Service Price difference NI V Ire

yop

Guys
Said I would post up this little bit of details as I am totally flabbargasted at the difference

I have 2005 Mazda 6 MPS. Getting the 50k service done now and it also requires 2 back breakpads.

So I was on the MPS forums and one of the lads suggested that I try NI for a price also.

This is the breakdown, I rang 1 dealer in both NI and Ire and asked to be emailed the breakdown of prices
IRE Main Mazda dealer
..........................QTY... Amount
Brake Pads............2...... 184.7
Oil Filter................1..... 14.5
Additive................1..... 2.63
Oil Filter................1..... 34.93
Spark Plugs (4)..............89.28
Airfilter...............1........27.72

Total Parts............353.76

Labour...................150
ECO Charge ............5

Base Charge............508.76
VAT (13.5)............68.68
TOTAL DUE............577.44

NI Main Mazda dealer
........................ QTY... Amount
Brake Pads............2........70.14
Oil Filter...............1........8.39
Additive...............1........1.39
Oil......................1........44.75
Spark Plugs (4)..............66.63
Airfilter...............1........22.2

Total Parts........213.5

Labour..............104
ECO Charge........5

Base Charge........322.5
VAT (17.5)........56.44
TOTAL DUE........378.94

All prices are in EURO, and you can add probably 60 euro for petrol to the NI price. But even still the difference is daft

Kotek Besar

Are you sure the VAT due in the ROI price is 13.5% for the parts and not just for the labour (parts @ 21%)?

yop

Kotek Besar wrote: »

Are you sure the VAT due in the ROI price is 13.5% for the parts and not just for the labour (parts @ 21%)?

Ya, its on the emailed quote and also down on the 2 invoices that the previous owner included in the service manual.

Kotek Besar

yop wrote: »

Ya, its on the emailed quote and also down on the 2 invoices that the previous owner included in the service manual.

Weird.

Ok, then I suppose, cost of petrol included, is either a trip up North to save €140, or spend €140 by staying local and having the ease of returning to the local dealer if anything goes wrong (I know, I know, it's only a service)..

Tough call to be honest man, I don't know which I'd prefer. Probably I'd go up North, save the money, taking the missus with me and telling her it's a day out for her. Win win.

Anan1

There is a third option, which is to use the NI quote to bring the ROI quote down to the point where it's no longer worthwhile going up North. That's what I did.

Stevie Dakota

Don't forget to factor if the few hundred euro you will spend in Tesco, Sainsbury's, tolls, petrol, day off work, etc.

But that is some difference allright.

yop

Anan1 wrote: »

There is a third option, which is to use the NI quote to bring the ROI quote down to the point where it's no longer worthwhile going up North. That's what I did.

Did you do that??? Thats interesting.


No tolls between Mayo and Tyrone

I am selling the car on now after the service as its not a commuter car which I will need in the next few weeks, so I am not overly bothered about returning to the local dealer, but I do get you on "keeping it local".

The wife will love the trip to Omagh

There is also option 4: Do it yourself (especially as its out of warranty anyway)

Its only a simple oil service bar the brake pads which you can get yourself and get an indy mechanic to fit if your not comfortable.

yop

Thanks Nox001 but in order to keep the dealer service history intact for this "sleeper" and to make more sellable I have decided to get a dealer service.

Thanks

ShiresV2

I thought car parts were on the 21% VAT rate?

yop

Just to follow up on this as all I can say how impressed I was.

Got the car dropped off to the main Mazda dealer in Omagh at 11am, was offered a courtisy car or a lift into the town but with the nice weather we decided to walk in.
Was told to return at 1.30pm to pick up the car. Got back about 1.20pm and the car was ready.
I joked that "maybe they might have given it a wash" but to my suprise they had washed it and black polished the tires, to top this they have hoovered all inside the car and polished the dash, doors and trim.
Also he told me that the rubbers were shot on the wipers but he just replaced the rubber.
The price I was quoted originally was 321 pounds (that was before the wash/hoover/wiper rubber), he settled it at 320 pounds, this worked out on my credit card at 374 euros.

I don't want to sound like a total b*Tch but the difference between this service and that offered at my local Mazda is worlds apart.

What even funnier was that when I rang back my local dealer to see if they would negotiate the price I was told "sound go up North, but if anything goes wrong with the car don't be coming here"

I don't really understand the amazement at the price difference, it's a different country after all. Sterling is worth not as much as it used to be so the exchange rate is very favourable.

