Service costs

[Ozzie]

OK, so I have survived that experience, I am not so sure I will be revisiting Marshalls Honda of Peterborough again though. 

Heres the invoice breakdown:
Labour £240.74
Air con anti-bacterial service £29.16
Drain Plug Washer, 14mm 54p
Drain Plug Washer, 18mm £1.66p
Oil Filter £8.13
Pollen Filter £15.75
Air Filter £18
CVT Fluid £32.00
Spark Plugs x8 £120.00
VAT £100.00

Grand Total £600.00

I also need new brake pads and discs, Honda are quoting £270 !

[guest1521]

Ozzie... "Spark Plugs x8 £120.00"

I thought yours is a GE model in which case it has 4xsparkplugs. (If it's a GD - model ran to 2008 - it has 8.)

£600 ... simply eye-watering! I'm sure there's not a great deal REALLY done for that.

Mind you, I reckon car dealers' margins on new cars are very tight these days.

And maybe they make up for that on 'servicing'.  A reputable independent... pros and cons...

[Ozzie]

I have a HS, Hybrid Jazz. I was advised the cost would be £662, but phoned my usual dealer, who said they would charge £565, so my now local dealer agreed to match it, and then asked if I wanted the air con service when I dropped the car off.
If I knew a good local independent mechanic that I could trust I would probably go there, but I haven't found one yet.
I don't think I will use this dealership again though.I was told they will call when the car was ready . . . the call didn't come, however the car was ready when I called them. So I pay and get the keys, and go to drive away only to find the CVTF light is still showing on the dashboard. Hmm not sure thats what I expect after parting with £600.

[guest1521]

Ozzie... forgive me... but I thought your HS Hybrid has the same engine as the GE non-hybrid. That'd be the i-VTEC (4-cylinders, 4 sparkplugs) as opposed to the earlier model i-DSI (4 cylinders, 8 sparkplugs).

I'm just wondering if you've been billed for 8 sparkplugs (£120) when it should have been 4 (perhaps £60).

Expensive spark plugs but I suppose they have 75,000 mile life.

[John Ratsey]

Honda UK ought to be interested in this sub-par customer experience. If they charged for 8 plugs when the engine only has 4 (which is my understanding) then what's the certainty that they changed any of the plugs? And isn't it normal to change the oil when the filter is changed?

[monkeydave]

did you ask for the aircon service? how old is your car having all that work done?

my first service was £149 and the second was £189 the next one is the mot service so will be £200-£250 level

[Ozzie]

Apologies there is oil listed on the invoice £34.02 of Castrol Magnatec Professional MP.

I was offered the air con service when booking it in, so decided "What the heck". I bought 5 services when initially purchasing the car, for a set price of £500 so this is the first service now that pack has expired, its the 75k service. It was a bit of a shock !

The car was first registered on Sept 1st 2011, a 61 reg.

"Honda Fit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Fit‎
Honda released hybrid gasoline-electric versions of the Fit in Japan in October .... use two spark plugs per cylinder, allowing gasoline to burn more completely; .... The European-only 1.2 i-DSI is offered as the base model in many countries"

[John Ratsey]

I had thought the Hybrid had the same engine as the other Jazzes of the same age. There's nothing in the specs to indicate the number of plugs but the only clue I can find is that the normal Jazz 1339 cc engine has a compression ratio of 10.5 : 1 and 4 valves / cylinder while the Hybrid is 10.8 : 1 and 2 valves / cylinder. That compression ratio is the same as the 1339 i-DSI.

There might be a rational reason for this: The power train came from the Insight which came out some years ago and Honda didn't feel inclined to spend money modifying the i-VTEC engine. It does, however, have me wondering whether the Hybrid's economy would be better if Honda had given it the newer engine.

[guest1521]

4 sparkplugs or 8? Sorry Ozzie, my silly mistake as you have shown in your post. Your 'torquey' hybrid (with that particular engine) must be a great drive. Nonetheless those servicing costs are eye-watering.

[Ozzie]

So far its had 6 services, total cost £1100, average cost £183, its just that the last instalment was a large one 

[emmerdale]

Hi  6 services in 2 years how many miles have you done ? just why has it had so many services Im very curious

[emmerdale]

HI again just found the other posts and read that you are a driving instructor all explained now but what a terrible daily journey ,are you looking to move home or looking for a job nearer home good luck ?

[peteo48]

My local dealer is making great play of the fixed price servicing available at most dealers. For ANY petrol (except hybrid) it's £145 going up to £265 every two years when they do a brake fluid change and pollen filter.

So these big bills do seem odd although I haven't allowed for air con service or plugs.

It's a minefield. At my next service I am going to specify the £265 service and hope that's all I pay!

[Ozzie]

Hi  6 services in 2 years how many miles have you done ? just why has it had so many services Im very curious

Just about to turn 75,000 miles. I'm a driving instructor, as the saying goes "if its sitting on the drive, I ain't getting paid".

[Ozzie]

HI again just found the other posts and read that you are a driving instructor all explained now but what a terrible daily journey ,are you looking to move home or looking for a job nearer home good luck ?

Hiya, I moved to a larger, but cheaper house, hence the journey back to thae area where I have built up my reputation and business over the past 18 years as a driving instructor. I also have 10 instructors working for me, so basically its worth the journey