First service prices? £310?!

[marks]

I have three services included for £590. Even so £310 inc VAT for a service is cheap especially for a performance car. BMW would charge about £500-700

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[Harebear72]

This really pisses me off. From memory I paid £190 for the first service, £240 for the second and this week paid £260 for the third but that included the first MOT.

Now my issue is the following, WHY does it appear we are all paying different amounts for servicing when it’s the same work ?

I have a Fiat van that needs its first service and my 2 local Fiat dealers have both quoted me the same price.

I even had it before on some Hondas that I had and also the same for my wife’s Volvo.

Now I don’t mind if the main agent have a set price for each service, I can live with that, what I don’t get is how the price on a ford service can differ by up to £100, surely the dealer are doing the same job ?

Now my car is 3 years old and out of warranty it will no longer be serviced by Fords, but by GT101 in Colchester.

 

[hinch]

dealers are all franchises so it depends on what they charge their fitters per hour at and how much they want to rob you by, by telling you that a service is a 3 hour job.

Most dealers charge about 70-100 per hour claim its a 3 hour job they then take 80 quids worth of parts and stick 25% margin on them so there's your stupid price. In reality its a £8 an hour fitter that's done 2 services at least in that hour and your car has just sat there for the other 2 hours doing nothing but they make you wait so they can justify charging you the extra hours.

 

[Gregs24]

In reality its a £8 an hour fitter that's done 2 services at least in that hour and your car has just sat there for the other 2 hours doing nothing but they make you wait so they can justify charging you the extra hours.

Oh, so the fitter gets £8 / hour therefore charging you any more is a rip off. Ever heard of tax, NI, pension contributions, business rates, heat and light, electricity, gas, marketing, rent etc etc. There is a big difference between what the fitter gets paid and what it costs the business to provide that service. Incidentally £8.21 is NLW from April and I'm quite sure you will not get a service technician for that. It's so easy to slag off dealerships when you play fast and loose with facts. Have you any idea what business rates will be in the South East on a large dealership property - HUGE. Add to that horrible cash flow variations with new car registrations being very unevenly distributed (but overheads far more even). Don't get me wrong a car dealership can be profitable, but not as you are suggesting by 'robbing' people.

Incidentally the 25% margin you suggest on parts - there are many industries with much higher margins on parts. Again you want those parts either in stock (storage space and cash flow) or available same day (distribution network) which all cost money.

Incidentally I'm not a car dealer, but I am a business owner

 

[hinch]

Oh, so the fitter gets £8 / hour therefore charging you any more is a rip off. Ever heard of tax, NI, pension contributions, business rates, heat and light, electricity, gas, marketing, rent etc etc. There is a big difference between what the fitter gets paid and what it costs the business to provide that service. Incidentally £8.21 is NLW from April and I'm quite sure you will not get a service technician for that. It's so easy to slag off dealerships when you play fast and loose with facts. Have you any idea what business rates will be in the South East on a large dealership property - HUGE. Add to that horrible cash flow variations with new car registrations being very unevenly distributed (but overheads far more even). Don't get me wrong a car dealership can be profitable, but not as you are suggesting by 'robbing' people.

Incidentally the 25% margin you suggest on parts - there are many industries with much higher margins on parts. Again you want those parts either in stock (storage space and cash flow) or available same day (distribution network) which all cost money.

Incidentally I'm not a car dealer, but I am a business owner

i on the other hand am not only a multiple business owner but come from a car dealership background / family so i know all too well not only the stuff you've mentioned but the stuff you don't know about.

 

[Gregs24]

Shame your salary rates are so far out then ?

 

[hinch]

Shame your salary rates are so far out then ?

thats the thing they aren't although i admit i didn't take the increase into account and it was only ball parked but typically around here you can expect the fitters to be on or just above minimum wage maybe down south its a different story but there'll be almost no fitters who are on much more than 20 at most typically less and most have zero training thats why they're not called mechanics but fitters. they're worked like dogs and under paid, staff turnover is high ... very high. although not as high as with the floor sales people.

 

[Manders Mustang]

around £10.50 an hour in Birmingham (Brother just gave me a "rough cost" s he used to audit BSM)

 

[marks]

Guys, people are entitled to make a profit and a wage!!

 

[Gregs24]

thats the thing they aren't although i admit i didn't take the increase into account and it was only ball parked but typically around here you can expect the fitters to be on or just above minimum wage maybe down south its a different story but there'll be almost no fitters who are on much more than 20 at most typically less and most have zero training thats why they're not called mechanics but fitters. they're worked like dogs and under paid, staff turnover is high ... very high. although not as high as with the floor sales people.

Please don't ever take a job that involves promoting the North of England !

 

[Bullitt66]

wish I’d read this thread earlier...just had my 3rd (minor) service

Initial quote from Lookers Ford store was £270, local Ford dealer did it for £210, makes the £180 price a steal...

Except even that is £180 for 7 litres of bulk purchased oil and a tyre kick

Still you would pay that for any similar performance car

 

[Alfa Male]

I thought the £180 service cost was reasonable, I even joked to the guy on the desk I was surprised to see it being so reasonable for a main dealer !

 

[Bullitt66]

I think that’s the point

£200 was the ball park figure in my mind and I understand that (for example) a BMW M sport technician service on a ‘competitor’ car would be a higher cost

But the price variation between dealers means you need to do your homework to even get to that price

And which ever way you look at it, it’s significantly more than our buddies pay over the pond for the same job, but I know that’s not an ‘apples with apples’ comparison.

I’m just happy I don’t have to pay that same service price to drive a poverty spec Ka

 

[Drewbo]

The vast majority of Ford dealers over here charge the same under their "Service Price Promise".

My car is gong in for its 3 year/45000km service next week for which I have been quoted $495 (£267).

 

[FMJ]

Well it wasn’t £220.... but it wasn’t £310 either... it was £287. I have no idea how the prices change so much.

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