What's the largest routine service bill you've ever had?
Discussion
2005 Audi A8 SWB W12 sport quattro, service date 11/10/13, mileage 47,000, seven months before I bought it.
£1816.66 including replacing both front upper suspension arms, four new tyres and fabricating a corroded front brake pipe......plus £479.10 on 17/12/13 to replace a leaky secondary radiator and MoT.
Mileage now during my nearly seven years ownership, 71,000 miles. I service it myself. But my luck has finally run out as I have neither the skill nor equipment to get the bumper off to service the failed compressor. Thought I could access it via the wheel arch, but sadly not on the W12.
£1816.66 including replacing both front upper suspension arms, four new tyres and fabricating a corroded front brake pipe......plus £479.10 on 17/12/13 to replace a leaky secondary radiator and MoT.
Mileage now during my nearly seven years ownership, 71,000 miles. I service it myself. But my luck has finally run out as I have neither the skill nor equipment to get the bumper off to service the failed compressor. Thought I could access it via the wheel arch, but sadly not on the W12.
Something like that.
It started with what I'd call a 'slight misfire or lumpy idle' straight after I'd got the car back from a service (including valve clearances/shims).
I picked the car up, noticed it sounded a bit different, but wasn't sure why. Drove about 20 miles away to a friend's and then went for lunch. Started the car back up from cold and noticed the lumpy idle. Turned it off & on a few times...same result. Tried disconnecting the MAF, swapping plugs & coils, etc. but nothing helped...so called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist was not available, so they sent out another company to diagnose. After 40 minutes of revving the nuts off it (to clear a fuel blockage), and swapping the plugs/coils around, he admitted defeat and I was towed back to the dealership.
Weeks went by, I'm in a hire car at my cost because the dealership didn't have any cars available for me (despite the BMW Assist / BMW Warranty assuring me I'd be given one for the duration), and every other day it was "We've replaced what we thought it was, but it's still borked! Will try something else."
Didn't really care at the time as it was under warranty, but at the end the BMW Warranty team said the dealer had spent too much time diagnosing the issue and would only pay for 80% or so.
In the end BMW told them to replace the engine as it was quicker/cheaper than continuing down the find, replace, fail mode they'd been using.
I naively assumed the dealer would be picking up the remaining 20% as it was their ineptitude that had created the diagnostic costs.
Later on I found out the engine had been 'dumped' rather than being sent to BMW Technical as I was originally told (to diagnose the problem themselves), and therefore the cause was never identified.
It started with what I'd call a 'slight misfire or lumpy idle' straight after I'd got the car back from a service (including valve clearances/shims).
I picked the car up, noticed it sounded a bit different, but wasn't sure why. Drove about 20 miles away to a friend's and then went for lunch. Started the car back up from cold and noticed the lumpy idle. Turned it off & on a few times...same result. Tried disconnecting the MAF, swapping plugs & coils, etc. but nothing helped...so called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist was not available, so they sent out another company to diagnose. After 40 minutes of revving the nuts off it (to clear a fuel blockage), and swapping the plugs/coils around, he admitted defeat and I was towed back to the dealership.
Weeks went by, I'm in a hire car at my cost because the dealership didn't have any cars available for me (despite the BMW Assist / BMW Warranty assuring me I'd be given one for the duration), and every other day it was "We've replaced what we thought it was, but it's still borked! Will try something else."
Didn't really care at the time as it was under warranty, but at the end the BMW Warranty team said the dealer had spent too much time diagnosing the issue and would only pay for 80% or so.
In the end BMW told them to replace the engine as it was quicker/cheaper than continuing down the find, replace, fail mode they'd been using.
I naively assumed the dealer would be picking up the remaining 20% as it was their ineptitude that had created the diagnostic costs.
Later on I found out the engine had been 'dumped' rather than being sent to BMW Technical as I was originally told (to diagnose the problem themselves), and therefore the cause was never identified.
mmm-five said:
Something like that.
It started with what I'd call a 'slight misfire or lumpy idle' straight after I'd got the car back from a service (including valve clearances/shims).
