Servicing Schedule - by time, or by km's?

[eddomak]

Hi All,

I know there was a recent thread on the cost of servicing, so this might fit under that, but not exactly either.

My D4 3.0SE is now a couple of months short of 2 years old, but has just done 23,920km's. It's first service was in March 2011 for 12,000km's.

I took it to a dealer (since I needed some warranty fixes done at the same time) for the service, and was expecting the 24,000km service to be done, which has a standard price of around $700-$800.

Instead, the dealer did the 48,000km/2 year service, which has a standard price of approximately $1700 :eek:. To his credit, the service manager managed to trim the price down to $1200 ish, as I got new rear brake pads (never thought they wore down faster than front pads?!?) and a wheel rotate/balance/align done as well, which brought the bill all up to $2080.

My question is, should the dealer have done the major service (48,000km/2yr) or just done the 24,000km service? I understand that some things wear over time (eg rubber parts/seals) and not necessarily over use, so I am just trying to get a good opinion here, and to see if I have been over-serviced?

Thanks,
Edwin.

[whyatts]

Technically the vehicle needs to be serviced every 12 months
whether the car has done 5k or 26k however $2080
is very expensive.

It would be interesting to know why the 48k/24mth service is
$1000.00 more than the 24k/12mth

Every single driver is different, so vehicle maintanance should be
flexible depending upon your vehicles requirments.

Did your vehicle require the same service a vehicle with 48,000klm
on the odo? I don't think so.

[scarry]

i recon it is whatever comes first,so at two yrs,if the k's are not up,it gets the 2yr service.if the k's are up before two yrs,it gets the service at the k's.

hope that makes sense........

[eddomak]

The breakdown was $600 labour, and around $600 parts (parts list looked reasonable, including the $251 for engine oil...)

The additional $800 was for the additional items (brakes, wheel rotate, balance, align).

So if I gave them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it was worth the same amount of time to check all the aging components, but the $500 reduction in cost was due to not needing as many parts replaced as a 48,000km car?

Of course the other issue was that if I don't get this serviced according to the book, then I may be up for warranty claim issues in the future?

[whyatts]

perhaps you should consider calling another Land rover dealer next time.
Some dealers are quite reasonable price wise :)

[Blknight.aus]

The breakdown was $600 labour, and around $600 parts (parts list looked reasonable, including the $251 for engine oil...)

The additional $800 was for the additional items (brakes, wheel rotate, balance, align).

So if I gave them the benefit of the doubt, perhaps it was worth the same amount of time to check all the aging components, but the $500 reduction in cost was due to not needing as many parts replaced as a 48,000km car?

Of course the other issue was that if I don't get this serviced according to the book, then I may be up for warranty claim issues in the future?


you want to question that....

I took the ford dealership that was servicing big red to town over charging me to do a tyre rotation as part of a major service

there logic was they had to put the vehicle on the hoist then remove the tyres then move them around then put them back on. My instant reply was "how did you change the brake pads and the service the wheel bearings without taking them off then? what did you do with them once you had them off? When their answers were "we take the wheels off and then stack them in the corner of the servicing bay" I questioned so once you put them all back on did you take them off again to rotate them? when answered "no" i asked why the spare wheel had not been rotated into the pattern and then refused to pay for the service until I had personally checked ALL the claimed work had been done.

Surprisingly this was a conversation held AFTER the service with the conversation about charging me to change the spark plugs on a deefer.

the service schedule is done by both Time and KM...

in this case time came up first.

when you get to 48 K Km you get the 48K Km service if you're lucky (and with the current K's you will be) it'll fall due at the 4 year service mark.

[400HPONGAS]

$251 for engine oil WTF !!!! 6.6l of 5W/30fully synthetic wouldnt even be $100.
I suppose the tripling of cost of the oil ,is to pay fpr the speshul soopa doopa sump sucker LOL

[Disco4SE]

I was charged $196.00 for oil at my last service.
The oil was Castrol SLX Pro Powerflow.................sounds very expensive at least.

Cheers, Craig

[Robocop]

Yep same charge for oil here...

[LGM]

I am purchasing a 20L drum of Castrol Edge Proffesional C1 5w30 from my local fuel agent who has given me a price of $310.43

If my calculator is working correctly and I dont have fat fingers then a litre of oil is $15.52 or $102.44 for 6.6L.

