Query about Car Dealership Company... help please?

sporina

Hi folks...

So, I bought a new car (well 2nd hand) from a car dealership last July.. traded in my old car with them.. had it for 12 yrs.. twas my 2nd car - 1st car was written off in a crash..

Anyway, had no experience with a car dealership before this - bought my previous 2 cars privately..

3 weeks ago I got a text for a service reminder...
Rang them and booked it in..
They rang me last week to remind me again - told them I had already booked it in.. (thought that odd.. anyway)

Brought it in for the service today and on leaving they said "that will be €189 please?

I WAS STUNNED. I have never been so shocked in my life. I thought it was part of the 12 mth warranty (to make sure the car was ok before the end of the warranty).
No one had mentioned price etc till this - not in the text - not in either phone calls. I genuinely went bright red and I thought that my eyes would pop out of my head. The staff could see this and I could feel their embarrassment too - not nice of any of us.

I told them that has I known the price that i would not have had it done - has only 6,000 km on it since I bought it - and i have a mechanic that I use who works for himself - he's been my mechanic for all my cars.

They said a service is due every yr/after 15,000 km - which ever comes 1st. Either way, if I needed a service I would get my man to do it for me and prob only after 15,000km.

They said that they would only charge me €100.. but I asked if it was ok if I went away to talk to someone 1st.. (they know my details - not like I am gonna leave the country) - they said ok. I didn't wanna pay on the spot as tbh I was a bit mad. I mean, €€ was never mentioned till then - and I had not used a dealership before so didn't know the drill.. I genuinely thought it was just part of the warranty.. (the timing added up; bought the car last July - they said I could have it serviced anytime before then {but never said why and I didn't know})..

Anyway.. should I just take it on the chin and pay up? I don't really want to - not out of scabbiness - but out of principle (I feel that they should really have informed me about the price)

I would really appreciate feedback from those in the know ie: with professional/legal knowledge.. TIA

Smee_Again

You’re wrong and €100 for a service is good value and more than they needed to do for you.

Is this thread a joke?

At any time was it indicated to you that a second hand car would be serviced for free by the dealer?

punisher5112

What have I just read????

You actually done quite well for €189....

12 month warranty in Norway gives you free service, fix anything either.....

Usually engine and gearbox.... Even at that the warranty given will be limited....

mickdw

sporina wrote: »

Hi folks...

So, I bought a new car (well 2nd hand) from a car dealership last July.. traded in my old car with them.. had it for 12 yrs.. twas my 2nd car - 1st car was written off in a crash..

Anyway, had no experience with a car dealership before this - bought my previous 2 cars privately..

3 weeks ago I got a text for a service reminder...
Rand them and booked it in..
They rang me last week to remind me again - told them I had already booked it in.. (thought that odd.. anyway)

Brought it in for the service today and on leaving they said "that will be €189 please?

I WAS STUNNED. I have never been so shocked in my life. I thought it was part of the 12 mth warranty (to make sure the car was ok before the end of the warranty).
No one had mentioned price etc till this - not in the text - not in either phone calls. I genuinely went bright red and I thought that my eyes would pop out of my head. The staff could see this and I could feel their embarrassment too - not nice of any of us.

I told them that has I known the price that i would not have had it done - has only 6,000 km on it since I bought it - and i have a mechanic that I use who works for himself - he's been my mechanic for all my cars.

They said a service is due every yr/after 15,000 km - which ever comes 1st. Either way, if I needed a service I would get my man to do it for me and prob only after 15,000km.

They said that they would only charge me €100.. but I asked if it was ok if I went away to talk to someone 1st.. (they know my details - not like I am gonna leave the country) - they said ok. I didn't wanna pay on the spot as tbh I was a bit mad. I mean, €€ was never mentioned till then - and I had not used a dealership before so didn't know the drill.. I genuinely thought it was just part of the warranty.. (the timing added up; bought the car last July - they said I could have it serviced anytime before then {but never said why and I didn't know})..

Anyway.. should I just take it on the chin and pay up? I don't really want to - not out of scabbiness - but out of principle (I feel that they should really have informed me about the price)

I would really appreciate feedback from those in the know ie with professional/legal knowledge.. TIA

To be honest, its a given that any servicing on a used car will be paid work. Even most new cars dont get free service unless you take the service pack.
I dont blame garage for not mentioning price as
Even as sneaky as garages can be, they would never even dream that you might think it was free.
This one is all on you imo so they need to be paid.
By all means go to other places in future but no fault on dealer here

L1011

I seriously can't believe that you would think a normal service was covered in the warranty on a second hand car or that there would be any scheduled free check covered and chased up by the dealer on it. Pay them, pay them the 189 at that.

Also, change your oil annually if not doing the the interval mileage annually. Short trips and leaving the car sitting up are not good for oil either - modern cars with adaptive intervals can tell people to go in at extremely low mileages if that's how they use it.

punisher5112

Hold on they let you leave without payment.....

