no more expensive car dealerships for me

[gavroche]

I used to have my cars regurlaly serviced by my local dealer. Not anymore!
The dealer now charges £70 an hour for repairs/servicing.
I am not prepared to subsidise his expensive showroom and "free coffee" anylonger.
I have now found a local garage, closer to me, with excellent service and much cheaper.
My logbooks will still be stamped and I will save money.

 

[tyred]

As someone who has always done my own servicing, I never cease to be amazed at what some main agents charge. I have also worked on cars with a so called full service history from main agents and was less than impressed with the the standard of workmanship.

 

[Globalti]

I have long suspected that some main dealers don't even change parts; if they think the owner won't notice they will not change the air filter or the oil filter or bake pads, especially if it's a time service rather than a mileage service. For repairs they're even worse, they will keep fitting parts at the customer's expense in the hope of fixing a fault but they will never diagnose; this is the difference between a fitter and a proper mechanic.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I don't run the sort of cars you can take to a main stealer - does anyone know of a Citroen dealer who'd even know what an Ami 6 is? - but I'd never pay their ridiculous prices. Anything I can't do myself (which is very little on the Ami) goes to a small independent garage around the corner. Dealers are fine for selling shiny new stuff, but I'd rather have a car serviced by a mechanic than a salesman.

 

[accountantpete]

I just use a local small garage - the head mechanic will often fix little bits with no charge or if something expensive needs doing will advise on the best/cheapest options.

In other words I get a great personal service.

No coffee but there is a little Jack Russell in his basket which is an absolute charm until you go to leave at which point it suddenly turns into a raging beast. The trick is to give it a few biscuits and then leg it quick whilst it is distracted.

 

[byegad]

I've been using a local garage for years. The cars come back serviced, not valeted with a pungent cleaner that upsets my Asthma, which is what my last, and I really mean last, dealership insisted on doing despite me pleading with them not to bother!
Better yet the service has been done properly.

 

[jonny jeez]

I have long suspected that some main dealers don't even change parts; if they think the owner won't notice they will not change the air filter or the oil filter or bake pads, especially if it's a time service rather than a mileage service. For repairs they're even worse, they will keep fitting parts at the customer's expense in the hope of fixing a fault but they will never diagnose; this is the difference between a fitter and a proper mechanic.

My Father uses a mechanic who produces a small booklet itemising the work done and illustrating it with digital photos, so you can see the part before and after the change, I thought this was a really good idea at gaining confidence from local customers, they were pretty good value by all account too.

 

[fossyant]

I've always used independants for major stuff (non warranty) - e.g new air con condensor, water pump replacement etc. Everything else I've done myself - e.g servicing, fault diagnostics, pad changes etc. etc.

My father, who is a trained mechanic, just uses one of the local garages now (retired and can't be bothered tinkering with cars anymore). We have friends who won't use that particular garage (note both friends have no mechanical knowledge) but seem to get reipped off by others - I'll go to the one my dad uses ta.

 

[Globalti]

*sniff*

I used to service my old Land Rover - there were three filters to change, seven different oils to change and..... that was it.

*sniff* Handkerchief. *paaaarp*

 

[Night Train]

Not all dealships are bad, some are worse then bad. My local Skoda dealer probably spent more time and money repairing their damage to my car then I spent in servicing with them. Showroom and parts staff were nice but they insisted on using untrained monkeys to vandalise cars in the workshop.

I now use Murt's in Hebden Bridge, recommended to me, and who have been spot on with their work and costs.
I am also a mechanic too but have lost interest in doing my own servicing since everything became electronic and fixings are no longer hexagon nuts and bolts that can be accessed with conventional spanners and sockets.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I am also a mechanic too but have lost interest in doing my own servicing since everything became electronic and fixings are no longer hexagon nuts and bolts that can be accessed with conventional spanners and sockets.

