Servicing?

[AussieV8]

Originally posted by colinbond
DON"T GO TO A DEALERSHIP THEY ARE ALL THE SAME,


BLOODY AWFUL

I disagree they aren't all bad.

I worked for a Mazda dealer for 5yrs and I ran the pre-delivery dept and I can say we had a good record. After moving house I change to a Holden dealer well what a nightmare. Coverups galore and if the car had transit damage the salesman would try to deliver the car in the rain or at night and as for the service dept... DON'T BOTHER.

My family and I have been going to Westend Mazda now for 15yrs and have bought all of our cars from them and we are extremely happy. All cars are washed after servicing and sometimes vacuumed. They will be getting our order for our new RX8 zoom zoom.

[medler]

I took my car into a main dealer for its MOT, which involved welding and new tyres, mainly because I needed a courtesy car while mine was off the road. It cost a little more, but it was not over the top and while it was there they cured the engine idle problem free of charge. As with many things in life there are good and bad, its just finding the people you can do business with whether it’s a small garage or a main dealer.

[Carrie]

Well, the car went in for its service on Friday and they seem to have solved a slight knock that had developed on the steering and I'm quite amazed that they didn't find anything wrong with the car that would involve additional cost.
The grumble is having to go back because I found they hadn't filled in the service book and the car was still indicating that it was due for a service - did find out that with Vauxhalls and Seats that's something you can actually cancel without the car going on the computer.

[graham bahr]

£146 isn't at all expensive for a main dealer service these days, i work at an independant bmw specialists that do a good job for dirt cheap money compaired to the main dealers,
servicing on a 318 starts at £80 plus vat for the smallest service and goes upto £200 plus for the largest.

[Amaroo Park]

Originally posted by AussieV8
I disagree they aren't all bad.

I worked for a Mazda dealer for 5yrs and I ran the pre-delivery dept and I can say we had a good record. After moving house I change to a Holden dealer well what a nightmare. Coverups galore and if the car had transit damage the salesman would try to deliver the car in the rain or at night and as for the service dept... DON'T BOTHER.

My family and I have been going to Westend Mazda now for 15yrs and have bought all of our cars from them and we are extremely happy. All cars are washed after servicing and sometimes vacuumed. They will be getting our order for our new RX8 zoom zoom.

I have worked in dealerships (as a Mechanic) for 12 years and now work in a job where I deal with dealerships all over Australia on a daily basis. Honestly you are better finding an independant or a friend who is mechanic that you trust to work on the cars for cause these dealers are there to make a high margin on retail clients cause they get little for warranty and even less still from Fleet Companies

[kmchow]

How many Ks or miles do you have on your Vauxhall? For reference, the labour rate in Canada is $96 (44 GBP before taxes). Yeah, the best idea is to check with your owners manual. Perhaps newer cars are better, but typically, the cost goes up as you go from the 24K,48K,96K servicing. Every 96K is the most expensive.

I'm not sure if British law is different from Canadian but here in NA, the manufacturer warranty can still apply if you go to an outside mechanic as long as you keep a detailed listing/report of all the work done on the car. However, I am under the impression most independents don't do keep a very detailed maintenance history of the cars they work on. Or owners don't bother to ask for a detailed report.

However, it's natural to expect warranty work is more easily approved if it's a dealer asking rather than an independent mechanic. Hope this helps.

[AussieV8]

Originally posted by colinbond
I have worked in dealerships (as a Mechanic) for 12 years and now work in a job where I deal with dealerships all over Australia on a daily basis. Honestly you are better finding an independant or a friend who is mechanic that you trust to work on the cars for cause these dealers are there to make a high margin on retail clients cause they get little for warranty and even less still from Fleet Companies

Colin I disagree that all dealerships are the same and having worked in the industry I also have seen what goes on behind closed doors.

With all the technology in cars today some small guys don't have the equipment to service new cars. I will be loyal and stick with the dealer thankyou.

[bella]

i'm about to have to put my car in for it's 72,000 mile service (at about 74,000 after i've checked the oil and the basic stuff cause i can't afford it till then). how much am i looking at paying if i take it to a vw dealership? i'm expecting about £150. the suspension also needs looking at - it bounces too much when i go over bumps, yet handles perfectly round a corner. if i wanted to change the suspension what would i be looking at for that?
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[kmchow]

I think dealership quality and honesty varies depending on the brand and even individual dealerships. To tar and feather an entire industry is not fair. There are bad people, restaraunts, professionals,etc... dealerships are no different!
I agree that some smaller independent shops may not be able to service the ever increasing eletronics of modern day cars. However, over time, perhaps, the manufacturer error/maintenance codes will be accessible to the smaller independent shops.

[JGM]

I think all the electronic stuff on modern cars deters most people from thinking about servicing their own cars. But can anybody tell me what a dealer actually does with this stuff. It strikes me that,like my TV, stereo, computer (etc,etc) it either works perfectly or doesn't work at all. And if it is working perfectly it will probably show no symptoms of a fault which may cause it to break down five minutes from now. So do they do anything at all to the electrics apart from putting a tick on the work sheet after merely confirming that it still works? I suspect that it's all a good reason for us to be ripped off even more. I further suspect that all they relly do is change the oil and check a few other mechanical systems. I could do all that myself.

[Mattracer]

Yes, you can do that yourself, and frankly I would if had the time and thorough knowledge. The advantage they have is that they can put the car up on a hoist and see things that the untrained eye would most likely miss. Advice on when something is "going" and "on the way out" is invaluable, particularly if the car is older and has high kms/miles.

Part of keeping a car for a long time is knowing how things are aging underneath the surface- a mechanic can alert these things aheadof time and possibly save inconvenience and unexpected costs later.