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£110 for garage oil change. Eye-watering?

E

Economic

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Location
London
Car
54 plate 2.2 CTDI ex
I told my mechanic that I wanted 0w30 and he changed the oil in front of me. I would have done it myself but I don't have a garage nor stilts. There was a deal for National Tyres who were charging £43 (that was before I knew I should put 0w30) but they cancelled on me so I decided to go to the garage even if they'd charge a bit more. I wasn't prepared for almost three times as much though...they wouldn't cheat me, I was just not prepared. Comparing to other garages, have I paid over the odds? They probably didn't look for any oil deals and just got the quickest from euro car parts. I looked there and 6 litres were £72. Also, I saw the oil filter which was aftermarket and I didn't think something like that needed to be genuine original but I've read on here that people are going to HH for that. Should I have done?
 
Personally I wouldn't worry too much, so long as a decent aftermarket filter is used. The OEM oil filter on the i-CTDi is actually made by Mahle, but I've also used a Bosch oil filter from Euro Car Parts.

£110 for an oil change is a bit steep. 6 litres of 0w-30 is usually available for less than £50, and the Mahle filter for around £7.

But I'd stick with the OEM fuel filter (Bosch, on your pre-facelift model), as so many aftermarket types create too much flow restriction, leading to fuel pressure problems.
 
If they let you have what remained in the can in the price to top up, for an hour of labour it is about right.

What does the receipt break down into ?

Did they suck it out of the top ? If not did they let you see the sludge and advise on any bits that looked ferrous ?
 
+ 1 for not worrying about it - at least you saw it get done.

The immediate learning point is never ask a garage to do anything for you unless you've also asked them for a price up front.

The more long term issue is how fed up are you with paying big garage bills ? When you feel you've had enough then that's the time to enrol on an evening class in car maintenance at your local college. Then you could have done the job yourself for £30.
 
if you've room to store it between services, get a tub of 0W30 from http://www.lubetechshop.co.uk/ and get a mechanic you trust to do the work for you. An oil change by itself is a lot less than an hour.
 
Channel Hopper said:
If they let you have what remained in the can in the price to top up, for an hour of labour it is about right.

What does the receipt break down into ?

Did they suck it out of the top ? If not did they let you see the sludge and advise on any bits that looked ferrous ?
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They didn't suck from the top, they just let it drain, then put about 4.5 litres from the 5 litre bottle (Petronas) then kept checking the oil level until that and the 1lt bottles were empty. About 5 checks in total, with an engine start in the middle. He used the full 6 litres even though I mentioned it only needed 5.9 (i really feel odd when I sound like I'm telling people how to do their job, I just think it might be quicker after all, they probably see a hundred cars a week.

Yes while I am annoyed at paying over the odds, if I had a garage and stilts I'd do it myself. Heck, I'm contemplating changing the fuel filter myself one weekend. I'm definitely doing the air and pollen filters myself.

About the sludge, they did not. I was going to mention oil flushing but I think I read mixed messages here and I think I read that with cars like mine it can actually cause more problems so I just left it.
 
Sorry to hear about your troubles.

Garages are always hard to trust and hence why I always do work on my car myself where possible.

The ictdi engine a breeze to service. Everything is accessible from the top (air filter and oil filter)

You mention you dont have access to a garage or axle stands etc.

This tool (pela 6000) will allow you suck the oil out of the engine (through the oil dipstick) without jacking it up. Its not really ideal as its always recommended to drop the sump and let the oil drain naturally but this would be a perfect solution to your issue and would allow you to do the work yourself pretty easily.

I generally use this tool in the winter months and then jack the car up and service it normally during the summer.

Definitely agree with MattW, I am on my second drum of lubetechs 0w/30 oil and have never looked back. Superb Value and works out to be around £26.65 per oil change (x3) with 2 litres left over for free.

See link for video of how the pela 6000 works
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wawzok1uzdE


Hope this helps
 
Trolley jack and axle stands work okay instead of a garage lift, & the advantage of those over a pump is you can maintain the brakes as well.
 
Thanks. I think I will invest in stumps as two pairs are the same price as the 6000. I really need a place to work...
 
Jon_G said:
Personally I wouldn't worry too much, so long as a decent aftermarket filter is used. The OEM oil filter on the i-CTDi is actually made by Mahle, but I've also used a Bosch oil filter from Euro Car Parts.

