I had my car serviced today by Honda, having only recently bought it I wanted to add to the 11 dealer stamps already in the book just in case I decide not to keep it so i thought having another dealer stamp would make it easier to shift plus the car hadn't been serviced for 2 years as the previous owner used it as a second car and hadn't clocked up the mileage so decided not to get it serviced.
This was the 125k service so I initially called the dealer and asked for the price of the service and what exactly would be changed. I was quoted £222 over the phone and told that the oil, oil filter and cabin filter would be changed. I decided to book using their online form following which I received a call from the service department to confirm dates etc, I again told them I wanted a 125k service and was this time quoted £180.
So I duly dropped it off this morning at the very nice dealership, they even had my name and car reg on the service desk welcoming me!, I picked up the courtesy car I had prebooked which was a brand new Civic 1 litre turbo sports model, quite impressive for a 1 litre petrol (£24k new).
I dropped off the car at 9.30 and was told to collect at 4.30. Around 2.30 I received a call saying that the car was in need of rear discs and pads on both sides, now I already knew my car had a problem with the rear nearside as the pads are quite worn which is more than likely a sticky caliper as the other side has plenty of meat on it and I have the receipt showing they were changed not too long ago but they were telling me that both sides were worn to the point where metal on metal contact was being made and quoted me £290 to replace discs and pads on the rear. I told the chap that I suspected the caliper so putting new discs and pads on would lead to the same problem down the line and I'd end up replacing the parts again. He again repeated the metal on metal quote but said they'd leave them alone at my request, at no point did he offer to examine the caliper.
About half an hour later I received an email with a brief video of my car which I thought was a nice touch, the technician did a little walk around one side confirming tyre depths on all wheels then showing the worn pads on the nearside, he didn't show the offside though.
I picked up my car at 4.30ish and paid a total of £195, £180 for the service and £15 which I agreed to pay in the morning when picking up the courtesy car in order to reduce the excess on it from £1000 to £250.
I went to my car after paying which had been washed and vacuumed but they'd forgotten to stamp the book despite being told they'd stamped it when I asked at the service desk.
So in summary, I paid £180 to have my oil and filter changed plus a car wash and vac, on the plus side I saved £42 by them not changing the cabin filter, which I pulled out and vacuumed then put back in as it was pretty clean.
If I keep my car I very much doubt I will visit the dealership for a service again, I've already ordered genuine rear pads from johnsons honda on ebay for £40 and some red rubber grease for £1.87 which I hope will sort my caliper issue.