[Rant mode on]

Had the 30K 3 year service done on my 01WRX yesterday. Was quoted approximately £400.00 when booked in but bill came to £450.00. I asked what extra work was required due to the increase and service manager couldn't tell me. Grrrrrr [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

I know it's only £40-50 (and yes my **** does squeek when I walk ) but why quote one price and charge another? And does it really take 4 hours to carry out this service? I know its a fairly major one but £450.00 is a rip off. The cambelt change on my MY96 was less than that, when is it due on the WRX, I'll probably need to remortgage

Can someone please also tell me whether or not it is at all necessary to test drive the car after a service. My defi's tell me that the cars been hammered up to 1.25 boost and driven for 6 miles. Why is this necessary? I can understand if they were fitting a new turbo, clutch, etc or if I'd reported a problem but it was just a routine service FFS. Service manager reply was "it's a performance car, we have to test it to its full capabilities otherwise sir wouldn't be very happy if we gave it back and it wasn't working properly". Bo***cks is what I think.

Never had any of these problems with Lavender Hill shame they no longer have the franchise

I think a trip to Scoobysport or Exreme Scoobies becons next service.

[rant mode off]

Cheers Chris

 

Name and Shame..............!!!!

 

u didnt get a fully itemised bill???

 

If my car was hammered on a bloody service with no fault finding to be done I'd hit the fecking roof m8.

As you say, vote with your wallet

 

Yes got an itemised bill but haven't had time to go through it yet. I remember that labour was £189.00 so i guest thats 4 hours at approx £45.00 per hour.

Has anyone actually worked in a subaru garage? I want to know whether it is common practice to test drive the car "to its full capabilities" on a routine service or not. If it isn't then I think I write and complain. Doesn't seem right to me.

Cheers

Chris

 

I'd be surprised at £45 PH labour. Adams in Aylesbury charge a choking £75 PH. This is too much for me. I'll be going to Cotswold Subaru from now on.

Gina G

 

i went to a subaru garage with a major oil problem and told them it was low next thing i saw them taking it out even though i just told them, and it cant be to heat the oil to drain cause i drove about 40 miles to get there

 

Hi Chris

Dont have defi's in my car MY99 but every service I've had at main dealer, they've taken the car out, even at routine oil service's whilst I've been waiting!!

I came to the conclusion that they need to make sure nothing is going to go bang or pop after you drive it off their forecourt or in the case of the oil service make sure the level is correct once the engine is warmed up etc..

I dont know but that what I think.

Will be interested in the answers you get.

Sanjay

 

Get used to it mate.

Subaru dealers tend to think of a number then.. er add whatever the **** they want...

Tis a nightmare and you would be best advised to try & find someone who can work on your car for you or you'll see bills like this one I got

discs all round... er that will be £724.65 [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]



[Edited by SiPie - 1/13/2004 12:33:11 PM]

 

All.

My 60k service was carried out at Extreme Scoobies who took just 1.5 hrs ie not 4 hrs as noted above!

Bill would have been £450 ish but I supplied the sparks and oil hence price dropped to £330 ish.

 

All garages should give a car a short test drive as part of the service and then check oil/water levels and for leaks afterwards. They do not need to rag it though. For my recent 20,000 mile service of my STi7 at Cotswold Subaru near Witney I reset the peak value on my SECS unit and checked them when I picked the car up:

Max speed during test drive: 63 mph
Max rpm: 5300 rpm.

Incidently the cost of the service was about £192 excluding oil which I supplied.

Alan

 

My 30k service just cost me 407 and that included 8 quid to get a broken tape from my player

 

Thanks for the replies people

 

Most dealers will take a subaru out for a "test drive" but I assure you they should not "test to full potential" as you say, that is pure madness indeed.
The main reason behind roadtesting after an "oil change" is that ften the engine management picks up the new "thinner oil" and thinks the engine is "detting", so it retards the timing.
So a technician road tests the car, to check that this does not happen, if it does, its simply a matter of a "reset" of the ecu diagnostics and the car is happy again. So yes, there is due cause to road test a subaru, I hope this explanation clears things for you.

I would also note that if asking for quotes, ask for it in writing as well, then there is no adding to prices without conformation phone call to yourself beforehand, as you then have the price in writing.

