What's the largest routine service bill you've ever had?
Discussion
Christ, I've got off lightly so far.
My FIL didn't. He was invoiced for 29k euros by Kleeman in Denmark for the addition of a supercharger, manifolds, exhaust with sports cats, modified heads and ECU and uprated fuel pumps and intake system on his early SLK55AMG. He liked spending money so much that he did it again on a later model a few years later.........
I recently paid about £1650 for the supply and fit of a purpose built 6 speed box, Mk2 shafts and clutch kit for my 1988 Mk1 MR2. Worth every penny.
The 18k major service on my Evo 8 in early 2006 came to £1700 including the usual 4 tyres and MOT. I took it to Crete and back immediately afterwards, and with a few diversions there and back covered about 4k miles. Which meant it then needed another service, 4 more tyres, etc, etc!
My Boxster S is currently at the local Indy having a "minor" recommission which has so far involved a full set of Brembo discs and pads, 4 tyres, an exhaust, bonnet struts, major service with brake fluid change and the front subframe out to replace the coolant pipes. The discs, pads and tyres were about £1200, so I'll be sure to be sitting down when the Indy calls for the rest of it.
I think the coolant pipes alone come to about 1k fitted..............whoever said early on about the importance of having a Porsche war chest, never a truer word!
My FIL didn't. He was invoiced for 29k euros by Kleeman in Denmark for the addition of a supercharger, manifolds, exhaust with sports cats, modified heads and ECU and uprated fuel pumps and intake system on his early SLK55AMG. He liked spending money so much that he did it again on a later model a few years later.........
I recently paid about £1650 for the supply and fit of a purpose built 6 speed box, Mk2 shafts and clutch kit for my 1988 Mk1 MR2. Worth every penny.
The 18k major service on my Evo 8 in early 2006 came to £1700 including the usual 4 tyres and MOT. I took it to Crete and back immediately afterwards, and with a few diversions there and back covered about 4k miles. Which meant it then needed another service, 4 more tyres, etc, etc!
My Boxster S is currently at the local Indy having a "minor" recommission which has so far involved a full set of Brembo discs and pads, 4 tyres, an exhaust, bonnet struts, major service with brake fluid change and the front subframe out to replace the coolant pipes. The discs, pads and tyres were about £1200, so I'll be sure to be sitting down when the Indy calls for the rest of it.
I think the coolant pipes alone come to about 1k fitted..............whoever said early on about the importance of having a Porsche war chest, never a truer word!
Edited by Heaveho on Wednesday 31st March 00:32
After reading earlier posts here I'm starting to wonder why everyone seems to think BMWs require expensive maintenance! 
I had an Inspection 2 service last year on my BMW Z4M Coupe that includes checking valve clearances and adjusting with shims, oil and filter, coolant change, brake fluid change and I needed a new cam-chain tensioner and rear trailing arm bushes that were replaced with Powerflex poly bushes and it wasn't far into 4 figures - although it was done by an ex-Sytner Indy.
I had an oil service plus brake fluid and new microfilter done on my Z4 3.0Si by Sytner for the purchaser for £260 in 2016.
I remember having an oil service and a new cam-belt on a Seat Leon in 2004 that cost over £600 at a main agent, but it was still in warranty so I didn't want to go anywhere else. Still made my eyes water at the time though!
I had an Inspection 2 service last year on my BMW Z4M Coupe that includes checking valve clearances and adjusting with shims, oil and filter, coolant change, brake fluid change and I needed a new cam-chain tensioner and rear trailing arm bushes that were replaced with Powerflex poly bushes and it wasn't far into 4 figures - although it was done by an ex-Sytner Indy.
I had an oil service plus brake fluid and new microfilter done on my Z4 3.0Si by Sytner for the purchaser for £260 in 2016.
I remember having an oil service and a new cam-belt on a Seat Leon in 2004 that cost over £600 at a main agent, but it was still in warranty so I didn't want to go anywhere else. Still made my eyes water at the time though!
