Very expensive service

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 19:01
Very expensive service - joegina
I have just had a very expensive service. I don't want to prejudice any replies by giving details of the vehicle, but I would like your views on a few items on the bill. All prices are EX VAT (INC VAT): Service £142.50 (£167.44). Oil GTX Magnatec 5W-40, 7 litres @ 8.65= £60.55 (£71.15). Emission control??? £21.90 (£25.73). Comments?
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 19:09
Very expensive service - Happy Blue!
We cannopt judge the value of the service unless you tell us: -

Was it a major or minor service?
Was it a main dealer and where in the country are you?
7 litres of oil is a huge amount for any car. Either the car has an enormous engine or you have been ripped off - what size is the engine?
Emission control depends on diagnostic tests carried out by the dealer but could be a way of getting money out of the unknowing.
Does the service cost include anything else other than labour? Are there any other costs you suffered over the service, oil and emissions?
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 19:43
Very expensive service - Armitage Shanks {p}
The cost of the actual service doesn't sound very high. The oil comes in bulk and is sold to you at the "Per Litre" price as per your local garage and the emissions thing represents about 20 minutes labour and no parts. Overall seems OK to me
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 19:44
Very expensive service - yorkiebar
7 litres of oil sounds excessive to me !

If they charged that wrong its highly likely the rest of the bill could be wrong too !

Need to know what vehicle it is though for proper comparison !
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 20:17
Very expensive service - adverse camber
If thats the nissan micra you asked about previously then I would be very worried about the 7l oil.
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 20:29
Very expensive service - joegina
Certainly not the Nissan MIcra!! It was a 1 year old Freelander having it's 1 year/12k service through a main dealer.
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 20:39
Very expensive service - Aprilia
£167 for what is basically an oil and filter change is well OTT - especially using a cheap oil like Magnatec (£13 for 5 litres in you local Makro, much cheaper to the trade). No idea what emissions control is - did they bung a can of Forte injector cleaner in the tank? Some Landrover dealers do this an add it to the bill. Anything else (e.g. tuning off check engine lamp) should be under warranty on a 1 y.o. car.
See my other post on main dealer servicing. We have got into a strange situation in the motor trade in the UK where people are starting to think that paying £80 labour for an oil and filter change my 15 year old son could do in 15 mins is a fair deal.
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 20:41
Very expensive service - yorkiebar
Was the filter changed? No note of it in op !
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 20:58
Very expensive service - Xileno {P}
If my sums are right, then this service has cost the owner just over 2 pence a mile.
I suggest he/she doesn't calculate what the depreciation per mile has been. If they do, then they might consider the service actually quite cheap...
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 22:38
Very expensive service - Bill Payer
It's an absurd amount in absolute terms, but it's probably very typical of the cost to service that (or any similar) car.

Standard A Service (little more than an oil change) on a Merc at an MB dealer is £250 (£100 of that is for fully synth oil).
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 23:21
Very expensive service - Mr.Tee.43

I had the oil and filter changed on my Toyota HiAce van using the cheaper semi synthetic and the total cost was just over £20 at Kwikfit last year.

The filter cost to them was £15,I know, because I saw the invoice on their desk when it was delivered,so the oil and labour was about £5.

In effect,they did it for nothing..

Fantastic Value
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Sat 9 Dec 2006 23:43
Very expensive service - Aprilia
If my sums are right, then this service has cost the
owner just over 2 pence a mile.
I suggest he/she doesn't calculate what the depreciation per mile has
been. If they do, then they might consider the service actually
quite cheap...


Depreciation is irrelevant. Let's divide the service cost by the number of metres the car has travelled, or the number of hours he's owned it - then it will look really cheap!
The point is that the car servicing business model is all wrong. Basic servicing is just too expensive and private customers are overpaying because they are subsidising the rest of the dealership's activities. Ask your dealer how much one of their big fleet customers are paying - it won't be £80/hour and they'll expect some discount on parts. Are you happy to subsidise the fleets?
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