# Not completely happy with my 36,000m service



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

This is not in the same league as the hymer problem that POP had.

My bill for this, its first 'big' service, and an MOT, came to £365 which is about what I expected (lots of filter changes and checks).

Down amongst the bits and bobs was top up windscreen washer £1.55p. Not bad, except that I topped it up this morning. Of course, I stopped when bubbles came out the top, I should obviously have waited and got some more in.  

Oh and £80 'worth' of new oil


----------



## Fatalhud (Mar 3, 2006)

They claim they suck out the old washer fluid and renew with non contaminated


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

Fatalhud said:


> They claim they suck out the old washer fluid and renew with non contaminated


Then I got a bargain mine holds 10 litres or so


----------



## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

You were grossly overcharged for the washer liquid.

My garage only charged £1 + VAT.

They made up for it by charging £7.50 EACH + VAT for windscreen wipers.

And that was on our Peugeot 106!!!!

In fairness, if the washer bottle is emptied and rinsed out it can save all the hassle of a pump clogged and damaged by the inevitable gunge that grows in it.


----------



## Fatalhud (Mar 3, 2006)

sallytrafic said:


> Fatalhud said:
> 
> 
> > They claim they suck out the old washer fluid and renew with non contaminated
> ...


Just as well they didn't fill that up with oil as well :lol:


----------



## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

sallytrafic said:


> Oh and £80 'worth' of new oil


Yes, that sort of thing really annoys me Frank, especially when many of them don't even use the makers "genuine" brand.

I used to visit a local Renault garage that used Comma oils (perfectly good product) but charged the sort of price you quote for a Comma semi-synthetic oil that cost less than £15 for a 5ltr can at the local auto-factor. A small mark-up I can stomach but that's not acceptable.


----------



## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

Hm, looks like us yokels in Sussex should put our prices up  

Peter


----------



## AberdeenAngus (Jul 26, 2008)

Oil is a huge rip-off for services.
There's nothing to stop you supplying the oil for a service. I have, and saved a fortune.


----------



## carol (May 9, 2005)

Frank - we have had the same problem, Duncan fills up the washer bottle too before going in - and leaves a note to say it is full - PLEASE do not top up and charge me, as I won't pay.

Also Aberdeen Angus - didn't realise you could take your own oil in, never thought about that either, but it would save a lot I would think, bearing in mind the amount they charge. 

Rapido due to a first service, only annual, as it has only done 10,000 kms (not miles) - so oil change and filter is all usually I think.

Must remember to book it...just wish we knew what we were doing....

Carol


----------



## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

> windscreen washer £1.55p.





> £80 of new oil


Frank IMO you have been ripped of.
Our customers cars have their windscreen washer topped up including screen wash as a complementary part of our customer service. We use Total's Quartz 9000 fully synthetic oil and I'm sure sure vehicle would not take more than 8lts, which would be about half the price you paid.If we sold our oil at that price we wouldn't have to work. Is your MH VW based?only we had to buy in some Quantum longlife oil the other day for a customer and for 5lt I think I only paid about £36
Lin


----------



## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

AberdeenAngus


> Oil is a huge rip-off for services.
> There's nothing to stop you supplying the oil for a service.


You've been using the wrong garage !!!  
Lin


----------



## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

> Hm, looks like us yokels in Sussex should put our prices up


Peter, perhaps thats why we're not rolling in it, we're not ripping customers off!!! 
Lin


----------



## sersol (Aug 1, 2005)

Hi Frank & other's, this is one of my pet hates & has been for years,the dreaded "service time book".
NO ONE has really any idea how long the garage is working on their vehicle for,normally you are charged the "book time". In short bonus for all working there, the chap doing the work earns his bonus & the garage earn their bonus,due to the fact that VERY few jobs take as long as the book says...............but we are still charged that amount of time.
Sorry but IMHO most of the vehicle industy (garage wise) rip us off.
Rant over

Gary


----------



## buttons (Dec 19, 2005)

sallytrafic said:


> This is not in the same league as the hymer problem that POP had.My bill for this, its first 'big' service, and an MOT, came to £365 which is about what I expected (lots of filter changes and checks).Down amongst the bits and bobs was top up windscreen washer £1.55p. Not bad, except that I topped it up this morning. Of course, I stopped when bubbles came out the top, I should obviously have waited and got some more in.
> Oh and £80 'worth' of new oil


Hi Frank, That price doesn't sound too bad to me. Out of interest how did the brakes look at 36k, was there any mention of new pads? 
Also did this service include a brake fluid change?


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

buttons said:


> sallytrafic said:
> 
> 
> > This is not in the same league as the hymer problem that POP had.My bill for this, its first 'big' service, and an MOT, came to £365 which is about what I expected (lots of filter changes and checks).Down amongst the bits and bobs was top up windscreen washer £1.55p. Not bad, except that I topped it up this morning. Of course, I stopped when bubbles came out the top, I should obviously have waited and got some more in.
> ...


Don't look as if I've been using the brakes at all  Just around 10% off disks and 15% pads at the rear 10% off disks at front and 25% off pads
Yes brake fluid change (at my request/interval)

The oil was 5/40 fully synthetic if that makes a difference.


----------



## buttons (Dec 19, 2005)

sallytrafic said:


> Don't look as if I've been using the brakes at all  Just around 10% off disks and 15% pads at the rear 10% off disks at front and 25% off padsYes brake fluid change (at my request/interval)The oil was 5/40 fully synthetic if that makes a difference.


