I visited friends in Washington DC over the summer and commented to them on the excellent condition of their cars, a BMW 5 series and a Lexus. The mileage of the cars was 125,000 and 105,000 and both cars were about 10 years old. They said their cars were both regularly serviced "by the book" at the BMW and Lexus dealers and that was it.
Now these are not people who spend money recklessly, being big fans of Costco and outlet shops. So does anyone know if dealer servicing is cheaper in EU or USA compared to UK (and no, I didn't ask them what they paid) and would any members of the BR still take their 10 year old car to a main dealer for regular servicing?
vitesse
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>> members of the BR still take their 10 year old car to a main dealer
>> for regular servicing?
No, DIY or indie, but I would still fully expect them to be in excelent nick at 10 years/125k miles.
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No but use a specialist. TBH not that much cheaper than the MD but he's good, honest and near the station (so easy to drop off/collect).
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I used a long established indy for servicing my 14 year old MB for the last 8 years, he doesn't think of a number and tack a row of noughts on for billing and he knows the things inside out.
I will be using the Toyota dealer for the forseeable for the pick up, it's 3 now but the N'pton main dealer has shown themselves to be competent and well priced, may well be using them in 7 years time...if we're spared.
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Not quite ten but my eight-year-old Volvo hasn't been outside the dealer network for anything more than tyres and MoTs. I have a decision to make on this since we moved south, but I suspect I'll stick with it for servicing. Dealers offer lower rates to keep us owners of older Volvos interested, and the car costs me so little otherwise that I don't really mind paying a bit more than I would at an independent.
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Conversely, WDB my 8 ( well 8.5 year old so there ! ) year old Mondeo has never been back to a Ford dealer since new either while in my care or that of its previous owner. Mind you, he was Welsh and I'm Scottish....
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My 16 year old W124 Coupe goes to the Mercedes main dealer for servicing. It costs around 150 Euros. I had the front springs replaced at the last service which cost an additional 200 Euros. I don't think an indy would be much cheaper and it's a family owned business so very pleasant to deal with.
Main dealer servicing here in Germany generally seems to be much cheaper than the UK. My M3 used to cost between 150 and 250 Euros for a service (A or B) at the BMW main dealer and around 450 Euros for the 30.000km "walletbuster" service where the tappets have to be adjusted which, I understand from another forum, costs upwards of 800 quid at a UK BMW dealership.
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I've found Germany a mixed bag on servicing.
FIAT was two thirds what it cost in the UK, Volvo about the same and Citroën is 50% dearer than the UK.
Pulled my Volvo out of dealer servicing at the five year service. Found an excellent indie who takes the wheels off, something the main dealers never did.
Last edited by: gmac on Tue 14 Sep 10 at 21:58
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>> I've found Germany a mixed bag on servicing.
I use a family owned Mercedes dealership. I like the enthusiasm and the way they seem to know what they're talking about. I had mixed experiences with the glass palace Mercedes places. BMW seems consistently good.
Best service experience here overall though has been with Ford when my wife had her Ford Ka. The main dealers were really good. In one local place the owner showed me round his restored Model T as they hadn't finished washing the car on time. But to be honest I always had good experiences with Ford dealers in the UK.
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Similarly the Volvo dealer I did use in Germany was a small family run business who were thorough enough at servicing but when I asked them to switch off the DRL's made a bit of a balls of it and left it running around with side lights and marker lights on. Had to take it elsewhere to sort that.
As far as BMW goes, if you can't get good service on one in Munich where will you ? :)
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>> As far as BMW goes, if you can't get good service on one in Munich where will you ? :)
LOL, good point!
My company 530d actually normally goes to a main dealer in deepest Mercedes territory in Stuttgart for servicing as it's near my office. Also a family owned place. Had some interesting discussions with the service manager about the strengths and weaknesses of BMWs past, present and future - last time I was there they were offloading the first F10 5-Series from the transporter.
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a cars a car
they all have 4 wheels (usually and a few oily bits at the front)
its pretty simple to flash through one and find no faults/faults
its even simpler if you specialise
so indy /one man band /large chrome wallet bender/doesnt matter/its the attitude of the workers/management/that makes or breaks a recommended spannering hole
i use a long established indy myself
takes extreme care of all the vehicles he sees
treats them as his babies
in fact he once had a rolling scribe saying just this
he doesnt take kindly to being told his job though
and he doesnt take kindly to being untrusted if he offers to help
he doesnt do work other than pdi these days though
why not?
because customers are their own worst enemy,lie cheat and dont tell the truth but blame the fixer for all their motoring dyers and seem to think as a an independant man with no flash it doesnt matter that they turns up lates
ooh sounds likes me that does
oooh it is me
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Last service 30k km (the "major" one) on 2.0 petrol cee'd auto - Kia/Toyota/Saab/Lexus dealer - Spain
4l oil €43
Gasket €0.47
Auto oil €6.20
2 air filters €47.50
1.8h labour @ €39.5 - €71.10
Residue disposal €3
probably could save €30+ going independant, but put in context of overall annual cost of motoring and the €50+ fill-up, not worth it. Over 7 years warranty period probably equals €300 extra approx.
Last edited by: lancara on Tue 14 Sep 10 at 22:05
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A major service on a petrol with no oil filter or spark plugs ?
What do they do on a minor service ? Pop the bonnet and oil the hinges.
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Just taken Espadrille's A-class in for an MOT and bits. MoT cost £27, bits including fitting a new under engine tray and puncture repair came to £60.
This is a shiny glass and chrome Merc dealer.
Good value I reckon.
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long service - Zero
