....is the only explanation.
A quick trip to the nearest BMW dealer to buy a piece of trim and in an idle moment, asked for an estimate for my car's impending Inspection II:
Spark Plugs: 7.76GBP each. Plus fitting.
Mobil 1: 12.91GBP per litre.
Microfilters: 30.00GBP
Some more microfilters: 59.00GBP
And just over 90 minutes at 102GBP/hour.
" "
The message from "Grant" contains these words:
Can you ask for the old Tahitian to be put in a bag for you to take home?
Reminds me of my very first service at a Vauxhall garage.
Oil was several half-litres at some ridiculous price per 1/2 (yes, 0.5!) litre.
Struck dumb- you bet!
£13/litre (plus VAT I expect)seems rather a lot though. How much is your local Safeway (Sorry Morrison's) petrol forecourt garage selling it for? (Mine is selling Magnatec 15w 40 @ 16.99/4.5 litres)
inc. actually (bargain eh?)
I buy it from Costco at 5.66/litre...
In message , Dave Baker writes
I always used to supply my own oil before the days of all inclusive fixed price servicing. Apart from saving a lot of cash, there was the advantage that you knew it was good oil going in.
The worst abuse I came across was from a Rover dealer and involved screen wash. I always made sure that my screen wash was full to the brim so that they couldn't top it up and charge for it. When I collected the car there was a full unopened bottle of screen wash on the passenger seat and I had been invoiced for it. The dealer couldn't see what the problem was.
that's ok, my neighbour got his 730 served and it cost him £80 just for oil :)
Plus VAT ... sir...
Microfilters? from 1.05
The message from "Tim S Kemp" contains these words:
And /plural/? Just how many broadband connections do you need in a car?
My father took he van in to be serviced, they billed for oil when they didn't even change it, he had to argue it for weeks and eventually gave up... they were also supposed to have fixed a oil leek which they didn't touch, so he had to argue that, to which he had to take time off work to take it back 3 times until they actually fixed it.
I myself am unable to find a honest garage now, They are all useless around hear, you get the ones which damage you car more than it was when it went in, parts going faulty magically become all faulty upon leaving the garage, jobs apparently done when they are not, idiots fitting wrong parts, more idiots denting stuff, the list goes on... I do my servicing myself now, The only time I go to a garage or shop if when I have no choice for a part, even then you are lucky if they actually manage to get the right bits.
Chris
Screen wash is just one of those things you top up from time to time, no different to petrol. IMO it shouldn't even be something they look at in a service, except to check it is working. I mean who doesn't fill up their screen wash inbetween services?!
The message from "Mark Hewitt" contains these words:
No one here, I'm sure. Golf owners excepted, of course.
That's not bad.
The ones for the petrol Mondeos are charged at something like =A320 a plug= =20 (from a dealer), and =A35 from a factor.
They *do* last something like 80k miles though. (Unless the misfire on=20 cylinder 1 doesn't take them out 1st)
Pete.
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The last time - ever - I had my BMW serviced at the main dealer I had it done *just* before the service lights said it was needed. Because it had an oil leak showing on the ground when parked - which I thought came from the engine. I had dipped the engine and found the oil near minimum - something I don't normally bother with as it has a low oil warning circuit.
They phoned up and said it was actually the power steering leaking. So I said fix that - and of course do the early oil service it was booked in for.
On picking up the car I looked under the bonnet, and the undertray still had signs of fresh oil on it. As did the steering hose they said on the invoice they'd removed, cleaned and replaced to cure the leak. And I dipped the engine to find it still reading low on the stick. To me, they'd simply done nothing. Oh - they'd decided to change the AC microfilters which neither needed to be changed or were part of that service...
The service manager said it was impossible for the oil level to be low as new oil was dispensed from bulk to the correct amount. This only reinforced my view that it hadn't been changed...
The hose that they'd claimed they'd removed was crimped at both ends. The crimps were obviously original...
Letters to both BMW GB and to the main office of the garage chain got nowhere.
Ah but they're platinum tipped. I doubt those that BMW sell at that price are.
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