Technical Worrying Discussion With My Dealer

[OrangeSport]

Hello, not been on here for a while...

Anyway, my 500 is 3 years old next month and has done 25K. It is due a service and MOT.

I called the dealer I bought the car from last month for a quote: £250. I called a local Italian car specialist for a quote: £150. So, you can guess where I am going.

Now the worrying bit. The dealer has been calling quite a bit, and I took the call today. They wanted to book it in for a service and MOT! So, I explained that we had that conversation before, and they were too expensive. Immediately they dropped to £130! Blimey! I was tempted. How come so cheap? "Oh, the only difference is we don't change the pollen filter" And that saves over £100? "Yes"

OK, we started sorting out dates. "Just one more thing, the brake fluid needs doing this year. That's £40" So, I said no, I would stick to my original plan. Here's the corker though: "OK, well we could just skip that for you and keep the old fluid in" What! It needed doing 30 seconds ago, and now your prepared to send it back on the road without it!

I'll stick with the independent I think....

 

[dave]

are you sure the indi is changing pollen filter and brake fluid for their price?

 

[RobinPJ]

That is bad. Mind you, are you sure the independent's quote included everything?

 

[SiliconS]

Surely the dealer's just giving you what you want? If you say you don't want the brake fluid changing then they're not going to force it on you and lose the business. The fluid probably does need changing, for generally accepted technical reasons, so they tell you this. You say you're not happy spending £40 on that job so they tell you that it's your choice whether to do it or not. It still needs doing. Nothing has changed.

I don't understand how changing the pollen filter costs £100, and I'd certainly challenge them on this. A new filter from Fiat must cost no more than £20 at the most, so how can it take an hour's labour to swap it? On other cars I've owned, it's literally been a 5-minute job.

 

[OrangeSport]

Thanks for the answers.

The independent's price is menu based. I will pick the right service to match the service schedule. It may creep up from the price quoted once I show them the book, but having seen the prices for the various services it will still be better value than the dealer (not unexpectedly TBH).

My bigger concern isn't the price, it's the willingness to say that the fluid needs changing in one sentence, and as soon as I say that pushes the price up above the independent's the change to "we'll leave that out".

They weren't trying to get me the service I needed, they just wanted to cut the price to get the business, even if the wrong service was offered. I don't think that is a great approach to be honest.

 

[frupi]

This whole scenario seems utterly farcical to me! £100 quid to change a pollen filter Just been looking on the well known auction site and you can buy an original off there for as little as a fiver.

With any dealer and in fact with any garage, discuss with them what needs doing. If your vehicle has to have certain stuff done for warranty reasons or safety reasons, then the sensible option is to get the work done.

You should however always go in person to the dealer, speak to the service team and whatever they say they can do for a certain price, get them to give you the quote in writing and list the items they intend changing. At the end of the day, most are fighting to get your business and money, you should actually be the one dictating to them about what you want. If a dealer or any garage won't give you quotes in writing, walk away and think yourself lucky.

 

[dave]

who is the dealer and who is the indi?

 

[arorat]

Speak to indi and confirm final price and then try to strike the same deal with your dealer, you never know when you will need them for part-ex or other issues which indi may not be able to resolve also good to have a Fiat stamp in your book.

For the sake of £4 buy 2 x top quality biscuits from Waitrose and give them to the dealer, after all its xmas too, it will do wonders for you. Relationships are important.

btw: nice colour car

 

[Eklipze3k]

Learn how to do all these jobs yourself and save even more money.

 

[RobinPJ]

Speak to indi and confirm final price and then try to strike the same deal with your dealer, you never know when you will need them for part-ex or other issues which indi may not be able to resolve also good to have a Fiat stamp in your book.

For the sake of £4 buy 2 x top quality biscuits from Waitrose and give them to the dealer, after all its xmas too, it will do wonders for you. Relationships are important.

btw: nice colour car

£2 per biscuit? Have you never heard of Rich Tea?????

 

[arorat]

£2 per biscuit? Have you never heard of Rich Tea?????

no seriously, Waitrose do these awesome biscs with stem ginger, blueberries etc, they work well where I give them, I hate rich tea, so common !!

 

[RobinPJ]

I think that infringes the Bribery Act. Disproportinate hospitality.

 

[OrangeSport]

Just waiting for the independent to call back with a price. I have told them what needs doing, so we will see. I suspect that the dealer was basically quoting for a low mile service (little more than an oil change) to meet the price.

I could do the jobs myself I guess, but life's too short. Have more "fun" things to do!

Dealer's attitude has really pee'd me off though. I would always think any discussion would be price based, not based on what needs doing. I guess I have lost confidence in them somewhat, regardless of price!

