2011 4.4 TD 51K miles
4th year service
£800 at dealer!!! i was expecting about £4-500
due to the full extended warranty i have to take it to dealer. usually a specialist does the stamp for my previous RR.
previous ownership of Bentley and the like have been cheaper.
as i have a host of older 'classics' i do the servicing on them.
breaks my heart to pay that sort of money for oil change.
i am not being tight , but the businesses we own have been built on value for money.
grumble grumble....
raj 2011 4.4 TdV8 Nara Bronze

Hourly rates at main dealers are a joke. I won't touch them since they charged me 4 hours diagnostics on a Classic RR and still did not find out what the electrical issue was.

Paid £25 to an independent electrician at home and he diagnosed it in 30 mins.

This was about 5 years ago, but I trust specialists rather than branded chimps. Tom

Current Drive
2011 4.4 TDV8 Autobiography - Santorini Black - Ivory Leather

Previous Drives
2004 Model Vogue Td6 (Touchscreen) - Java Black - Parchment Leather
1994 RR Classic 3.9 V8 Soft dash - Niagara Grey - Grey Leather
1972 Series III SWB Safari - Green (Hand Painted) - Black Plastic

I presume they did more than just a standard service for that price Raj?

You don't have to take it to a Main Dealer if it's the Land-Rover extended warranty.

You can take it to any VAT registered garage, providing they use genuine parts.

Have another read of the Warranty paperwork.

From the warranty handbook;

Quote:

It is a condition of this Warranty that your vehicle is serviced in accordance with the
manufacturer’s guidelines.
Throughout the warranty period a franchised Land Rover dealer or other reputable
garage should carry out all servicing and repair work.

I'm guessing they changed pads and other stuff, which you could have had done cheaper at your indy, or even yourself.

I am a big advocate for having the vehicle serviced at a dealer and being loyal to that franchise as when something does need replacing they are very much on your side.

I have just had Hunters do my rear lower tailgate and the didn't quibble even though the vehicle is 6 years old next month. It was done under warranty and they did a good job. All they have ever done is basic services and I got the all important stamp in the book - any other work - Pads etc I have done myself.

Only £800!! Bargain!
Our services at a main dealer have regularly been 800 plus, one being well over 2 grand! The last main dealer service they had to run 3 diagnostic checks and charged us 50 quid a pop!
So now it's seviced by Harry's garage in the village, and he found that the spark plugs had never been changed but we had been charged for them, and the air filter was in a terrible state, also possibly never been changed by the dealers!

there are good garages and bad garages. Just because they have a Land-Rover franchise doesn't mean they fall automatically into either category. The same applies to specialists and back street garages.

Did you complain to Land-Rover directly about the spark plugs and filter? One thing manufacturers will do is investigate dealerships they get a lot of complaints about, sending in mystery customers etc. Ultimately they can strip the dealership of it's franchise.

I'd never trust a dealer (or any other garage for that matter). I always have a good nose around for signs that they have done what they said they have.

My Father in Law once had a new Discovery, and noticed all sorts of work being tacked on as 'Warranty' or servicing work. It was a company car I think, so he was not getting billed directly, so they were a bit surprised when he insisted on seeing the full invoices for work done.

He spotted something was up, and unluckily for them, was a friend of one of the principles of the dealership chain.

This particular garage was closed not ong after he reported this to his friend.

Sometimes Karma does get them!

MW

agreed, the same goes for any tradesmen (garages are no different to plumbers and electricians etc)

I tend to look at invoices and actual work like you do, tbh though you soon spot the good ones in the same way as you spot the bad ones.

I doubt if they would charge you for spark plugs and NOT change them? That's the first thing I would check!

Many main dealers offer a service package for a monthly fee. For example, I use Hunters who charge me £640 per year for one annual service including brake fluid. I have signed up to this for four years, but can cancel any time.

Harwoods group offer servicing for £420 per year (excluding brake fluid) and include an MOT and 20% off labour rates and parts should something need fixing.

wealy wrote:

I doubt if they would charge you for spark plugs and NOT change them? That's the first thing I would check!

am a sparky £25.00 per hour

Zirconblue wrote:

wealy wrote:

I doubt if they would charge you for spark plugs and NOT change them? That's the first thing I would check!

But a lot of people wouldn't. I'm not sure of the arrangement on the ajv8 engine but on the BMW you have to remove two plastic bungs, two screws a plastic cover, and then 2 more screws and a coil pack from each plug before you can even get the plug out.

If you do check they just apologise and say they will discipline the mechanic, you won't know if they do or not. They just gamble that most people won't check.

It seems that the guy who is servicing the car now knows someone who works at the dealers that have serviced the car, the guy doing the car now noticed the condition of the plugs (it is the BMW V and he checked the records and could not find any spark plugs recorded, so only going on what I have been told!

wealy wrote:

I doubt if they would charge you for spark plugs and NOT change them? That's the first thing I would check!