How much are you selling the car for ?

Stevie Dakota

RoverJames wrote: »

I don't really understand the amazement at the price difference, it's a different country after all.

Well whatever about labour costs I am amazed at the price difference for the parts. Centra and Spar are different shops but they watch each others prices like hawks. NI is hardly a million miles away.

Stevie Dakota

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

Well whatever about labour costs I am amazed at the price difference for the parts. Centra and Spar are different shops but they watch each others prices like harks. NI is hardly a million miles away.

It's Great Britain, the wages there are sh1t, a carvery lunch is a fiver, a pint is less than £3,sterling is worth much less than say 5 years ago, it's as I said a different country. I would advice anyone to take advantage of it when it suits them but I just don't get the oh golly gosh look at the difference in price attitude. Personally I think an oil change, a few filters and rear pads for the guts of €400 is still daylight robbery.

In 95% of cases GB is cheaper than here, be it groceries, dental & health care, laptops, TV hair cuts etc etc. Northern Ireland is Great Britain so it's going to be cheaper than Ireland.

mullingar

yop wrote: »

I was told "sound go up North, but if anything goes wrong with the car don't be coming here"

That attitude by the Irish garage just sums up the reason Irish motor trade has gone to sh1t.

Because of this attitude, I have no sympathy.

A Mazda dealer is a mazda dealer, no matter what EU country you are in

Cookie_Monster

that really is a huge difference. Coupled with the much more friendly and professional sounding treatment you got certainly makes it worth while.

Nice attitude from the ROI guy too :rolleyes:

Kotek Besar

RoverJames wrote: »

It's Great Britain
..
Northern Ireland is Great Britain

No it isn't.

Minstrel27

Kotek Besar wrote: »

No it isn't.

Absolutely. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Educational standards must be slipping.

JHMEG

ShiresV2 wrote: »

I thought car parts were on the 21% VAT rate?

Any materials that are used as part of a job which has a labour element are rated at the lower rate of 13.5%.

If you buy a kitchen and fit it yourself you'll be charged 21% on the materials.

If you buy the same kitchen, but the supplier is fitting it, you'll only pay 13.5% on the materials.

JHMEG

RoverJames wrote: »

It's Great Britain, the wages there are sh1t,

They're lower, but there is more competition, less greed, and less price gouging.

mullingar

I remember hearing of a 1/3-2/3 rule for the 21% or 13.5% vat rate.

Basically if the parts do not exceed 2/3 rd of the invoice value that includes labour, the job can be charged at 13.5% VAT.

If you buy spare parts from the garage with NO labour, VAT is at 21%

(All Labour VAT is at 13.5%)

Minstrel27

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Absolutely. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland. Educational standards must be slipping.

True / whatever, they use Sterling up there, if one is born in NI one can get a British Passport.

Kotek Besar

RoverJames wrote: »

True / whatever, they use Sterling up there, if one is born in NI one can get a British Passport.

That doesn't mean that Northern Ireland is in Great Britain, which is what you said. You might also note that not everyone born in NI is a British citizen and so entitled to a British passport.

Apologies to the OP for going off-topic.

yop

Aye it does pee me off that the local Mazda dealer had that attitude but thats his choice.

I will be checking the market RoverJames re price. I have to fire tax on it but with new service, 4 near new tires, 18 month NCT and 51k on the clock I think it will be a good buy for someone not doing big mileage.

In saying that the mpg increased significantly to 28 mpg with the longer journey. Not sure if the servicing of the car had a massive difference on this though.

Kotek Besar

Kotek Besar wrote: »

That doesn't mean that Northern Ireland is in Great Britain, which is what you said. You might also note that not everyone born in NI is a British citizen and so entitled to a British passport.

true / whatever again :rolleyes:
UK, Great Britain ....... I'll say no more.

Carvery lunch €13, service for a Mazda 6 MPS €500, not being in the UK priceless

yop

RoverJames wrote: »

true / whatever again :rolleyes:
UK, Great Britain ....... I'll say no more.

