Capped servicing chages

[ivorya]

Originally Posted by kelvinyhm

No haggle. Just service and pay at Ford center. They wash and vacuum even I didn't ask for it.

Checked last time with Honda Civic and Mazda 3 (during buying decision) that their service is 6 mths and $200+ capped per service (~$500/yr). So Ford still cheaper at $335/yr

However, when you take your car in for servicing at these dealers(Mazda etc), they look at how many kays you've completed and WILL reduce the price, quite significantly for low KM cars.

[Foconatic]

Just had the LW serviced yesterday. 30k / 2yr, But only done 22500 km. The Ford dealer charged me $350 (Trade on parts) so they said. Parts replaced were Oil & filter, pollen filter and brake fluid. I work for a Suzuki dealership and could have the tech's at work do it at a fraction of the cost, but my reasoning behind this is if that DCT pays up in the future or if it's out of warranty they can't say,,,Tough luck you did not get it serviced at a Ford dealership so pay up. Don't trust the excuses they make (Ford) that the DCT issues are characteristics of a DCT. Just like VW initially did and then end up having to fix the issues under warranty.

[KenN0898]

Originally Posted by Foconatic

Just had the LW serviced yesterday. 30k / 2yr, But only done 22500 km. The Ford dealer charged me $350 (Trade on parts) so they said. Parts replaced were Oil & filter, pollen filter and brake fluid. I work for a Suzuki dealership and could have the tech's at work do it at a fraction of the cost, but my reasoning behind this is if that DCT pays up in the future or if it's out of warranty they can't say,,,Tough luck you did not get it serviced at a Ford dealership so pay up. Don't trust the excuses they make (Ford) that the DCT issues are characteristics of a DCT. Just like VW initially did and then end up having to fix the issues under warranty.

My understanding is that the warranty remains valid just as long as you have the car serviced as per the Ford servicing schedule and any parts used are genuine Ford. But I am not sure how people who do their own servicing would go if there was a problem that would otherwise be covered by warranty. I imagine there would be a problem in that instance.
I have ask these questions about servicing because a few years ago my son worked in the car servicing industry but eventually he became so disgusted at the way unsuspecting car owners were being ripped off that he left the industry and retained in another industry.
As I see it, many owners have no alternative other than to put their trust in their servicing agent, especially those who aren't mechanically minded or very knowledgeable with the mechanics of their car, and I am sure there are many instances where gullible car owners do not receive the full service that they have paid for.

[pajoda]

Originally Posted by KenN0898

My understanding is that the warranty remains valid just as long as you have the car serviced as per the Ford servicing schedule and any parts used are genuine Ford. But I am not sure how people who do their own servicing would go if there was a problem that would otherwise be covered by warranty. I imagine there would be a problem in that instance.
I have ask these questions about servicing because a few years ago my son worked in the car servicing industry but eventually he became so disgusted at the way unsuspecting car owners were being ripped off that he left the industry and retained in another industry.
As I see it, many owners have no alternative other than to put their trust in their servicing agent, especially those who aren't mechanically minded or very knowledgeable with the mechanics of their car, and I am sure there are many instances where gullible car owners do not receive the full service that they have paid for.

I believe the criteria you have mentioned is true and I think it also has to be performed by a qualified shop too, and of course recorded in the service book.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Foconatic

Just had the LW serviced yesterday. 30k / 2yr, But only done 22500 km. The Ford dealer charged me $350 (Trade on parts) so they said. Parts replaced were Oil & filter, pollen filter and brake fluid. I work for a Suzuki dealership and could have the tech's at work do it at a fraction of the cost, but my reasoning behind this is if that DCT pays up in the future or if it's out of warranty they can't say,,,Tough luck you did not get it serviced at a Ford dealership so pay up. Don't trust the excuses they make (Ford) that the DCT issues are characteristics of a DCT. Just like VW initially did and then end up having to fix the issues under warranty.

If it's out of warranty you will be on your own regarding the DCT. Mine carked it 1 month / 63K km out of warranty and it was an epic battle to get Ford to do anything, even when they 'serviced' it 2 months prior to this (so, within the warranty period) at 60K km....

In reality, the servicing / warranty structure Ford uses means that you don't even touch the DCT till well out of warranty based on regular driving.

[Foconatic]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

If it's out of warranty you will be on your own regarding the DCT. Mine carked it 1 month / 63K km out of warranty and it was an epic battle to get Ford to do anything, even when they 'serviced' it 2 months prior to this (so, within the warranty period) at 60K km....