I picked the car up, noticed it sounded a bit different, but wasn't sure why. Drove about 20 miles away to a friend's and then went for lunch. Started the car back up from cold and noticed the lumpy idle. Turned it off & on a few times...same result. Tried disconnecting the MAF, swapping plugs & coils, etc. but nothing helped...so called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist was not available, so they sent out another company to diagnose. After 40 minutes of revving the nuts off it (to clear a fuel blockage), and swapping the plugs/coils around, he admitted defeat and I was towed back to the dealership.
Weeks went by, I'm in a hire car at my cost because the dealership didn't have any cars available for me (despite the BMW Assist / employee monitoring software/ BMW Warranty assuring me I'd be given one for the duration), and every other day it was "We've replaced what we thought it was, but it's still borked! Will try something else."
Didn't really care at the time as it was under warranty, but at the end the BMW Warranty team said the dealer had spent too much time diagnosing the issue and would only pay for 80% or so.
In the end BMW told them to replace the engine as it was quicker/cheaper than continuing down the find, replace, fail mode they'd been using.
I naively assumed the dealer would be picking up the remaining 20% as it was their ineptitude that had created the diagnostic costs.
Later on I found out the engine had been 'dumped' rather than being sent to BMW Technical as I was originally told (to diagnose the problem themselves), and therefore the cause was never identified.
That`s just BMW stuff. My BMW Warranty team said "It`s not a warranty case"It started with what I'd call a 'slight misfire or lumpy idle' straight after I'd got the car back from a service (including valve clearances/shims).
I picked the car up, noticed it sounded a bit different, but wasn't sure why. Drove about 20 miles away to a friend's and then went for lunch. Started the car back up from cold and noticed the lumpy idle. Turned it off & on a few times...same result. Tried disconnecting the MAF, swapping plugs & coils, etc. but nothing helped...so called BMW Assist.
BMW Assist was not available, so they sent out another company to diagnose. After 40 minutes of revving the nuts off it (to clear a fuel blockage), and swapping the plugs/coils around, he admitted defeat and I was towed back to the dealership.
Weeks went by, I'm in a hire car at my cost because the dealership didn't have any cars available for me (despite the BMW Assist / employee monitoring software/ BMW Warranty assuring me I'd be given one for the duration), and every other day it was "We've replaced what we thought it was, but it's still borked! Will try something else."
Didn't really care at the time as it was under warranty, but at the end the BMW Warranty team said the dealer had spent too much time diagnosing the issue and would only pay for 80% or so.
In the end BMW told them to replace the engine as it was quicker/cheaper than continuing down the find, replace, fail mode they'd been using.
I naively assumed the dealer would be picking up the remaining 20% as it was their ineptitude that had created the diagnostic costs.
Later on I found out the engine had been 'dumped' rather than being sent to BMW Technical as I was originally told (to diagnose the problem themselves), and therefore the cause was never identified.
I'm feeling very lucky given some of the numbers posted.
£630 for a service on a 3yo 118d consisting of:
£107 for 5 litres of 0w-30
£12 for a litre of brake fluid
£180 for 4 filters
Probably 10 minutes of labour
Completely bent over but we'd recently bought it and wanted the BMW stamp in case we were going to sell it soon.
Son is in for roughly £2300 of bills on his E92 325i he bought six months ago, £1700 was to replace all the injectors.
£630 for a service on a 3yo 118d consisting of:
£107 for 5 litres of 0w-30
£12 for a litre of brake fluid
£180 for 4 filters
Probably 10 minutes of labour
Completely bent over but we'd recently bought it and wanted the BMW stamp in case we were going to sell it soon.
Son is in for roughly £2300 of bills on his E92 325i he bought six months ago, £1700 was to replace all the injectors.
Well, this thread has made me feel better about the minimum of 620 quid it's going to cost me on Thursday to be able to say it's got a MB service history.