Carvery lunch €13, service for a Mazda 6 MPS €500, not being in the UK priceless

LOL, 9 quid for 2 dinners up there with 2 cups of tea

If you are interested in buying I can send you a link when its ready "for road"

JHMEG

RoverJames wrote: »

Carvery lunch €13, service for a Mazda 6 MPS €500, not being in the UK priceless

Hmm. Not sure how being in a Fianna Fail-run Banana Republic could be any better than being anywhere else. Surely we're the bottom of the shít pile.

yop

yop wrote: »

LOL, 9 quid for 2 dinners up there with 2 cups of tea

If you are interested in buying I can send you a link when its ready "for road"

Was just wondering to be honest what they go for.

keithclancy

JHMEG wrote: »

Hmm. Not sure how being in a Fianna Fail-run Banana Republic could be any better than being anywhere else. Surely we're the bottom of the shít pile.

Ireland would be pretty high on living standards compared to some other places in the world.

Henry Ford III

keithclancy wrote: »

Ireland would be pretty high on living standards compared to some other places in the world.

Are you suggesting NI is inferior in terms of living standards?

They have lower prices and lower incomes. Ours are bloated in many cases by greed and inefficiencies.

SV

Am I the only one absolutely shocked by the price of a normal service like this in the first place?

jesus..shocking money, on both sides!

yop

SV wrote: »

Am I the only one absolutely shocked by the price of a normal service like this in the first place?

jesus..shocking money, on both sides!

Plugs aren't changed every service and brake pads wouldn't be either. Take them out of the price and you are looking towards more "normal" prices.

MarkN

I also asked for a ROI BMW dealer to get a bit closer to the NI option and they did. Fuel included, it wouldn't have been worth my while.

Now, if only they'd washed the bloody car after :rolleyes:

yop

MarkN wrote: »

I also asked for a ROI BMW dealer to get a bit closer to the NI option and they did. Fuel included, it wouldn't have been worth my while.

Now, if only they'd washed the bloody car after :rolleyes:

Well as you can see even with the price of the fuel it was well worth my while, even without the car wash :rolleyes:

stealthyspeeder

yop wrote: »

So I was on the MPS forums and one of the lads suggested that I try NI for a price also.

Hey, I told you to do that ages ago!

Glad you got good service! £320 is what I paid for my service and while it is a rip its good for resale!

lol about the "if anything goes wrong with it, dont bring it down here" comment!
What a prick!

Fact is Mazda has european wide service history and all dealers are meant to be of the same standard! To be honest, I would doubt if the garage in south had ever serviced an MPS before given their rareness!

flanzer

Not only service prices. Was up in walshmotors.co.uk last week just off the Falls Road in Belfast for a timing belt on the a B6 Passat 1.9 tdi. Left it off in the morning, did a bit of shopping in the city for the day, took in some sights and the car was ready in the afternoon.... all for £250 which came up on the Visa card as €297. My indy was looking for €500. I didn't even bother checking with McAllisters.

I'm definitely going to use them again in the future

Marlow

MarkN wrote: »

I also asked for a ROI BMW dealer to get a bit closer to the NI option and they did. Fuel included, it wouldn't have been worth my while.

Now, if only they'd washed the bloody car after :rolleyes:

Dunno, but I'm buying my BMW parts from a BMW main dealer in the north and he ships'em down by courier next day. I priced parts in Galway for 2500 EUR. Got them in the end for 1300£ incl. shipping (approx. 1500 EUR) shipped down from the north. And that wasn't a once off.

While there is zero movement and ****ty attitude from the dealers down here. And I've priced both in Galway and Athlone, you get class service and attiude up north. One more reason not to shop locally.

/M

mondeo

flanzer wrote: »

Not only service prices. Was up in walshmotors.co.uk last week just off the Falls Road in Belfast for a timing belt on the a B6 Passat 1.9 tdi. Left it off in the morning, did a bit of shopping in the city for the day, took in some sights and the car was ready in the afternoon.... all for £250 which came up on the Visa card as €297. My indy was looking for €500. I didn't even bother checking with McAllisters.

I'm definitely going to use them again in the future

Thats great stuff...I will start doing this myself to

JHMEG

keithclancy wrote: »

Ireland would be pretty high on living standards compared to some other places in the world.

And we're achieving that by borrowing €500 million *a week*.

GTE

Thats a pretty substantial saving. Im going to Belfast for college for the next two years, it looks like I know where Im gonna be servicing my wagon haha.

gigabit

RoverJames wrote: »

True / whatever, they use Sterling up there, if one is born in NI one can get a British Passport.