This annoys me. I am not short of good quality tools, but I resent having to buy ever more of them to deal with the increasing variety of fixings on more modern cars. It's not a problem for me with my collection of elderly shite but it makes servicing Ms RT's cars difficult. Even changing the oil will entail buying a special set of drain plug keys: on the Ami, it's just a standard 21mm socket.

 

[smokeysmoo]

They might publish that labour rate, but I'll bet you a quid they don't actually recover that much per hour.

Ours is £78 officially, but due to price matching, fixed price servicing, warranty work and such we don't get near to it, £50 an hour is probably more realistic which is about the average rate for 'Fred in a shed's' in my area anyway.

I'm not going to defend main agent labour rates, despite their being very good reasons for them charging more than the bloke down the road with two ramps and three mechanics, but I'd ask you to maybe consider your main agent like you do your LBS, hear me out, yes they might charge marginally more, but they are specifically trained, have the specialist tools including diagnostic machines, and they only fit genuine manufacturer approved and sourced parts. Ok, maybe not exactly like your LBS, but I hope you get the gist of my point.

Finally, everyone is entitled to have their vehicle maintained anywhere they like, but please don't be offended if your main agent won't offer you any discount when you your car is recovered in needing diagnostic treatment, and they haven't see you or your car since you bought it 5 years ago.

Loyalty and goodwill are like two way traffic in my book, they run both ways

 

[Chromatic]

+1 for local garages. Not so long ago I had to take daughters car to be fixed. It was a ****ed gearbox, something flew off inside somewhere and punched a hole in the housing or something or other, the oil then run out making a mess of the bottom of the car, she drove it round like that till the gearbox self destructed. So, into the local garage to be fixed, they sourced a recon gearbox, fitted that together with a new housing or something or other that was needed, and did a couple of other jobs at the same time. All in the bill was about £1300. Less than I was expecting and a lot less than it would have cost at the main dealer, he told me the work they had carried out would probably have cost over £3000 at the BMW Mini garage.

-1 for main dealers too. In the past I have had my car done at the main dealer and one service ages ago I noticed that they charged for washer fluid refill and I was sure it was full before I took it in. Anyway, the last time I took it in I thought I'd carry out a little experiment. Beforehand I made sure that the washer reservoir was full to the brim, not another millilitre could have been squeezed in there. Sure enough, on the bill was a charge for washer fluid. I didn't bother querying it, not worth the bother for about £1.50 or whatever it was, besides I could imagine the ' He would have topped it up after draining some out while testing it' bollocks excuse if I had have done

-1 for some so called specialists too. Other daughter has a Beetle and insists on taking it to a local VW specialist, he's a bloody rip of in my opinion. I had to pick up a bill from him that she couldn't afford to pay. That was about £1300 too and what he did compared to what the local garage did to the mini for the same money didn't bear comparison.

Mind you, +1 for some specialists. Years ago I used to own a Citroen CX, I used to take that to an independent Citroen specialist in some scruffy shed somewhere, he was great and very reasonable charges too.

 

[GrasB]

I do most of the work on my cars at home & I'm glad I don't have any warranty left on my Alfa that required main-dealer stamps in the book so I can get all MOT & any work I can't do or don't have time to do done by a reputable independent specialist. Sure I've had to buy specialists tools but often I find that the cost of the tool is less than garage costs. The Lotus does go to a main dealer for it MOT & servicing but that's more because I don't trust a non-speclist to actually handle the car properly & the main dealer is as good as anyone else due to the market that they operate in.

 

[Salad Dodger]

+1 for local garages.

I normally send each of our 2 cars in once a year for a combined service and MOT, then neither of them normally sees the garage for next 12 months.

So last year I booked my wife's car in for service and MOT as usual. About an hour later I got a call from the garage. Did I really want a service done? It had only done 3,000 miles since last year (I hadn't given it a thought)....

"If it was my car I would just get it MOT'd. I wouldn't bother with the service. But it's up to you...." So I just went for MOT and saved enough for some Winter cycle clothing!