[Closed] Car service from main dealer. ****s!

B****y hell!!

That is a bit mental. 🙁

They try this sort of thing on everyone.

I had a 3.2 Audi TT about 10 years ago - within about 1600 miles from new I had a puncture in the side wall of the front tyre.

They tried to recommend I changed all 4 tyres!

The sad thing is more vulnerable people will tend to believe them 🙁

😯 😯 😯 😯

Thats a disgrace. Name and shame..

Name and shame..

Quite happily - it's RRG Toyota in either Rochdale or Bury - not sure which branch at the moment.

I especially like how the battery failed a test and needs replacing.

Does the battery start the car? Test passed.

Still - if she had an Audi the cost would have been three or four times that.

I won't go into (again) my experience with that set of shysters.

EDIT: 'Would benefit from fuel treatment'? WT actual F! Are they taking it for a ****ing Spa Day?

That's as bad as people who go door to door scamming pensioners

Thats a disgrace. Name and shame..

Is it? If all of those things are true its a virtual death trap. However, I send it to an trusted Indy with that check list and ask if it were true still, plus THIER price for rectifying anything dangerous or needed for MOT.

ok for example 3mm left on the rear brake shoes. For a car which has done 30k miles in the last 8 years, that 3mm will probably last another 5 years! But 3mm doesn't sound like very much so better change them right?

what a bunch of utter ****s

this sort of thing boils my piss. See also rip-off "standard" tariffs for power that your average pensioner probably thinks is a fair deal.

Might be something to do with having several aging relatives who are ripe for this sort of thing. I don't mind spending a bit extra for convenience and peace of mind but there's reasonable and there's dishonestly taking advantage.

I reckon 2 new tyres and a wheel alignment would sort it, so £120ish.

Is it?

I think so, £110 for a front brake check?

And would benefit from under body protection too!

Shame them!

What a bunch of utter, utter, bastards.

She obviously knows nothing about cars or what the list means, and it seems the garage is taking full advantage of this and has quite happily offered her 'a really good deal' on a new car.

Someone in the service dept of a main dealer trying to flog you a car. Makes it pretty obvious their thought process when running through the checklist. 🙄

[i]Does the battery start the car? Test passed.[/i]

Tricky one that. The one in my car woudl start the car as long as you hadn't left it for a week and it wasn't too cold.

Had battery tested and it wasn;t holding charge and had reduced capacity so I had it replaced.

My eyes are on stalks for the cost but as I see it;

1) disks and pads - with 18000 mile service intervals I can see why they'd recommend replacement, they're all a 'bit low' and wouldn't last. If mil does low mileage it might not be a problem.
2) warnings on MOT - I'd ask 'how much' which is basically what that list is and then decide to leave it or not.
3) tyres, sound like they're all a bit low and could do with changing.

I can see how people get sucked in to a massive spend but the garage giving prices for MOT notes isn;t unreasonable is it?

[edit]

[i]£110 for a front brake check? [/i]

I read that as they'd done the check and the price was for a replacement set of disks fitted, as an example?

Tell her you'll get all that done for half the price and you'll also take her out for tea.

Classic main dealer behaviour.

I needed a new key for a 1999 MkIV golf which needed to be booked into Martin's VW to 'log on' to the central computer system.

Got the car back with a similar size list, even bigger price tag. Told them 'Thanks'.

Took the car to my tame mechanic for MoT and service. None of the items from VW came up as advisory. I gave him the list from VW when I picked the car up and he just said it was typical main dealer behaviour, your car is fine.

Audi main dealer told me I had a power steering pump leak that would cost £1000 to fix as they had to take the front of the car off to get to it (RS4).

My indy garage guy took a look - it was where a bit of oil had been spilt last time it was filled. Cost? £0.

Does the battery start the car? Test passed.

Tricky one that. The one in my car woudl start the car as long as you hadn't left it for a week and it wasn't too cold.