In reality, the servicing / warranty structure Ford uses means that you don't even touch the DCT till well out of warranty based on regular driving.

If that is the case with Ford, it will be the last Ford that I will be buying and the last time I will be using the servicing dealer.

I have worked as a service advisor with Hyundai, Toyota and now an assistant
service manager with Suzuki. In all three products the policy is if the customer is loyal we will do our level best to look after them even after warranty especially if it a known fault. Even if a customer services elsewhere we will still apply for goodwill for a known fault/concern. And in some cases proof of service history need not be a factor.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Foconatic

If that is the case with Ford, it will be the last Ford that I will be buying and the last time I will be using the servicing dealer.

I have worked as a service advisor with Hyundai, Toyota and now an assistant
service manager with Suzuki. In all three products the policy is if the customer is loyal we will do our level best to look after them even after warranty especially if it a known fault. Even if a customer services elsewhere we will still apply for goodwill for a known fault/concern. And in some cases proof of service history need not be a factor.

I was cursed the moment I stepped into the dealership to buy my Focus. From that point forward EVERY interaction ith the dealership was a battle.

Warranty, cost of items, warranty, extended warranty, dodgy services, over priced consumables, work and parts charged that wasn't done....

There is one very large Sydney service department and dealership that really does not deserve to be serving customers.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by ivorya

However, when you take your car in for servicing at these dealers(Mazda etc), they look at how many kays you've completed and WILL reduce the price, quite significantly for low KM cars.

Just curious about this. Why whould they offer a discount based on KM? Will they use less consumables / do less checks / take less care??

[ivorya]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Just curious about this. Why whould they offer a discount based on KM? Will they use less consumables / do less checks / take less care??

Maybe they are looking at the fact that this car is a private person, which has no real loyalty to them.
So if they "seem" to do the right thing by them, they'll continue to give them the service work.
I guess with so many of the cars these days being fleet, service departments can suggest any price and it'll get paid anyway.
Is someone paying $350 a fortnight on a package deal going to care if they have to pay $352 for the next car they get because the service department has increased the price over the previous year, Not really as they are looking at the Tax savings.

[Foconatic]

Originally Posted by ivorya

I guess with so many of the cars these days being fleet, service departments can suggest any price and it'll get paid anyway.

Not true. Fleet company's have fixed labour rates and trade prices on parts which is far below retail prices. Trust me we don't look forward to fleet cars, waste of time holding on to get authorizations and finalizing over the phone or the net.

[Foconatic]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Just curious about this. Why whould they offer a discount based on KM? Will they use less consumables / do less checks / take less care??

No, to the latter part of the question. Regarding the discount based on Less km. I can only speak for the company I work for. Here's an example: Services are recommended by time or km's which ever comes first. If a customer comes in for a scheduled service and the car has done the km and the time factor is also spot on we would recommend the service be carried out by the book. If however a person has low km's but service is due by time we can offer we do the bare essentials.we would not for example replace an air filter,fuel filter or drive belts ( if the schedule recommended it). Thus saving the customer money. We would however recommend items such as brake fluid and coolant be replaced on time irrespective of low km's. And are time based.
Also if the car is out of warranty, we can only advise them on what is recommended and leave the choice to them.

[kelvinyhm]

Originally Posted by ivorya

However, when you take your car in for servicing at these dealers(Mazda etc), they look at how many kays you've completed and WILL reduce the price, quite significantly for low KM cars.

Not sure how true is this in general but 4 of my mates (2x Mazda 3 1xHonda Civic 1xCorolla) they paid at stated capped price for their log book service. Not that they complaining...just saying.

Edited: fyi, all new car with low ks. everyone on public transport during weekdays. :p

[ivorya]

Originally Posted by kelvinyhm

Not sure how true is this in general but 4 of my mates (2x Mazda 3 1xHonda Civic 1xCorolla) they paid at stated capped price for their log book service. Not that they complaining...just saying.

Edited: fyi, all new car with low ks. everyone on public transport during weekdays. :p

Here in Newcastle, Crossroads Mazda, where my wife gets her Mazda 3 serviced, have been reducing the price of servicing since she got the car.
They said, they always look after Low kay cars by reducing the cost. The rough cost of each service should be $300+ but we've been getting it done for $200. She is lucky to drive 10000km per yr as I use my car most of the time during the weekend.
What makes this interesting is that we didn't even buy the car from them (Brookvale Mazda) and they are still looking after us.
Simple things like this has also added to their service department as we've told numerous friends to take their new Mazda's out there.
Win-Win for them!

