I am a bit baffled by the current pricing situation. I wanted new pads and discs fitted to my current Mondeo and telephoned a number of local dealers in order to get quotes. The service department at Ford dealer one quoted £175 the rapid fit facility at the same dealership stated they could do the job for £155.
I was very surprised at this mismatch so I telephoned dealer number two which is part of the same dealer group as dealer one and only located a few miles away. The service department quoted £231, yes £231!!! The rapid fit department quoted £165.
I then selected a dealer not connected with the other two and got very different prices yet again. Rapid fit £140 and service dept £170. In the end I went for the cheapest price.
It seems mind-boggling that two dealers part of the same group located only a few miles from each other would have different prices. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive quotes seems a staggering amount. I am curious as to if anyone else has experienced this?
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Carl, I found this too when getting dealer quotes for a 3 year service. They ranged from £170 up to £250, and some were part of the same group. In one instance, you phone one number and the operator puts you through to one of 2 garages, I spoke to both garages and they were different by £30!!
Have you looked on the online booking facility? I used it to book my service safe in the knowledge that they couldn't charge me extra for anything, as I had the piece of paper to prove the agreed price.
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Been posted many times before. Sometimes it comes down to the way they price the job, or simply charge more - because they can. Audi, VW, BMW are all the same. If you ring round, you can find a cheaper better price...although I manage to haggle down those prices even more - if you don't ask you don't get!
Be creative and think further afield - you might be pleasantly surprised how much the difference is - but as for brake discs and apds this is something you can do yourself EASILY...give it a try and you'll save so much money.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Chris, I was under the impression that the online service booking was withdrawn from the Ford website. Not checked for a while it may have been reinstated? I could understand the situation if the prices were slightly different but major differences is unfair to the unsuspecting and unaware customer; this is another sign why the entire dealer industry has a bad public reputation and perception.
As for the subject of changing pads and discs personally it depends if you want to maintain the history as all cars have to be sold someday. It also depends what price and costings you put on your own time. Many Ford dealers do have a 10% margin for haggling especially with parts and service items. However as many people use main dealers it gives food for thought just many individuals are being ripped off by inconsistent and uneducated quotations.
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Carl, you're right - I booked my service online in February, just assumed it was still there...
I'd never replace my own brakes... I'm bad enough putting together a table from Ikea!! Imagine having some bits left over!!
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Agree with these comments, my Ford dealer prices change considerably even under the same franchise label. I have also noticed this with Fiat maybe they all operate in this way? It does hinder the reputation of main dealers. It is the main dealer that should be setting an example.
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No Carl, not all cars have to be sold. I've never sold a car and I don't intend to start now.
Cars don't make very good investments, which is why I buy them to use them rather than to worry about their future value.
I'd hazard a guess that the type of person who worries about what their car is worth is the same type of person who's obsessed with house prices, and the paper 'profit' they've made.
Not a personal attack mate, just trying to challenge some common attitudes.
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Not really a very constructive comment by GrahamF1. This issue is about dealers ripping off customers. Main dealers are ambassadors for the manufacturer and quotations should be more consistent.
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The differences may be due to the fact that different departments have their own individual budgets and profit targets. Service departments will no doubt have higher overheads than Rapid Fit departments. Service departments may, for example, pay their technicians higher salaries than Rapid Fit. After all, service department technicians will have to be more skilled and more versatile.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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When I last used Rapid Fit - a few years ago now - they used to purchase their consumables from the service department with a reduction of about 30% over retail price to the customer. Rapid Fit then passed on part of this saving to the customer so could be more copmpetetive in price.
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Regarding different dealerships in the same group charging different prices, no doubt the overheads at one site will be different from those at the other. Gone are the days when one site/department is allowed to subsidise another. This is one the reasons that multi-site manufacturing companies move departments from one location to another ~ and this has affected me on more than one occasion in my working life.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Don't know why this is an issue.
We all know that Asda and Tesco are cheaper for jeans than many high street shops.
In a similar fashion (!), if you get your car serviced in a dealer situated in the city centre where rates/premises and staff cost more , you would expect to pay more than out of town.
Imo it's just a fact of commercial life you should expect and plan your shopping accordingly. Human nature being what it is, those who don't plan and don't ask around will pay the highest rates . And deservedly so.
Life is about choice:-)
madf
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It is an issue because in my experience one brand will generally have prices regulated upon a particular region of the country. To consider the supermarket example an Asda store will have the same prices as its neighbouring store under the same chain that is a few miles away.
Its seems to be that main dealers sometimes quote different prices depending upon the person that takes the call and what mood they are feeling in! In my experience of main dealers especially Ford is that the prices are so volatile that one wonders if they use a random number generator to work out the total cost of the bill.
It all would appear to be related to ignorance and greed. One aspect that I feel strongly is the price difference between the service dept and rapid fit. The same job at either should have the same price. The organisation inner workings of the dealership are of no concern to the end customer and prices should be consistent.
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One aspect that I feel strongly is the price difference between the service dept and rapid fit.
All companies have different prices at different locations, for all sorts of reasons. The service department is at a different location to the Rapid Fit department ~ on the same site perhaps but at a different location with different facilities, different staff, different management, different everything except perhaps for the parts used. The solution is not to dwell too much on the reasons for the different prices but to merely go to whichever department appeals most to you.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Chris, I was under the impression that the online service booking was withdrawn from the Ford website.
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When the online booking facility was available I got a quote from my local dealer and then trawled around the site for other quotes, 1 to try to save money and 2 out of interest.
My local dealer appears to be the most expensive I could find.
I, having the time travel, choose a 50 mile drive to Chichester for what I consider excellent service. This saved £75 on a Focus service less the cost of fuel and lunch.
The servicing cost that I sampled were very similar all over the country. The cost at other branches of my local dealer were cheaper.
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