Discussion
that every time you take one of these cars in for a service you just know your wallet is going to be the best part of a thousand pounds lighter!!
standard service 160 pounds, oil 40 pounds filters and plugs 80 pounds labour 120 pounds two rear shocks 290 pounds rear brake pads 40 pounds bl**dy vat refill the tank as it always comes back mt a bunch of flowers for the mechanic's wife , good bye grand. I used to take my trouble free T5R in for a main dealer service 160 pounds + vat a much more complicated car than a Griff I have to say , does anyone else get the feeling that TVR servicing = rip off. No wonder they treat you so nice when you take it in , and you have little choice if you want that stamp in your service book.
disgruntled Si
standard service 160 pounds, oil 40 pounds filters and plugs 80 pounds labour 120 pounds two rear shocks 290 pounds rear brake pads 40 pounds bl**dy vat refill the tank as it always comes back mt a bunch of flowers for the mechanic's wife , good bye grand. I used to take my trouble free T5R in for a main dealer service 160 pounds + vat a much more complicated car than a Griff I have to say , does anyone else get the feeling that TVR servicing = rip off. No wonder they treat you so nice when you take it in , and you have little choice if you want that stamp in your service book.
disgruntled Si
when you take the griff in for a service,ask for a fixed basic service price all inclusive,then tell them not to carry out any other work but to list and report all faults/possible extras required.they MUST then give you a stamp in your book and you can decide wheather to have the extras carried out at your discretion/convenience.i know what you mean about feeling youve been ripped off by main dealers,mine didnt do any of the geometry,alignment set up and told me that 'its definately not part of any service and weve never done it'when i told them i had a copy of the schedule in front of me and that its definately on there they finally backed down(after first checking it out)and they did a 250 mile round trip to collect and correct the problem.but i wondered how many others before me had been ripped off in this way.wont be going there again.it wouldnt be fair to say that all main dealers are bad though and next time im going to give tms in leicester a try as they sounded v.good and helpfull on the phone.
IMHO The Stamp is only a reflection that a service has been carried out.
If the Stamp is important to you, get the car serviced by a main dealer and get the other work done (if it really needs doing) by an independant such as RT Racing, Tower View etc
I would have thought that the Dealer stamp would only matter if you are trading it in with a Main Dealer, just another excuse to knock your trade in price down, most people in the know would happily accept a stamp from a well known independant.
When I bought my first TVR 5 Years ago, I dutifuly had it serviced by a main agent and vowed never again to do so
that is unless I am lucky enough to own a new one one day when i will have to keep the service book up to date for warranty reasons
If the Stamp is important to you, get the car serviced by a main dealer and get the other work done (if it really needs doing) by an independant such as RT Racing, Tower View etc
I would have thought that the Dealer stamp would only matter if you are trading it in with a Main Dealer, just another excuse to knock your trade in price down, most people in the know would happily accept a stamp from a well known independant.
When I bought my first TVR 5 Years ago, I dutifuly had it serviced by a main agent and vowed never again to do so
that is unless I am lucky enough to own a new one one day when i will have to keep the service book up to date for warranty reasons
That's why I bought my Griff privately, and knew a great reliable place to get it serviced / repaired etc, by ex dealer techies.
The last time I looked he was 1/2 the price, per hour of the monkeys at Hawthorns, and you get the job done right first time, no body work damage while it's being serviced & it runs on all cylinders, when you get it back.
(the recent factual case of a mate of mine with a tuscan )
Good old Andy @ APM!!!!
(kerrching)
The last time I looked he was 1/2 the price, per hour of the monkeys at Hawthorns, and you get the job done right first time, no body work damage while it's being serviced & it runs on all cylinders, when you get it back.
(the recent factual case of a mate of mine with a tuscan )
Good old Andy @ APM!!!!
(kerrching)
siwes said:I must say that in my experience this is not true. Over the years, first Portfield and now Racing Green have NEVER charged more than £550 and often less. I'm most impressed with TVR dealer service. Rich...
that every time you take one of these cars in for a service you just know your wallet is going to be the best part of a thousand pounds lighter!!