My worst bill wasn't that bad by comparison, but a bit painful in relation to the value of the car, since it was in fact pretty much 100% of that. £2k to replace a coked-up manifold and related bits on a Toyota Avensis worth... £2k, at least before it croaked. Took them six weeks apparently chasing the part around the world. To be honest I did like the car, and it had cost me sod all over the previous 60k miles, so I didn't mind that much - it's not as though I could have sold it for £2k since it wouldn't really move. Put another 6-7k on it then traded it in for about £1500.
My worst bill wasn't that bad by comparison, but a bit painful in relation to the value of the car, since it was in fact pretty much 100% of that. £2k to replace a coked-up manifold and related bits on a Toyota Avensis worth... £2k, at least before it croaked. Took them six weeks apparently chasing the part around the world. To be honest I did like the car, and it had cost me sod all over the previous 60k miles, so I didn't mind that much - it's not as though I could have sold it for £2k since it wouldn't really move. Put another 6-7k on it then traded it in for about £1500.
About 2.5k for a major service that included loads of exhaust bits on a 2000 Porsche Boxster back in 2012. Mind you, it was faultless for 4 more years, just minor services but it needed an engine rebuilt after that (another 5k). I also remember paying a good sum on my dad’s LR disco, while I was using for daily back in 2013. Huge major service bill for only 30k miles car.
No wonder I only buy Japanese now...
No wonder I only buy Japanese now...
6 year old 435d:
2 x calipers (bleed nipple had corroded and snapped off while they were trying to bleed them a few months prior) - £1700
Discs and pads all round - £1100
4 x tyres (mps4s) - £1000
Vehicle check (mandatory bmw) - £65
Brake fluid - £60
Tpms rear wheel - £80
MOT - £55
So £4060, plus the gearbox was soon due a service however bmw don't service it so went to an indie (£400)
2 x calipers (bleed nipple had corroded and snapped off while they were trying to bleed them a few months prior) - £1700
Discs and pads all round - £1100
4 x tyres (mps4s) - £1000
Vehicle check (mandatory bmw) - £65
Brake fluid - £60
Tpms rear wheel - £80
MOT - £55
So £4060, plus the gearbox was soon due a service however bmw don't service it so went to an indie (£400)
My new to me 320i is coming up to its 3 years so I had the local dealer do an end of warranty check.
Whilst there I thought I’d get an oil change as it was about 12 months since it was last done and I’d rather change routinely than wait for the 18k mile service indicator.
£176 for an oil change which hurt a bit.
even better it’s due it’s 3 year service and mot in 6 weeks - The service advisor told me they would need to change the oil again then as that was recommended at 3 year service - I kid you not . I did wonder if they charge for the Vaseline as well.
Always got on well with the garage in the past, but that was with a company car
Needless to say, as all was well it’s going to my normal trusted local garage from now on in.
Whilst there I thought I’d get an oil change as it was about 12 months since it was last done and I’d rather change routinely than wait for the 18k mile service indicator.
£176 for an oil change which hurt a bit.
even better it’s due it’s 3 year service and mot in 6 weeks - The service advisor told me they would need to change the oil again then as that was recommended at 3 year service - I kid you not . I did wonder if they charge for the Vaseline as well.
Always got on well with the garage in the past, but that was with a company car
Needless to say, as all was well it’s going to my normal trusted local garage from now on in.
I've been let off relatively lightly, I paid a £3500 bill for my Jaguar XKR recently to have a few things tidied up on it.
The poor girl who owned it before me though. Wow!
Over the 5 years or so she owned it, she spent around £20,000 on it. Rust, electrical issues, gearbox rebuild. It wasn't the size of the bills but it was the alarming frequency it was throwing £2/3/4k bills.
My TVR on the other hand seems to have lived a charmed existence. Over the last 12 years or so its only really needed servicing and suspension/brakes etc.
The poor girl who owned it before me though. Wow!
Over the 5 years or so she owned it, she spent around £20,000 on it. Rust, electrical issues, gearbox rebuild. It wasn't the size of the bills but it was the alarming frequency it was throwing £2/3/4k bills.
My TVR on the other hand seems to have lived a charmed existence. Over the last 12 years or so its only really needed servicing and suspension/brakes etc.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff