UK's servicing rip-off

07 June 2005

Britain’s motorists could save £185 million by shopping around for the cheapest servicing on their car, according to research by What Car?.

Owners who use independent garages will save £50 on average

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Britain’s motorists could save £185 million by shopping around for the cheapest servicing on their car, according to research by What Car?.

Owners who go to independent garages will save more than £50 on average compared to bills from a franchised dealer. That’s on a service carried out to the manufacturers’ specifications, so warranties would not be invalidated.

What Car? went undercover to check costs at 200 garages covering cars from five of the top-10 selling manufacturers in the UK: BMW, Citroen, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen. Servicing quotes were compared from garages in the same area with the service carried out to manufacturer recommendations and using manufacturer-approved parts.

ISA – independent saving advice
The biggest difference in prices What Car? researchers found was on a 1.4-litre Citroen C3 supermini being serviced in Wales. Main dealers charged an average of £266 for a major service, while nearby independents quoted only £125 – a saving of £141.

By contrast, owners of the Toyota RAV4 4x4 would only save an average of £13 by getting their car serviced at an independent garage.

‘A great many owners of new cars still think they must have their car serviced at a franchised dealer to keep their warranty intact,’ said Steve Fowler, What Car?’s group editor.

‘That’s not the case – as long as the independent dealer is VAT-registered and carries out the work to manufacturer recommendations using manufacturer-approved parts, the car’s warranty will still be valid. Owners will have saved themselves a few quid in the process.

‘Spending a little time finding an independent who’ll carry out the work to the right standard will pay dividends. However, we have also found that franchised dealers are open to negotiation – it’s possible to haggle over the cost of servicing and save money that way, too.’

Full results from our servicing mystery shop can be found in the August issue of What Car?, on sale from today, Tuesday June 7, priced at £3.90.