Car Service (2 Viewers)

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Just had my two year old Mazda 2 in for a service. They told me when I come back to collect it, it's gonna cost me £279.

Is that extremely expensive or the general going rate?

I have to say it's making me want to break dry January at 9am!

 

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[Otis]

Just had my two year old Mazda 2 in for a service. They told me when I come back to collect it, it's gonna cost me £279.

Is that extremely expensive or the general going rate?

I have to say it's making me want to break dry January at 9am!

Hmmm, hard to say.

We have had bills as high as £750, but usually have them at about £400, but that is with work done on top.

Was this just the service with nothing extra needing doing?

I'm sure we have had them done for about £150.

 

[Sick Boy]

Mine usually comes in around 130 for doing nothing much at all!

 

[trevelfarandwide]

Services are a rip-off, generally. £100+ to top your fluids up, and fanny about under the bonnet pretending to be busy. If there's work to be done, you're charged on top of that, at a particularly high rate.

It various from dealership to dealership, some are ok, some are downright criminal in their prices. Ford love to charge you twice as much for anything, really.

 

[Sick Boy]

After the last one I vowed not bother with them and do it myself.

 

[trevelfarandwide]

After the last one I vowed not bother with them and do it myself.

It's probably do-able by yourself, if you have a moderate grasp of what's required. Services are just another mechanism to part us from our cash, and in no way are they worth the hundreds of pounds we're charged for them. Local garages, some of them anyway, will service any car for a fraction of what the dealerships charge, and I find that the best mechanics are to be found in some local garages - seems the days of the dodgy cowboy charging you the earth at a garage are fading, in truth.

 

[Sick Boy]

It's probably do-able by yourself, if you have a moderate grasp of what's required. Services are just another mechanism to part us from our cash, and in no way are they worth the hundreds of pounds we're charged for them. Local garages, some of them anyway, will service any car for a fraction of what the dealerships charge, and I find that the best mechanics are to be found in some local garages - seems the days of the dodgy cowboy charging you the earth at a garage are fading, in truth.

I've started doing more to the car myself..some bastard bumped into me when parked and they smashed the back light and drove off. Got a quote for around 250 to replace the casing...got one for 25quid off eBay and did it myself in 10 minutes.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

No extra work done (that I know of yet). Just the £270 for a load of checks and top ups it seems.

I'm going to have a word when I go back in an hour or so. It does seem really excessive, especially for a two year old car I use as a run around.

 

[Grendel]

Just had my two year old Mazda 2 in for a service. They told me when I come back to collect it, it's gonna cost me £279.

Is that extremely expensive or the general going rate?

I have to say it's making me want to break dry January at 9am!

How many miles has it done?

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

How many miles has it done?

20,000 maybe. Give or take.

 

[Grendel]

20,000 maybe. Give or take.

If it's the bigger service (normally 30,000) that's the expensive one. You can probably google the service intervals and get an approximate cost - this is an interim service so I'd expect around 200 as a guess. The next one will be higher. Some brands over service packs which are much cheaper.

 

[stupot07]

They have you over a barrel when you're under warrenty. Is that from Mazda dealership direct? If it is, have you looked for a local garage that's Mazda approved?


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[Sky Blue Kid]

Most major garages charge upwards of £60 ph labour or part thereof. Prices of parts have escalated. I paid £20 just for a headlamp bulb a few months ago(Without fitting)

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

If it's the bigger service (normally 30,000) that's the expensive one. You can probably google the service intervals and get an approximate cost - this is an interim service so I'd expect around 200 as a guess. The next one will be higher. Some brands over service packs which are much cheaper.

Cheers, will take that on board.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

They have you over a barrel when you're under warrenty. Is that from Mazda dealership direct? If it is, have you looked for a local garage that's Mazda approved?


Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

Yeah direct from them. I did think it would be a little more, but it seems a massive inflation! I was going to ask about upgrades today anyway, but I feel with that I'm being ripped off massively.

At least there's no Cov game to depress me even further today!

 

[Nick]

Do you have a list of things done?

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Do you have a list of things done?

I will do in a minute. Sitting here waiting.

Almost four hours now. Hope they've hoovered it!

 

[ccfc92]

You should have had brake fluid changed at two years (assuming the manufacturer is that spec).

Along with oil and filter, cabin filter. Possibly key batteries. Screen wash.

When you break it down, oil is the killer.

 

[Nick]

I got quotes for mine from a dealership and then from a franchise big posh garage for a service with new plugs etc new brake pads and disks and 2 new back springs. Dealer wanted about 1200, the franchise big posh garage wanted 970 but ended up just taking it to a local garage where I usually take my cars and got it all done for 600.

Yeah it doesn't have the dealership stamp in the service book, but it didnt have full dealer history anyway.

 

[stupot07]

No idea of this is any good, says its approved and warrenty friendly

Approved Mazda Service & Repairs in Coventry by Mazda Specialists

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[Sick Boy]

Most major garages charge upwards of £60 ph labour or part thereof. Prices of parts have escalated. I paid £20 just for a headlamp bulb a few months ago(Without fitting)

Go to Halford....it's 20 including fitting.