£110 for an oil change is a bit steep. 6 litres of 0w-30 is usually available for less than £50, and the Mahle filter for around £7.

But I'd stick with the OEM fuel filter (Bosch, on your pre-facelift model), as so many aftermarket types create too much flow restriction, leading to fuel pressure problems.
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Few days ago i made the 8. service from when i have the car every time with OEM filter and 6 times i got MAHLE as you mentioned and 2 times i got PURFLUX so there is not only one producer of OEM Honda oil filters.
Just for info :)
 
As a rule of thumb. I always use oem parts for my loved cars.
So if Purflux make the filter, I buy the same brand where ever.

Almost all service items, are made by someone other than Honda. But not all are available aftermarket.

As for oil, we charge £14.95 a liter for Castrol 0/30 diesel oil.... Our labour rate is £156....

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
 
Rom said:
As a rule of thumb. I always use oem parts for my loved cars.
So if Purflux make the filter, I buy the same brand where ever.
Almost all service items, are made by someone other than Honda. But not all are available aftermarket.
As for oil, we charge £14.95 a liter for Castrol 0/30 diesel oil.... Our labour rate is £156....
Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
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£156 for the oil change labour, or £156 per hour?

Either way, that seems a bit steep...
 
£156 an hour. An oil and filter change on most of our stuff, is 0.6 hours and 6 litres of oil.
I work for a Land Rover main dealer.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
 
Seems a reasonable figure to me.

Take £50 out for the oil and filter and £60 to first open the doors, pay the bills, pay peoples wages and then try and make a profit afterwards it doesn't seem that bad. I don't know what sort of margins you think garages work at but when you have to pay expenses like £20K a year to run licensed diagnostic software you can't make a profit by charging £5 an hour.
 
^ that's why I decided to change the oil myself, I can use the same oil, do it twice as often, and still be better off financially ;)
 
freddofrog said:
^ that's why I decided to change the oil myself, I can use the same oil, do it twice as often, and still be better off financially ;)
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Which is fine, but people can't expect a business/professional to work for the same lack of profit. They are providing a service and it's their livelihood and how they feed their kids and pay their mortgage.
 
Jon_G said:
Why do all those things become more expensive when the garage is a franchised dealer?
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Operating costs. Like the example I gave.

EDIT: Here's another quite amusing one. Say for instance that you have a franchised dealership and within the showroom you are selling official merchandise for the manufacturer and they say that you have to display that merchandise in a particular style of cabinet that costs £4K. If you don't or use a different cheaper style, they'll add it to list that may result in having your franchise taken away.
 
Pottermus said:
Which is fine, but people can't expect a business/professional to work for the same lack of profit. They are providing a service and it's their livelihood and how they feed their kids and pay their mortgage.
Click to expand...
true, although a fair percentage of the yearly profit will go into the dividends taken by the directors of the franchise, and although an independent garage will also be making a profit (hopefully), their operating costs and their dividends are lower
 
I hear that if a dealership makes a 2% profit throughout a year it is considered to be a successful one. I wonder how many independents work towards them figures? Who really is the "stealer"
 
aye but 2% of a large turnover is a lot of money ;)

I have never been to HH, but I have bought parts from HH, and generally the feedback about HH is excellent.

I stopped using my local dealer a long time ago because I seemed to get the feeling that, without going into details, when the car is more than 6 years old their attention to detail was no better or worse than a dealer of any other marque out there, or indeed most independents. Obviously there are more instances of independents being rogue traders, so if one has zero DIY capabilities, in the long run one may be better off finding a good dealer (which is why some people feel that they have to drive their car a long way to HH).

Other than that, DIY is the best policy when a car is out of warranty, or especially when it's more than 6 years old. Having the right ESM is a must though.
 
Pottermus said:
Operating costs. Like the example I gave.

EDIT: Here's another quite amusing one. Say for instance that you have a franchised dealership and within the showroom you are selling official merchandise for the manufacturer and they say that you have to display that merchandise in a particular style of cabinet that costs £4K. If you don't or use a different cheaper style, they'll add it to list that may result in having your franchise taken away.
Click to expand...
Interesting.

I wasn't being argumentative, I've often wondered why franchised dealers have higher rates. You'd think the franchise alone would be a lucrative prize, given that they not only get to sell new cars but also be practically guaranteed that those new owners would be making use of their services for at least the next three years?
 
