Why don t cars have proper service schedules any more?
Discussion
I am (maybe foolishly) sticking to dealer servicing + warranty for a five year old car, for peace of mind as much as anything else.
However I am constantly frustrated by ‘extras’ every time I book a service. This time it’s ’oh it’s only an ‘inspection and oil’ because you had an ‘extended’ last time’. However ‘also due will be your annual fuel and air cleanse at £44.99, air con service £74.50 and brake fluid change £102.25’. The air con service is ‘currently on offer’ - what???
So…do I need these things? If they are ‘also due’ why are they not part of a service schedule that goes from 0-100k miles or 10 years - as once would have been the case.
Even more important - if I don’t have them done is it pointless me paying for the warranty? Why the opacity?
Every so often something really bloody daft comes up - like would you like the tea boy to replace your wiper blades for £70 more than you could it do it for in ten minutes? Or how about some tyres for three times the price that Halfords are selling them? I can quietly decline this sort of thing, but it makes me even more suspicious of the others.
However I am constantly frustrated by ‘extras’ every time I book a service. This time it’s ’oh it’s only an ‘inspection and oil’ because you had an ‘extended’ last time’. However ‘also due will be your annual fuel and air cleanse at £44.99, air con service £74.50 and brake fluid change £102.25’. The air con service is ‘currently on offer’ - what???
So…do I need these things? If they are ‘also due’ why are they not part of a service schedule that goes from 0-100k miles or 10 years - as once would have been the case.
Even more important - if I don’t have them done is it pointless me paying for the warranty? Why the opacity?
Every so often something really bloody daft comes up - like would you like the tea boy to replace your wiper blades for £70 more than you could it do it for in ten minutes? Or how about some tyres for three times the price that Halfords are selling them? I can quietly decline this sort of thing, but it makes me even more suspicious of the others.
Condition based servicing, variable services etc are all the work of the sales teams in each market. It’s all down to reducing the monthly’s on a lease deal or pcp
People like service inclusive but it can be expensive to add it if you go by the old school method of 9k services and oil, filters plugs etc it’d be a £400 service on even the most mundane vehicle and easily double that on a premium product.
So you get this miss match of extended service intervals and condition based servicing so that you have to come in 3 times in 4 months to replace various items that could’ve been done all at once, just so that the monthlies are cheap.
As for warranty, basically they’d have to prove that not changing your cabin filter caused your timing chain to stretch. Bit difficult I’d suggest.
People like service inclusive but it can be expensive to add it if you go by the old school method of 9k services and oil, filters plugs etc it’d be a £400 service on even the most mundane vehicle and easily double that on a premium product.
So you get this miss match of extended service intervals and condition based servicing so that you have to come in 3 times in 4 months to replace various items that could’ve been done all at once, just so that the monthlies are cheap.
As for warranty, basically they’d have to prove that not changing your cabin filter caused your timing chain to stretch. Bit difficult I’d suggest.
Foss62 said:
….air con service £74.50 and brake fluid change £102.25 . The air con service is currently on offer - what???
Wife’s ŠKODA dealer offered an a/c service for £110 that didn’t include regassing, it was an antibacterial treatment.
Brake fluid was £120 - the Audi dealer across the road charges £56, although I found the price at the Audi dealer varied a lot depending on the reg number used.
An indie I use laughed when I asked about changing the brake fluid. He tests it and it hardly ever needs changing. It’s reckoned dealers often don’t do it anyway.
Whats funny is they want you to do brake fluid but gearboxes are sealed for life... er oh-kay.
I get it brake fluid can get contaminated - but it takes many years. Or doing lots of miles / track days.
Air filters are apparently now good for 60k miles, despite them being a 5 min job to change on most cars.
They dont even look at them.... how do they know the condition!
I get it brake fluid can get contaminated - but it takes many years. Or doing lots of miles / track days.
Air filters are apparently now good for 60k miles, despite them being a 5 min job to change on most cars.
They dont even look at them.... how do they know the condition!
My local indie told me to regas the aircon when it’s no longer cold. They offer the anti bac thing, but also advised I could do it myself for half the price by buying an ac bomb and setting it off in my car. Apparently its a simple procedure.
The brake fluid change, they never argued about.
The brake fluid change, they never argued about.
I also found this odd servicing thing a few weeks ago. Last summer I bought a 3 year old Renault from a main dealer. According to the Renault app, it needed a major service in April and the spark plugs charing in May.
Why on earth would you take a car to be serviced one month and then take it back again a month later to have new plugs fitted? And more so, why does a 4 year old car that's done 15k miles even need new plugs?
The dealer also offered their service option, which was called a "major value service". The Renault option was £270 for the service, plus £220 for the plugs (3 plugs and how long do change?)
