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cost of oil change
Anybody know what the likely cost of an oil and filter change should be for a 2004 WRX.
I have recently bought a new wagon and because I imported it, I need to pay for the 1000 mile service that is normally free of charge. Just been quoted £118 from my local dealer for what is essentially an oil and filter change....(oh and a check to see that the lights and windscreen washers work!!) any advice appreciated... Cheers. |
sounds about right for a main dealer.
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About right if they are using a gold plated filter me thinks... or a very slow mechanic!
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You do not have to go to a main dealer for servicing inorder to keep your warranty intact.
We normally charge approx. £85 for an oil service (idependent garage in Fife using Motul 300v). However, an oil service does take us an hour. We are not slow, but we try to be thorough. Visually checking brakes, adjusting handbrake, re-setting ecu with diagnostic tool after cranking with cam or crank sensor disconnecting, checking lights, screen wash filling and adjusting jets, setting tyre pressures etc. etc. Believe me, there is not a lot of profit in there. Especially if you take into account that technician training courses, diagnostic software updates, special tool purchases etc. still need to be paid for on top of normal overheads. We try to provide good value for money. People who whinge about the price (eg say 'I can get it cheaper down the road [probably at a garage that has not invested in proper tooling or technical knowledge or training]) are asked not to return to our garage. If you want to make sure that your car gets looked after by people with a brain using the correct equipment, look for the best garage, not the cheapest. Remember, properly trained technicians are not grease monkeys. They are multi-tasking trades people that work on safety related systems all day with proper knowledge of electro-hydraulic systems, electronic systems, mechanical systems, aircon systems to name but a few. But I suppose they are still 'just' grease monkeys to you...... regards, Job |
Job,
far from considering these guys "grease monkeys". I am well aware of what is required at a service and the tools, training etc required. I fully understand that the modern motor car is a complex beast as opposed to the simple machines of yesteryear. My brother is a VW master mechanic and I myself am a time served mechanical engineer in the oil industry. The reason for my concern is that I was quoted £45 plus vat from another Subaru dealer in Scotland, although they are not as close geographically to me as the local dealer that quoted £118 for the same service. My thought is that all the Subaru Dealers would have their costs aligned to some extent. This is clearly not the case however! I am therefore faced with the following choice to make. 1. Pay the IMHO "ridiculous price" at my local dealer for an oil and filter change. 2. Travel to another dealer who can do the same job at half the price. 3. Get an independent such as yourself to do the work. It is worth noting that according to the service schedule, the extent of the 1000mile service is : Oil and filter change and basic checks on fluid levels and function checks of lights, wipers, and other electrical equipment. I indicated that all I wanted was the oil and filter change, as I am more than capable of doing the other checks myself and not having to pay in excess of £50 per hour for the privilege. I am also quite capable of changing oil and many other servicing tasks, but the reason for going to the dealer is to keep my warranty valid. Your comments on not having to go to a main dealer for servicing in order to keep your warranty intact interest me, however. I was of the impression that servicing had to be carried out by a recognized Subaru Dealer. If that is not the case, then I will consider coming to a facility such as yours for servicing, as I have already seen positive reports on scoobynet from people who have had work done at your establishment. Next question is: What are your business contact details, to save me searching. Thanks… |
Originally Posted by GINTO
Job,
far from considering these guys "grease monkeys". I am well aware of what is required at a service and the tools, training etc required. I fully understand that the modern motor car is a complex beast as opposed to the simple machines of yesteryear. My brother is a VW master mechanic and I myself am a time served mechanical engineer in the oil industry. The reason for my concern is that I was quoted £45 plus vat from another Subaru dealer in Scotland, although they are not as close geographically to me as the local dealer that quoted £118 for the same service. My thought is that all the Subaru Dealers would have their costs aligned to some extent. This is clearly not the case however! I am therefore faced with the following choice to make. 1. Pay the IMHO "ridiculous price" at my local dealer for an oil and filter change. 2. Travel to another dealer who can do the same job at half the price. 3. Get an independent such as yourself to do the work. It is worth noting that according to the service schedule, the extent of the 1000mile service is : Oil and filter change and basic checks on fluid levels and function checks of lights, wipers, and other electrical equipment. I indicated that all I wanted was the oil and filter change, as I am more than capable of doing the other checks myself and not having to pay in excess of £50 per hour for the privilege. I am also quite capable of changing oil and many other servicing tasks, but the reason for going to the dealer is to keep my warranty valid. Your comments on not having to go to a main dealer for servicing in order to keep your warranty intact interest me, however. I was of the impression that servicing had to be carried out by a recognized Subaru Dealer. If that is not the case, then I will consider coming to a facility such as yours for servicing, as I have already seen positive reports on scoobynet from people who have had work done at your establishment. Next question is: What are your business contact details, to save me searching. Thanks… |
Originally Posted by GINTO
Job,
