I agree with most of that BUT main dealers also stand by the work no matter what so if they mess it up or it fails they will usually replace free of charge. Many independents will not give you a 12 month warranty so if they stuff it up at best you might get a 3-6 month warranty from them.
Main Dealer labour rates
- Thread starter MatteH Oxford
- Start date
Associate
That's a lot. I use a local independent VAG specialist and labour is £49 p/h inc VAT.
My ford dealer rate was £75 PH last year
£130+ PH for BMW/ Audi/ Volvo/ Etc dealers just makes me think of "A fool and his money is easily parted"
Some people will have warranty terms, etc. which limit their choice.
I can see that there might be a perception of security from using a main dealer. And in some cases it might be justified. But I think it's a hell of a claim to say that "main dealers also stand by the work no matter what ". There are plenty of cases of manufacturers overall not playing fair with their customers, never mind individual dealers.
It's illegal for the manufacturer to invalidate warranty because servicing was not done by their own dealers.
Soldato
Really?
I have had work done with a 12 month warranty on it (the parts makers usually do that) from independents
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Only for the factory warranty.
He said 'many,' not 'all'.
I have no idea as to the legality but they often have criteria that tends to restrict choice somewhat.
Actually I’ve got a shedload of Meguiars for my company car. My Dad always had company cars and always looked after them like they were his own so I guess it rubbed off. I have mine for four years so I treat it as if it were mine because I semi live in it and I want/need it to be presentable when I arrive at customers. It’s also always been dealer serviced.
There will always be exceptions.
I always find the diagnostics charge an absolute con.
There's absolutely no skill needed to plug the machine in and pull out the error codes. The high-end devices that all the main dealers will have will also tell you pretty much everything that's wrong.
Soldato
Thats on the proviso that the garage you use, uses original parts isn’t it
Soldato
I don’t think it’s even original is it? It’s same quality as the originals?
quite correct no skill in pulling the codes but thats far from diagnosing a fault. fault codes point to the end of the line and the sensor/sensors that have picked up a fault not always what has caused it
Alex
Associate
- Joined
- 27 Apr 2018
- Posts
- 1,320
Lol stand by the work? On what planet. More likely to say its "wear and tear"
Associate
Id agree with others and say BMW are the worst of regular cars.
Some of there parts prices are hilarious. They wanted 85quid for 2 split pins and shims for brakes a few years ago. Ordered the same thing on ebay for a tenner. Pathetic. I found Mercedes a lot better price wise for parts and labour. I had a older C55 AMG and always took it to merc for most stuff they were reasonable.
Some of there parts prices are hilarious. They wanted 85quid for 2 split pins and shims for brakes a few years ago. Ordered the same thing on ebay for a tenner. Pathetic. I found Mercedes a lot better price wise for parts and labour. I had a older C55 AMG and always took it to merc for most stuff they were reasonable.
Mercedes parts are incredibly reasonable, including their service parts, to the point that i'd never shop anywhere other than the main local agent (Mercedes Benz of Oxford in my case) for anything for my Merc.
Their service pricing however, totally the other end of the scale, absolutely ridiculous. If you consider the retail price of the parts from the same source, their labour rate is into the hundreds per hour.
Their service pricing however, totally the other end of the scale, absolutely ridiculous. If you consider the retail price of the parts from the same source, their labour rate is into the hundreds per hour.