Mr Tidy said:
I remember having an oil service and a new cam-belt on a Seat Leon in 2004 that cost over £600 at a main agent, but it was still in warranty so I didn't want to go anywhere else. Still made my eyes water at the time though!
Wife’s Tiguan just had same plus MOT at a VW dealer and it was just over £700, that was after they’d weirdly knocked £50 off for some reason. Even after running a mostly dealer serviced Merc for 15yrs, that’s the highest pure service bill I’ve ever had. Merc’s biggest was £450 and that was a major plus ATF, but the dealers won’t haggle now like they used to.
Mr Tidy said:
After reading earlier posts here I'm starting to wonder why everyone seems to think BMWs require expensive maintenance!
£2,200 after haggling with my dealer for a new battery (£290) and to fix a slow but annoying coolant leak (£1,450), plus the regular oil and filter change that it went in for. BMW 650i. Was annoyed to learn the leak wasn’t covered by the warranty.
MarkGArgyle said:
£5400 for a complete fuel system replacement from fuel filler cap through to injectors on my f31 2014 3 series. The nice lady at the service desk said it was the highest amount of money she had ever taken from a customer...
Lesson learned cheap fuel is not always good fuel...
Can you expand on this? Are you saying a cheap fuel required the whole fueling system to be replaced? I have never heard of anyone ever needing that and I'm sure many exclusively fill up with the cheapest they can find. Lesson learned cheap fuel is not always good fuel...
I'm really surprised there are no Discovery 3 owners posting on here!!!
Many years ago I nearly bought an Alfa 33 permanent 4. It was about 5 years old, and had three bills of more than £3k already. I walked away, partly because of scary costs, but also because of the ridiculous pedal offset. I saved some money and got a new Impreza instead which cost pretty much nothing to run.
Many years ago I nearly bought an Alfa 33 permanent 4. It was about 5 years old, and had three bills of more than £3k already. I walked away, partly because of scary costs, but also because of the ridiculous pedal offset. I saved some money and got a new Impreza instead which cost pretty much nothing to run.
Wow, some of these bills are truly eye watering. I've been very fortunate and never had anything over £700, and that was for an MOT and Service on my 1986 Mk2 Golf GTi a couple of years back, but included replacing all the brake lines and a bit of welding, and that was with a specialist restoration company who did a great job.
The father in law ran an F30 335d for 4 years and 125k, and whilst it was a beautiful "do it all" car, I distinctly remember his main dealer service costs were typically well in the £700-£1200 each time at the main dealer. Gulp.
The father in law ran an F30 335d for 4 years and 125k, and whilst it was a beautiful "do it all" car, I distinctly remember his main dealer service costs were typically well in the £700-£1200 each time at the main dealer. Gulp.
Yamaha FZ1 Motorcycle
Service: Oil and oil filter. Chain and sprockets. Vale clearence check and adjustment. Throttle body synchronisaiton.
Cost: £1300
Reason: all valves were out of specification, requiring reshimming. Some shims could be used on other valves, but 14 new shims were required to bring the clearences into spec. Note: 5 valve per cylinder. Further info: One cam bucket was found t be excessivly worn. Reason unknown. Replacment required. Cam chain tensioner found t not be functioning properly. Replaced.
Service: Oil and oil filter. Chain and sprockets. Vale clearence check and adjustment. Throttle body synchronisaiton.
Cost: £1300
Reason: all valves were out of specification, requiring reshimming. Some shims could be used on other valves, but 14 new shims were required to bring the clearences into spec. Note: 5 valve per cylinder. Further info: One cam bucket was found t be excessivly worn. Reason unknown. Replacment required. Cam chain tensioner found t not be functioning properly. Replaced.