Best check my owners manual and hope its the right oil. :eek:

I understand a business must make a profit from the work it does and hence there will be a mark up on items they purchase then supply to you and me but 100% is just a money grab cause they think we are all dumb. :mad:

I still intend to have my local independant LR agent do my service work but want the ability to change the oil myself and hold some for what if's. Vac pumps (hand operated) are available via e-mail order ex US but I have'nt gone there yet.

LGM

[eddomak]

Yeap, normally I would go to Graeme Cooper (independent LR specialist), but this time I needed to get some warranty work done so didn't want to have 2 days where the rest of the family is stuck at home whilst the car isn't available.

I think last time I was charged closed to $150 for the oil by the independent. Time to go check the invoice...

[roamer]

I am purchasing a 20L drum of Castrol Edge Proffesional C1 5w30 from my local fuel agent who has given me a price of $310.43


(QUOTE)
Vac pumps (hand operated) are available via e-mail order ex US but I have'nt gone there yet.

LGM


Yeah that is the right oil for 3lt
I got a 20lt drum , 12mths ago for $275, from Castrol depot


You don't really need a pump, there is still a sump plug, that I think most dealers and indis use, just get a new sump plug.

Cheers Ken

[Graeme]

Best check my owners manual and hope its the right oil.
It is the correct oil for a D4 fitted with a DPF and also suitable for non-DPF vehicles. I paid $285 for a 20L drum recently.

[Disco4SE]

I would be double checking on that oil for the 3.0Lt, as I was told by my dealer that it is not the right oil.

Cheers, Craig

[whyatts]

please be aware that castrol recently changed the names of all the oils.

Castrol Edge Sport powerflow C1 5w30
is now called
Castrol Edge professional powerflow C1 5w30

I think they changed the pattern on the drum too, but its all the same.

[whyatts]

I say recently, but its probably close to 6 months ago now...

[eddomak]

OK, so I'm a sucker for pain and decided to do a quick comparison of my invoice with an independent from 1 year ago to the current invoice at a dealer so I can be prepared next time.

Engine Oil - $84.14 (EPLUS0W40)-> $251.94 Castrol 5W/20 Synthetic
Oil Filter (same part #) - $24.07 -> $35.40
Drain Plug (same part #) - $8.46 -> $11.43
Washer Additive - $1.27 -> $8.94 (admittedly I have no idea which brand, but I fill my own one up normally with around $2.00 worth of stuff?)
Workshop Supplies/Consumables - $7.00 -> $24.00
Waste Disposal / Environmental Waste Levy - $1.00 -> $22.00?

I think I'm going to have a quick chat with them about the engine oil price...:mad:

[whyatts]

OK, so I'm a sucker for pain and decided to do a quick comparison of my invoice with an independent from 1 year ago to the current invoice at a dealer so I can be prepared next time.

Engine Oil - $84.14 (EPLUS0W40)-> $251.94 Castrol 5W/20 Synthetic
Oil Filter (same part #) - $24.07 -> $35.40
Drain Plug (same part #) - $8.46 -> $11.43
Washer Additive - $1.27 -> $8.94 (admittedly I have no idea which brand, but I fill my own one up normally with around $2.00 worth of stuff?)
Workshop Supplies/Consumables - $7.00 -> $24.00
Waste Disposal / Environmental Waste Levy - $1.00 -> $22.00?

I think I'm going to have a quick chat with them about the engine oil price...:mad:


the part number "EPLUS0W40" sounds like they may have used
Castrol Edge Proffessional 0w40
which is recommended on castrols lube guide for Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6
engines (which is substantially cheaper than the correct oil)
Although $251.94 is very expensive, I don't think a workshop
could sell it for $84.14 as they would be loosing money.

[eddomak]

the part number "EPLUS0W40" sounds like they may have used
Castrol Edge Proffessional 0w40
which is recommended on castrols lube guide for Discovery 3 2.7 TDV6
engines (which is substantially cheaper than the correct oil)
Although $251.94 is very expensive, I don't think a workshop
could sell it for $84.14 as they would be loosing money.


In reading the recent thread on changing oil and oil filter, I just noticed the specification of oil of 5W30 that is recommended and the warning in the bulletin about the bearings.

Is 0W40 a better grade, and is 5W20 also acceptable?

Thanks,
Edwin

[eddomak]

I just checked with the dealer$hip and the fill in service manager had selected the wrong option for engine oil on the invoice.

When I asked if there would be a price difference the regular service manager said that there would indeed be a difference of $100 or so, so he would regenerate the invoice credit me back the amount.

So the price for the 5W30 is at least not $250. Thanks to all of you for putting me on the right track and saving me the money.

Moderators: Sorry for the cross-post across 2 topics - won't do it again.