Is it unreasonable to ask cost of servicing of new car for first 3 years?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Is it unreasonable to ask cost of servicing of new car for first 3 years?

surfisup1000

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#195800 4-May-2016 20:56

Looking at a new car....has a 3 year parts warranty.

I asked the salesman what the cost of servicing for the first 3 years or so. He was vague, said it would be around $350-400 for each service, but, after the test drive I asked again and suddenly he was saying around $500 but sounded like he was guessing .

So, I asked if he could find out.... he called me later and said I should look it up on their website as all the details are there. I looked at their website and the servicing costs are not there.

The salesman is making me feel like I should not be asking for this information. It is a european vehicle which is why i would like to know.

Isn't it reasonable to ask for this information?

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#1546849 4-May-2016 21:00

I just bought a new Nissan X-Trail. I said free servicing for 3 years was a deal breaker. Still got massive discount off the car too, and lots of accessories at (what I assume is their) cost. From Wgtn..

Don't just ask, demand it...

jarledb

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#1546850 4-May-2016 21:03

What is it with some kiwis and service? I have had similar experiences with various companies I have had dealings with here.

If I were you I would look up another company for the same car, wouldn't accept having to jump hoops to get what should be rudimentary information from a dealership.

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timmmay

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#1546852 4-May-2016 21:06

I just got a 6 month old Nissan from the dealer, I couldn't get a discount at all. I tried for servicing for rest of warranty, just one next year, no go. The car was around $6K off new price and hardly any km's so still a reasonable deal.

Getting 3 years free service is around $1500 discount. The Nissan guy said cash buyers typically get 5% off, whereas my father in law in the UK buys new cars every 3-5 years and says he gets 10% off each time.

jjnz1

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#1546857 4-May-2016 21:14

salesman made the mistake of letting me know they often give 15% to some companies - so I said I want 8%. Also got lots of freebies and accessories heavily discounted >30% off.

Plus 3% finance for 5 years.

Put it this way,I was looking at a 12 month old second hand car, but the new one was almost as cheap.

alasta

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#1546861 4-May-2016 21:19

Most European manufacturers seem to offer a deal where you can pre-pay for three years of servicing at a fixed price. It's surprising that they haven't offered you this?

AKLWestie

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#1546863 4-May-2016 21:23

It is more than reasonble to get this information from the dealer (what brand and model you at looking at by the way?). Ask them to do it in writing with a company letterhead too.

From a customer perspective, it is important to know this as it is part of the total cost of ownership. It is no use if you get a $1000 discount and then they charge you $800 for each annual service for three years.

I used to have a Mitsubishi Galant, petrol engine. The service schedule is every 12 month or 15,000km. The service booklet shows a B service, C service, and a D service. Back in 2002, a B service is around $200, C $350, D $450. The first service is B, second C, then D, then go back to B.

My previous experience with car sales people is sub-par. I remember when I bought another car in 2009, the dealer was very sloppery with paper work. The change of ownership was not done promptly. On the seventh day, I wrote them a letter quoting some stuff I found from NZTA and mention legal advise blah blah, and then the change ownership paperwork happen right away.

Do remember you can always go to different dealers and find the best deal.

rugrat

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#1546866 4-May-2016 21:28

I see nothing unreasonable about asking.

Some car manufactures/sales places give free servicing for x years on new car, not just parts.
If it was me I'd shop else where.

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surfisup1000

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#1546893 4-May-2016 22:28

AKLWestie:

Do remember you can always go to different dealers and find the best deal.

Yep, maybe I'll do that. Only one dealership in my town though :)

The salesman is nice enough. I need to do another test drive anyway so I'll make it clear that I need to know.

mattwnz

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#1546896 4-May-2016 22:35

Most new cars come with free servicing these days, so use that to your advantage when negotiating. You should check to see if you can get it serviced with any qualified mechanic without voiding the warranty, rather than a dealer, which do tend to charge more. That sounds like a huge amount, just to get it serviced BTW. Diesels cost more than petrols to service. Also you should see what the service interval in NZ is. For my mazda for example it is just 6 months, yet in Australia, it is 1 year, and the models are similar, so don't know why there is that difference. But it has free servicing for the first 3 years anyway.

insane

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#1546898 4-May-2016 22:40

surfisup1000:

AKLWestie:

Do remember you can always go to different dealers and find the best deal.

Yep, maybe I'll do that. Only one dealership in my town though :)

The salesman is nice enough. I need to do another test drive anyway so I'll make it clear that I need to know.

Almost sounds like the sales person is trying to give you a hint that he's not interested in making a sale with little to no commission. Find someone else, he clearly doesn't deserve your business if he won't answer you a straight up question or offer to find it out for you.

I found one VW dealer to be the same, suffice to say the actual servicing costs was lower than they first suggested. ~$300 a time compared to the suggested $400-450 (for a standard service). Mind you they don't exactly do much.

Geektastic

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#1546901 4-May-2016 22:52

Just ring the service department from home and say you have a "X" and could they please tell you the cost of the annual services.

The salesman probably has no idea: most of them usually know less about what they are selling than the customer. They are like real estate agents with cars and lower commission....

richms

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#1546909 4-May-2016 23:01

Hopeless salesperson. Go elsewhere where they hire staff that will actually work to get the sale.

Richard rich.ms

Oblivian

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#1546916 4-May-2016 23:20

Geektastic:

Just ring the service department from home and say you have a "X" and could they please tell you the cost of the annual services.

The salesman probably has no idea: most of them usually know less about what they are selling than the customer. They are like real estate agents with cars and lower commission....

This.

Servicing pricing is dependant on requirements they stick to, and throw in as a perk. Hyundai for instance, only suggest Oil +filter flush for the first 2, with basic checks. The 3rd (which I just paid for being the new owner) also included brake fluid change and bleed. The next one is a larger KM gap and has a heap more changes like plugs, filter etc. On each one the price changes

So they have tiered pricing + additional based on engine size (approximates the oil content). On that base they added basic costs for the other recommended based on their normal pricing schedule (which is slightly discounted labour as you are getting work done anyways)

Batman

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#1546971 5-May-2016 08:08

I think the key in the OP is European car ... it costs a bomb to service perhaps? Is it an Audi? If not then I'm not sure why ...

old3eyes

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#1546999 5-May-2016 09:00

Toyota dealers seem to come up with a 5 year warranty and servicing at regular times. We bought a new Corolla back in 2013 with 5 years servicing and tires for life..

Regards,

Old3eyes

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