far from considering these guys "grease monkeys". I am well aware of what is required at a service and the tools, training etc required. I fully understand that the modern motor car is a complex beast as opposed to the simple machines of yesteryear. My brother is a VW master mechanic and I myself am a time served mechanical engineer in the oil industry. The reason for my concern is that I was quoted £45 plus vat from another Subaru dealer in Scotland, although they are not as close geographically to me as the local dealer that quoted £118 for the same service. My thought is that all the Subaru Dealers would have their costs aligned to some extent. This is clearly not the case however! I am therefore faced with the following choice to make. 1. Pay the IMHO "ridiculous price" at my local dealer for an oil and filter change. 2. Travel to another dealer who can do the same job at half the price. 3. Get an independent such as yourself to do the work. It is worth noting that according to the service schedule, the extent of the 1000mile service is : Oil and filter change and basic checks on fluid levels and function checks of lights, wipers, and other electrical equipment. I indicated that all I wanted was the oil and filter change, as I am more than capable of doing the other checks myself and not having to pay in excess of £50 per hour for the privilege. I am also quite capable of changing oil and many other servicing tasks, but the reason for going to the dealer is to keep my warranty valid. Your comments on not having to go to a main dealer for servicing in order to keep your warranty intact interest me, however. I was of the impression that servicing had to be carried out by a recognized Subaru Dealer. If that is not the case, then I will consider coming to a facility such as yours for servicing, as I have already seen positive reports on scoobynet from people who have had work done at your establishment. Next question is: What are your business contact details, to save me searching. Thanks… I'll look up the directive and post a link regards, Job |
Link from OFT:
http://www.oft.gov.uk/News/Press+rel...2004/85-04.htm Link from EU: http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressRele...guiLanguage=en |
Job,
I agree, most of the main dealer guys are trained [ note; not highly ] techies. BUT give em an engine to change or rebuild they are LOST. If the computer can't tell 'em what's wrong, in many cases they can't figure it out. API has been dealing with main dealer types, for all manufacturers, for over 22 years and there are VERY FEW mechanics in those type of dealerships that are able to diagnose and fix main unit problems. The good ones like you and me set up on our own. In my experience. David APi Engines / APi Impreza. PS A first service from APi is £75.00 plus VAT including oil and filter. |
Originally Posted by APIDavid
Job,
I agree, most of the main dealer guys are trained [ note; not highly ] techies. BUT give em an engine to change or rebuild they are LOST. If the computer can't tell 'em what's wrong, in many cases they can't figure it out. API has been dealing with main dealer types, for all manufacturers, for over 22 years and there are VERY FEW mechanics in those type of dealerships that are able to diagnose and fix main unit problems. The good ones like you and me set up on our own. In my experience. David APi Engines / APi Impreza. PS A first service from APi is £75.00 plus VAT including oil and filter. You're absolutely right. Because franchised dealer mechanics work on time based bonus systems, they will not be interested in diagnostics or difficult jobs. For anyone that is not familiar with dealer bonus systems, the mechanic will have a basic salary for which they will have to produce 40 'billable' hours a week. These billable hours are what the customer gets charged. For instance if the 'book'time for a service is 2 hours (chargeable to the customer) it is in the mechanics interest to reduce the time actually spent on the car. If the mechanic can do the job in 1 hour, he has gained an hour. This means that a mechanic could produce 16 billable hours in an 8 hour day (200% productivity). He will get a bonus for every hour extra he produces. Most franchised dealers and AA service centres are looking for 120% productivity. Obviously, this does not promote quality workmanship. By the way, I am generalising here, there will be plenty of mechanics in franchised dealers that will do the job correctly and there will be dealerships that do not use a timebased bonus system. What it does mean, is that diagnostic time spent on a car will not incur bonus because diagnosing a fault has no book time attached to it. The diagnostic machinery does not always tell the full story, nor will it always diagnose the fault correctly. In these cases doing manual checks with oscilloscope of all the various sensors and actuators is the only way to diagnose the fault correctly. Most dealers will just fit parts and see if it fixes the car, quite often because not enough knowledge is available or the garage has not invested in a decent scope. regards, Job |
Originally Posted by jgevers
Hi David,
You're absolutely right. Because franchised dealer mechanics work on time based bonus systems, they will not be interested in diagnostics or difficult jobs. For anyone that is not familiar with dealer bonus systems, the mechanic will have a basic salary for which they will have to produce 40 'billable' hours a week. These billable hours are what the customer gets charged. For instance if the 'book'time for a service is 2 hours (chargeable to the customer) it is in the mechanics interest to reduce the time actually spent on the car. If the mechanic can do the job in 1 hour, he has gained an hour. This means that a mechanic could produce 16 billable hours in an 8 hour day (200% productivity). He will get a bonus for every hour extra he produces. Etc., Etc. regards, Job That equates to about 1100 plus hours ' worked' in 5 actual days Thats an awful lot of hours and included lots of spurious warranty work that got charged to Ford but was never done. All with the knowledge and compliance of the dealer management. Ford dealers in general changed so many front crank seals on Cortina and Anglia derivatives [ 2.45 hours ] that the seal was re-designed.......... The job could actually be done in under 2 minutes - if you bothered. Remember that the dealer gave me less than an eighth of what they got from Ford [ or the paying customer ] Just played the system; couldn't change it, didn't think about it, but the money was welcome. David APi Engines / APi Impreza |
Originally Posted by GINTO
The reason for my concern is that I was quoted £45 plus vat from another Subaru dealer in Scotland, although they are not as close geographically to me as the local dealer that quoted £118 for the same service.
My thought is that all the Subaru Dealers would have their costs aligned to some extent. This is clearly not the case however! Thanks… Nick |
Originally Posted by Butty
I've paid the £45 plus VAT purely for an oil change at 5,000 miles, from my Subaru dealer in Northampton - so I presume the remainder of the £118 is for "one hour" of checks and fluids.
Nick David APi Engines / APi Impreza |
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