Dealership charges.

[landy]

Hi all,
I'm not sure where to put this but I was reading another post and I didn't want to hijack the thread.
So my question is in regards to the consumable charges that are charged to the customer.
I know that when I was in the trade we used to charge $15 to every customers service for consumables. Most never questioned but occasionally someone would say they wouldn't pay it if we couldn't show that we had used any portion of a product. The service manager always waived the charge rather than argue the point. So I'm always thought it's not legally enforceable.
My daughter recently had her car serviced and was charged an environment charge which I assume is to dispose of the filter and oil etc. is this a legaly enforceable charge? My thought is that it's implied that the trash is taken care of as part of the service. I mean seriously, you wouldn't expect a charge for the disposal of your Maccas rubbish would you? And I know for a fact that we were paid for the waste oil in the workshops I worked in over the years. So it seems that it's an unfair, double dipping charge.
Any thoughts?

[BigJon]

Legally enforceable? I am pretty sure the workshop can charge pretty much whatever they want to.

[Slunnie]

Is this like the $2000 dealer fee for a pre-delivery car wash.

[Roverlord off road spares]

And I know for a fact that we were paid for the waste oil in the workshops I worked in over the years. So it seems that it's an unfair, double dipping charge.
Any thoughts?It costs money to dispose of oil. our local council $5 per litre. Some take it for free to recycle. Tyres, there is now a carcass disposal charge for tyres when buying from a Tyre retailer, some might hide it in the prices and others itemize it as a separate item.
Also consumables are rags, degreasers, washing hand soap.



service. I mean seriously, you wouldn't expect a charge for the disposal of your Maccas rubbish would you?

Yes you can be read below:
We had a protestor charged for disposal of Maccas rubbish here in Tecoma. The unwanted controversial Maccas here ( still protesters every day here even after 12 months of opening)
He collected all the Maccas litter from our surrounding streets and dumped it back infront of maccas front door. Maccas had him charged by the police for littering. So he got CHARGED and paid a Charge.

[landy]

Legally enforceable? I am pretty sure the workshop can charge pretty much whatever they want to.
Yes, I get your point!

As far as rags and soap go. That is covered in the hourly rate. I know it's expensive to run a workshop but that is just a part of running a business.
Consumables to me is the few drops of loctite, a squeeze of silastic. That sort of thing.
But the Maccas comment. I sure you know what I meant though. But given the rubbish people leave behind in the car park maybe they should introduce a rubbish disposal charge.
I kinda glad I service my Landy myself. I'd hate to think what others must pay.

[Pickles2]

Landy, I agree with you.
We've had a few cars Dealer serviced, & they all do it, of recent years.
I don't argue about it, as long as they do the job the way I want it done, I'm happy, but IMHO the hourly rate is fairly high & I believe the dealership should cover these items, as they used to,...it's simply an operating expense.
Pickles.

[nat_89]

Audi technicians are charged at $154 an hours for a fault find on my wifes Q5 :o:o

[3toes]

Worked for a fleet management company a whole a go We had to cap the dealers at no more than 2 hours electronic fault finding work as they had the ability to spend a day on this and still not know what was wrong. Once the cap was in place and they knew we were serious managed to complete the work in the time we set.

[Redback]

Dealers are crooks, plain and simple, they charge double the Recommend Retail for 95% of goods, some even more than double.

Because our D4 was under warranty, we thought we'd do the right thing and get a Land Rover approved electric brake controller fitted by the dealer, the controller alone was over $800, Retail price $250, most places sell the LR approved controller for less, dealer labour charges, again over $800.

So we didn't bother, we will be doing it soon, but we will get our independent to do it, (if we don't do it ourselves)who just so happens to be a Land Rover trained auto electrician, his price is a lot more reasonable at around the $400 mark, fit and supply, less depending on the cost of the controller and no issues with the install.

Baz.

[Bob Harding]

Well I have a rumour that in certain quarters they are called "Stealerships"

With some good reason at times I am sure

[Homestar]

Legally enforcable? I guess it comes down to what you've signed up for when you buy a car or when you drop it in for a service. Somewhere in all the fine print it will say that all fees and charges will be paid for by the customer - including environmental levy. This is not just limited to dealerships and workshops. The industry I work in charges enviro too - it's part of our T's & C's that ALL customer have to sign before we supply any of our goods or services.

We have a whole team of legal eagles at our head office, so if it wasn't enforcable or if it was illegal, then we simply wouldn't do it.

Oh, and the cost of environmental compliance for big companies is increasing all the time - you should see the hoops we have to jump through. In this 'user pays' society we have come to live in, someone has to pay for this - and it won't be the comany trying to make a profit that is going to.

[clubagreenie]

There's a requirement for storage of both fresh oil and used waste products to be stored in an approved manner and for disposal to be traceable. You'll find there's a certificate somewhere near storage and disposal storage areas from the EPA who you can be are charging annually for it plus their inspection fees etc.

If I can get a letter of warning for throwing rubbish from my car (my rego but a commodre?) in vic on a day when I can prove I was in NSW and still not have it removed as a warning from my (we all have one if you've been warned etc by the EPA) then what hope do the workshops have if they're found to be dumping.

[Bobc163]

after consulting my cardioligist regarding charges quoted today by a dealer he advised me that he was going to go into the service business!!!!:)
Seriously though our D4 was sent for it 36 month service and we were advised of the following $988 for the service which consisted of Change oil and filter,
replace pollen filter, and change brake fluid.

