I serviced my 2.8 2004 Ducato PVC today and got through it without any horrors but did get a bit of a surprise...

Oil and filter took half an hour.

New air filter takes just a few minutes, but...

Fuel filter is behind the air filter housing and by everything I read is a bit of a job, however the hose clips came staright off the air filter housing and I found that the rubber mounts for the housing were all separated(?) might have been deliberate by previous service ? However that allowed me to get to the fuel filter easily and I was just exploring to see how much room I had to get my filter wrench in when the filter moved and I found it was not even finger tight !!! How it had not been leaking I will never know. So I disconnected the sensor and unscrewed the filter and removed the drain from the base to find that the old seals from two previous services were still on the fitting! It got the new seal and refitted proper finger tight this time.

Rear O/S caliper was free and got new pads, new slider bolt and seal (came with the Brembo Pads I bought) but N/S was seized. So had to pump out piston the clamp flexi and remove to shed where it was dismantled and cleaned, all seals appeared good so were refitted. New pads etc as O/S.

A good day I think but it proves to me that you need to do this stuff yourself if you want it done right.

I'm going to check the service records to see if I can establish which Fiat main dealer replaced the fuel filter last time...

K

Way to go. I don't rust any of them either,

Here's my experience of two BMW main dealers. Two of the biggest in Scotland.

BMW RT1100 Motorcycle.

I just bought it cheap to do a foreign tour and had little time to touch it..

So as going on hol's with bike and put it in for two jobs and service.

Replace transmission drive shaft seals (visible leak). Free off fuel injection adjusters.

Got a phone call. Sir your brake fluid need changing. It did. I knew this so said of course get on with it..

Got the bike back and started checking.

New oil seals not fitted to drive shaft ass'y. Oil level not even topped up and was very low. I drained it and measured amount and had a look for wear products.. it was not nice. I bottled the oil that came out. No oil filter change.. !! Looked at front brake and noticed bleed nipples not touched so I took off the res' cap. Fluid level was low and in poor condition. Looked years old. I also drained this and container ed it. Fuel injectors.. Not touched. But charged for.. it took me about 30 mins to sort these and was a simple job!

The brass neck of these guys was amazing. Fancy phoning a customer to get permission to change brake fluids and not doing it (invoiced though).

I made an appointment to see the service manager and took the fluids and some pics and also a full two page report on their work. I also asked to see the 'technician' who worked on my bike.. to cut a long story short. I ended up with all the accessories I wanted for the bike with free fitting etc... What a bunch of muppets. My car never went back to them either and I told them why. I stopped any arguments by sliding my card across the table at the start of the 'interview' I am sure the letters BSC Mech' Eng helped a lot....


So off to a different ' we would never do anything like that sir' Dealer. Again one of the biggest in Scotland.. This one is in Edinburgh.

535 BMW..

Received a recall to replace the battery fuse link and seat belt Stalks on the front seats.

Picked up the car and discovered (before I left the premises) that the engine was running roughly. It stalled at the top of their driveway. 1st time ever. Drove home (30 mins) and car stalled at most traffic lights.. ;-( Ran the car for the next day and it felt improved but was visiting client in Edinburgh so I though I would get them to look at it again. Client picked me up. (I was repairing a machine for him). Got a phone call from Dealer. ' your engine management is faulty'... OK.. Fix it.. £600 odd bill to pay but engine back to normal.

Kids playing CD system in car flattened battery. Back to dealer with same issue. £130 odd for a 'tune up'... Whilst waiting to pick the car up this time I quizzed the service adviser. I asked. Does disconnecting the battery have any effect on the management system?. Oh yes indeed was the reply. But.. We have a system that downloads your cars EMS settings and we reload those settings when we reconnect... 'But our system is down right now', and it was 'down' when they changed my fuse link!! He continued, ' No need to worry though just drive the car and it re-learns it's settings. Give it a good blast up the Motorway and a day or two normal driving will set it up... Oh really!!!