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by ivorya

Here in Newcastle, Crossroads Mazda, where my wife gets her Mazda 3 serviced, have been reducing the price of servicing since she got the car.
They said, they always look after Low kay cars by reducing the cost. The rough cost of each service should be $300+ but we've been getting it done for $200. She is lucky to drive 10000km per yr as I use my car most of the time during the weekend.
What makes this interesting is that we didn't even buy the car from them (Brookvale Mazda) and they are still looking after us.
Simple things like this has also added to their service department as we've told numerous friends to take their new Mazda's out there.
Win-Win for them!

This is one dealer... Not mazda in general.

[Citwit]

Originally Posted by ivorya

Here in Newcastle, Crossroads Mazda, where my wife gets her Mazda 3 serviced, have been reducing the price of servicing since she got the car.
They said, they always look after Low kay cars by reducing the cost. The rough cost of each service should be $300+ but we've been getting it done for $200. She is lucky to drive 10000km per yr as I use my car most of the time during the weekend.
What makes this interesting is that we didn't even buy the car from them (Brookvale Mazda) and they are still looking after us.
Simple things like this has also added to their service department as we've told numerous friends to take their new Mazda's out there.
Win-Win for them!

This is exactly the point I was making. Good customer service is a win for the business. Satisfied customers keep coming back and tell their friends. Presumably as Foconatic mentioned they probably don't do things that don't need doing. I would be surprised that they would do a $300 service for $200 without omitting something. From my experience, in contrast, the air filter requires replacement at the 60,000 km service but it was replaced at the 45,000 km service. I don't have a problem with that. I didn't see the filter but I have to take their word for it hat it needed replacing. At the 60,000 km service they replaced it again. There is no way it needed replacing after another 15,000 km given the type of driving I do. I asked why it had been replaced and hey replied that the schedule stated it had to be replaced at 60,000 km. Again poor customer service.

[Yellow_Festiva]

Originally Posted by Citwit

This is exactly the point I was making. Good customer service is a win for the business. Satisfied customers keep coming back and tell their friends. Presumably as Foconatic mentioned they probably don't do things that don't need doing. I would be surprised that they would do a $300 service for $200 without omitting something. From my experience, in contrast, the air filter requires replacement at the 60,000 km service but it was replaced at the 45,000 km service. I don't have a problem with that. I didn't see the filter but I have to take their word for it hat it needed replacing. At the 60,000 km service they replaced it again. There is no way it needed replacing after another 15,000 km given the type of driving I do. I asked why it had been replaced and hey replied that the schedule stated it had to be replaced at 60,000 km. Again poor customer service.

Which is why you really need to be on top of the service dept... they do things to suit them first, then the customer second. How many times have people been told their wipers / tyres / brakes / rotors etc etc etc are within seconds of neuclear melt down when, in reality they are probably fine for another several thousand kays, or till the next service?

Love the fact they date consumables by km... 'You have 5,000km left on your pads, we suggest you do them today'.. without asking what kind of driving you do! Sure thing...

I have left a few service departments for the same reason. The Festiva went from Ford, to a well known brand then to a smaller mob and I got the best and most honest service from the smaller mob. I too was over charged for over servicing, which was partly my fault for not keeping on top of them but their loss in the end because I took my business elswhere.

Hey, at least they changed your air filter twice in 60k km! Mine was NEVER even inspected from delivery to 60k km, even though it was meant to be in pre-delivery as well as the 4-5 'services' after and then they then had the gall to charge me for a filter at 60 only to pop the box open at 61 and find a very black, clogged and buckled filter that wasn't even sealed over the intake due to sloppy fitment from factory.....

I sold the Focus and got a new Mirage, and their after sales service is not the best. There is NO WAY in hell I will be driving 45min each way to get my car serviced by people who can't return phone calls, reply to emails and can't be bothered with a customer after they have handed over their cash...

I'll be using my trusty mechanic that looks after all my other out of warranty cars. Will supply all the consumables and keep receipts in case Mitsibishi gets funny come warranty time and he will charge me half of what the capped price service is. Bugger the 'free' roadside help, I can change my own bloody tyres..... His 'waiting room' is the Kebab joint down the road....

And I can watch him and have a chat while he is working on the car....