Jon_G said:
Interesting.

I wasn't being argumentative, I've often wondered why franchised dealers have higher rates. You'd think the franchise alone would be a lucrative prize, given that they not only get to sell new cars but also be practically guaranteed that those new owners would be making use of their services for at least the next three years?
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usually started by business people with dosh who want a guaranteed dividend , safer than a football club in the lower leagues
 
Jon_G said:
Interesting.

I wasn't being argumentative, I've often wondered why franchised dealers have higher rates. You'd think the franchise alone would be a lucrative prize, given that they not only get to sell new cars but also be practically guaranteed that those new owners would be making use of their services for at least the next three years?
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Unfortunately it's not all champagne and skittles
 
Dealer techs are (should be) highly trained. Much higher than back street, which are generally college, then nothing more.
A 3 day JLR course, is £900, plus hotel, food, car and fuel to get me there, then the loss of 8hrs labour a day, as I'm not there to do it. I've been on 5 this year. I'm one tech out of 14 or so.
A JLR diag laptop, is around £6k. A battery support unit to go on vehicle to use that with, is about £1k.
JLR dealer standards, says every tech should have his own. At a push, 1 between 2.
We have 2 £40k wheel aligners.

There are special tools that JLR just send us, and bill us for. No choice, they are mandatory tools if you want to be a JLR dealer.

Our service department turnover is about £130k a month I think. Not much of that is profit!

I remember a couple of years ago, our dealership was celebrating making a million profit in a year.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
 
Rom said:
Dealer techs are (should be) highly trained. Much higher than back street, which are generally college, then nothing more.
A 3 day JLR course, is £900, plus hotel, food, car and fuel to get me there, then the loss of 8hrs labour a day, as I'm not there to do it. I've been on 5 this year. I'm one tech out of 14 or so.
A JLR diag laptop, is around £6k. A battery support unit to go on vehicle to use that with, is about £1k.
JLR dealer standards, says every tech should have his own. At a push, 1 between 2.
We have 2 £40k wheel aligners.

There are special tools that JLR just send us, and bill us for. No choice, they are mandatory tools if you want to be a JLR dealer.

Our service department turnover is about £130k a month I think. Not much of that is profit!

I remember a couple of years ago, our dealership was celebrating making a million profit in a year.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
sounds like the car-sales make the profit, the service department breaks even, but it has to be there to get the franchise
 
Rom said:
Dealer techs are (should be) highly trained. Much higher than back street, which are generally college, then nothing more.
A 3 day JLR course, is £900, plus hotel, food, car and fuel to get me there, then the loss of 8hrs labour a day, as I'm not there to do it. I've been on 5 this year. I'm one tech out of 14 or so.
A JLR diag laptop, is around £6k. A battery support unit to go on vehicle to use that with, is about £1k.
JLR dealer standards, says every tech should have his own. At a push, 1 between 2.
We have 2 £40k wheel aligners.

There are special tools that JLR just send us, and bill us for. No choice, they are mandatory tools if you want to be a JLR dealer.

Our service department turnover is about £130k a month I think. Not much of that is profit!

I remember a couple of years ago, our dealership was celebrating making a million profit in a year.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

How much of your work is bog standard servicing? If it's a lot then does everybody need to be trained to that level? If they don't then it sounds to me like the training regime is a way for someone to make money.
 
Training is a bit off a snafu currently. Theres been a lot of staff turnover, and some arent really up to scratch.

We have currently, 2 Master Tech (lvl 4), 3 Diag Tech (lvl 3) rest are either level 2, or working towards it. Level 2 is 4 or 5 courses, then ***essment, level 3 is another 7 plus ***essment, level 4 is another 6 or 7 I think. Then theres new model training, I did 3 days on the Velar this month. Then theres Hybrid training. Course can be 1-4 days, depending on topic. a 3 day is £900.

Id say 80% of our work, has warranty work too. Be it campaigns, or faults. We probably need another level 4, and 1 or 2 more level 3. Rest can be level 2. We also have 5 apprentices from brand new, to last year.

Id agree with Sales being the money maker. Also helps they need far less training, have far fewer rectifications ( ie techs breaking things, mis diagnosing etc), less overheads, no consumables, equipment to maintain etc.
 
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