 

[frupi]

Just waiting for the independent to call back with a price. I have told them what needs doing, so we will see. I suspect that the dealer was basically quoting for a low mile service (little more than an oil change) to meet the price.

I could do the jobs myself I guess, but life's too short. Have more "fun" things to do!

Dealer's attitude has really pee'd me off though. I would always think any discussion would be price based, not based on what needs doing. I guess I have lost confidence in them somewhat, regardless of price!

I got so riled up reading about that pollen filter crud, I just sent an email to my local filter dealer requesting part number and price. He responded within 10 mins. £21.88 (inc vat) for the filter. You can get them cheaper than that though. I haven't checked out Ford's price for the pollen filter for the KA. I understand it will fit but it is probably tied to the Fiat price anyway.

 

[arorat]

Dealer's attitude has really pee'd me off though. I would always think any discussion would be price based, not based on what needs doing. I guess I have lost confidence in them somewhat, regardless of price!

fair enough, do look at Maxi's Invoice in the "Service Post", he is carving the way...

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/252370-have-i-just-been-mugged-off-servicing-13.html?p=2903625

 

[frupi]

I was just wondering whether any 500 owners have ever approached their local Ford garage to enquire about a service and associated costs on their 500. Certainly, once the warranty eventually expires on our own, I personally would have no quarms about approaching my local Ford garage for a quote. I'm of the understanding that the 500 is mechanically identical to the new KA? so surely a Ford garage could easily carry out any servicing work and maintain the warranty of the Fiat because one assumes, the service items are identical on some models? Just a thought. :shrug:

 

[306maxi]

I was just wondering whether any 500 owners have ever approached their local Ford garage to enquire about a service and associated costs on their 500. Certainly, once the warranty eventually expires on our own, I personally would have no quarms about approaching my local Ford garage for a quote. I'm of the understanding that the 500 is mechanically identical to the new KA? so surely a Ford garage could easily carry out any servicing work and maintain the warranty of the Fiat because one assumes, the service items are identical on some models? Just a thought. :shrug:

I did approach the local Ford dealers and they quoted even more than the Fiat ones.

I find it somewhat confounding that others have all these issues. It really isn't all that hard to read the service book and from there gain an understanding of what needs to be done to the car.

Once you come across as being sure of yourself and knowing what needs to be done then you're in the driving seat and you can take control of things. If you call up and say "Errmmmm I think my car is due for a service, it's this old, I've done this many miles, what do I need and how much will it cost?" The £ £ signs will lightup in the service desk person's eyes.


This person

1. Doesn't know if their car needs a service or not (I can get them to pay for a service they don't need or want)
2. Doesn't know how much it's going to cost (You can charge like a wounded bull)
3. Doesn't know what needs to be done so service items which don't need to be serviced or you can just charge them lots and only do a minor service.

When I call up for the price on a service I let the person say Hello, blah blah blah how can I help you and then I say this.

Hi, I've got a 2009 1.2 500 Lounge. It was last serviced at X miles on X date and I know it doesn't need a service yet, but I want to bring it in early for a service because I intend to keep it for a long time. I know that the X service takes X hours (in your service book!) and I'll be supplying all of the parts for this including oil, brake fluid, plugs, air, oil and pollen filters, all of which are genuine. I've spoken to my local independent and they charge X pounds per hour. Obviously I want to keep the costs down but if possible I'd like the car to have a full dealer service history. Will you price match my independent?

What I've said shows that I know what I'm talking about and that if they don't give me a good price I'm just going to go elsewhere. Simply calling up and saying "What's the best price you can do it for?" just doesn't cut it with a dealership. If they get the idea that you're just another cash cow then they're going to treat you like a cash cow. I've also been CLEAR and CONCISE about what I want so I'm not going to get a good price for a service only to find they've only done the oil and oil filter.....

 

[Super Uwe]

Maxi, I quite agree with your approach on how to handle dealers, however my experience is that certain dealers will still try and mug you even if you specify precisely what you want.

What ever happened to just offering your customers a fair price?

It really gets my goat; you see the same thing with car insurance renewals. Yes, if you do your homework then you won't get shafted. But why not just offer a decent price to start with?

Boooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

 

[OrangeSport]

I don't have a problem getting what I want done at a price I'm happy with. This is being done by an independent to Fiat specs.

The point of this post wasn't price. They aren't pricey really, are they? Even at full dealer prices a 500 service is only approximately 50% of the price of my watche's services (although they are less frequent).

The issue was that to match price the dealer misleadingly cut what was being offered (claiming a filter being dropped saved £100, before dropping in the gem that the brake fluid wasn't included - I wonder what else they planned to skip), then went on to suggest I could skip the fluid to keep it cheap!

Anyway, it is now booked in for everything it needs with someone who didn't try to pull the wool over my eyes.

 

[dave]

who is the dealer and who is the indi?