The main dealer option (no plugs mentioned) was £300. And of course, both the main dealer and the Renault services happen at the same garage. For some reason, I opted for the £300 option. And then when I collected it, I found that included spark plugs.
So it was either £490 or £300, for the same thing, at the same place, carried out with the same staff.
Why on earth would you take a car to be serviced one month and then take it back again a month later to have new plugs fitted? And more so, why does a 4 year old car that's done 15k miles even need new plugs?
The dealer also offered their service option, which was called a "major value service". The Renault option was £270 for the service, plus £220 for the plugs (3 plugs and how long do change?)
The main dealer option (no plugs mentioned) was £300. And of course, both the main dealer and the Renault services happen at the same garage. For some reason, I opted for the £300 option. And then when I collected it, I found that included spark plugs.
So it was either £490 or £300, for the same thing, at the same place, carried out with the same staff.
Sheepshanks said:
Wife s ŠKODA dealer offered an a/c service for £110 that didn t include regassing, it was an antibacterial treatment.
Brake fluid was £120 - the Audi dealer across the road charges £56, although I found the price at the Audi dealer varied a lot depending on the reg number used.
An indie I use laughed when I asked about changing the brake fluid. He tests it and it hardly ever needs changing. It s reckoned dealers often don t do it anyway.
Bad business practice by the dealers especially when they’re trying to charge that sort of wedge.
After the initial 3 years I think you may as well go independent unless you drive something exotic or delicate ( or both). Keep your own records ( or a book pack may still be in the glove box) and service annually as necessary if annual mileage around 10k. You have then created your own schedule in effect. Moving on from main dealer effects value less and less over time : garage is far more interested in selling you another vehicle.
Buster73 said:
Sheepshanks said:
Wife s ŠKODA dealer offered an a/c service for £110 that didn t include regassing, it was an antibacterial treatment.
Brake fluid was £120 - the Audi dealer across the road charges £56, although I found the price at the Audi dealer varied a lot depending on the reg number used.
An indie I use laughed when I asked about changing the brake fluid. He tests it and it hardly ever needs changing. It s reckoned dealers often don t do it anyway.
Bad business practice by the dealers especially when they re trying to charge that sort of wedge.
700 quid and 2 days to change a rear drop link on a Ford Focus ?
Offering 250 scrap money for a split coolant pipe on the same car?
Never book an MOT and service at a main agent at the same time, you wouldn't belive how often we buy Mot failures from a main agent that have a new stamp in the book and new brakes all round.
They are shameless and will present you with a large invoice for the service along with your failure paperwork.
Customer service has been replaced with greed in general.
I will add that I have presented a good few of these cars, untouched, to my regular MOT place, for pre MOT to find out what actually needs doing, and it has passed with zero advisories there and then.
Edited by Doesitdrive on Monday 4th May 09:50
Buster73 said:
Single mother neighbour was telling me yesterday she d been quoted £175 for a brake fluid change at Audi on a 2 year old car , her lease runs out in just under a year , told her not to bother , but she s been convinced by Audi that it s a safety issue.
Bad business practice by the dealers especially when they re trying to charge that sort of wedge.
Look at the service booking page on the Audi website. It lists the price in the Audi dealers in the area and the cost varied a lot. What was odder was it varied massively by reg number for the same model of car.Bad business practice by the dealers especially when they re trying to charge that sort of wedge.
VW Group dealer serving seems to have gone mental - I reckon they're trying to recover revenue from people who have service plans, which, funnily enough, don't include all these "additional items" which dealers will pressure people to have. If they were vital, they'd be in the service plan.
MikeM6 said:
Just make sure the oil is changed between 5k miles (for performance cars) and 10k miles (for regular cars) or annually, and that brake fluid is changed every 2 years. This is on the presumption that you want the car to last for a long time.
Yup. And keep all the paperwork for later selling. A lot of the modern servicing is about trapping the car in the system for revenue. Once there is no warranty you can move away from the network and just keep on top of stuff yourself.
But from a buyer's peace of mind all of this stuff is no bad thing as almost no one would maintain their cars if the computer didn't tell them to and plenty of people deliberately 'consume' cars rather than act as any kind of custodian of the object which is a huge shame considering it won't be long before they stop being replaced and many will lament the fact.
Given where we are heading, people who wish to keep using ICE really need to be changing their habits asap and returning to looking after cars.
Buster73 said:
quoted £175 for a brake fluid change at Audi on a 2 year old car
I can understand the price tbh, its just that its not needed at 2 years. They probably make £100 out of it. They have 1000s of cars a year going through the workshops. If 50% of them ok a brake fluid change then its 100s of thousands in profit. Safe and secure...
