Technical Service in Greece

[ahmett]

Hello I am near 1st service time in Greece for my fiat 500 1.4 (almost 30,000 km so in a week or so I will service it) and I called one dealer for a quote, they said 300 Euros (262 GBP). They asked if I would come tomorrow to give the car and I told them no thanks I will shop around more!


I will shop around for other quotes and let you guys know.
Quote 1: 300 Euros

 

[loveshandbags]

Hello I am near 1st service time in Greece for my fiat 500 1.4 (almost 30,000 km so in a week or so I will service it) and I called one dealer for a quote, they said 300 Euros (262 GBP). They asked if I would come tomorrow to give the car and I told them no thanks I will shop around more!

I will shop around for other quotes and let you guys know.
Quote 1: 300 Euros

Converting your 30Km equates to 18,750miles exceeds the recommended service interval of 18K miles. I'm unsure as to how much you can over the 'recommended' service interval but I reckon you will be on 'thin ice' with your warranty if you delay much longer. Can I assume that you did an interim oil change or are you still on the same oil since new ?

 

[durukan]

Converting your 30Km equates to 18,750miles exceeds the recommended service interval of 18K miles. I'm unsure as to how much you can over the 'recommended' service interval but I reckon you will be on 'thin ice' with your warranty if you delay much longer. Can I assume that you did an interim oil change or are you still on the same oil since new ?

+2.000 km

 

[306maxi]

As a guide I paid ~£130 for my first service on a 1.2 and the 1.4 should only be £10-20 more expensive at most.

 

[RobinPJ]

Converting your 30Km equates to 18,750miles exceeds the recommended service interval of 18K miles. I'm unsure as to how much you can over the 'recommended' service interval but I reckon you will be on 'thin ice' with your warranty if you delay much longer. Can I assume that you did an interim oil change or are you still on the same oil since new ?

For countries that use kms, the service interval is 30,000km.

 

[loveshandbags]

For countries that use kms, the service interval is 30,000km.

Funnily enough my handbook says the same thing .

But there is a bit of 'small print'...on page 133 on the section 'Demanding Use of the Car' which includes dusty roads, short distances & frequent idling of the car it states that 'inspections' should be performed more frequently than show on the Service schedule. At least the 'oil' is not specifically mentioned on the inspection list aside from checking the 'level' it should be at.

Given that the OP has a 1.4 (generally driven harder that a 1.2), spends a lot of time of stop start driving, driving on dusty roads........................do I need to say any more.

EDIT:
Off the FiatUSA500 website. Same engine different head...
http://pub43.bravenet.com/faq/show.php?usernum=3629891555&catid=9937#q1
The 1.4 16V gas engine oil change interval is 30,000 km or 18,000 miles. The oil filter is also recommended to be changed at that time. If the car is used less than 10,000km a year or used primarily in cities, the recommended interval is every 12 months.

 

[ahmett]

No I did not change my oil at 15,000 km! Its been a year since I bought the car and she sings just fine. I topped up about 2 liters of oil so far anyway so about half the oil in the car is newish = ) Yes in kilometer cars the service light comes on at 30,000 km so I think I am fine with the warranty. So far so good with the car, this will be its absolute first trip to any Fiat dealer after being purchased!


Yes Maxi I agree with you I calculated how much it costs Fiat to service my car and I came up with 120 Euros at most!!! So i do not want to give more than 200 euros in any case.

 

[loveshandbags]

No I did not change my oil at 15,000 km! Its been a year since I bought the car and she sings just fine. I topped up about 2 liters of oil so far anyway so about half the oil in the car is newish = ) Yes in kilometer cars the service light comes on at 30,000 km so I think I am fine with the warranty. So far so good with the car, this will be its absolute first trip to any Fiat dealer after being purchased!

You were lucky you checked the oil levels. Sounds like the 1.4 engine gets the odd 'work out'.

 

[ahmett]

Absolutely = ) I was at 7,000 rpm just 30 minutes ago. (I think the rev limiter is at 7,250 rpm ive hit it about twice in first gear- not on purpose believe me max power is at 6000!)

 

[loveshandbags]

Absolutely = ) I was at 7,000 rpm just 30 minutes ago. (I think the rev limiter is at 7,250 rpm ive hit it about twice in first gear- not on purpose believe me max power is at 6000!)

Not that I rev my engine to the limiter but the only time that one would do it is in first gear to 6,800 which drops the revs to 4,000 at 2nd gear. There after there's no point going beyond 6000 for 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th. Top speed is reached in 5th with 6th as a 'cruising gear'.

I would suggest changing your oil 'mid cycle' i.e. at 9K miles. Your engine should be fine but on a A500 or even a TA a lot of individuals are changing their oil for the first time at 3,000 miles to get rid of all the little tiny bits that you can get when an engine is breaking in. Some track guys change their oil before a track event since their engines would be maxed out. Changing the oil yourself is pretty straighforward and JR gave a nice 'guide' on how to do it.

