Abarth service.

[ianali]

Just booked Ali’s car in for 2nd year service. Schedule includes usual stuff plus  new plugs, 6,000 miles or so on clock. Is it me or is this madness? I suppose it has to be done to keep warranty happy, but kinda does my head in. 

[Blatman]

Had a service on an 18 plate Ford a few weeks ago. I asked why the plugs weren't changed and the response was the OEM plugs (iridium tipped I think he said) were good for 100,000 miles...

[Stuart]

Probably for same reason that BMW change what they call the 'microfilter' every oil change - and charge you £110 or more for doing it.  It's the cabin pollen filter, it doesn't need changing very often, a decent make one costs less than £15 and you can change it yourself in 2 minutes.  Both our BMWs are out of warranty now and neither of them will ever go near a main dealer again

[MR.C]

I used to watch a program on sky tv called Jocks garage.

He was based in (posh) Marbella Spain, and I'd have said would be 

at home changing  the oil on an escort van.

Yet it was full of super cars, wanting escort van service costs.

[corsechris]

Could be worse, you could have an MB......they charge me just short of £460 p.a. for the service contract. It's actually cheaper that way than paying per service, as they alternate between A & B plus various other arcane things they won't tell you about. At year 5 it had a gearbox oil change which if paid separately is somewhere near £400. At least that got done within the contract price but I don't for one second feel like I ever got value for money out of them. Someone has to pay for the chrome and glass palaces they call showrooms, and it ain't going to be them.

 

I wouldn't mind quite so much if the car ever went anywhere, but at just under 6 years old, it still only has just over 10k on the clock, and most of that was done on the electric motor, not the ICE.

 

Only do it to maintain the warranty. That runs out on the EV bits at the end of the year, so from then on, it'll be DIY servicing.....assuming I can find an actual service schedule. They like to keep that sort of information to themselves.

 

Have to say, I'll never get over the buyers remorse on this one.

[SootySport]

On 27/09/2022 at 22:06, corsechris said:

Could be worse, you could have an MB......they charge me just short of £460 p.a. for the service contract. It's actually cheaper that way than paying per service, as they alternate between A & B plus various other arcane things they won't tell you about. At year 5 it had a gearbox oil change which if paid separately is somewhere near £400. At least that got done within the contract price but I don't for one second feel like I ever got value for money out of them. Someone has to pay for the chrome and glass palaces they call showrooms, and it ain't going to be them.

 

I wouldn't mind quite so much if the car ever went anywhere, but at just under 6 years old, it still only has just over 10k on the clock, and most of that was done on the electric motor, not the ICE.

 

Only do it to maintain the warranty. That runs out on the EV bits at the end of the year, so from then on, it'll be DIY servicing.....assuming I can find an actual service schedule. They like to keep that sort of information to themselves.

 

Have to say, I'll never get over the buyers remorse on this one.

The way things are going and what the manufactures want, is for the public not to own stuff anymore, even though you bought it outright. Apple and Tesla are the main culprits.   Lots of court cases about Right To Repair in the USA going on.  I see a You Tube video about this very subject, very interesting.

[Blatman]

BMW recently "launched" their decision to make heated seats in cars a subscription service. Possibly the most bonkers decision made in recent times... well apart from the recent mini budget, but lets not get in to that right now...  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62142208

[corsechris]

I suspect that with the looming advent of EV, the manufacturers realise their servicing gravy train is about to hit the buffers, so they needed to invent a new revenue stream.

 

Making you rent stuff you already paid for seems like a wizard wheeze to me, and fully inline with their ethos.

 

Not quite the same thing, but close, all the 'services' based on telematics. Yes, I get there is actually a nominal cost involved in providing the backbone for the services, but as an example, all the stuff my MB came with when new - remote control of doors, windows, roof, charge monitoring and control, pre-entry climate control, location services, geofencing, diagnostics info, live traffic data etc etc. After the 3 years is up, they 'bundle' these devices so that you need to spend more than you'd likely want. The full package costs £279 p.a. What you actually get depends on what your car is equipped with, but you pay the same regardless. You can pick & mix to an extent, but like all these services, each bundle is carefully optimised to maximise your spend. For example, can't just have remote pre-entry climate control - have to buy other things you might not want. When I wanted to renew charge monitoring and pre-entry at year 3, their website said I could...but when I purchased the package it didn't work. I wasn't alone. Eventually got the reply that I also need another package as well, full of stuff I had no use for. As a 'gesture of goodwill', they did actually cough up and I got what I had wanted at no extra cost. The website was quickly fixed to reflect the facts too.

 

Some services are always active even with no charge, so they have to maintain the infrastructure anyway.

 

Maybe the Volvo idea of just renting a car is the way forward? Feels alien to me though, but then I am a fossil.

[stephenh]

But you don't have to have your car serviced by a franchised dealer even when it is still in warranty. All that is needed for the warranty to remain valid is that you have to have the vehicle serviced at the recommended intervals as per manufacturer's instructions, and only use manufacturer's parts for service and repair.  This became the Law quite a few years ago, under EU Law, and it still applies in this Country. I know it doesn't overcome the problem of silly manufacturers service schedules, nor the excessive price charged by manufacturers for some of their spares and branded consumables, but at least you have the choice of using a good independent competent garage rather than the grease monkeys (paid peanuts) by the rip-off franchise dealers.  

[SootySport]

I'm just wondering now , how many of these rented features i can switch on with my Topdon service and coding machine, seems do anything on any car so far.

[Captain Colonial]

On 17/10/2022 at 09:06, corsechris said:

Making you rent stuff you already paid for seems like a wizard wheeze to me, and fully inline with their ethos.

 

I once had an offer from Volvo to increase the horsepower on my 2.4l diesel from 185 to 215bhp through chipping for a mere £500.  I went into the dealer and told them you're not increasing my horsepower, you trying to charge me for horsepower I already own!  The standard mapping is set low to accommodate poor quality eastern European fuel, and you're just removing the restriction that should never have been there in UK cars.  We argued about this for about 15 minutes until I threatened them with court, wherein hey presto, car remapped in 10 minutes to 215bhp.