Comments on: Car servicing – the costs, the intervals, the answers!

By: Tristan

Tristan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:13:00 +0000

I got my Peugeot 206 serviced today, at an Independent. They charged $25 for the wipers. that is 10% of what you got chargedWhether you got it done at a Dealership or independent, they really ripped you off good.

By: Rajkarun

Rajkarun — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Hi I to have a Mercedes, searching for a specialist in Melbourne…can you just post his number..

By: agrimensor

agrimensor — Thu, 05 May 2011 12:00:58 +0000

hey mate! your ford dealership just ripped me off today, I paid $316 for 10000kms first scheduled service of my car, to which I believe way too much. sorry but ford lost me as a costumer.

By: Simon_Says

Simon_Says — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 23:42:44 +0000

I think a better way to report servicing costs, is to simply take the relevant excerts out of the glovebox logbook.

For example in my 2005 Astra, it itemises what is required at each service, then lists the labout component plus the lubricant component.

Combine that with the 3 quote approach and you will see very quickly where you are being ripped off….. at dealerships most likely.

What i object to the most is dealerships who don’t itemise their costs. Especially when the parts they use are costing you up to three times the price of the generic item.

I was recently quoted $2000 for a new aircon compressor. The same unit (from the same factory in Belgium), was purchased by an automotive aircon service outlet for $650. This included overnight freight from interstate. Total costs to fix the aircon PROPERLY; which included a new condensor (again overnight freight from WA to SA) was $1400. Labour, of 2.5 hours cost me $280. At just over $100/hr, that was money well spent in my opinion…. and my car was ready in 24 hours from drop-off time. The ordering of parts in a timely manner was just part of doing business for this mechanic……. at a dealer, they would charge you extra for that…. and to heck with your inconvenience.

By: Cassiny Maud

Cassiny Maud — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 22:12:12 +0000

$100 is pretty steep for a bobcat. We charge $85. But on the topic, I have my maintenance covered by my car insurance company, so it’s free. Well, I do pay for the insurance of course, but at least the repairs are guaranteed.

By: Hyundai Lover

Hyundai Lover — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:40:07 +0000

that sounds like a lot of work!!

or people can just buy Hyundai’s, with their class leading 5 yr/unlimited km’s warranty and very cheap to service too!!

By: scott

scott — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:56:24 +0000

Not hard at all:
1)Pick a category – medium car (liberty, m6, euro, etc)
2)Assume 15,000 km/yr driven, work out average 3 year cost of servicing by..
3)calling 3 dealers for each model, work out min, average, max $ for parts/labour servicing for 3 years/45,000km
4)present results!

If you really want to do a comprehensive job, do the same thing for low use (7,000km/yr) and high use (40,000 km/yr)

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:25:22 +0000

This headline article gave me a glimmer of hope that I could finally get some simple, plain comparisons for car servicing costs between brands. WRONG. An utter waste of time with a misleading title. All I want is a simple, plain english article which gives and example of say, 6 sedans from across the board. Then show how much their basic servicing cost is….. and the intervals. Not rocket science. We are not morons out here… we understand that due to the X-factor of cars it is impossible to equate for the unknown costs but for crying out loud can’t somebody work out the statistic averages !!!! Come on ! This article was pointless, gutless and lacked any accountability. It just sounds like the author was trying to avoid accountability in case of litigation. An insult to readers.

By: LessQQ

LessQQ — Fri, 07 May 2010 10:11:30 +0000

which brings up the point that if Car reviews like CA would include such information, people would have an indication when doing their research.

By: PJK

PJK — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:51:35 +0000

“actually you would do well to avoid dealerships at any time. A warranty is unaffected by servicing at a dealership or not”

Do you really believe this is true???? Wait till something goes wrong and they ask for a service history!