The Smart is coming up to its 7th birthday and, whilst it might be seen as a bit of an extravagance at that age, it was booked into the local Smart (read Mercedes Benz) dealer (the original supplier) for its annual service and MOT.
The car costs us very little else, with zero VED and low insurance, and the dealer service gives a year's complimentary extension of the breakdown/roadside assistance, which helps defray the cost a bit.
Dropped off in Sheffield at 09:30, with a request to have it done by 15:00,and SWMBO and myself took the tram into the City centre.
Partaking of a lunchtime coffee, I got a 'phone call to the effect that the technician doing the work couldn't get the bonnet open, and they'd like to charge me diagnostic time, minimum charge one hour, to ascertain why.
"I had the bonnet open this morning", I said, "so there shouldn't be any problem". Then I thought "Has he unlocked it?"
That elicited the response that he'd go and check with the "technician" and call me back.
Five minutes later he followed up with "He says there are catches either side of the bonnet; the RH one moves with no problem, but the LH one won't move, and he doesn't want to force it".
"Yes, but has he unlocked it? That catch is the one the lock works on. There's a flip-out cover next to it that exposes a keyhole that accepts the ignition key".
"I'll go and check again and call you back".
That was followed by complete radio silence, though by now I was fully expecting a call saying they'd got the bonnet open but couldn't find the engine! (it being rear-engined).
I subsequently, after a delay, checked the MOT online to find it had been done, so relaxed somewhat.
That bonnet lock is a standard fitment on all Smarts of that vintage, and it was at the Smart main dealer!
And people sometimes wonder why I choose to do as much work on my own vehicles as I feel comfortable.
(When I picked it up, I told the reception guy that my diagnostic time isn't cheap, and it comes at a minimum of an hour - to be fair, he was a bit sheepish).
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Mercedes "diagnostic time" was the reason I punted my B250e before its third birthday.
Sitting with my nice cup of coffee I would time-and-again hear one of the reception ladies telling a customer "there will be an £xxx diagnostic fee to look at the problem".
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I can think of circumstances where diagnostic time might be merited......but not to find the manufacturer's standard bonnet lock ;-)
((And I made a mistake. It's coming up to its eighth birthday).
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What is the hourly rate for a highly trained main dealer technician in Sheffield these days?
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I think the rate for a highly trained technician is about £140 p/h. (plus VAT of course).
Last edited by: tyrednemotional on Fri 15 Nov 24 at 18:34
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Not quite as bad but I’ve had to correct main dealer Honda, VW and Suzuki dealers about what is in (and out) of the standard manufacture service schedule. Assuming of course the handbook and manufacturer’s webpages are correct.
My indie on the other hand works on any car brand and must use a pro database and never been wrong. He even orders engine oil on a per job basis. He gave me a choice of three for my last Golf service.
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TBH, that's about the worst I've had, though my experience of so-called Fiat "Professional" dealers (i.e. those that maintain commercial vehicles) has repeatedly been so bad that I prefer to do as much work myself on my motorhome as I can.
Over the years, at varying locations I've:
Had a heated argument with the workshop foreman at one outlet about the service schedule (he was adamant it was annual, whereas the clearly documented Fiat schedule is 2 years 30,000 miles - the engine shared with the Iveco is annual servicing in the latter, and they also serviced Iveco).
Had the brake fluid changed and none of the bleed screw dust caps replaced (And I mean left absent, not that no new ones were supplied).
Had the service interval not reset. There are two intervals on recent Ducatos, one for the general servicing interval, and one for oil service (which depending on usage patterns might not be in synch - for most motorhomes oil and general service will coincide at every two years). The service was, of course, done by the "YTS" trainee, but the lead Fiat technician didn't know that there were two items to reset, and didn't know how to do it until I walked him through the software (and didn't believe me until we found it). Not resetting the oil service interval leads fairly rapidly to "limp mode". This is a site that services a large fleet of Ducato ambulances with nominally similar requirements.
Same site, after service the vehicle wouldn't rev above idle. Completely impossible to drive away (so obviously hadn't been road tested). After much head scratching the same lead tech as above redeemed himself somewhat. In front of a gathering audience of other mechanics, he finally put diagnostics on the vehicle, watched a few values, said "that doesn't look right", removed the air filter, delved his hand in the bottom (it's a large filter box) and pulled a large leaf out. All was then well. The bonnet air intake, when the bonnet is open, is ideally positioned to drop any detritus straight into the air filter box, which it had done (sloppy work really) and there was virtually no air getting to the engine.
When you have such experiences, it does make you wonder what else is going on behind the scenes.
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Rightly or wrongly, I’m keeping my GRYaris serviced within the main dealer network in order to maintain the 10 year warranty, although I cba reading the small print of aforementioned.
It’s a small garage, sales and service, no longer independent but part of a group.
When I rang to enquire the cost of a small service...oil change, I did tell them that I was shopping around. The price dropped at that point, as I had done when it had a major service the previous year.
When I took it in I asked to see the tech doing the work, and would it be ok for me to look underneath whilst up on the hydraulic ramp ? They were ok with that, but politely told that next time I should wear steel toe cap boots. Fair enough. The tech showed me all the ‘bits’ underneath which they check, the normal stuff, in addition to another item which was on their ‘to watch’ list...a particular screw adjacent to the exhaust. It cannot come off, but may need tightening at some point, especially if the vehicle has been on a circuit.
I was duly impressed and will continue to use them....for the previous years major service they gave me an almost new Aygo X as a courtesy car.
Vitara will continue to go my my pal who is chief MOT tester at a large indie on the outskirts of Leeds...he’s a time served mechanic and runs Honda & Toyota cars for himself & spouse.
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Smart Fortwo - Glass Palaces : You have to love them (not) - Lygonos
