instead of a labour rate circa £90 p/hour, it would more likely be something like £50 p/hour.
This logic applies equally to independents though, who are more likely to get that extra work, given the average 330Ci owner is going to politely decline a main dealers offer to fix a pile of problems at over £100 an hour yet an indy with a more reasonable rate might well get the work.When I was a SM at a main dealer, we used our loaf (despite the company head office instructing otherwise) and adjusted the labour rate for older cars when offering to perform work required on older cars. There was absolutely no point in going in at the normal rate (£89 p/hour) on a ten year old C3 worth £1500 which needed a lot of work-all we'd do is scare and piss the customer off, and never see them again.
Funnily enough, we had some of the best results in the group for the "upsell" of work required-no dodgy tricks involved and I would never, ever tolerate anyone selling something that didn't need doing. Fortunately, I had a great bunch of lads in the workshop who were honest and took pride in their work.
Nedzilla said:
The car holds around 10 litres of oil but as they have told me,at £250 that is still a bit much. I have got 12 litres of Castrol edge for £90 so I will be saving a good £150 supplying the oil my self and still having a couple of litres left for top ups.
The remaining £300 is labour which also seems a bit excessive though I am told draining the oil from an R8 is a bit of a process with 5 different drain points including draining the oil cooler and also removing the cars undertrays.
When you take into consideration a main dealers hourly labour charge £300 doesn't go far.
I could imagine with an R8 that they just see £££ signs when you walk into the service reception - and on a far different scale than £3 on unnecessary screenwash.The remaining £300 is labour which also seems a bit excessive though I am told draining the oil from an R8 is a bit of a process with 5 different drain points including draining the oil cooler and also removing the cars undertrays.
When you take into consideration a main dealers hourly labour charge £300 doesn't go far.
Fox- said:
berlintaxi said:
How do you know that the BMW dealer isn't running it as a loss leader, get somebody in for a service on an older vehicle, try and sell them a new one whilst there are there.
Because I used to have my E39 serviced in exactly the same way and not once did they try and 'find' additional work or attempt to sell me anything at all. They just serviced my car at what I felt was a reasonable price.It doesn't cost anyone £159 to change the oil and have a quick look around a car, there is profit for the main dealer in it at that money for sure. They are using a BMW value line microfilter at 20 quid, 6.5 litres of Castrol Edge which you can pick up for about 60 quid online and an oil filter at a fiver. Those are consumer prices so even if we assume the dealer gets themselves ripped off buying stuff in bulk that still leaves £74 contribution to labour and fixed costs on a 30 minute job.
berlintaxi said:
There are many tales on here of people putting their car in for a service, getting loaned a high spec current model and subsequently buying one so it obviously works with some people or do you just view the world only based on your own experiences?
Fine, I give in, paying a random garage more money than a franchised dealer represents great value for money for an oil change. Better?
Fox- said:
berlintaxi said:
Allow for heating & lighting,business rates,rent,wages, admin costs, cost of disposal of your old oil and other parts etc. You can soon see where the need to make a margin on parts comes from.
Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
If it's not over the top then how come it's cheaper at a BMW Main Dealer?Realistically the bill is not over the top for that sort of service.
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