Same scenario again. Made an appointment with service manager and foreman. They admitted causing the fault and basically ripping me for over £700 quid. All they should have done was warn me and tell me just to drive my car...

Money was returned and they fitted me a new clutch FOC..

Car never went back near them either... Where do you go though. Warranties and all that?

They are all the same IMHO. MY Porsche Boxster S 3.4 cost me the best part of a Grand to service it at an Edinburgh main dealer. It went to a specialist after that who was happy for me to watch and even help. His price for the full 'big' service on the car was just over £400.

Sorted..

Al B' ....

I am a competent mechanic.

I have almost always serviced all my own vehicles ( cars, motorbikes, motorhomes).

On the handful of times that, for various reasons, I've allowed them to be touched by Garages/Dealers, I have always had a thorough inspection of the work supposed to have been done.

So far as I can recall as I write this, I have NEVER, not once, had all the work done entirely correctly.

"Servicing" is absolutely the worst culprit of all the jobs they do.
It's done by the young apprentice chimp.
Items are simply missed entirely, threads are over/undertightened, levels are over/under filled, extras are charged for that were not done/used.
It is utter robbery.
It is stealing.
And it is dangerous.

Frankly, through repeated bitter experience, I would not now trust ANY dealers workshop work. If it had to be done by them rather than me. I would always check it, then check it again.

I have two local garages I would not hesitate to use, both have saved me many hundreds of pounds in the past and both are happy to show me any work done or required. They will quite happily put the car or van up on the ramps and let me see underneath (I cannot easily get down on my hands and knees anymore).
I once took my mazda tribute in for an mot and got a phone call about twenty minutes later telling me the car was terminal (rear quarters rusted through under pesky plastic panels) he said he could repair it but it would involve extensive welding and panel repairs and painting, as an ex-panel beater I could see for myself. Rather than botching up a pass, which would have been easily done, and allow me out in a dangerous vehicle he showed me the problem and spent a lot of time talking me out of spending more cash than the car was worth.
With my new car I feel i have to go to main dealer for service problems and recalls but to be honest I trust my local greasy mechanic more than the shiney showroom silicon monkeys who only know how to fit a new part but seem to know nothing about customer satisfaction.

Jim.

2 years ago I bought a used motorhome from a dealer Down South. As they knew I lived in Spain I told them to make sure it was fully seviced etc. when I drove off the rear brakes were squeeking don't worry sir they are all new and not bedded in yet?????
Once home in Spain I took the thing apart. All pads were old and siezed in the calipers. Found a dead rat in the filthy air cleaner element. I could go on.

Obviously a big,big mistake telling them you were going to Spain ,

Thanks, that is a lesson well learned and noted ,because if they think you are just around the corner they will not rip you off so fast, so once again thank you Its little nuggets like this that more then makes up for the joining fee

I used to be service manager of 2 VW Audi dealerships. I soon learnt that you are only as good as your worst mechanic.
In my day we were mechanics as opposed to fitters and the customer was the boss.
No customers = no job

A good thread.

Not all main dealers are the same,there are some good ones but they rarely get a mention.I always use my local independent garage for any mechanical work,they are trustworthy,efficient,honest and cheaper than a main dealership.

It's reassuring to know that a job has been done properly and not have to worry whether it's just been ticked off on the job sheet.

Just a thought ,
If every body who has had work done recently,
put down their location, and the hourly rate and say a grading out of 10

it might give you guys in the U/K an idea of either where to go, or use it to negotiate a better deal,bearing in mind there will be regional differentials like between the middle of London and darkest Devon or the north west of England, or has this already been done It wont apply to me living in France but as I said Just a thought

Yep i do agree that the garage in the village are trustworthy and thorough..
I consider them to be car mechanics as opposed to main dealer "technicians"

I might post the name of the fiat main dealer if the service records are conclusive...

Watch this space

K