Main dealer service prices...
Discussion
My car is due it's first service soon - called my 2 local dealers for prices:
Dealer 1 - not huge but have a few sites across Central Scotland - £156 inc VAT
Dealer 2 - independent, single site main dealer - £106 inc VAT
That's a huge difference (almost 1/3) - anyone else notice big variation in prices? The two dealers are about 20 miles apart roughly, so not a big difference in area or anything.
Dealer 1 - not huge but have a few sites across Central Scotland - £156 inc VAT
Dealer 2 - independent, single site main dealer - £106 inc VAT
That's a huge difference (almost 1/3) - anyone else notice big variation in prices? The two dealers are about 20 miles apart roughly, so not a big difference in area or anything.
As with ALL service's from EVERY garage you need to find out what you are getting for your money before you decide if the price is ok.
In some cases you pay extra for the shareholders to make a profit. i.e. you get nothing extra but you're using a PLC so you have to pay a bit more for what would cost less elsewhere.
In some cases you pay extra for the shareholders to make a profit. i.e. you get nothing extra but you're using a PLC so you have to pay a bit more for what would cost less elsewhere.
Toaster Pilot said:
ejenner said:
As with ALL service's from EVERY garage you need to find out what you are getting for your money before you decide if the price is ok.
Both are for a 1 year / 10,000 mile Kia service for a 1.0 Picanto.ejenner said:
f you really get exactally the same service for a lower price then the explination is simply that the more expensive service is bubbly for the shareholders.
Thing is when I was buying my car the opposite was true with regards to price (and I actually bought it from a very large dealer group for even less still, but they're too far away to go to for a service)
When looking for rear wheel bearings one main dealer quoted £130ish inc VAT each side.
One just 40miles away wanted £600+VAT for pair. Which when the parts and service guy said I spat my cigerette out and it landed down a drain, v annoying
Both fitted.
Needless to say I went to a decent local garage for £70inVAT each fitted.
Some just don't seem to want the business.
One just 40miles away wanted £600+VAT for pair. Which when the parts and service guy said I spat my cigerette out and it landed down a drain, v annoying
Both fitted.
Needless to say I went to a decent local garage for £70inVAT each fitted.
Some just don't seem to want the business.
noosh said:
When looking for rear wheel bearings one main dealer quoted £130ish inc VAT each side.
One just 40miles away wanted £600+VAT for pair. Which when the parts and service guy said I spat my cigerette out and it landed down a drain, v annoying
Both fitted.
Needless to say I went to a decent local garage for £70inVAT each fitted.
Some just don't seem to want the business.
There is more than one type of bearing... However, in most cases it won't hurt to fit the cheap one because a. it will probably outlast the rest of the car and b. you're unlikely to still have the car if it ever does wear out so not really your problem. One just 40miles away wanted £600+VAT for pair. Which when the parts and service guy said I spat my cigerette out and it landed down a drain, v annoying
Both fitted.
Needless to say I went to a decent local garage for £70inVAT each fitted.
Some just don't seem to want the business.
Most parts have subtle differences if bought aftermarket rather than OEM. But not all parts and sometimes the cheaper alternative is better if the OEM version has a tendancy to fail.
OEM brake friction materials are nearly always 50% better than halfords quality so you actually get something extra for the extra cost.
ejenner said:
OEM brake friction materials are nearly always 50% better than halfords quality so you actually get something extra for the extra cost.
- never been happy with the bog standard aftermarket brakes from a motor factor - never had cars I cared enough about / was keeping long enough to care though.Toaster Pilot said:
ejenner said:
OEM brake friction materials are nearly always 50% better than halfords quality so you actually get something extra for the extra cost.
- never been happy with the bog standard aftermarket brakes from a motor factor - never had cars I cared enough about / was keeping long enough to care though.Some parts just fill the space where the part should go and do little more than that.
ejenner said:
I once changed all 4 discs and pads on a car I had for new cheapest items from a motorfactor and they were terrible. Going along a country lane and found the brakes had overheated and hardly worked. Same with my BMW 6-series when I tried Halfords pads on the front. Not because I was trying to be cheap but just because I wanted to change them on the w/end and Halfords had some. Going down a hill, stopping for traffic lights at the bottom, smoke billowing from the front wheels and hardly any braking force as it eventually came to a stop.
Some parts just fill the space where the part should go and do little more than that.
My first Almera had 4x cheap motorfactor special discs and pads put on, terrible until they had warmed up - very little braking until I had reached the end of the road out of the estate Some parts just fill the space where the part should go and do little more than that.
Second Almera had cheap ones put on the front only which were better but very very dusty, so I doubt they'd have lasted long.
Vladimir said:
Toaster Pilot said:
Dealer 1 quoted me just shy of £300 for the 40k service and I thought that was excessive
The other thing is, forgot to mention earlier... dealers will pull down their headline service costs to compete with local specialists and independent garages. For them the problem is that if they scare off the customers with silly headline service prices then they'll never get a chance to rape the customers for brake pads or other extras. They'll happily take a slight knock on an oil change in exchange for bountiful fix list.
ejenner said:
Sometimes depends on if they are the same group. In the area where I live you can't get your BMW serviced at a main dealer who isn't part of the same group.
The other thing is, forgot to mention earlier... dealers will pull down their headline service costs to compete with local specialists and independent garages. For them the problem is that if they scare off the customers with silly headline service prices then they'll never get a chance to rape the customers for brake pads or other extras. They'll happily take a slight knock on an oil change in exchange for bountiful fix list.
Could well be what this dealer is doing - they're far from the cheapest place to buy a brand new car (I paid £1,500 less than they wanted from Arnold Clark, which is a massive saving on a car that lists at £7,500!)The other thing is, forgot to mention earlier... dealers will pull down their headline service costs to compete with local specialists and independent garages. For them the problem is that if they scare off the customers with silly headline service prices then they'll never get a chance to rape the customers for brake pads or other extras. They'll happily take a slight knock on an oil change in exchange for bountiful fix list.
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