Service and MOT

[Mike Fishcake]

Quick question for you lovely people:

My little 1.1 Saxo is just about to expire from its 3 year warranty and is now due for its first MOT. The garage around the corner from my house has quoted me £150 inc VAT for a full service and MOT. Is this a reasonable price?

I have no idea, so I thought I'd check to see whether I was getting a good deal or not with you lot.

If it's only a *little* over the odds, I don't mind for convenience reasons because it's literally on the next street to where I live so I don't have to worry about getting there.

Ta

[Moby-Dick]

MOT Test costs about £50

I'd be interested to know what they'll be changing in the service.

[joshwa]

Find a local Citroen dealer, phone them and ask them how much they would charge, if it's cheaper than go for it. I think I paid around £80 for an annual service for my Skoda Fabia last year from an independant garage, so the price sounds about right. You can put X on the common parts (oil filter etc) they are meant to change to confirm whether they've changed them or not. If you're suspicious that is

[[GSV]Trig]

Chances are if its the 1st MOT then it should pass and there shouldnt be anything major wrong with it, chances are the garage knows this and will charge you £100 for change the oil and filter..
If your doing it for the stamp in the book then take it to the garage, otherwise I'd do it myself.

[5lab]

depends on what they're doing - 3 year service is normally a 'bigger' one, but if i were you i'd get them to do it BEFORE your warranty runs out, so if they find something broken, you can still get it fixed for free.

my last service cost £280, but that was a 60,000 miler, with all belts, all fluids, etc.. £100 isnt too bad if they're doing oil, all filters, plugs and leads..

[Konan555]

MOT Test costs about £50

And I got snotty about £38!

[J4MES]

sounds like a good deal to me - if it includes labour. if you're bothered about resale value go to a citroen dealer - the service stamps in the book will help retain more value and possibly make it easier to sell...

[J4MES]

I'd be interested to know what they'll be changing in the service.

oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, check/top up coolant, screen wash, air in't tyres, check all bulbs, wipers, inspect and clean/replace brake pads, inspect cam belt...

fuel filter/coolant/brake fluid/gearbox oil would get changed only if specified in the schedule

you would expect...

[[GSV]Trig]

According to Autodata the 36 month service the following should be checked.

VEHICLE ON FLOOR
Brake/Clutch Pedal heights
Instruments
Switches/controls
Horn
Interior Lamps
Front wiper blades
Front screen wash
Rear wiper
Rear screen wash
Instrument illumination
Direction/hazard indicators
Lighting system
Headlights

VEHICLE FULLY RAISED
Engine oil
Engine filter
Steering joints
Steering rack/box
Steering rack couplings
Suspension joints/seals/gaiters
Drive shaft joints/seals/gaiters
Exhaust system/mountings
Brake pipe corrosion
Fuel system leakage

VEHICLE HALF RAISED
Front brake pads
Tyre condition
Tyre pressure

UNDER BONNET OPERATIONS
Battery electrolyte level
Brake fluid reservoir
Power steering fluid
Coolant level/antifreeze strength
Pollen filter (if fitted)
Auxiliary drive belts

FINAL ITEMS CHECK
Engine self diagnostic system

ROAD TEST
Steering free play
Clutch operation
Vehicle suspension operation
Engine performance
Transmission
Brakes
abs function
Instruments


If they do all of that, which should take just under 2 hours then £150 aint that bad, you might find to that a lot of garages look at the book, see how long it takes, charge you accordingly and then not actually do everything on the list...

[joshwa]

or just plug it into the computer and run the diagnostics? and not actually check the stuff, just hope the computer doesn't come up with any errors?

[Mike Fishcake]

Find a local Citroen dealer, phone them and ask them how much they would charge, if it's cheaper than go for it. I think I paid around £80 for an annual service for my Skoda Fabia last year from an independant garage, so the price sounds about right. You can put X on the common parts (oil filter etc) they are meant to change to confirm whether they've changed them or not. If you're suspicious that is

Yeah, the Citroen one was about £160-£170 + VAT. I'm reasonably trusting of the local garage, as they did all the work on my old car and that seemed to be ok.

If your doing it for the stamp in the book then take it to the garage, otherwise I'd do it myself.

I know sod all about car servicing. Obviously I don't say or even hint that to the garage though . I really should learn more about it - been meaning to invest in a Haynes manual for any of the smaller jobs that might need doing (unless anyone has any better suggestions for self-teaching?). Cheers for the checklist as well.

depends on what they're doing - 3 year service is normally a 'bigger' one, but if i were you i'd get them to do it BEFORE your warranty runs out, so if they find something broken, you can still get it fixed for free.

Yep - that's exactly what I'm doing

sounds like a good deal to me - if it includes labour. if you're bothered about resale value go to a citroen dealer - the service stamps in the book will help retain more value and possibly make it easier to sell...

Not really bothered about resale value - TBH the extra money citroen charge on services over however many years I have it will be about the same value as the resale difference. If you see what I mean. Plus, it's only a 1.1 saxo, the current value according to parkers.co.uk (see here if you're even remotely interested) for a similar model is between £2,200 and £2,700ish.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your advice and help. Got it booked in for Thursday.

Cheers!!

[SilentDeath]

stamps in book will make it easyer to sell, esp if it has been serviced at the proper times. However f you part-x haveing a service or mot makes no difference.. since all garages/dealers can do that themselves for pennys and sometimes only look at the car very quickly..