|
I actually deliberately leave my screenwash not topped up before my Mazda3 is serviced at my local dealership as they charge a set price for each level of servicing, including all replacement/top-ups of fluids.
Needless to say, when I'm working in London and not using the car that much, I don't use much much screenwash, so they only top it up by probably 1/4 - 1/3 of a bottle. They are good though by leaving me the rest of the bottle in the centre cup holder, which is fair, given I have already paid for it!
|
|
A previous Merc estate we owned came with the mother of all service histories, 10 years old and every bill right back to the original invoice, wish i'd itemised everything it was shocking.
Basic E320 estate in 1995 £31,000, extras came to exactly £19,000.
Not a single service came to less than £500, and many into four figures, yet despite this constant large source of income from the one owner they never once failed to charge the pennies for washers, washer fluid etc, bill for £800, not a chance, we've got an extra £2.65 to add to that for odds and ends.
Some of the repair bills alone over the years had been over £2000 when the aircon for instance went on its bi-annual holiday or the self levelling didn't, still found little items like washer or other sundries for pennies to make it up to an eye watering figure.
Those glass palaces don't come cheap, i wouldnt mind but the car wasn't exactly in pristine condition when i bought it stupidly cheap, took the rear pads out and they literally crumbled in my hand, it was only a lump of rust on the backing plate holding the friction material in place in situ, oh and the aircon had died again, it stayed dead.
|
|
...aye – the "Business Manager" is seemingly far more important than the Salesman these day's, especially in the GP's. The spiel I've had to sit through in the past 18-months to get the deal...
...just say 'No' – politely, but very, very firmly!...
...and yes, like the rest of you – I fill the screenwash to the brim, take some pics of the bodywork & alloys and record the precise mileage.
OTT perhaps, but only takes 5-mins...
|
|
|
|
I actually deliberately leave my screenwash not topped up before my Mazda3 is serviced at my local dealership as they charge a set price for each level of servicing, including all replacement/top-ups of fluids.
Needless to say, when I'm working in London and not using the car that much, I don't use much much screenwash, so they only top it up by probably 1/4 - 1/3 of a bottle. They are good though by leaving me the rest of the bottle in the centre cup holder, which is fair, given I have already paid for it!
They always tried this old trick with me, every time. They could not possibly have gotten a teaspoonful of screen wash into the reservoir, yet there was always a 1 litre bottle in the footwell with a third left in it. I used to hand it back and have the screenwash item removed from the bill. It came to be a liitle adventure every service. What fun we had!!!!
Cheers Concrete
|
|
I suppose the difference being is that my dealership did actually top up (I always check first as well), so the amount left over was correct - but as was said, the cost of the service includes for such things anyway, so I might as well get my money's worth.
I would say, like the MB-related stories, if Mazda went over to purely itemised bills for servicing, the cost would miraculously rise as a result. My Dad always seemed to have similar problems when servicing his Fords at his local dealer - amazingly he always told me that the 'basic' service costs were cheaper than (at the time) my old Nissan Micra's (his being a reasonably comparable Fiesta), the difference always came when his car always needed 'extra work' or some 'replacement fluids' that weren't part of the 'fixed price' of the service. I cannot count the number of times he had a tyre replaced, despite only covering 3-5k miles pa. On the other hand, I was doing (at the time) twice the mileage and living at the same house (i.e. driving along very similar roads), and yet my car's tyres lasted 50k miles.
Personally buying a cheaper-brand car and having to put up with such things isn't that bad, but surely when buying a premium brand, you expect very little to go wrong, and for relatively generic items such as consumables to still be reasonable price at the service - its almost as if the dealerships think their customers are 'marks' to rip off, given they've already been before when sold the 'bill of goods' buying into the supposed reliability and longevity of the 'premium brand'.
Its tales like these that keep me buying Japanese...
|
Its tales like these that keep me buying Japanese...
Yes, looking back over the years my most reliable cars by miles have all been Japanese.
Going back further into my kerbside cowboy days Japanese cars only ever needed some decent servicing, it took a serious fault to make them run rough and they'd need to be absolutely shot to pieces to be a non starter, but they were made to be maintained properly too and still are, where european makes get increasingly more difficult to do anything with other than basic servicing.