On the one hand it's nice to see a book full of main dealer stamps, but no one in there right mind should expect you to have all the work carried out by main dealer guys, who, in some cases know less about the cars than some specialists. More to the point is if you have the servicing done at the correct intervals and any other bits and pieces pointed out to you, then it's up to you where and when you have these done, as long as you have all the relevant paperwork and invoices of any work that has been carried out then any future buyer can easily check up with the garage. As has been said before these cars are not the most complicated of cars out there, you just have to know what to look for, and this comes with experience, so any specialist company that has been established for a few years should know what they are doing. only my opinion, don't mind paying for a decent job, but HATE getting ripped off.
Never paid more than 400 for a 6k or 500 for a 12k.
And for those of you who know where I get it done, no I don't get a discount
Siwes. you seem to have had a particularly bad experience with your car - none of your posts seem particularly joyful. You must have been very unlucky - the fab people I've met since I got my first TVR outnumber the scrotes by about 15:1.
Chill, Enjoy.
And for those of you who know where I get it done, no I don't get a discount
Siwes. you seem to have had a particularly bad experience with your car - none of your posts seem particularly joyful. You must have been very unlucky - the fab people I've met since I got my first TVR outnumber the scrotes by about 15:1.
Chill, Enjoy.
When i bought my griff i wanted both my gearbox and diff oil's checked, so i took it to a Main Dealer, Brooklands at Exeter. They informed me that both were "dry", replenished them with Mobil and informed me that the diff needed replacing even though the car had only 9000 miles.They quoted me £400 for the work to be carried out and tried to persuade me to leave the car with them. I sought a second opinion at Peninsula, then an independent tvr specialist who informed me that was not the case but one of the seals did need replacing. It was done at the fraction of the cost. No wonder tvr withdrew Brooklands franchise last year. Like "rooodgirl" i've never had an expensive service as you have quoted. Shop around many tvr dealers/specialists collect/service/return...zz...
rude girl said:
Siwes. you seem to have had a particularly bad experience with your car - none of your posts seem particularly joyful. You must have been very unlucky - the fab people I've met since I got my first TVR outnumber the scrotes by about 15:1.
Chill, Enjoy.
True. When the recent post about Chim sales was running I was going to suggest Chim members calm down because siwes slags of Griffs as much as Chims. The post got cut before I got the chance to do my UN peacekeeping bit.
That said, I just got a bill for £915.58 for my 12,000 mile service. The service was £520.00 but the parts (just filters, fluids, plugs, pads) were £246.00, sundries (never sure what these are since the parts cost included a washer listed at £3.40), and VAT gave what I thought was a pretty collosal total for a service in which no defects were rectified (well actually the gear box came out but that was under warranty).
What really pissed me off was the cost of the Mobil 1 engine oil: £65.65 plus VAT for 6 litres!!!!!!! Daylight robbery.
rude girl
look at the post from prop infact half of the posts agree with me , and i am not blaming the car other than its the type of car that says to people "this wa**er has loads of money lets rip him off" I paid 30k+ for my Volvo and it doesn't happen, same with my friends that drive BMWs and Audis expensive cars but dont get ripped off.
So why with a TVR . I have as much fun from my TVR as the next person but you are certainly targeted by driving one of these things . By the way a full service on a Range Rover at a main dealer it was 5 years ago 140pounds inc VAT , and I know if I took my Volvo to the same garage as I took the TIV then the final bill would be half.
look at the post from prop infact half of the posts agree with me , and i am not blaming the car other than its the type of car that says to people "this wa**er has loads of money lets rip him off" I paid 30k+ for my Volvo and it doesn't happen, same with my friends that drive BMWs and Audis expensive cars but dont get ripped off.
So why with a TVR . I have as much fun from my TVR as the next person but you are certainly targeted by driving one of these things . By the way a full service on a Range Rover at a main dealer it was 5 years ago 140pounds inc VAT , and I know if I took my Volvo to the same garage as I took the TIV then the final bill would be half.
