Third Service Deal

54,725 miles, 1st April 2006

I was charged £220 for my car's first interval service nearly 16 months back. Now it required another one which would be my car's third service overall. I had heard of other VW dealerships charging anywhere between £150 and £250 for this kind of service and so I was keen to try and get a better deal. I didn't have to try very hard.

I sent the same email addressed to three different local VW dealerships (including the York dealer who usually did my car's servicing) asking them for a quote. Only my local York dealer replied, saying my car's service should cost £270 but in view of my continued loyalty they'd reduce this to £190! This made me a little bit cross. Firstly, why should the exact same service as was performed only 16 months ago now cost £50 more, and secondly, how much profit were these places making from people who just paid what they were originally quoted if they could reduce the cost so quickly by £80, no doubt, just because I had made it obvious that I was also approaching other dealers?

I telephoned the remaining two dealers to get their quotes. One quoted £240 but then when I mentioned the York dealer had quoted me £190 they said they would match it. The other quoted £225 and would not budge.

I decided I would prefer to stick with the local York dealer but since another dealer had now offered to match their price, I thought I had nothing to loose by trying to get a little more from my York dealer.

I also wanted to replace my car's original Goodyear NCT5 tyres (195/65 R15 H) with Michelin Pilot Primacy tyres. The best price I had found online was about £65/tyre but this involved a lot of messing around. I suspected that the York dealer would want to charge me at least £80/tyre. I replied to their original email saying how shocked I was that they could reduce the cost of their service so quickly by £80 just because I was approaching other dealers but if they could also fit me the tyres I wanted for £65 each they would have secured my custom. And they agreed!

Service was performed today. £190 for the service and £260 for the tyres. Total saving £80 + (£15 x 4) = £140!