I got a letter from my local Seat dealer saying my car was due a service as it was nearly a year since the last one. I phoned and they had a look at the history saying its last service was at 51,000 so it must be over 60k now and a service would cost £118. When I told him it was only 55K he said it wasnt due a full service then but they would do an "inspection service" for the same price. I said no as it just sounded like a bit of a rip off and said I would wait until 60k and the service light coming on. Anyone know what an inspection service is and whether I was about to get ripped of.
difference between Inspection service and full service
- Thread starter dkw
- Start date
hey?
so he said it needed a full service, gave a price of £118 then after you countered he said ok we will do an inspection for the same price?
Why would you want an inspection service when you can get more for the same price?
bear in mind that mileage is not the only thing that determines service intervals, if you are not doing many miles and so may end up doing 10,000 miles say over 18 months.. you are effectively stretching the interval. if you could do this, however i would do an extra oil change inbetween, something many people do on a normal interval.
so he said it needed a full service, gave a price of £118 then after you countered he said ok we will do an inspection for the same price?
Why would you want an inspection service when you can get more for the same price?
bear in mind that mileage is not the only thing that determines service intervals, if you are not doing many miles and so may end up doing 10,000 miles say over 18 months.. you are effectively stretching the interval. if you could do this, however i would do an extra oil change inbetween, something many people do on a normal interval.
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To be fair that's a pretty good price from a main
id definately be looking at having a lubrication service, ie oil filter etc, but not at a dealer, (but using decent oil) - from GSF or the like would be good. could be done for half the cost.
Then look at having the full on service next year.
One thing i would say is you should review the service history, as it is fairly common for cars to have a FSH but not to have all items serviced that should have. - for example, brake fluid, people assume this is done as part of a service as its a 2 year interval, - but i can assure you unless you specifically ask for this and pay the extra for it its 99% sure that it will not have been done.
Even the prices quoted for full on top notch services rarely include items like brake fluid, and at dealers spark plugs are commonly missed also and seen as extras.
why... well frankly if dealers quoted for everything that would be expected or should be done they would never get any business as the quotes would scare everyone off.
Also, in this case, given the price didnt change from the 60,000 mile service to a inspection service i suspect that they were only ever planning on doing an inspection service. - That was they give you a cheap quote, get your business, then when the car is on they call you up and say 'you know the cambelt is due, brake fluid, plugs...' you should get this done asap, we can do it today, we might even give you a little discount while it with us...
next thing is your "£118 service has become £600..
Take some time, work out whats needed and make sure any quotes include these so you are comparing like for like.
Then look at having the full on service next year.
One thing i would say is you should review the service history, as it is fairly common for cars to have a FSH but not to have all items serviced that should have. - for example, brake fluid, people assume this is done as part of a service as its a 2 year interval, - but i can assure you unless you specifically ask for this and pay the extra for it its 99% sure that it will not have been done.
Even the prices quoted for full on top notch services rarely include items like brake fluid, and at dealers spark plugs are commonly missed also and seen as extras.
why... well frankly if dealers quoted for everything that would be expected or should be done they would never get any business as the quotes would scare everyone off.
Also, in this case, given the price didnt change from the 60,000 mile service to a inspection service i suspect that they were only ever planning on doing an inspection service. - That was they give you a cheap quote, get your business, then when the car is on they call you up and say 'you know the cambelt is due, brake fluid, plugs...' you should get this done asap, we can do it today, we might even give you a little discount while it with us...
next thing is your "£118 service has become £600..
Take some time, work out whats needed and make sure any quotes include these so you are comparing like for like.
Cheers Andy, thats pretty much what I had decided to do. As I said, ive only done 5k in the car in 12 months so i`m guessing it doesnt really need a lot of work done. It will cost a lot more at the 60k, was told around £350-£400 because of the cambelt. Thanks for the advice.
thasts cheap for a dealer, perhaps thats the price for the cambelt change only.
my advice would be find a decent independant.
also not that its good practice to get the water pump replaced when completing a cambelt change. Its easy to do while the belt is off and a water pump isnt that pricey. It shouldnt add alot to the price to do this.
Some dealers who dont seem able to price any job without refering to a job sheet may price the cambelt change and water pump serperately, add them up and scare the cr@p out of you with a £800 quote.
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