I've never quite understood the huge rise of German car sales in this country over the last 30 years, OK some Japanese designs are not great lookers (and why Toyota/Lexus are trying to make their cars ever more ugly i do not get) but with notable exceptions such as Mazda's Diesel saga generally the genuine customer service is in another league altogether.
|
|
I think the reason for German makes being popular is of their perceived quality, linked with 'precision German engineering' that has been the marketing tool for years, then VW and Audi moved in on the 'style' and 'chic' stakes making their cars hip and trendy to own. Its a bit like why a shop can charge £5 for one plain white T-shirt, and £20 for one with a black tick on the front (extra cost 10p).
People have 'bought into' the hype, a bit like films at the cinema, where the reality is nowhere as good as the ad, and yet everyone praises the film because they don't want to be seen to be criticising 'excellence' and stand out from the crowd.
The same goes for many motoring correspondants who a) get lots of freebies (free cars for months to 'try out') and b) business (they are there to report on cars after all) from the manufacturers, who would look less favourably on them if they said these cars/dealership networks are rubbish. Sadly a 'sign of the times' (I'm finding out the hard way that honesty and integrity in Construction [not that there was much ever about] puts you at a significant disadvantage over sycophants, politicos, cheaters and liars) of the way things are going generally, including in the car industry: style over substance, never-mind the quality-fell-the-width, short-term sales over long-term customer relationships, etc, etc.
|
|
One factor in the success of 'hype' is the general level of gullibility and lack of knowledge of the population.
Education has been dumbed down over the last few decades; watch 'The Chase' any day and observe the performance of graduates (and teachers!) when asked questions on science, geography, history and other subjects which previous generations learned at school. (My Dad was a teacher for over 40 years, as was my Aunt and my ex-wife, so not just my opinion)
Employers (and some universities) are resorting to their own tests to weed out unsuitable applicants because so many turn up with lists of 'passes' which don't really tell the true potential.
Then again, it seems a majority are falling for Cameron's fairy tale of how much change he negotiated and the propaganda he persuaded Obama to chip in with, both of them purely looking after their own interests, not ours.
|
|
My indie does charge for screenwash, and for the sump washer.
But I don't care - I'm not going to complain.
He is extremely pedantic - and checks everthing very carefully, repairing minor faults before they cause a breakdown (such as a piece of corroded wiring). He always saves any unusual items to show me.
I'm not looking for the cheapest service, I'm looking for the most competent; so probably not anywhere with a glass palace attached.
|
|
I only have servicing done on a fixed price basis, during or after warranty, with any additional work requiring specific authorisation.
It worked strangely with my Hyundai dealer when I had the Santa Fe - I'd ring round the three local (ish) Hyundai dealers and get surprising variations but all on the high side - so call the After-sales Manager at the dealership where I bought the car as he had to get involved early on to resolve some warranty issues - after he's had a bit of time he calls back with an attractively low fixed price and offers to collect/deliver the car himself - when they phone me to pay by card before he delivers it, the figure's always less than we agreed - and yes the invoice does show sump washer at a few pence and consumables, whatever that comprises.
|
|
|
My indie does charge for screenwash, and for the sump washer.
But I don't care - I'm not going to complain.
He is extremely pedantic - and checks everthing very carefully, repairing minor faults before they cause a breakdown (such as a piece of corroded wiring). He always saves any unusual items to show me.
I'm not looking for the cheapest service, I'm looking for the most competent; so probably not anywhere with a glass palace attached.
Agreed SteVee, the cheapest isn't always the best nor the worst. A good indie will do what yours does and you respect that. Eng Andy is right about the 'premium' brands. They use the same oil and other consumables as other makes. The tools etc and the technicians are all about the same, so where do they get there pricing structure? It's all about brand snobbery. But I calculated that with approx 15-20 cars a day at 5 days per week and £6 a go for 'screenwash'. Over £400 per week or nearly £20k per annum for a bit of water with alcohol added. Not bad eh? Nice earner!! Cheers Concrete
|
|
|
|
|
|
