Haven't had the pleasure of paying yet as our Kia came with a free 3 year service plan.
The good thing with dealer servicing is that they know the cost down to the last cent beforehand, and they can't argue a warranty claim based on not meeting the manufacturers service requirements. Personally I also find they have far superior customer service, loan cars, customer lounges and things like that. There are obviously costs to this which the customer ends up paying for, but I think I am worth it Lol. Nothing wrong with a treat now and again.
It's like flying economy vs business class. You get fed and get to your destination the same, but one is a little more comfortable on the way :-)
As for the OP's cost, I think that's pretty normal given the number of parts replaced and work done. It only takes 1 or two extra filters to bump up the price $200 - $300.
Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation
Haven't had the pleasure of paying yet as our Kia came with a free 3 year service plan.
The good thing with dealer servicing is that they know the cost down to the last cent beforehand, and they can't argue a warranty claim based on not meeting the manufacturers service requirements. Personally I also find they have far superior customer service, loan cars, customer lounges and things like that. There are obviously costs to this which the customer ends up paying for, but I think I am worth it Lol. Nothing wrong with a treat now and again.
It's like flying economy vs business class. You get fed and get to your destination the same, but one is a little more comfortable on the way :-)
As for the OP's cost, I think that's pretty normal given the number of parts replaced and work done. It only takes 1 or two extra filters to bump up the price $200 - $300.
Treating yourself to a car service, now there's a first.
They also fed me a bunch of mis-infomation about the water pump looking OK and only needing replacing if it looked really bad when the cam belt was out, encouraging saying the job will cost half if the water pump doesn't need done. Best practice on this model is to replace it with the cambelt.
Ah, memories. Many years back I had a cam belt changed on my Holden Vectra. It was recommended that water pump be replaced at same time but dealer said it looked good so they left it to save cost. Annoyingly they didn't contact me at time to ask if I wanted it replaced regardless (I would have said yes).
Within a year of belt replacement the engine seized from what I suspect was a water pump fail. Car was sold to wrecker on side of road where it died for $300.
Ah, man - such a waste.
With regards to my situation I am pretty sure they were just playing games with me:
The water pump is hidden under the cambelt cover, so the comment about it looking OK was obviously a lie. (verified by corrosion in the area of the weep hole when it was taken out by my local mechanic)
The suggestion that the (cira $2000) price quoted for a cambelt & water pump would be half if only the cam belt needed replacement doesn't reflect actual costs. Most of the cost is in the cam belt, seals & tension kit and the labor to get it installed - Dealership would likely have been running a loss (or at leas way below normal margins) omitting the water pump.
The car was roughly 40,000km overdue for the cambelt / waterpump, It was logical to have it replaced.
The dealership wasn't holding back in maintenance in other areas - see iridium spark-plugs etc.
I am highly confident I would have dropped of my car, with approval to do the cambelt, and 3 hours later would have got a phone call saying that the mechanic's had got a close look at the waterpump and that it needs replacement (regardless of actual condition of waterpump), and that they happen to have one in stock at the dealership, and that they are happy to install it now at the organically quoted price. - Otherwise I will have to have it done next year at a substantially higher price due to the labor to get the cam-belt off and back on etc.
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