Thats why you get such good mpg frank, braking takes it out of your tank quicker than anything. 
My next service will be 36k so this is good prep for that.


----------



## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Sersol


> NO ONE has really any idea how long the garage is working on their vehicle for,normally you are charged the "book time". In short bonus for all working there, the chap doing the work earns his bonus & the garage earn their bonus,due to the fact that VERY few jobs take as long as the book says...............but we are still charged that amount of time.


We work to "Book Times". These are set out by the vehicle manufacturers on brand new vehicles from the assembly line , they take three people to separately do the "job/service" and take the average for the book time. There are a number of repair times and on some manufacture service times which we cannot even get close to .Rich (over 35 years experience in the trade)will often say to me who ever wrote this time wants to come out and do it here in front of him. 
What people don't realise with main agents is that the workshops are subsidised by the sales and parts depts and if they go over the book time it is no great loss to them.Not often you will find me sticking up for main agents. 
There are other jobs which Rich can do in less than the book time example the clutch pedal link on a Citroen Xantia, book time 6hrs Rich can do it in 2hrs and we only charge out 2hrs.. Then you get jobs which have no book time, then it will be time taken.We always try to give our customers a fair price for a professional job.Prehaps that why we are not rolling in it !
Lin


----------



## pneumatician (May 1, 2005)

*Synthetic Oil*

According to popular opinion Mobil 1 is one of the reccomended Synthetics and it costs about £7-50 L and that is a 0>40 I would have thought a 15>40 should cost less.
One of the benefits of Fully Synthetic is you don't have to change it so often. But us old hands just dont like the idea of using the same oil for two or three years do we ? Our car has yet to have an oil change they just sample it and say its OK but I still feel uneasy.

Garages profit margins are quite high and of course it all depends on the quantities they are buying but I bet it isn't Mobil 1.

Steve


----------



## Suenliam (Mar 22, 2006)

Just had our Low annual mileage service and MOT. I think we got off lucky with screen wash at 30p + VAT!

I know it might be a good thing if they ran all the old stuff off and filled up with uncontaminated stuff, but every time? 8O 

Sue


----------



## carol (May 9, 2005)

lindyloot said:


> We always try to give our customers a fair price for a professional job.Prehaps that why we are not rolling in it !
> Lin


But Lin you are still are working - maybe some of these main dealers won't be soon....

Carol


----------



## olley (May 1, 2005)

Hi just serviced the RV and its genny, 8litres of Magnatec 5w-30 fully syn £60 plus £12 for two filters.  

Olley


----------



## sallytrafic (Jan 17, 2006)

olley said:


> Hi just serviced the RV and its genny, 8litres of Magnatec 5w-30 fully syn £60 plus £12 for two filters.
> 
> Olley


So £80 (it was actually £76) ain't a total rip off not like my washer bottle top up or POP's hymer service.


----------



## sersol (Aug 1, 2005)

lindyloot said:


> Sersol
> 
> 
> > NO ONE has really any idea how long the garage is working on their vehicle for,normally you are charged the "book time". In short bonus for all working there, the chap doing the work earns his bonus & the garage earn their bonus,due to the fact that VERY few jobs take as long as the book says...............but we are still charged that amount of time.
> ...


Oh Lin how I wish I lived near you so refreshing to see a garage charge the time it really takes to do a job.  
I meant no offence to you or yours in my earlier post. I could go on for hours about the shear RIP off of that most of us come across at MOST (but not all) garages we deal with. I am not just talking about main dealers either. :evil: 
It seems as if your customers get a fair deal  ,I know ALL of my customer do because I am at their premises & they know exactly how long I am working on their kit for. If I answer the phone to another whilst on site & try to sort out a problem then the customer does not exspect to get charged for that time. :roll: 
Gary


----------



## Regal (Sep 25, 2007)

Hi Gary

Obviously you have not found a good garage that you can trust, but to say that all the motor trade is a RIP off is just not fair.
ICME is the industry standard for times given for a particular job. This can be very tight especially on older vehicles as these times can be extended by seizure time(rusty nuts & bolts). As Lin mentioned I would love to see someone in my workshop achieve some of the ICME times that are listed.

In my area we have franchised dealers that are charging £130.00 per hour. If a light bulb is changed during a service the normal time allowed is .2 or in some cases .1 and at £130.00 per hour that could mean between £13 & £26 labour to replace a bulb, plus VAT of course.

My advise is to find a good independent garage that will offer a good professional and personal service and trust me they are out there.

In my garage we did not charge for screen wash additive or the fitting of bulbs as we felt this alienated our customers. However we did charge fleet & business customers as their labour rates were lower.

We do have some excellent franchised dealers but generally the labour rates are high. The general public still do not seem aware that you can have your vehicles serviced at a non-franchised garage and this will NOT effect your warranty. Big savings can be made on the labour content of your bill. This is due to the EU ruling on block exemptions and restrictive trade practice. The requirement is that the service is carried out to the manufacturers specification and that parts used are of an equivalent quality.

I have to tell you that I have sat in pubs listening to conversations about the service they have received and how they have been ripped off by the garage. Comments like "I was charged over £600 for a service" but what they fail to mention is they also had pads, discs and an alternator fitted. 

Garages seem an easy target to knock but in my experience we have far more good ones than bad.

Now when it comes to accountant's, no I think enough said.

Steve


----------