 

Even an itemised bill doesn't guarentee the work was actually done or the parts fitted. I have just done an interim oil change on my MY03 WRX (5k miles). I could see no evidence that the sumpguard had ever been removed, and no evidence of any oil deposits around where the filter fits. My conclusion (and that of my colleagues, who were in the workshop at the time) was that the dealer had changed the oil at to 1,000 mile service, but not the filter, even though I had paid for one. Needless to say, I'll be looking for an alternative dealer when the 10k service is due. B@stards!

 

Is there a simple way of marking items due for a change ie.with a small amount of tipex for example that way you would know if the part had been removed or exchanged for new?

 

A small 'pip' made with a centre punch, or small marks made with a fine file work quite well. Failing that, a marker pen. Tippex is not so good as it can flake off.

[Edited by dr_ming - 1/13/2004 4:39:39 PM]

 

having been a tech at a main dealer ,i think people who mark bits are *****!

 

agree with micky that really annoys me that does
lemmy i did your service for you are those readings ok then or did you expect more? how did you go on the bolts for the dipol lock?

 

i took mine to the local sccoby garage due to a faulty oil pressure switch with 1/4 tank of opti - came back below empty due to 7 mile round trip twice - still at least they tested it

 

Scoobyboy

I would say the speed and rpm values were just right.

With regard to the Dipol I had the following response by email to enquiring what was happening:

"My apologies, I have not had a reply from Dipol to your fax and it slipped the net over the break. I have sent them an E-Mail requesting their urgent attention to your problem. I have replacement bolts here but, as they are from a second lock I ordered with yours, they may result in the same problem. I will advise as soon as I get a response."

You should be seeing the Silver Wagon again tomorrow for a suspect faulty MAF sensor.

Alan

 

Dont know if this has been said, but if you test drove a car to its full capabilities youd be breaking the law!!!

 

Micky, Scoobyboy - If garages actually gave the service you paid for, it wouldn't be necessary, would it? The only person I trust to service my car properly is me. Unfortunately, that negates the warranty (for what it's worth)

Unfortunately, I DIDN'T mark the oil filter on my car, so I can't prove the tossers didn't change it. If I had and could respectively, the service manager at the dealer concerned would be pulling an oil filter out of his ****.

 

FFS, just got the car out of the garage and discovered a scratch on one of the Prodrive alloys and 3 scratches on the rear drivers panel [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

Certainly weren't there when I dropped the car off! I did check the car when I picked it up but was dark (wasn't infomred that car was ready for collection by dealer, I had to chase them despite dropping car off at 8.00am).

Letter of complaint now sent to vent my frustration, doubt very much I'll get a reply though

Chris

 

Well I knew in advance that when I got my Subaru the bills when they came wouldn't be small.. recent mini servive £116, yesterday £330 for replacing anti roll bar bushes and inner door handle surrounds ( broken by the guy who tinted my windows) and next week who knows, it's going in for a grinding noise coming from the back, possible wheel bearing if not could be the diff...has to be stripped down and rebuilt.. hopefully warranty work ( the bearing is)Bring on the overtime...

 

Saying that though spent almost £4000 in repairs on my V6 vectra in the 4 years I had it, and it wasn't anywhere as near as much fun!

 

Chris

I had a tyre changed at Kwik-Fit recently and before the guy did the work he pointed out all the scratches\dents etc, so I couldnt blame him once he'd finished.

These ******* dealers should start doing that now. Similar to when they give you a courtesy car and walk all around the car pointing things out.

Feel for you, would really annoy me too.

 

Chris

Just noticed this, and as ex service manager at Lavender Hill I thought I should share the book time for the service with you.

2.9 Hours. That gives a labour rate of £55.46 per hour plus VAT.

Seems a little strange ?

As for the test drive thing, I used to test all cars, as to me it's an essential part of servicing. However, I would only 'push' the car if the customer reported a fault that required me to do so, and then I would drive at least 6 miles before opening it up. Normally a distance of 1 or 2 miles should be sufficient to check for faults.

David

 

Thanks David.

Would like to stress that I never had a problem with Lavender Hill, had both my scoobs serviced there for the past 4 years. Only went else where due to the franchise going. That said with a full decat my warranty is worth nowt anyway so I probably should have stayed

Like you say, there is no need to "push" the car unless a fault is reported or self evident from the service, neither of which applied in this instance. It seems to me that someones just ragged it for the hell of it

Chris

 

the only tossers are the people who dont trust anybody and as far as saying they scratched this and dented that we only have your word for it how do you know that it didnt happen on the way there or yesterday for example it's always easy to blame other people especially dealers