Hi All,
I recently had my coolant changed by my local main dealer and following the job, I got the usual request to fill in an on-line survey about the service I received. It was actually quite a detailed survey with a lot of relevant questions, including one about whether I'd use the dealer again for my servicing. I told them that I would, except that the local indy was cheaper.
Surprisingly (in a good way), I had a quick email response from the service manager asking if I could spare the time to chat about the relative costs.
To cut a long story short, my local indy charges £370 incl vat for a major compared to £395 from the main dealer. The main difference is that the indy includes a spark plug change in the major price and the dealer wants £250 for the job.
Discussing this with the service manager, he asked - does the indy use genuine Porsche spark plugs? Well, I don't know, but I doubt it I said. Assuming it's the correct rating I'm sure many spark plugs are available that work just fine.
He told me that genuine plugs (branded Porsche) cost £17 and oddsies plus VAT EACH! No wonder the plug change is expensive!!
Is that normal for a main dealer? Why are the plugs so expensive when I think I saw on one of the independent parts sellers good quality plugs for £5.99 each?
I'm tempted to use the main dealer for my next major as the difference in price isn't that great but I'd really not want to pay an extra £250 for the plug change.
Any thoughts?
Cheers
Dave
I recently had my coolant changed by my local main dealer and following the job, I got the usual request to fill in an on-line survey about the service I received. It was actually quite a detailed survey with a lot of relevant questions, including one about whether I'd use the dealer again for my servicing. I told them that I would, except that the local indy was cheaper.
Surprisingly (in a good way), I had a quick email response from the service manager asking if I could spare the time to chat about the relative costs.
To cut a long story short, my local indy charges £370 incl vat for a major compared to £395 from the main dealer. The main difference is that the indy includes a spark plug change in the major price and the dealer wants £250 for the job.
Discussing this with the service manager, he asked - does the indy use genuine Porsche spark plugs? Well, I don't know, but I doubt it I said. Assuming it's the correct rating I'm sure many spark plugs are available that work just fine.
He told me that genuine plugs (branded Porsche) cost £17 and oddsies plus VAT EACH! No wonder the plug change is expensive!!
Is that normal for a main dealer? Why are the plugs so expensive when I think I saw on one of the independent parts sellers good quality plugs for £5.99 each?
I'm tempted to use the main dealer for my next major as the difference in price isn't that great but I'd really not want to pay an extra £250 for the plug change.
Any thoughts?
Cheers
Dave