That looks like a comprehensive list of checks, and to be a little lenient towards the dealer they're probably pushing for New Car sales (considering your MiL's cars Age and now their condition report) and willing to push forward options to her..
Obvz.
Quite what the dealer will make of it when someone like yourself picks up on a lot of what they've produced is another matter, but I reckon they'll stick by it without hesitation.
You'll be mad enough to call the dealer in question right? For sure you ought to clarify the dealers position on the condition of the vehicle and their proposal for a part exchange and the deal from it.
Obvz.
As a matter of course you should question the cost. Take it up with the Head of "Blah/Guff/Spannering"
Obvz.
But it's an invoice and will need to be settled, so you'll need to head on over yourself and question it.
Obvz.
Then, for piece of mind take it to an Independent Toyota garage for its' remedial work and to get it through an MOT and then ask them to check the main dealers list AFTER the independent has completed their own analysis and work schedule.
obvz.

It's times like this anger sets in because of the feeling of a family member being "ripped off" yet in reality until you've got those items checked and verified by another source it's just a Dealer doing what they do best and thats to lay it all on thick and fast and expect someone maybe less attuned to how large Dealerships work.

the garage giving prices for MOT notes isn;t unreasonable is it?

I don't think so either. They have a checklist to go through and a process to follow. If they then pass the details to someone who doesn't know their ball joint from their flange gasket then you can't blame the garage (for standard main dealer behavior). Perhaps there was a conversation between service department and MiL that we're not aware of.

Audi main dealer told me I had a power steering pump leak that would cost £1000 to fix as they had to take the front of the car off to get to it (RS4).

My indy garage guy took a look - it was where a bit of oil had been spilt last time it was filled. Cost? £0.

And my business partner was quoted £1,000 to replace a front grille after some of the finish started to delaminate. He took it to be resprayed instead at a cost of £100.

Never again will I deal with an Audi main dealer.

Is it? If all of those things are true its a virtual death trap. However, I send it to an trusted Indy with that check list and ask if it were true still, plus THIER price for rectifying anything dangerous or needed for MOT.

But to many people the main stealer are the people to be trusted and listened too, not some wee back street place that's obvs out to rip you off*

*in their minds

That's an extraordinary list, love the alarmist colour coding especially the red against 2 tyres which are MOT advisories so still legal*. The fuel filler pipe is a little pricy too.

My car needs a new reluctor ring, £18 parts and about an hour labour at the garage round the corner. BMW don't replace the ring, their smallest part to fix the problem is the driveshaft. I'm not taking the car there!

* or maybe they're advisng they won't pass, in which case fair enough.

You mean people still use main dealers for service/repairs/mot outside of warranty...

You mean people still use main dealers for service/repairs/mot outside of warranty...

See above ^^^

[i]But to many people the main stealer are the people to be trusted and listened too, not some wee back street place that's obvs out to rip you off[/i]

So I'm someone who doesn't know a huge amount about cars and tends to take their car to the local dealer (free MOT when they an annual service and a loaner car each time, so fairly cost effective) but when we actually had a problem (coil pack needed replacing) the dealer wanted over £400 but a friendly mechanic did it for £200 so I'm fully aware of how much potential they have to take the piss.

Could someone step through that list and to educate muppets like me what needs doing and what is them taking the piss (overcharging, replacing early, etc)?

Front discs and pads come to £43.17 inc vat at brakeparts.co.uk, fitting shouldn't be as much as an hour in labour.

They try this sort of thing on everyone.

I had a 3.2 Audi TT about 10 years ago - within about 1600 miles from new I had a puncture in the side wall of the front tyre.

They tried to recommend I changed all 4 tyres!

The sad thing is more vulnerable people will tend to believe them

They will say that, they used to say (and there was some data to back it up) that with their 'Quattro' cars that you had to change all 4 tyres at the same time or it would wear out the drivetrain and even kill the gearbox, but even on 4WD cars the tyres don't wear at the same rate anyway so there's more than a bit of wiggle room in the system.

Most importantly though 'Quattro' stopped being a 'thing' years and years ago, long before your TT 10 years ago and was just a catch-all name for all their 4WD cars and they used different systems on different models bought in from different suppliers. The TT, but pretty much a Golf in a fancy body used a Haldex system which is more tolerable to mis-matched tyre depths than the bigger Audis

we did this last month didnt we ?

Could someone step through that list and to educate muppets like me what needs doing and what is them taking the piss (overcharging, replacing early, etc)?

I've added it all up and it's £450 in parts from Eurocarparts or similar. Probably best part of a day for me to sort it all - and I'm nowhere near being a mechanic. Only bit I'm not sure on is how to access the fuel filler pipe so that might be messy and difficult, but then again, probably not too bad.