Prop
a quick one
I stated Mobile 1 for the oil change, and I made a point of asking if they had used it in the oil change , reply was we always put synthetic oil in these cars, when I pressed the point Mobile 1 I was told that it wasn't actually Mobile 1 because that was so expensive but they buy bulk Synthetic of another manufacturer that I have never heard off why then was the cost of the oil on the bill 47 pounds plus vat!!!
rip off, from a dealer simple so ensure when you state Mobile 1 that you get it .
And yes I made him drain the oil and use Mobile 1 as requested , that put me on the shit list , but I stayed around to watch them do it and a new filter of course.
Si
a quick one
I stated Mobile 1 for the oil change, and I made a point of asking if they had used it in the oil change , reply was we always put synthetic oil in these cars, when I pressed the point Mobile 1 I was told that it wasn't actually Mobile 1 because that was so expensive but they buy bulk Synthetic of another manufacturer that I have never heard off why then was the cost of the oil on the bill 47 pounds plus vat!!!
rip off, from a dealer simple so ensure when you state Mobile 1 that you get it .
And yes I made him drain the oil and use Mobile 1 as requested , that put me on the shit list , but I stayed around to watch them do it and a new filter of course.
Si
siwes said:
rude girl
look at the post from prop infact half of the posts agree with me , and i am not blaming the car other than its the type of car that says to people "this wa**er has loads of money lets rip him off" I paid 30k+ for my Volvo and it doesn't happen, same with my friends that drive BMWs and Audis expensive cars but dont get ripped off.
So why with a TVR . I have as much fun from my TVR as the next person but you are certainly targeted by driving one of these things . By the way a full service on a Range Rover at a main dealer it was 5 years ago 140pounds inc VAT , and I know if I took my Volvo to the same garage as I took the TIV then the final bill would be half.
Glad to see you're more cheerful now then. 
'Fraid I did it the other way round. Worked out what it would cost me to run (the Chim, then the Griff), added some contingency, and then decided whether owning my car was worth that to me. It is. I think that in terms of inputs
utputs, I get value. If all I did was count the inputs, I'd probably sell. Keep smiling
I,ve been following this post quite closely as I,m at present looking to buy my first griff. It would seem to me that for a car with a relatively uncomplicated engine that some of these service prices are way off the mark, I have owned several M class BMW,s ( sorry ) and I have never been charged these sort of prices, and that,s from a main dealer, and I,m talking about the inspection 2, ( that,s the biggy ).
For a start you should always get a qoute for a service, and that includes everything, anything outside this only gets done with your say so, and basically if you,re not happy with the qoute go somewhere else, it would seem by what other people have said that there are good garages out there charging reasonable rates, even if you have to travel a bit, it gives you a chance to enjoy your car a bit more and have a day out, never know you might enjoy it, I think what I,m trying to say is, all the time you keep going back to the same garage that charged way over the top before, they will think that they can carry on doing it?. Only my opinion.
Just another point before I go, do any of you get your car serviced at the same garage, or could you, and negotiate a discount?
For a start you should always get a qoute for a service, and that includes everything, anything outside this only gets done with your say so, and basically if you,re not happy with the qoute go somewhere else, it would seem by what other people have said that there are good garages out there charging reasonable rates, even if you have to travel a bit, it gives you a chance to enjoy your car a bit more and have a day out, never know you might enjoy it, I think what I,m trying to say is, all the time you keep going back to the same garage that charged way over the top before, they will think that they can carry on doing it?. Only my opinion.
Just another point before I go, do any of you get your car serviced at the same garage, or could you, and negotiate a discount?
steve1 said:
For a start you should always get a qoute for a service, and that includes everything, anything outside this only gets done with your say so, and basically if you,re not happy with the qoute go somewhere else
Exactly. Whatever car it is, I agree a price for the service (which is a finite list of actions) and leave strict instructions that if they find anything else that needs doing, they call me first for the OK.
I also have accounts with most garages so that if they invoice me more than we agreed, I can argue about it before deciding to pay up.
Standard practice: keep brains in front of wallet!!