Oh! it needs a new air filter that will be $90
and by the way the brakes need doing, $749 for the front and $544 for the rear

Guess what I said!!
Asked what the hourly rate was and told, wait for it, $186/ hr plus GST and then told "we are one of the cheapest in Sydney" asked who set the rate and told LR Aust set the rates

They did supply a loan vehicle (TDV6) which was a dissapointment for a new vehicle (ours is 2012 SD/SE) which we paid for.

Even our local small garage does not charge these rates, and the local Ultra Tune was half of that and he said that people still question his rates, imagine what they would say to LR rates!!

It would appear that LR seem to think that if you can afford their vehicle you must have a good bank account :D and they need it:twisted:

Will have after market rotors and pads fitted that are superior in performance to the originals (I have used these before on another european vehicle with great success)

What have other people experienced?

[PAT303]

No different to Japanese brands,Honda was charging $150 and hour 10 years ago. Pat

[Bobc163]

Yes but they have now adjusted their prices to reflect the real world :-)

Sent from my C6903 using AULRO mobile app

[nat_89]

Jeeze it makes the $155an hour Audi charge seem cheap!! Far out that's bloody crazy!!

[3toes]

Only 150 au dollars an hour - a bargain. Will have to see if my Land Rover dealer who charges 200 GBP per hour will price match. Price does not include a loan car which you pay extra for.

[nat_89]

Only 150 au dollars an hour - a bargain. Will have to see if my Land Rover dealer who charges 200 GBP per hour will price match. Price does not include a loan car which you pay extra for.

:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o:o Friggen hell i dont even know what to say jeeze!!

[Roverlord off road spares]

after consulting my cardioligist regarding charges quoted today by a dealer he advised me that he was going to go into the service business!!!!:)
Seriously though our D4 was sent for it 36 month service and we were advised of the following $988 for the service which consisted of Change oil and filter,
replace pollen filter, and change brake fluid.

Oh! it needs a new air filter that will be $90
and by the way the brakes need doing, $749 for the front and $544 for the rear

Guess what I said!!
Asked what the hourly rate was and told, wait for it, $186/ hr plus GST and then told "we are one of the cheapest in Sydney" asked who set the rate and told LR Aust set the rates

They did supply a loan vehicle (TDV6) which was a dissapointment for a new vehicle (ours is 2012 SD/SE) which we paid for.

Even our local small garage does not charge these rates, and the local Ultra Tune was half of that and he said that people still question his rates, imagine what they would say to LR rates!!

It would appear that LR seem to think that if you can afford their vehicle you must have a good bank account :D and they need it:twisted:

Will have after market rotors and pads fitted that are superior in performance to the originals (I have used these before on another european vehicle with great success)

What have other people experienced?
And they won't pay the apprentice who gets to do the menial stuff like oil changes that.

[gromit]

And they won't pay the apprentice who gets to do the menial stuff like oil changes that.

They won't pay anyone in the stealership that, it's what they charge to cover salary, fixed costs, marketing, overheads, 'consumables' etc. then they charge again for consumables....
If their hourly rate was 'sensible' you wouldn't mind paying for consumables.

I notice that Ford & Holden seem to be getting their act together (a bit) on servicing.
Ford capped price servicing for life (2007 onwards).
Holden capped price servicing for any model they have sold.
But.....you really must insist that they phone to confirm any other work outside the logbook service otherwise they will do additional work at their normal rates.

Just got the TDV6 (Territory) back from a service and they noted that the tyres need replacing soon. They attached a sheet detailing their tyre prices and, steps back in amazement, they were actually competitive.

So the cars won't be made here any longer but the dealers are starting to need our business.....funny that.

Mind you reading through this forum I feel for the guys running newer Land Rovers. I'm still on the original discs & pads at 120,000, small service is under $300 major about $500 but I did notice that the cambelt is due at 165,000 costing $1,825 (what does a D3 cost I wonder ?).

Colin

[ramblingboy42]

A good example here.

Last week both my son and my wife had their VW's serviced.

Identical services, wife at VW dealer, son at local Walkinshaw garage.

VW charged much higher prices for pollen filter, oil, and enviromental levy.

The Walkinshaw guys claim they don't need to charge environmental levy to have the disposeables taken away.

The price difference....Walkinshaw cheaper than VW by over $200.

Son is going back.....even though wife's service is payed by her lease....she isn't.

[clubagreenie]

Will have after market rotors and pads fitted that are superior in performance to the originals (I have used these before on another european vehicle with great success)

Just did all 4 rotors and pads on my D2. $135ea for front rotors, DBA T3's, Hawk pads $200-, rear rotors $66ea, genuine rear pads $48.

I know it's no D3/4 but disc brakes still can't br rocket surgery. Took 2 hours for a 4 corners discs and pads including rebuilding one rear caliper as a pad exploded, piston came out and shattered the disc.

[DiscoMick]

Fixed price servicing for our Mazda 2 is capped at $320 for 100,000 km from memory. Just got the Defender 60,000 km service (its out of 3 year warranty) done by the LR service schedule but at a local independent for $295.

Sent from my GT-I8730T using AULRO mobile app

[Pickles2]

A good example here.

Last week both my son and my wife had their VW's serviced.

Identical services, wife at VW dealer, son at local Walkinshaw garage.

VW charged much higher prices for pollen filter, oil, and enviromental levy.

The Walkinshaw guys claim they don't need to charge environmental levy to have the disposeables taken away.

The price difference....Walkinshaw cheaper than VW by over $200.

Son is going back.....even though wife's service is payed by her lease....she isn't.
Walkinshaw?...maybe We do have a bit in common Rambling, I've had a bit to do with those guys via HSV.
So, what took your son there?
Very unusual not to charge that fee, even the Holden Dealers charge it, so does Audi,...absolute rip off, IMHO.
Pickles.