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Unless you've got an extended Honda warranty i'd be more inclined to use a well recommended indy for servicing.
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I'd find out exactly what's involved in the service before criticising the price, and I'd also be wondering why is there a fairly chunky difference in the 2 quotes. Does one use fully synth oil and the other mineral multigrade, for example? Maybe one is replacing the pollen filter and the other isn't. Once you understand the scope of the work it's quite normal practice to play dealers off against each other to get the lowest price.
We have a previous model Jazz and the dealer will do, with a bit of pushing, the oil service for £160. More major servicing is every 25K miles (changed to 62.5K miles on the new Jazz), regardless of age, and that involves spark plug change and valve clearance adjustment. That service costs around £350 so your price falls a bit in-between, hence wondering what's involved. I'm always amazed that people will buy cars without checking the service price first. It's worth bearing in mind that our Jazz is approaching 6 years old and (touching big piece of wood) has had nothing but routine servicing and tyres. Not even a bulb has blown.
One thing to note is that my dealer will renew the HondaCare pan-European breakdown cover with every service. We were paying £70 for UK cover for the car so that's a worthwhile benefit if all Honda dealers will do the same thing and certainly takes a lot of the edge off the service price.
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so if i understand it right
car has oil and filter
plugs if needed
a pollen filter
and an insurance policy underwritten in case it breaks down
or it could go to an independant garage thats recommended seing as its 4 years lod,the independant would give it a full inspection on the ramp grease up petty stuff like brake pipes and give you a much smaller bill and you have to source your own breakdown cover
how long have i got to decide which is the best option?
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It's a no-brainer *IF* you've got a trusty indie on hand. That's a big if though - there's 2 in our village who seem capable but it's harder to get a straight answer on anything out of them than it is a main dealer.
I use them for MOT's but in all honesty I'm only doing that as I know they'll test the cars with less rigour than a dealer would.
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"I'd find out exactly what's involved in the service before criticising the price, and I'd also be wondering why is there a fairly chunky difference in the 2 quotes."
For the Civic, the only extras the two-yearly service will get me on this occasion are handbrake adjustment, aux drive belt adjustment and pollen filter renewal. The spark plugs and valve clearance are done on mileage only on the Civic (every 25k), so these won't be included this time as it's only done 35k miles.
I did a quick search on one of the Civic forums and it would appear that dealer servicing costs can vary considerably more than the two prices I was quoted - this is presumably due to location as much as anything else.
Thankfully, we've just been recommended a local independent Honda specialist, who'll do the service with Honda parts for £155.
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It's a bloomin' Honda -- it'll run the full 15 years without a service most likely, so 450 is crazy. They are conventional cars that are as tough as old boots.
155 sounds much more sensible. But I've always thought that two cheaper services are better than one expensive one provided you can trust the mechanic.
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Ask the Honda dealer(s) about Level 2 and Level 3 services: I use this system now the Civic is well out of warranty. Can save quite a bit. For instance, plug changes required at x miles: mine is 6 years old, but the plugs had only been in for 44,000. likewise valve clearances. I'll change/adjust them when needed by mileage. I avoid unnecessary expenses, but follow the Honda service requirements. Sometimes all that is needed is an annual oil and filter change.
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