Better half's CRV ready for 54k service.Rang round for pricing.
Car is a W reg ( March 2000) ES auto with a full Honda history.
They all started with - Ah - This is a big service Sir.
Garage 1 - £330.
Garage 2 - £313.
Garage 3 - £264.( Level 4 service - 4 yrs old discount)
Garage 4 - £325..
When I mentioned 4 yr discount to garage 4..He replied - Ah yes,
it will be 4 yrs old next week - ok - £249.95....Plus free MOT and mini-valet! .( All Honda dealers within 15 mile radius.)
The reason Garge 3 and 4 were lower was due to the car now being 4 years old - They said - We can give you a level 4 service.
Rang back garage 1 and 2, mentioned the car was 4 yrs old / level service - They did not know what I was talking about.
We dont offer that service sir.
I asked for the difference between a "proper" 54k service and a level 4 service and was told that they are the exact same.
Only difference is the car is 4 yrs old thus discounted service.
( Plus free MOT - Worth £39.95)
Does anyone else have a similar expereince ?
Is this Level servicing the same ???
Does anyone know of any independant Honda specialists in the
N. London / Middx area ?
Mikek.
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You did the right thing Mikek by ringing around - if more people did this the expensive garages may change their ways.
What puzzles me is that when it comes to car servicing everyone thinks all garages should charge the same. We live in a free market society and the garages are free to charge whatever they can get away with.
I read loads of threads from smart owners complaining about the variation in servicing prices (from £60 to well over £200 for the first service), same with the Audi where I've seen prices of £150 to over £300 for the same service, but if people continue to believe that all garages do charge the same the situation won't change.
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I've just found even greater variations between BMW dealers for the Inspection 2 (major) service on my 2001 BMW 520i:-
Most expensive = £405
Cheapest = £270
The most bizarre aspect of it is that the two garages that quoted the above prices are part of the same chain, less than 10 miles apart!!
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Just to let you all know it's just not the prestige marks that differ !!
2 Dealers 8 mile apart in mid Somerset
First one recent ex Ford franchise £265 ( cambelt and anti freeze change) plus £15 for a L Reg banger sorry courtesy car
Second garage Ford franchise £215 and 53 Reg Fiesta Zetec for 24 hours @ no charge
And there was i wondering why the first garage no longer had a franchise especially when i phoned them up to tell them that 1. They were £60 to expensive and 2.I am getting it done elsewhere i have the phone slammed down.
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I can add to this. The hourly rate for a four year old car at my local BMW dealer is 106 pounds. The normal rate is 116. Some discount.
Oh, and you have to add VAT on top.
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Honda servicing are frequent and expensive.
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Bit of a sweeping statement there, hull4000?
I don't think the services are particularly frequent - and expense seems to be a matter of luck and location.
My 1992 US-built Accord coupe ate its distributor bearing a couple of weeks ago while driving to stay with friends a long way from our home in France. The price for one hour's labour at the Honda dealer in Brive la Gaillarde (Correze 19) in Southern Limousin was 42 euros (about £29 at present exchange rate) and the people there could not have been more friendly and helpful. I think the price I paid at the main dealer in Poitiers not long ago was about 36 euros per hour for straight (not 'hi tech').
Of course, the price of the distributor is another story...
I've owned many Hondas over more than two decades and never had a breakdown before. The fitter seemed to identify the problem instantly so I asked him if failed distributors are common on that engine (the car has done nearly 90,000 miles).
I think he meant 'yes it is' when he said 'ce arrive' - which seems to be French for 's---t happens'
The Honda dealer also sold Lada Nivas (yes, you can still buy one in France!) so I suppose he would know...
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I'd agree with hul4000 - my car needs frequent servicing (every 9000 mile) + 4500 oil change, and the costs are high - £190 for a 36000 mile service (mostly labour costs).
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