Anyone born here before 1947 can get a UK passport too.

MarkN wrote: »

I also asked for a ROI BMW dealer to get a bit closer to the NI option and they did. Fuel included, it wouldn't have been worth my while.

Now, if only they'd washed the bloody car after :rolleyes:

LOL

Were they shocked you asked for a reduction. My cousin is about to buy a 1 series new and he has asked the dealer here for a 3 year warranty on the car if they want the sale.

Marlow wrote: »

I priced parts in Galway for 2500 EUR. Got them in the end for 1300£ incl. shipping (approx. 1500 EUR) shipped down from the north.

While there is zero movement and ****ty attitude from the dealers down here. And I've priced both in Galway and Athlone, you get class service and attiude up north. One more reason not to shop locally.

/M

That is a shocking price difference. What was their excuse?

JHMEG wrote: »

And we're achieving that by borrowing €500 million *a week*.

Madness. Borrowing that much to pour subsidies on industries that are fcuked and will fail anyway.

Marlow

gigabit wrote: »

That is a shocking price difference. What was their excuse?

There's no excuse, well beyond that they aren't getting it much cheaper from the distributor either. So either the distributor is the one doing the rip off, or the dealer, or both. Most likely both.

I buy parts regularly in the north for the last 2 years and once in a while quote down here and the difference is always like that.

It's not even the price difference, that bugs me. It's the attitude.

I'll order parts here and get to know: "yeah, we'll have them some time next week, they aren't in stock.". I needed some body repair done and it took the main dealer in ROI a week, where they gave me 4 dates, when I'd have the quote and another excuse every time. After a week, I went back, collected the car and went elsewhere, not having been quoted yet.

When I order parts in Northern Ireland, I have them next day, if they are in stock or the following day, if not. If they can't be got within a day, I get a call with a pretty accurate timeframe.

/M

JHMEG

gigabit wrote: »

Madness. Borrowing that much to pour subsidies on industries that are fcuked and will fail anyway.

No, that's largely to pay dole and public service wages. The bank bailouts thus far have been raided from the National Pension Reserve.

romperstomper

same story here. £160 for brake fluid replacement and minor service in Bavarian Belfast which included a (not asked for) valet and wash (inside and out) for a 5 series. €400 down here in joe duffy's . What a JOKE. Didn't get a quote off an independent as its still in warranty and I want to keep it main dealer only until the warranty is gone

fonecrusher1

Sometimes the motor trade in this country makes me sick.

Everything & i mean everything car-related in this country is more expensive sometimes by up to 50% & what do 90% of us donkeys do? we pay out over & over again & then everyone wonders why its so much more expensive here.

-Do what the OP did & head up north.
or
-Source your own parts ie; filters/oil/sparkplugs/brakepads...whatever.
-Shop around for the best price which means avoid main dealer garages.
-Do the work yourself if you can or if you know someone handy with cars get them to service your car.

They're charging as much as we'll pay so stop coughing up ridiculous amounts of money for quite simple car maintanence

I would like to support Irish garages but they make it very difficult with some of the ridiculous pricing on basic servicing.

Example; 2 years ago the clutch on my pajero sh!t itself one day so i had to get a new one.
I asked around my local garages & the attitude was kinda; meh(disinterested).....i can fit you in maybe in 1 or 2 weeks time & it'l cost you about 800 - 1000 euro to get the new clutch & installed.
Eventually got a place to do it for 750 euro. I know for a fact they probably got the parts for about 350 so i ended up paying a whopping 400 euro for the labour.

Enraging.

Marlow

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

I would like to support Irish garages but they make it very difficult with some of the ridiculous pricing on basic servicing.

There's loads of well capable indy's around in the republic, that'll do the job for decent money and probably have more clue on the engine side of things than any "part-swapper" at the main dealers. It's just a matter of getting the parts.

/M

keithclancy

JHMEG wrote: »

And we're achieving that by borrowing €500 million *a week*.

I mean it was stated that Ireland is a "Banana Republic"

Banana Republic to me would be along the lines of Zimbabwe, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Surinaam etc.

I think in the grand scheme of things Irish people don't experience the hardship and generally shítty quality of life that the real Banana Republics have.

Ireland is NOT a banana republic ... Potatoes wouldn't even be one of its main exports