Thread: Fight back against dealer servicing costs.

People need to fight back against the costs of Dealer Servicing.

I have a quote from Skoda for the 60,000km service for my Yeti. Previous I have had the Yeti serviced at a local garage and it usually costs about $100 - $120, I supply all the consumables myself. I buy the oil from Bursons and the filters, sump bolt and whatever else from Skoda.

I need the dealer to do this service as the Yeti is due for the gearbox oil to be changed and this need a special tool that costs about $200 and it is only use for VW group DSG gearboxes.

So here a few thing on my quote the dealer want me to pay for. Services and Levies, apparently that's for wear and tear on workshop tools and waste disposal. I don't know how much they think their tools are going to wear out but I'd expect with waste oil being sort after to be recycled these days, they should be paying me.

Check all the exterior lights. Well firstly, I am capable of turning my lights on and I have eyes and I can see them for myself. These items also get checked as per a normal rego check each year. I will not pay them to do this.

Windscreen wiper and wash system check. I expect that everyone who owns a vehicle should read the owners manual. Even if you don't read the manual, this is one thing you should know how to operate. If you can operate it, you will be able to tell if it's working or not. I will not pay them to do this.

Top up the windscreen washer. Really? They want to charge me to pour a little bit of soapy water in the washer bottle. I will not pay them to do this.

Tyre pressure check and adjust. I do this more than once every 2 weeks. I will not pay them to do this.

Tyre tread depth check. I also do this when I am checking the tyre pressure. If you have eyes, you can look at your tyres. I actually think the owners manual also tells you how to do this and descibes the wear markers with pictures. I will not pay them to do this.

Oh this one was good. Check the windscreen for damage. Well you I drove here and I was looking through that exact piece of glass. I think I'd know if the windscreen was damaged. I will not pay them to do this.

The list goes on with petty things they tell you they have done for them to justify charging you an inflated price. I doubt many even actually do them. I had a lawn mower serviced once as it was a requirement for warranty. Half the cost of the service was removing the blade for sharpening. Little did they know, I had taken the blade of and sharpened it to razor sharp with a sharpening stone before I took the mower in. If they had touched the blade it was likely they blunted it more than sharpened it.

By purchasing my own consumables and splitting the service between 2 places I have saved over $200. To have the Dealer do all the work would have cost $977 but I am only getting the dealer to change the gearbox oil because of the need of the special tool and the Haldex coupling becasue of need for special oil. All other work will be done by my local Garage. I'll still be paying the Dealer $411 just for changing the Diff and gearbox oil, of that there is only 30 minutes labour. My local garage charges my 1 hr labour for a service which is basically only an oil change but it will include a fuel filter this time.

Somehow I have gone from paying 3.5hrs dealer labour to 1.5hrs. Labour at the dealer was $124/Hr but once I wanted to cross things of the service list, it was no longer capped at the Skoda rate so it went upto $176/Hr.

They charge it because people pay it. If more people said "Hey, wait a minute, used oil is actually worth money and companies will come and pick it up. Why are you charging me for disposal" maybe the rest of us would not get ripped of so much.

My FIL has a Toyota Avalon, one of the first ones,, so its, what? 15 years old? he has never opened the bonnet, all responsibility on the local dealer to keep it in A1 condition.

Dealer servicing has to cover all kinds of owners.