Oil Service cost/time

[Transporter]

From my post at BriSkoda:


Further detail for us Aussies:
Rang dealer for a quote just to see how close to the origonal $235 I was quoted when buying the car. Service Advisor says "$290 including $130 worth of special Skoda oil." So I ask if I can supply my own VW compliant oil & he says yes. I figure that will bring the price down to ~$160.

When I pick the car up they want $214. I ask how $160 became $214 and they tell me it was 2 hours labour. They have no Skoda info in their system and show me an independant website www.carservice.com.au and use the drilldown to show me that Passats are 2 hours (cambelt inspection, etc which I don't have).

So, does $214 for an oil service without oil sound fair or a bit greedy?

They don't buy oil for $130.00
They make profit on the oil, so that's why you cannot just deduct $130 from the total service cost.
In the automotive business you have income from the labor charge and profit from the parts you sell, if someone brings his/her own parts which results in reducing total profit to business then it has to be adjusted somehow.
Cost of that special Skoda oil to them is $76.00
Is it just oil change or does the service includes safety check as well?

[brad]

They don't buy oil for $130.00
They make profit on the oil, so that's why you cannot just deduct $130 from the total service cost.
In the automotive business you have income from the labor charge and profit from the parts you sell, if someone brings his/her own parts which results in reducing total profit to business then it has to be adjusted somehow.
Cost of that special Skoda oil to them is $76.00
Is it just oil change or does the service includes safety check as well?

Check Fluid levels, lights, tyres, brake pad thickness (through the wheel spokes) - if you call that a Safety Check then it had one.

Are you saying there should be a line item on the invoice that says "Profit on oil that we didn't sell you - $54" That's certainly a new way of gouging the customer.

Where I said:

I figure that will bring the price down to ~$160.

I negated to mention that I verbally confirmed a price of $160 with the Service Advisor.

I have no issues with paying a fair price for the actual parts used. I have no issues paying for the time spent working on the vehicle or the standard factory times.
I do have an issue with paying for an excessive amount of time for a simple, straight forward job that I could do in my driveway in an hour (Safety Check included). The only extra they did was hooking it up to the computer.

[gregozedobe]

Sounds like you need to get written quotes in future (or go to a different dealer/independent) ?

[Transporter]

Check Fluid levels, lights, tyres, brake pad thickness (through the wheel spokes) - if you call that a Safety Check then it had one.

Are you saying there should be a line item on the invoice that says "Profit on oil that we didn't sell you - $54" That's certainly a new way of gouging the customer.

Where I said: I negated to mention that I verbally confirmed a price of $160 with the Service Advisor.

I have no issues with paying a fair price for the actual parts used. I have no issues paying for the time spent working on the vehicle or the standard factory times.
I do have an issue with paying for an excessive amount of time for a simple, straight forward job that I could do in my driveway in an hour (Safety Check included). The only extra they did was hooking it up to the computer.

Sorry mate it wasn't clear from your original post that they agreed on $160.

Now lets talk about your ”a new way of gouging the customer”.

Lets say that you are building the house and in the builders quote there is the cost of installing electrical wiring for lets say $2000.
You’re a qualified electrician, so you tell them that you will do it yourself (supplying your own wires power points and so on).
For sure that they will not take $2000 off from the original quote because the profit from the building of your house is the profit from the parts and labour.
If too many customers would supply their own than the cost of labour to build the house would go up. Just think about it. The business is about making money.

My advice is get everything in writing next time or buy the oil and the tools and do everything yourself and save even more.

[jacob_1987]

I've got my Skoda serviced at a bloke I've serviced my car's at... I actually purchased the oil Nulon (10W-40W), and filter (from skoda)

In total cost me

Oil - 45
Filter - 19.95
Labor- 50

It's a bit late but it's $114, and i could of got it cheap if i got a generic filter and maybe a generic brand name filter. The thing about oils these days is that there soo much the same, yet there's always that urge to get that more flashy oil. The most important aspect is the grade is correct, especially for these diesels. Also trying to ensure they match VW501, just incase of any warrantry issues.

[jacob_1987]

Another interesting thing is that Skoda Special Oil ... which as I recall is Mobil ( the fancy green one) if you search well you can pick it up for $50, but also oil spec is 10/30. I'm not sure for a diesel if a warm viscosity of 30 is going to do the trick, probably better to stick with a bit thicker oil, to keep the engine running a tad longer.

