BMW Service costs!

[Christie]

A colleague was quoted R17000 by a dealer to service his Merc C180k, car has done 110 000 km or so if I remember correctly. It has a timing chain, so does not need a cam belt replacement, but the service included brake pads. Most expensive part of the quote was labour, 9 hours at R1100 per hour. Complete insanity and daylight robbery imo.

That is more than the hourly consulting rate for a mechanical engineer with a PhD, including his overheads like software etc.

I think that dealers ramped up service charges during the recession to compensate for lower sales.

[Headshot]

That pretty scary on the merc - BMW cam chains never seem to require replacement.... I do now recall a R10k "service" on my E36 but, that included a new water pump, thermostat, radiator, and brakes + a full service, on a car that had done well over 200 k km. Cooling system and brakes - two areas you should never skimp on. So i didnt mind paying bearing in mind some of these items were nearly 10 years old at the time...

[pastapouch]

I think the trick in servicing a BMW is not to accidently enabling the indicators to work. Once you do that, the warantee is void.

Classic

[Starvin' Marvin]

Talking about dealers vs reputable mechies prices got me thinking about something. My wife works for volvo/Land Rover. As you may know a volvo T5 and Focus ST have indentical motors so therefore parts should be the same price you'd think. Not so. She got prices for the turbo's Volvo turbo R7618 Focus turbo R20620. They're the exact same bloody thing! She is busy finding out why there is such a moer of a difference.

[rouxtjie]

Thanks goodness the volvo's is cheaper. Thought it would be the other way around

[Jackes]

Most expensive part of the quote was labour, 9 hours at R1100 per hour.

I think that dealers ramped up service charges during the recession to compensate for lower sales.

They did, it went up quite a bit. But at R1100, is jagsheid. Audi is 480 per hour, which is already crazy.

[AndreZA]

Talking about dealers vs reputable mechies prices got me thinking about something. My wife works for volvo/Land Rover. As you may know a volvo T5 and Focus ST have indentical motors so therefore parts should be the same price you'd think. Not so. She got prices for the turbo's Volvo turbo R7618 Focus turbo R20620. They're the exact same bloody thing! She is busy finding out why there is such a moer of a difference.

 

The Volvo one comes from Geely in China.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Hmmm...looks like im not the only guy peed off about these costs.

 

Nevertheless, service done.

 

Ive had the car for 2 years.

 

But the wife has been hassling me to sell it.

 

We are thinking of buying a new Hyundai IX35.

 

Any thoughts on that?

[Jackes]

We are thinking of buying a new Hyundai IX35.

 

Any thoughts on that?

At the prices they sell these they are rocking the market. The market has taken a huge shift and these okes are doing great. I prefer the styling of the kia sportage, but aparently the hyuandai has the better quality interior etc. They own kia. With the warranties and stuff you get from them and their reputation so far you cannot make a wrong move with that choice

[Wayne Potgieter]

At the prices they sell these they are rocking the market. The market has taken a huge shift and these okes are doing great. I prefer the styling of the kia sportage, but aparently the hyuandai has the better quality interior etc. They own kia. With the warranties and stuff you get from them and their reputation so far you cannot make a wrong move with that choice

 

i also like the sportage...especially the front.

 

But not that crazy about the back.

 

Price wise, they are about the same. But i visually prefer the IX35.

 

can pick up a top spec model for R335K

 

not bad.

 

You cant even buy a decent second hand X5 for less than R400k.

[Jackes]

The thing with them, especially the kia, is that even the bottom of the pile one is stocked. Not too many "optional extras"

[quinton]

Buy the break pads and disks from them and fit it yourself. Will save yourself about R2000 - I think.

Or you could buy the spares from Midas and do it yourself too.

[Caerus]

A tow bar will be expensive

 

 

[Grebel]

I just did a major service (180k) on my wife's Audi 1,9Tdi Avant. Agents quote +/- R12k for cambelt and service excl any additional parts.

Reputable VW mech charged me R4,5k to do cambelt, full service incl pollen filter, new fanbelt tensioner which was R1k, all belts and change fluids incl coolant and power steering fluid!

 

I understand that dealers have overheads but so do the other mechanics... It pays to sghop around and speak to people when it comes time for service and repairs. All you are looking for at the end of the day is a reliable mechanic and a stamp in your service book.

[Danger Dassie]

Best mechanic bar none is Gary at Polo Auto near Cresta on Rabie St.

Charges fairly, does a tip top job and honest to a fault, also a member of the RMI. So shouldn't affect warranty/insurance.

 

Saved Intern a good 4k or so as well.

[urbanroyal]

The same here, I have a guy that does all the non warrenty stuff on my cars like brakes etc , but I still have the service done at the agents as per the plan and to keep the warrenty intact....