Main dealer vs Bosch Appoved "service centre"

noj

noj

noj

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my S60 is turning 3 years old so now needs an MOT, its also service time and now I don't need to bother with the service from Volvo I thought I'd see what I can get....

Volvo main dealer - 3 year intermediate service £300
Bosch approved service center - £120

Same stuff being done, same oil being used for the oil change etc...hmm now let me think for a minute....

The garage have previously looked after my wife's car (a 92' Nissan Figaro) and we've not had any problems with work done and service received.

I know there is a premium for using a main dealer but wow.....
 
Ignore the "Bosch Approved" thing, if you are happy with the quote and previous work then go for it. I almost got shafted by a Bosch approved place but thankfully decided to confirm the obvious about what parts would be covered by stating a couple and the guy got very defensive. "Well we have never even worked on your car before so we don't know if it needs spark plugs or not yet." Err.... well you managed to give me a very specific quote and I very specifically told you what service I was after. The fact this is the first time I'd brought my car to them should make no difference!
 
Thats an extraordinarily big price difference. I would be sceptical that they are both the same service.

Either Volvo are the biggest ripoff merchants going or the indy isnt doing quite what Volvo are.
 
What garage is it? I know of a garage in Surrey that is Bosch Approved and they are by far and away the best garage I have ever dealt with.
 
Sounds like the bosch place has quoted for an interim service only

On a car this new surely not having a full main dealer history could effect re-sale values.

Buys a £15,000+ new car, saves a few pennies on servicing, I thought I was tight lol
 
[TW]Fox;26434937 said:
Thats an extraordinarily big price difference. I would be sceptical that they are both the same service.

Either Volvo are the biggest ripoff merchants going or the indy isnt doing quite what Volvo are.
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Bit of both I suspect. Volvo dealers aren't cheap.
 
mjt said:
Bit of both I suspect. Main dealers aren't cheap.
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Edited for accuracy. It's not a problem exclusive to Volvo. Audi charge around £120 per hour for labour from memory. Even an interim service is going to be billed anywhere between 1-2 hours labour, so that's nearly £300 before parts.
 
The most expensive service I have ever had in 8 years of main dealer servicing on 5 Series BMW's is £300. A typical non-major service is £150ish.
 
abbotsmike said:
Edited for accuracy. It's not a problem exclusive to Volvo. Audi charge around £120 per hour for labour from memory. Even an interim service is going to be billed anywhere between 1-2 hours labour, so that's nearly £300 before parts.
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It's a fixed price and it's half the volvo price at first glance: http://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-maintenance-mot/fixed-price-services.html I'm not saying main dealers arn't dear but it would suggest volvo are a lot more than where their marque sits in the market would suggest.
 
Peerzy said:
What garage is it? I know of a garage in Surrey that is Bosch Approved and they are by far and away the best garage I have ever dealt with.
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its Reigate Motor Company.

The people there are just fantastic (in my opinion) and they've looked after the Mrs' car exceptionally well. No garage BS when stuff needs doing.

I did enquire as to what was happening on the service, its the 3 year intermediate and includes oil change, pollen filter and stuff.

I also went to Volvo and said to them about the difference and they basically agreed that they're expensive. The oil at Volvo was going to be £90 on its own....

The local garage will do basically the same service but for half the cost (inc. VAT).

As to resale value....the car isn't worth more than the finance left on it, so its simply going back to the finance company in the near future and we'll get something else.
 
cos they make absolute rubbish, selling on old reputation, will not touch any of their stuff with a bargepole and will not buy a car with any of their stuff running in them.*

*some exaggeration and generalisation added in.
 
lemonade said:
cos they make absolute rubbish, selling on old reputation, will not touch any of their stuff with a bargepole and will not buy a car with any of their stuff running in them.*

*some exaggeration and generalisation added in.
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Good luck with that one! I suspect you'd struggle to find a car that doesn't have a few bosch components! Their tools are pretty good in my experience too.
 
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