My worst bill was on an F60 BMW 5 series estate. The air suspension failed. I took it to a local specialist who diagnosed it to be the relay in the air pump assembly. The relay couldn't be bought separately so the whole pump assembly had to be purchased. At the same time, both rear bags were replaced as one had split and the other perished.
Total cost was not far from £3k. Frustratingly a week later, out of curiosity, I looked on ebay and found out that I could have purchased the relay alone for about £25, lesson well and truly learnt.
Fast forward 3 years the evaporator then failed. Took it to a couple of specialists who both said they had never replaced one before on an F60. The BMW workshop manual time was 10 hours labour to strip out the dash, drop the steering column, replace and re-fit. One of the specialists said they would stop the clock at 15 hours labour.....I decided to get rid of the car as I didn't fancy another £3k+ bill.
Total cost was not far from £3k. Frustratingly a week later, out of curiosity, I looked on ebay and found out that I could have purchased the relay alone for about £25, lesson well and truly learnt.
Fast forward 3 years the evaporator then failed. Took it to a couple of specialists who both said they had never replaced one before on an F60. The BMW workshop manual time was 10 hours labour to strip out the dash, drop the steering column, replace and re-fit. One of the specialists said they would stop the clock at 15 hours labour.....I decided to get rid of the car as I didn't fancy another £3k+ bill.
RazerSauber said:
>£300 for spark plugs?? I presume that is with reduced labour while it's being done at the same time as the rocker cover too! I know it's a Mercedes V8 but good lord..
16 NGK Iridium Spark plugs req'd (2 per cylinder)I got free alignment though
Perhaps I shouldn't mention the £1500 quid bill for the Conductor plate and Valve body replacement back in Nov then.....
Edited by juice on Wednesday 31st March 13:10
~£1,500.
New Brake lines, flexible hoses, the dropping of the front subframe, new engine mounts, new sump gasket, and a coolant change.
I don't do brake lines myself on the floor, nor did I want to drop the front subframe. Fact of life, and something that now doesn't need doing for the rest of the car's life.
New Brake lines, flexible hoses, the dropping of the front subframe, new engine mounts, new sump gasket, and a coolant change.
I don't do brake lines myself on the floor, nor did I want to drop the front subframe. Fact of life, and something that now doesn't need doing for the rest of the car's life.
I had a major service on the 993 including plugs, belts (i think), and wishbones replaced with subsequent geometry. £3,990 from memory.
Had a oil service for c£300 at another OPC then found that there was a large oil leak the following week.
I suggested to the dealer it was from the service and possibly the second oil filter in front of the rear wheel arch.
Car went in for investigation and racked up 2 full days of two technicians (according to the OPC) with labour of £2,700.
To be fair, they agreed that they couldn’t charge me that but asked for a contribution of c£600 to which I duly obliged (not sure why). Cant remember the exact issue, think it was just damage to the new oil filter or the oil sender return pipe(?)
Had a oil service for c£300 at another OPC then found that there was a large oil leak the following week.
I suggested to the dealer it was from the service and possibly the second oil filter in front of the rear wheel arch.
Car went in for investigation and racked up 2 full days of two technicians (according to the OPC) with labour of £2,700.
To be fair, they agreed that they couldn’t charge me that but asked for a contribution of c£600 to which I duly obliged (not sure why). Cant remember the exact issue, think it was just damage to the new oil filter or the oil sender return pipe(?)
Funny how many OPC stories here! 
I basically stopped when they asked me 1100 GBP for a MAF change. Just ordered a Bosch MAF for 90 GBP online, and replaced by myself, literally 5 mins job. When I asked how they justify their costing for 1100 GBP, the response was “ Well, it is great that you could do it by yourself Sir.”
I basically stopped when they asked me 1100 GBP for a MAF change. Just ordered a Bosch MAF for 90 GBP online, and replaced by myself, literally 5 mins job. When I asked how they justify their costing for 1100 GBP, the response was “ Well, it is great that you could do it by yourself Sir.”
t the Bed !! 
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