Just another thought on this matter, is there anyone that contributes to this site that owns, runs or works in a garage, or even has a mate in a garage that can answer some of the points raised by this topic, mainly how can some garages justify the prices charged. And we don't want to hear about overheads or someone might bring up the point about huge discounts that garages get for there spares etc. ( hornets nest or what )
But a service is about a lot more than just an oil change. So the engine's simple, but the rest of the chassis/running gear is derived from a racing set-up. Things need adjusting and resetting/replacing more frequently than on a family hack. The time taken to access/inspect certain components must contribute to an increased labour charge. I get the impression the Griff was designed to be driven, not serviced cheaply!
note the smile on this one,
My last three services have all been dealers , two of them back at TVR no problems there but so difficult to get the car in , its the independent dealers that see you coming . I will ensure that the car returns to Blackpool in future , by the way just as a matter of interest and to keep the topic alive I bought this car nearly three years ago , and I believe it was a very good car its a 97 griff and still (imho) one of the prettiest I have ever seen, i paid 17000 pounds with a full service history from one of the major dealers and they warrented the condition of the car. In the three years I have had it I have put 15000 miles on it and wait for this I have spent the best part of 10000 pounds on the car ( that should get a few comments) i have a sorted griff, a large chunk of that was respray and general tarting up.
When people say they have spent nothing on their Griffs then its the next (daft) owner (me) that spends all the money getting it back to scratch. Thats just how I am with my cars, I have a 97 Griff that looks like it rolled out the show room.
Getting back to the subject of servicing even Blackpool just go ahead and fit what they think is necessary during a service and because its them no complaints. as i said before the car will go nowhere else apart from them from no on
Simon
My last three services have all been dealers , two of them back at TVR no problems there but so difficult to get the car in , its the independent dealers that see you coming . I will ensure that the car returns to Blackpool in future , by the way just as a matter of interest and to keep the topic alive I bought this car nearly three years ago , and I believe it was a very good car its a 97 griff and still (imho) one of the prettiest I have ever seen, i paid 17000 pounds with a full service history from one of the major dealers and they warrented the condition of the car. In the three years I have had it I have put 15000 miles on it and wait for this I have spent the best part of 10000 pounds on the car ( that should get a few comments) i have a sorted griff, a large chunk of that was respray and general tarting up.
When people say they have spent nothing on their Griffs then its the next (daft) owner (me) that spends all the money getting it back to scratch. Thats just how I am with my cars, I have a 97 Griff that looks like it rolled out the show room.
Getting back to the subject of servicing even Blackpool just go ahead and fit what they think is necessary during a service and because its them no complaints. as i said before the car will go nowhere else apart from them from no on
Simon
griffter said:
But a service is about a lot more than just an oil change. So the engine's simple, but the rest of the chassis/running gear is derived from a racing set-up. Things need adjusting and resetting/replacing more frequently than on a family hack. The time taken to access/inspect certain components must contribute to an increased labour charge. I get the impression the Griff was designed to be driven, not serviced cheaply!
Precisely - comparing it to a Volvo or any other family car is ridiculous. If there is a need to compare, at least do like for like.
When I had a 944, the basic service wasn't too bad, but there were always extras to be done and it was always more expensive than I initially though it would be.
With all TVRs there are LOADS of extra things to check which are not part of a "normal" service. In addition, access to a number of areas is difficult to say the least so will naturally take more time.
There was a thread some time ago dealing with the times for a 6k and 12k service...seem to remember that 6k was somewhere around 6 hours!
>> Edited by alex.mcintosh on Wednesday 7th January 12:58
griffter said:
But a service is about a lot more than just an oil change. So the engine's simple, but the rest of the chassis/running gear is derived from a racing set-up. Things need adjusting and resetting/replacing more frequently than on a family hack. The time taken to access/inspect certain components must contribute to an increased labour charge. I get the impression the Griff was designed to be driven, not serviced cheaply!
Yes, but there's still a 'service schedule' determined by TVR which details all the things that should be checked/adjusted/changed at each service. Hence there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a fixed quote for it. At least then you don't get any nasty surprises at bill time, when, if you want your car back, you're rather over a barrel.
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