Picked up on this up via another thread - but with labour charges as they are in the UK, how about popping over the Channel for a dealer service? My local Peugeot main dealers (I live over here) charge 31? an hour for labour (that's a little over £20). A good independent around 25?/hour.
Hop on a cheap day return, leave the car at the garage, have a good French lunch and then stock up with goodies. Makes it a pleasure having a service!
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A know a good few smart owners who live in the south east who do exactly that to avoid having to deal with MB dealers in this Country. They travel to Holland, Belgium or France and receive a far higher standard of service for much less money.
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Thats ok until you need to go back and query something, or its not running right after its service!
Coulb e agood excuse to SWMBO though
"car is pulling slightly to left since the service darling, must go back to France to get it checked out! Whilst there, I will fill the boot with plonk"
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I'm still trying to work out how all those Europeans who 'pay themselves too much', take more holidays and enjoy lavish public services funded by 'high social costs' can afford to charge lower labour rates. Someone, somewhere, is being a economical with the truth.
The labour rates at my local MB dealer are about double the German rates, and yet the technicians here earn less. And no, I don't think its all down to UK property prices......
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Busiess rates here are a fraction of those in the UK - and average salaries about half.
The point about better service is well made too. I've just bought a car here at my local independent - dropped by whilst I was waiting for pre-delivery inspection to be done and found it in the workshop, bonnet up, bits of engine here and there. Problem? No - just thought they would change the timing belt for me as it was due soon! For free, mind you.
I could get used to this.
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The previous owner of my Citroen ZX was a Frenchman living in Yorkshire. From all the service stamps and receipts for parts, it was evident that all the servicing and major work was done in France. It turns out that this was his 'local' dealership before he moved to Blighty.
Converting the costs nearly made me cry.
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Really doesn't make any sense, does it? Both my local Peugeot dealers are always have very busy workshops - I've had a lot of probs with my 406 and on several occasions neither could even look at it for a week.
I know someone quite senior at one on them and he's said they're barely breaking even. They make next to nothing from car sales and the workshop just about covers the whole sites costs.
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Really doesn't make any sense, does it? Both my local Peugeot dealers are always have very busy workshops - I've had a lot of probs with my 406 and on several occasions neither could even look at it for a week. I know someone quite senior at one on them and he's said they're barely breaking even. They make next to nothing from car sales and the workshop just about covers the whole sites costs.
Well I'm out of the trade now, so don't know how people are doing. A couple of friends who are still trading seem to be doing OK.
I think I've related before how a friend of my father's was lucky enough to be awarded the local SAAB franchise in the mid-1980's. Within a couple of years he was worth £1m+ and living in a *very* large house. He ran off a small site too (only about the same size as ours - small showroom a 3 bays). It certainly seemed to be a license to print money. Things may have changed since, of course.
I do wonder, though, what is going on when I can obtain a spare part from Australia and (inc. airmail) it is 1/4 the price of an item from the local frnachised dealer!!
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36 Euros an hour from the big VW/Skoda dealer - but he IS in Marbella! I think the little Skoda dealer in Algeciras is about 26 to 27 euros.
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Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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