My main gripe is all the stuff like 'would benefit from...'. It might benefit from a solid gold gearstick knob being fitted, but that doesn't mean it needs doing!

[img] [/img]

Aren't the government going to trial alternate roundabouts reversing directions to keep tyre wear even? Should be fun on the Dearne Valley Parkway. 😉

trail_rat - Member
we did this last month didnt we ?

Since when has that mattered in this forum?

I've added it all up and it's £450 in parts from Eurocarparts or similar. Probably best part of a day for me to sort it all - and I'm nowhere near being a mechanic. Only bit I'm not sure on is how to access the fuel filler pipe so that might be messy and difficult, but then again, probably not too bad.

Is she planning to run the 09 Yaris into the ground or sell it on in a couple of years? Much of the stuff on that list either doesn't need doing at all (heat shield etc) or will need doing at some point in the future (brake pads), possibly not before she sells it. I'd certainly be getting a second opinion on stuff like the fuel filler pipe, and perhaps even the suspension issue, just to confirm whether replacement is needed sooner rather than later.

EDIT: Ah, I see your spreadsheet, which is sensible.

Is she planning to run the 09 Yaris into the ground or sell it on in a couple of years? Much of the stuff on that list either doesn't need doing at all (heat shield etc) or will need doing at some point in the future (brake pads), possibly not before she sells it. I'd certainly be getting a second opinion on stuff like the fuel filler pipe.

TBH we'll probably be given this Yaris either now (if she buys a new one) or in a few years time - we still have her old 2001 Yaris from last time she upgraded and it's been brilliantly reliable and has done >150k! I'll do the brakes and suspension arms now regardless of who's keeping it, and the other bits as they become necessary.

Mowgli: interesting thanks 🙂

sit back relax and wait for that phone call on the first frost of the year when the yaris wont start .....

I'd take the risk for £90 but that's just me.

+ its a Yaris. I'm sure you don't need to service them. There'll be cockroaches driving those and Avensis' around when the holocaust comes.

Could someone step through that list and to educate muppets like me what needs doing and what is them taking the piss (overcharging, replacing early, etc)?

All advisories, probably only the front tyres are really a worry, I'd swap them to the back to get some more life out of them.

She can plane on having a bigish bill for the front suspension at some point in the next few years though.

Plenty of meat left on the pads and discs*

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I got my money's worth out of my last set.

Cae batteries are funny things and do have a habit of just dying so this check is useful.

I had been having no issues with my car - drive Sheffield to Nottingham for Christmas Day and then had to take the MiL back to her home.

On leaving the car just wouldn't start. Needed a new battery.

Same thing happened to my mum's car a few years ago. Had been starting fine - stopped to fill up with petrol and again wouldn't go. Battery completely gone.

Don't know about the rest of the list...

depends how far from your mother you are and how much of an inconvenience it would be..... if it was my mother it would be the end of the world as we know it.... (but in reality little more than the car wont start ill go in and have another cup of coffee)

Audi are indeed terrible for invented work, I have posted before a number of examples we experienced - £1000’s of quids worjth. We also had a Toyot where they kept changing the “cat” under warranty.

Anyway OP I would look at the tyres and give the car a brake test yourself - does it stop promptly in a straight line ? Battery you can do yourself if you want - eurocarparts are good. The other stuff is all likely to be bollix.

If you MiL wants to sell however I am certain I could beat the dealer trade in price - seriously interested assuming its a 4 door and not a horrible colour. My kids all shared a Yaris - 10years okd now 120k miles and only really had consumables and a recent new exhaust

Disappointed they missed a trick with the carpet mats. Should've first insisted the car requires mats installing at some exorbitant price, thus setting up the necessity to replace unsafe carpet mats next time. Must try harder.

Got all the hallmarks of the Bury branch, from my experience with them when my Mrs's had a Yaris.
A Relative lives in Bury but goes to Colne for servicing etc...!

All a car needs is an oil and filter change once in a blue moon, everything else just gets picked up at MOT time.

Our daughters Yaris started clunking on bumps, turned out to be the wish bones bushes if I recall, it was cheap as chips to replace them at a local independent.