 

[Sky Blue Kid]

Go to Halford....it's 20 including fitting.

Not for "Ice White" bulb it isn't.

 

[Nick]

Not for "Ice White" bulb it isn't.

Have you looked online? Much cheaper.

 

[wingy]

Not for "Ice White" bulb it isn't.

You blinder!!

 

[ccfc92]

Service Schedules - Mazda UK

Couldn't find what each service consists of but the first will be just an oil and filter.

Second should be oil and filter, brake fluid, key battery. Depending on the manufacturer's spec, also possibly an air filter. Ours is every two years for air filters, some are four years.

 

[Sick Boy]

Not for "Ice White" bulb it isn't.

Seeves you right then.

 

[ccfc92]

So did they tell you what you had done @Earlsdon_Skyblue1 ?

 

[Grendel]

The problem is retailers can charge what they like. Hourly rates will vary enourmously and can be as high as £120 per hour.

The routine service will have a fixed price though for each retailer.

Oil is a minor cost - it's normally purchased in bulk by retailer groups

Advice is to call the retailer as a "new" customer and ask the cost for service. If it's different tell them. If they don't reduce insist you receive the mandatory manufacturer feedback customer survey form and advise them they you will also be contact the manufacturer direct to complain. Whose the retailer Group by the way?

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Cheers for all your help guys.

Got 10% off in the end which was at least something. Also won £50 on an accumulator. So in the end was down £200 rather than almost £300.

@ccfc92 they did everything you wrote about, plus a little more I think. So you were pretty much on the button. They've also told me I need two new tyres, but that can wait...

 

[Gazolba]

I usually estimate the cost of auto repair work by thinking up the highest amount it could possibly be given the worst possible scenario - then I double it. That seems to work out as pretty accurate. Modern cars are getting so complex, no-one can understand how they work, not even the mechanics. They just guess what is wrong and replace a part, and if that doesn't work, they replace something else. And every replaced part costs a small fortune.

 

[ccfc92]

Cheers for all your help guys.

Got 10% off in the end which was at least something. Also won £50 on an accumulator. So in the end was down £200 rather than almost £300.

@ccfc92 they did everything you wrote about, plus a little more I think. So you were pretty much on the button. They've also told me I need two new tyres, but that can wait...

Glad that you had a bit of a result with the 10% and the Acca

I don't think you should feel like you've been ripped off. From what you said the price would be, it sounds about right to me for a second year service. I think what most people forget is, out of that £280, you've got about £100-150 in parts included in that. You've probably been charged an hours labour, or at the most an hour and a half.

Best thing to do, you obviously do about 10,000 miles a year, divide the cost of the service by 12, (and you probably use it most days I imagine) and then work out how much a taxi or train etc would cost over the year, it doesn't seem too bad

 

[ccfc92]

The problem is retailers can charge what they like. Hourly rates will vary enourmously and can be as high as £120 per hour.

The routine service will have a fixed price though for each retailer.

Oil is a minor cost - it's normally purchased in bulk by retailer groups

Advice is to call the retailer as a "new" customer and ask the cost for service. If it's different tell them. If they don't reduce insist you receive the mandatory manufacturer feedback customer survey form and advise them they you will also be contact the manufacturer direct to complain. Whose the retailer Group by the way?

Some are quite interesting, down here BMW charge £150, but so do Ford. Yet Mercedes charge £120 (can vary between £80-£120)

The thing is, it's not the people working there earning that amount. You've got £10-14 going to the Tech. £10 going to the Service Advisor. £8 going to the parts person. Min wage going to a car cleaner. Then you have bookings, admin etc as well. Suddenly that £120 is £60 odd down and then there's business costs. Then the good old productive manager's salaries

I always find it interesting how people question garages charges, yet they will happily pay a plumber £60+ an hour to do simple jobs for example.

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Glad that you had a bit of a result with the 10% and the Acca

I don't think you should feel like you've been ripped off. From what you said the price would be, it sounds about right to me for a second year service. I think what most people forget is, out of that £280, you've got about £100-150 in parts included in that. You've probably been charged an hours labour, or at the most an hour and a half.

Best thing to do, you obviously do about 10,000 miles a year, divide the cost of the service by 12, (and you probably use it most days I imagine) and then work out how much a taxi or train etc would cost over the year, it doesn't seem too bad

That's a nice way to look at it, and certainly feel better now! Glad to see me post a thread and get a useful bunch of responses rather than the usual haha.

Thanks

 

[Marty]

I used to do mine myself, nice and easy to day. It's easy to do and youtube has a video for everything these days.

I bought a brand new car last year, It require's a service at every 8,000 miles. Dealership wanted to charge me £200 a time for it, I took out their service plan, at £6 a month for a max of 4 services in 2 years. seemed like a no brainer to me.