Vantage Service Costs

[lukeharding]

Hello everyone,

Dropped my car off at the dealer for a couple of niggles to be sorted (odd squeal etc) and enquired about the price of the service due next month. Mentioned the year (2008) to the service guy and without even the time to blink he responded with 'We'll round it down to £1300 as its a major service'. Just curious as to whether this is a reasonable price to be paying and if anyone has a full list of what should be included in that, though the dealer should be emailing it to me later today. Haven't checked the service book to see what is due but its a 2008 4.7 Vantage with 35k miles.

Thanks.

[alscar]

Seems jolly expensive to me - maybe it’s an old copy but the last fixed price menu I have from Works gives the most expensive service at £ 934 and cheapest £620 - all obviously age / mileage dependent.
Even if new plugs included I doubt that would add more than a couple of hundred.

[rovcallum]

Sounds like a rip off or mistake to me.

Works service page here...only goes to 7th year though.

http://www.astonmartinworks.com/service-aftersales

Also no mention of coffee.......and it better be good!

Here is something I found a while ago, maybe from PH.


As an aside, a typical Indy will charge around £500 for the 80,000mile/8 year service, if you supply your own engine oil.

[lukeharding]

It does seem steep which is why I asked. I've got my own workshop that could do it, though I don't know any of the Indies round here. It was just worth going to the dealer for the stamp and to keep the book as good as is possible, though I have no intention of selling. Thanks for your suggestions!

[BamfordMike]

The prescribed 10 year plan is seldom followed by anyone these days.

Because mileage is often low and repairs mean some of the consumables might have been changed out of sync, the approach most take now is more pragmatic based on the car in front of you at the time

One size pretty much fits all for a car never seen before:
Start with a Minor service (oil and filter and brake fluid) with the inspection and glance at prior service records informing what other consumables at that time need renewal. Then subsequent years can be based off that finding sort of in line with the original 10 year plan but always being pragmatic about mileage

So often now I talk with many owners where franchised quoted them sky high service quotes compared to previous years of race to the bottom prices. The inside of franchised workshops needs to change fast, all those second century plan cars are on the way!

[RobDown]

If its a dealership whose name begins with ‘S’, that is par for the course. Which is why my cars have been serviced by Works in recent years despite them being 60 miles further away

Edited by RobDown on Friday 26th October 16:27

[lukeharding]

BamfordMike said:

The prescribed 10 year plan is seldom followed by anyone these days.

Because mileage is often low and repairs mean some of the consumables might have been changed out of sync, the approach most take now is more pragmatic based on the car in front of you at the time

One size pretty much fits all for a car never seen before:
Start with a Minor service (oil and filter and brake fluid) with the inspection and glance at prior service records informing what other consumables at that time need renewal. Then subsequent years can be based off that finding sort of in line with the original 10 year plan but always being pragmatic about mileage

So often now I talk with many owners where franchised quoted them sky high service quotes compared to previous years of race to the bottom prices. The inside of franchised workshops needs to change fast, all those second century plan cars are on the way!

Thanks for that explanation, it makes sense to me in that way as I was a bit taken aback by the service manager's answer without any full details about the car and its mileage but simply going by the age. I do like some of the staff at the dealership and in general they have been good to deal with. When I get it back I'll have a look at the service records properly and see what it says, as I bought it last December after they serviced it at just over 30k miles, which I believed to be a major service as they are every year minor and the major 10k services.

[lukeharding]

RobDown said:

If its a dealership whose name begins with ‘S’, that is par for the course. Which is why my cars have been serviced by Works in recent years despite them being 60 miles further away

Edited by RobDown on Friday 26th October 16:27

It doesn't begin with S, and I'm not here to badmouth them as by and large they have been good to deal with and I do believe the main person I deal with there is honest, and doesn't deserve to be tarnished on the internet. I've read a lot of good things on here about Works though.

[woodsypedia]

It's worth remembering that a lot of the franchises still compete - so it's worth ringing around a few places to get quotes. I recall Bristol being very competitive - and many offer free collection / delivery so it's often worth going further afield.

Chris.

[NewbishDelight]

lukeharding said:

I've read a lot of good things on here about Works though.

I use works for pretty much everything, especially servicing or major repairs (the car's history was all Works when I bought it) and I have found them to be excellent.

AHM is my local indy, and they have been great when I have stopped by.

[sundayjumper]

I had mine serviced at AHM just last month, the first service in my ownership, and because the history was a bit out of step I agreed for them to do the full 10-yr major service, which was (IIRC) £900+VAT.

Apart from trying to sell me their uprated clutch in literally *every* conversation I had with them (!!) they were great to deal with and I'll happily go back in the future.

[bignoise]

There seems to be a wide spread of prices as I was quoted between £790 and £1300 for a 7th year service with Works being the cheapest

I did manage to improve the most expensive, and nearest quote when I pointed out the other prices to a point where it was viable

If you don't ask you don't get it seems

[RobDown]

bignoise said:

There seems to be a wide spread of prices as I was quoted between £790 and £1300 for a 7th year service with Works being the cheapest

I did manage to improve the most expensive, and nearest quote when I pointed out the other prices to a point where it was viable

If you don't ask you don't get it seems

Totally, but I find it annoying. Feels like some dealers taking advantage of the unwary. And then those customers will no doubt complain to would-be Aston Martin owners about how much it costs to maintain when the reality is little different to say a 911

[lukeharding]

RobDown said:

Totally, but I find it annoying. Feels like some dealers taking advantage of the unwary. And then those customers will no doubt complain to would-be Aston Martin owners about how much it costs to maintain when the reality is little different to say a 911

Its not a cheap car and I don't expect it to be. I'll certainly take a look through the service book when I get it back and see exactly what it had last year, and then have a conversation with the dealer about that price to see if anything can be done. Maybe because I'm a bit younger than average the service manager thought he could have me on but I could be mistaken. As much as I do like some of the staff at that dealership I would be a bit silly to pay over the odds for the same service.