Volvo dealer was gonna charge my old man for 8 spark plugs on a 4 cylinder engine, luckily I reviewed the work sheet as I was with him at the time.

Admin error apparently.. Yeh right.

Just because it's a main dealer do not assume they are honest or competent.

There's such a thing as a 'car mat safety check'? Wow.

We had a 1999 Yaris for 17 years until last year. In that time it needed very little - tyres, pads etc. Water pump bearings went during warranty, and the fuel pump went when we decided to sell at 17 years old - we had it fixed, and the new owner is very happy with it.

That's a dodgy dealer and a half.

Also the first service on my old fiesta at a ford dealership, they 'replaced the air filter'.

Well it wouldn't have needed replacing at that millage anyway, but i felt I had to ask them what they did to the expensive custom induction system that I'd fitted.

Friend took her X trail in to get the panoramic sunroof looked at (auto open or close only prompted 10cm moves before stopping). Nissan Main Stealer had a quick look and said they'd need it for a day at least to strip out the head lining and look at the motor etc.

30 mins on google and I found the "re-learning" setup procedure for the auto open and close function. Emailed it to her and hey presto it was fixed after the correct button press sequence.

So either the Main Stealer in Eastbourne are really thick or they are a bunch of scammers. I'd go for the latter are the non replacement of our XTrails pollen filter.

That list is either:

A: the car is about to fall apart.
B: the dealer smells an easy sell.

From my dealings with Yaris' of various ages I'd say B.

Seeing as my dad's X reg Yaris is near-mint and I have eyes on it as a winter car when he gives up driving I'd be getting yours to an independent you trust for a check-up.

You mean people still use main dealers for service/repairs/mot outside of warranty...

I do for my Fabia as they're the cheapest around and have yet to try and rip me off. I can easily do the servicing myself but the ease of handing them £120 or £170 depending on which service it is, getting to play in a new courteousy car for the day and having that stamp in the book for resale time makes it a bargain. The next best is In N' Out but they want to halve the service interval (to every 5K!! That's 3 services a year!) and charge more due to it having 'Special VAG oil' I'll stick to the main dealer thanks.

Nissans have a lot of 'secret' fixes as do many cars. Ignition key/pedal presses to get and clear codes.

My Wife's replacement to the Yaris, had supposedly had 4 services in the 23k miles it had done in the 3 year old car when we bought it, all main dealer. Local garage did the recent service, and changed the pollen filter - leaves and crap all over - not one of the other 'services' had changed it.

Prefer local independents.

There's such a thing as a 'car mat safety check'? Wow.

Toyota recalled 6 million of their vehicles in 2010 for dodgy car mats causing “unintended acceleration”.

Before they did it’s thought 37 people were killed at least partly because of it, the total cost to Toyota was $2bn.

So yeah, they check the mats on 2009 Toyotas whenever they see them.

Mowgli - let us know how you get on challenging the dealer.

The finest one I had was from a garage I was recommended in Stirling when we first moved here. Mrs_oab took our Yaris for it's MOT and service, walked to work. Garage called and told her the headlights had sagged, and there was no adjuster, so needed two new headlights fitting....!

I'm not planning on confronting RRG - just hoping I can convince MiL not to a) believe a word they say and b) visit them again in future. Unfortunately I think their last 5 or 6 cars have come from RRG so they obviously trust them. AFAIK they've not actually had any work done other than replace the worn out tyres and possibly take a new Yaris for a test drive.

Seems like a comprehensive list of recommended work to me - presumably that's what the traffic-light system indicates (is there a key?)? All of the warning (orange) items are potentially valid (brakes [I]are[/I] low, battery is apparently on it's way out, corrosion is starting to be evident) and you can't really say otherwise without the benefit of detail / context. If they'd not highlighted the issues they're not doing their job.

Prices are another thing, but that's just the usual main dealer pricing structure - who's surprised at that these days!?

I guess it depends on whether you prefer to use stuff to the point of destruction or employ preventative maintenance.

Frogstonp, you can guarantee that when the list was handed to the customer it wasn't just friendly advice and useful info. Service desks in stealers have sales targets to make, I'd be pretty certain that it was implied that this is the work that [i]should[/i] be done, and I bet they even offered to make an appointment there and then

I always employ preventative maintenance on my oil filter.
It has to be replaced every 25 miles lest my oil may get dirty.