It also gets the cars into the system and recommending more work. My last Jaguar went in for its first service at 3000 miles and on the walk round video they said they would recommend brake pads on the next service.... U wat mate....
gotoPzero said:
Buster73 said:
quoted £175 for a brake fluid change at Audi on a 2 year old car
I can understand the price tbh, its just that its not needed at 2 years. They probably make £100 out of it.
Doesitdrive said:
Sadly exploiting female customers is the norm, by indies too.
700 quid and 2 days to change a rear drop link on a Ford Focus ?
Offering 250 scrap money for a split coolant pipe on the same car?
Never book an MOT and service at a main agent at the same time, you wouldn't belive how often we buy Mot failures from a main agent that have a new stamp in the book and new brakes all round.
They are shameless and will present you with a large invoice for the service along with your failure paperwork.
Customer service has been replaced with greed in general.
I will add that I have presented a good few of these cars, untouched, to my regular MOT place, for pre MOT to find out what actually needs doing, and it has passed with zero advisories there and then.
To be honest, I do just that. Firstly for the faff factor but more importantly that I run the car with an extended manufacturer warranty that comes with MOT insurance which the dealer always forgets about.700 quid and 2 days to change a rear drop link on a Ford Focus ?
Offering 250 scrap money for a split coolant pipe on the same car?
Never book an MOT and service at a main agent at the same time, you wouldn't belive how often we buy Mot failures from a main agent that have a new stamp in the book and new brakes all round.
They are shameless and will present you with a large invoice for the service along with your failure paperwork.
Customer service has been replaced with greed in general.
I will add that I have presented a good few of these cars, untouched, to my regular MOT place, for pre MOT to find out what actually needs doing, and it has passed with zero advisories there and then.
Edited by Doesitdrive on Monday 4th May 09:50
Handy last year when it failed on a split CV boot and wanted £500 to change it
No problem, here’s the warranty card. Get the “we’ll have to check with the office” malarkey but it doesn’t specify in the booklet what’s not covered only they’ll pay up to £750 for whatever it fails on so get it changed and stop messing about.Other than that I’ve done minor one year and major the following year with a brake fluid change every third year. Seen reliable motoring following that (touch wood)
Foss62 said:
I am (maybe foolishly) sticking to dealer servicing + warranty for a five year old car, for peace of mind as much as anything else.
However I am constantly frustrated by extras every time I book a service. This time it s oh it s only an inspection and oil because you had an extended last time . However also due will be your annual fuel and air cleanse at £44.99, air con service £74.50 and brake fluid change £102.25 . The air con service is currently on offer - what???
So do I need these things? If they are also due why are they not part of a service schedule that goes from 0-100k miles or 10 years - as once would have been the case.
Even more important - if I don t have them done is it pointless me paying for the warranty? Why the opacity?
Every so often something really bloody daft comes up - like would you like the tea boy to replace your wiper blades for £70 more than you could it do it for in ten minutes? Or how about some tyres for three times the price that Halfords are selling them? I can quietly decline this sort of thing, but it makes me even more suspicious of the others.
For peace of mind I'd be going way over and above dealer servicing. However I am constantly frustrated by extras every time I book a service. This time it s oh it s only an inspection and oil because you had an extended last time . However also due will be your annual fuel and air cleanse at £44.99, air con service £74.50 and brake fluid change £102.25 . The air con service is currently on offer - what???
So do I need these things? If they are also due why are they not part of a service schedule that goes from 0-100k miles or 10 years - as once would have been the case.
Even more important - if I don t have them done is it pointless me paying for the warranty? Why the opacity?
Every so often something really bloody daft comes up - like would you like the tea boy to replace your wiper blades for £70 more than you could it do it for in ten minutes? Or how about some tyres for three times the price that Halfords are selling them? I can quietly decline this sort of thing, but it makes me even more suspicious of the others.
And then not getting it done anywhere near an actual dealer.
MikeM6 said:
Just make sure the oil is changed between 5k miles (for performance cars) and 10k miles (for regular cars) or annually, and that brake fluid is changed every 2 years. This is on the presumption that you want the car to last for a long time.
Oil and a filter usually gives you change from £50, I go 5000 miles for everything. Edinburgh to Lagos seems like plenty of distance for 5 litres of oil.
Audi go the alternate Oil / Inspection titled service each year with the brake fluid change at 2 years.
Doesn’t stop the dealer asking at year 1 whether I want the brake fluid changed.
Porsche simplify it by only needing a service every 2 years.
As for tyres I would always ask the dealer to at least come very close to matching the black circles price.
Doesn’t stop the dealer asking at year 1 whether I want the brake fluid changed.
Porsche simplify it by only needing a service every 2 years.
As for tyres I would always ask the dealer to at least come very close to matching the black circles price.
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