[brad]

Lets say that you are building the house and in the builders quote there is the cost of installing electrical wiring for lets say $2000.
You’re a qualified electrician, so you tell them that you will do it yourself (supplying your own wires power points and so on).
For sure that they will not take $2000 off from the original quote because the profit from the building of your house is the profit from the parts and labour.
If too many customers would supply their own than the cost of labour to build the house would go up. Just think about it. The business is about making money.

My advice is get everything in writing next time or buy the oil and the tools and do everything yourself and save even more.

I can do it all myself and unlike many on this forum, I can also sign-off the service manual & retain warranty. I'm a qualified mechanic.

The reason i choose not to is that I was hoping to establish a "relationship" with the dealer which may (or may not) smooth any future warranty claims (if they arise). I figure if the service cost is reasonable, then it's a good investment.

WRT your supply of parts / electricians analogy. We never did that at any of the workshops that I worked at / ran /managed. If the customer supplied parts then we lost the cream on the job but generally we charged the same labour rate for everyone and only added a 10%-15% markup on our parts. By offering reasonable prices on our parts, our customers didn't bother sourcing their own bits as they knew they weren't being ripped-off. IMO, any markup beyond 20% is gouging.

I currently manage a $5mill/pa civil/mech/elec contract & our contractors are bound to a 10% markup on supplied parts (and they are audited to keep things transparent).

[brad]

I've got my Skoda serviced at a bloke I've serviced my car's at... I actually purchased the oil Nulon (10W-40W), and filter (from skoda)

In total cost me

Oil - 45
Filter - 19.95
Labor- 50

It's a bit late but it's $114, and i could of got it cheap if i got a generic filter and maybe a generic brand name filter. The thing about oils these days is that there soo much the same, yet there's always that urge to get that more flashy oil. The most important aspect is the grade is correct, especially for these diesels. Also trying to ensure they match VW501, just incase of any warrantry issues.

but also oil spec is 10/30. I'm not sure for a diesel if a warm viscosity of 30 is going to do the trick, probably better to stick with a bit thicker oil, to keep the engine running a tad longer.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about viscosities. The main thing as you said, is to ensure you used the oil that is Approved to the correct VW spec. Nulon do a 5w-40 that is VW505.

As for generic oil filters - for the $5 you save, I wouldn't bother. In some of the other VWs, generic oil filters (Ryco comes to mind), cause big pressure drops in the system. You need to stick with an OEM spec filter (but not necessarily purchased from dealership).

[Transporter]

I can do it all myself and unlike many on this forum, I can also sign-off the service manual & retain warranty. I'm a qualified mechanic.

The reason i choose not to is that I was hoping to establish a "relationship" with the dealer which may (or may not) smooth any future warranty claims (if they arise). I figure if the service cost is reasonable, then it's a good investment.

WRT your supply of parts / electricians analogy. We never did that at any of the workshops that I worked at / ran /managed. If the customer supplied parts then we lost the cream on the job but generally we charged the same labour rate for everyone and only added a 10%-15% markup on our parts. By offering reasonable prices on our parts, our customers didn't bother sourcing their own bits as they knew they weren't being ripped-off. IMO, any markup beyond 20% is gouging.

I currently manage a $5mill/pa civil/mech/elec contract & our contractors are bound to a 10% markup on supplied parts (and they are audited to keep things transparent).

You charge 10%-15% mark up if you charge enough (overcharge) for labour - IMHO.

I'm sure that the dealer quoted you no more than the recommended retail price for that oil.
I know that recommended retail prices are high, but people are happy when they bargain the price down, so isn't it all of us fault that these RRP are high?

If I would let the dealer to do the job I pay the bill and I wouldn't make a noise over $50
let alone to go and buy my own oil and let them to put it in my engine - this is not a way to establish a "relationship" with the dealer which may (or may not) smooth any future warranty claims (if they arise).

But since you said they verbally confirmed $160 then that changes whole situation and it is the receptionist mistake not to note it on the Job sheet but again if you want to establish a "relationship" with the dealer you wouldn’t want to go about it and make everybody there to remember you for that.
There was a better way to save your $50

P.S.
I'd ask you and answer a question related to your last sentance but I would go off topic and the post could be deleted.
You cam PM me.

[jacob_1987]

The interesting this is that after 2 incidences I purchased oil filters from Skoda, both filters seam quite different. THe first I purchased seemed as though it the filter had more lines (the triangle filter lines if u know what I'm saying) whilst the second seamed like it had less. It was weird, but they were both the same part and packaging. Not too sure about how Skoda Australia is stocking their stuff, I'm personally thinking of going down to VW and ordering the Passat/Golf one to see if it's any different.