Now I'm seriously thinking this is a joke...

If you buy a washing machine, do they service it for you before end of warranty?
Gas boiler?
TV?????

Jim_Hodge

That all sounds perfectly normal. Annual service is normal. It's a bit on the expensive side at €189 but not exorbitant. Your notion about a warranty check is unusual - I've never heard the likes before.

You must pay it. You got the car serviced. Nobody was pulling a fast one. Who serviced the last car? I'm sure that cost you money too. They didn't need to advise you of anything more. They, justifiably, took it that a car owner knows what an annual service is.

Squeaksoutloud

You got a good service and should pay up. It's not going to be massively different to the cost you would pay elsewhere so be glad of it as 189 is a good price. Standard practice for garages to send reminders texts and 99.9percent of people would understand a cost comes with it.

CH3OH

Go back in . Say sorry for the misunderstanding and hand them the cash.

Tio07

sporina wrote: »

Hi folks...

So, I bought a new car (well 2nd hand) from a car dealership last July.. traded in my old car with them.. had it for 12 yrs.. twas my 2nd car - 1st car was written off in a crash..

Anyway, had no experience with a car dealership before this - bought my previous 2 cars privately..

3 weeks ago I got a text for a service reminder...
Rang them and booked it in..
They rang me last week to remind me again - told them I had already booked it in.. (thought that odd.. anyway)

Brought it in for the service today and on leaving they said "that will be €189 please?

I WAS STUNNED. I have never been so shocked in my life. I thought it was part of the 12 mth warranty (to make sure the car was ok before the end of the warranty).
No one had mentioned price etc till this - not in the text - not in either phone calls. I genuinely went bright red and I thought that my eyes would pop out of my head. The staff could see this and I could feel their embarrassment too - not nice of any of us.

I told them that has I known the price that i would not have had it done - has only 6,000 km on it since I bought it - and i have a mechanic that I use who works for himself - he's been my mechanic for all my cars.

They said a service is due every yr/after 15,000 km - which ever comes 1st. Either way, if I needed a service I would get my man to do it for me and prob only after 15,000km.

They said that they would only charge me €100.. but I asked if it was ok if I went away to talk to someone 1st.. (they know my details - not like I am gonna leave the country) - they said ok. I didn't wanna pay on the spot as tbh I was a bit mad. I mean, €€ was never mentioned till then - and I had not used a dealership before so didn't know the drill.. I genuinely thought it was just part of the warranty.. (the timing added up; bought the car last July - they said I could have it serviced anytime before then {but never said why and I didn't know})..

Anyway.. should I just take it on the chin and pay up? I don't really want to - not out of scabbiness - but out of principle (I feel that they should really have informed me about the price)

I would really appreciate feedback from those in the know ie: with professional/legal knowledge.. TIA

This is completely your mistake, no garage / mechanic are going to give you free services. You either can pay a monthly or package deal on newer cars or pay as you get done.

Service interval is done by either mileage or time. While you may not have clocked up the miles the cars sitting up for most people due to lockdown it is good to check a service now that we are starting to get back on the move again.

I can’t believe they reduced the price on what was already a good value offer.

I think you need to take this as a learning curve.

Darc19

Dav010 wrote: »

Is this thread a joke?

At any time was it indicated to you that a second hand car would be serviced for free by the dealer?

Or a new car.

Op, very very decent of the garage to only charge you €100.


Car should be serviced every 12 months or so even if you haven't done much travelling. It can save you thousands if an issue is found in time.


Well done to the garage for both the reminder and for giving you a much reduced price.

sporina

thanks for all the replies.. well.. all I can say is lesson learnt.. I genuinely thought it was part of the warranty (how would I know otherwise?) I am a bit clueless (to say the least) when it comes to cars.. my mechanic usually looks after them.. but as this was bought from a dealership, and within the yr's warranty, I didn't mention it to him.. just acted on the text

I have no problem paying up (if thats the right thing to do, which by all accounts, it is)

Thanks again

(no more daggers now please )

Darc19

Also for the op, assuming you had a 12 months warranty, if something was amiss it would have been fixed under warranty, but if that fault was found in August it would have been tough luck.


In terms of legal end - ignorance is not a defence in any court.

(I use "ignorance" in the strict legal sense of the word and not in any way intimating that you are ignorant)

sporina

Darc19 wrote: »

Also for the op, assuming you had a 12 months warranty, if something was amiss it would have been fixed under warranty, but if that fault was found in August it would have been tough luck.


In terms of legal end - ignorance is not a defence in any court.

(I use "ignorance" in the strict legal sense of the word and not in any way intimating that you are ignorant)

i get ya - thanks

Mods, please close off this thread now, thank you (before I loose any more dignity) :pac:

L1011

Closed on request