[quote=legend]Frogstonp, you can guarantee that when the list was handed to the customer it wasn't just friendly advice and useful info.

Can you guarantee to the contrary? Maybe they implied it [I]should[/I] be done, maybe it really [I]should[/I] be done!

It's the usual STW pitchfork party based on incomplete information..

OP sad to hear I won't be buying a nice low milage Yaris 😐

No reason not to buy a new car if she really wants - new model is great and proof the French can build a decent car, she can check around for prices, carwow etc. Just don’t have the work done on the old one and don’t part-x it with the main stealer. As for the battery if she wants it changed she can go to an independent battery place or you can do it next time you are there. As an aside eurocarparts suggests (I am guessing model/engine size) that a battery is £75 (Lion)-£100 (Bosch) although they do have a sale on. Buy one and take it over.

Did the lightbulbs no need repainted?

frogstomp - Member
Seems like a comprehensive list of recommended work to me - presumably that's what the traffic-light system indicates (is there a key?)? All of the warning (orange) items are potentially valid (brakes are low, battery is apparently on it's way out, corrosion is starting to be evident) and you can't really say otherwise without the benefit of detail / context. If they'd not highlighted the issues they're not doing their job.

Prices are another thing, but that's just the usual main dealer pricing structure - who's surprised at that these days!?

I guess it depends on whether you prefer to use stuff to the point of destruction or employ preventative maintenance

I wonder how may of the people who have commented work for free or cost things out at near cost. Which seems to be how they expect to pay for things.
After all we are all responsible for the vehicles we drive. They are very dangerous and we don't seem to really get that!!
Yes some prices are expensive. Excessively so in some cases but there is a reason some things cost more. Are the 40 quid brake set going to last as long? probably more susceptible to falling apart, sqealing or developing judder. More importantly are they going to stop your wife and kids as well as the ones that cost more. They probably in most cases cost more because of the extra R&D.

I would change battery from ECP at about £60 with code, take car to local reputable MOT centre (avoid £20/free MOT deals as they want you in the door to fail parts they can sell you) this will tell you what parts are actually needing replaced and get it serviced at local independant garage. I bet she at least halves that estimate. Also I believe discs are 22mm new so probably 2 years before they are at minimum at normal driving (please remember the DOT will have a built in safety allowance even at 20mm)

I've added it all up and it's £450 in parts from Eurocarparts or similar. Probably best part of a day for me to sort it all - and I'm nowhere near being a mechanic. Only bit I'm not sure on is how to access the fuel filler pipe so that might be messy and difficult, but then again, probably not too bad.

My main gripe is all the stuff like 'would benefit from...'. It might benefit from a solid gold gearstick knob being fitted, but that doesn't mean it needs doing!

Spot on Mowgli.
As an ex 'motor mechanic' as opposed to a 'motor technician' I fully agree with your thoughts. The dealer's just trying to do a rip-off.

A guy I know has a Yaris that has at least 335,000 miles on it. I say at least, as that's what it had last year on its MOT
( stalker 😆 )

My car has been to a main dealer once for a recall where they had to replace a module that was likely to burst into flames.

The lady on service reception walked around the car with me to note any dents etc. As we were walking around, she noted how tidy it is. " not bad for 105,000 miles " I replied. She didn't believe it had that many miles on such a young car so I just said " aye, it's still running coz it's never been here before I have it serviced properly "

Needless to say I don't like main dealers.

Are the 40 quid brake set going to last as long? probably more susceptible to falling apart, sqealing or developing judder. More importantly are they going to stop your wife and kids as well as the ones that cost more. They probably in most cases cost more because of the extra R&D.

You do realise that the parts you get from Euro Car Parts etc are OEM spec if you buy a decent brand? If a dealer doesn't have a part in sock in a Branded box to do a service they'll get the same part we can buy from them to do the job. They won't fit the budget own-brand filter for example but they'll happily fit a Bosch or Champion spark plug.
Plus there is no way a motor factor could get away with selling brake pads that crumble! Stuff like that has to be of a certain quality, usually within OEM spec, so buying non-manufacturer branded parts is not dangerous.

[i]A reasonable post at last![/i]

I said the same thing on page 1 😉