 

[ahmett]

Not that I rev my engine to the limiter but the only time that one would do it is in first gear to 6,800 which drops the revs to 4,000 at 2nd gear. There after there's no point going beyond 6000 for 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th. Top speed is reached in 5th with 6th as a 'cruising gear'.

I would suggest changing your oil 'mid cycle' i.e. at 9K miles. Your engine should be fine but on a A500 or even a TA a lot of individuals are changing their oil for the first time at 3,000 miles to get rid of all the little tiny bits that you can get when an engine is breaking in. Some track guys change their oil before a track event since their engines would be maxed out. Changing the oil yourself is pretty straighforward and JR gave a nice 'guide' on how to do it.

yes i only do it in 1st because the engine has no torque so you need the power especially up the hills of athens so i go into 2nd with the engine screaming. I also like downshifting into the red line in 3rd and 2nd while driving sporty on the coastal road on a sunday. It is easy to do with the duallogic and the electronics dont let me be stupid on the downshifts by preventing me from doing so in some cases!

 

[ahmett]

Quote number 2 came up at 270 euros and this with a 10% discount!

They will change the

Oil and Filter
Air Filter
Pollen Filter
Spark Plugs.

They had told me that changing the oil alone costs 170. = ' ( I will keep on trying for better quotes, at least its better than 300 but they are really bad people these service ppl. They did say it is cheaper if i bring my own oil so I may do that. I dont see a problem as long as it is the same specification.

 

[306maxi]

Lol 170 for an oil change. What are they trying to do? Repay Greece's debt just by overcharging you?

 

[loveshandbags]

Quote number 2 came up at 270 euros and this with a 10% discount!

They will change the Oil and Filter, Air Filter, Pollen Filter, Spark Plugs.

They had told me that changing the oil alone costs 170. = ' ( I will keep on trying for better quotes, at least its better than 300 but they are really bad people these service ppl. They did say it is cheaper if i bring my own oil so I may do that. I dont see a problem as long as it is the same specification.

Lol 170 for an oil change. What are they trying to do? Repay Greece's debt just by overcharging you?

Looks like you are being charged the same kind of rates that I have experienced in Ireland. One hour labour with oil, etc €170 whilst a 2 hour labour with more parts costs €270.
It depends on the dealer but since the air filter is not technically needed at 30K km - you can do this yourself - so Fiat do not need to do it.
Plugs - I ordered them directly off Fiat and got charged €40 ! - I had previously bought an equivalent NGK set of ebay for €3 each for a Marea. You could put these in yourself - Spark plugs always seem to incur an additional hour's labour charge. My service history showed the plugs were changed since the dealer had supplied the plugs (at an inflated rate) -room here for a discount. Pollen Filter - I haven't done this - so I can't comment but you should be able to supply this particular filter more cheaply particularily given that it would not be a 'warranty type part'.
So if the dealer would 'allow' you to change the spark plugs (come pre-gaped - I still check them) - that would be one way of keeping the labour (€75 + vat per hr) down to 1 hour for the lower charge.

 

[306maxi]

It's like I've never bothered posting anything about service costs......

I had the oil, oil filter, air filter, pollen fiter and plugs done for ~£130

That's not just the oil...... that's not just the plugs..... it is EVERYTHING for ~£130. Repeat after me, I will not simply walk into a dealer and ask them a price and then post on here to complain about it...... I will buy the parts, ask the stealer to price match an independent or just go to the independent.

Repeat that 30 times out loud please.

 

[ahmett]

That is fair enough but ordering parts online arent as easy in greece as the UK I would think. Anyway I have already gone down 30 Euros by asking 2 dealers, I have 3 fiat main dealers in Athens left to ask so I will go to each of them. In Greece you just negotiate everything because they all start with a high price since mediteranean people generally are very reckless with money so they just get ripped off = )

My goal is 200 euros for everything supplied and fitted by the dealer, if not I can always get the oil myself and reach that price and maybe sparks.

The car is under warranty so I dont think I can go to an independent. Otherwise I can just change the oil at the petrol station where they do it without charging you any labor, just the price of tha parts!

 

[306maxi]

order from here http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fseekpart24.com%2F&ei=BtJcTpzoLtC6hAe0ypz7Aw&usg=AFQjCNHSxMX3zOzhDXMFjb5NsOXUeM2CBw

 

[amen]

That is fair enough but ordering parts online arent as easy in greece as the UK I would think. Anyway I have already gone down 30 Euros by asking 2 dealers, I have 3 fiat main dealers in Athens left to ask so I will go to each of them. In Greece you just negotiate everything because they all start with a high price since mediteranean people generally are very reckless with money so they just get ripped off = )

My goal is 200 euros for everything supplied and fitted by the dealer, if not I can always get the oil myself and reach that price and maybe sparks.

The car is under warranty so I dont think I can go to an independent. Otherwise I can just change the oil at the petrol station where they do it without charging you any labor, just the price of tha parts!

You can go to an independant just as long as the parts are genuine FIAT!!