Servicing Quandry

[James77]

The XC60 has its last service under 5 year service plan last year so falls to me to part with coin in future I have also been extending the warranty annually since 3 years old.
I'm inclined to take the car to good independent locally in Farnborough https://www.accukltd.co.uk/ for a couple of reasons, firstly I'm 45min to an hour away from closest Garage (Pirbright Guildford), secondly it will save a little coin which is always welcome and thirdly maybe the upselling will be lower key.
I have every confidence in the indy my concern is would Volvo attempt to squirrel out or any potential warranty claim I may have if I break free of the dealer? I'm sure the indy will follow the service schedule and lets face it its mainly oil and odd filter that is changed. Also will my car miss out on any useful software update I can't imagine much development is taking place on Sensus.

[GlenEagles]

Iam in the same position
5th service in October and Volvo extended warranty renewal
My thinking is that as long as I can extend the Volvo warranty I will let them service it as that way I am covering all the bases possible
As others have said here most repairs are £1k +
If that ceases to work out I would probably replace the car by that time
It’s all about the risk

[nu11eaf]

If you add in the free breakdown and recovery you get with Volvo service the indy garage pricing will not be that competitive, I have usually had free Volvo on call subscription as well when paying for my servicing after the 5 year plan finished.

[EssexExile]

At the end of my 5 year service plan my dealer offered a new service plan. I pay monthly, they pick up & return the car (20 mile round trip). The cost works out about the same as paying for the services individually but then they'd charge for collection.

[neilgorin]

Whilst the law is quite simple - EU (now UK) block exemption rules mean you can have a car serviced absolutely anywhere that is VAT registered as long as the garage does the work to the correct standard and with the correct parts, then the warranty (whether original or after market) is maintained.

The reality is different.

A friend for example recently had a two month battle with Hyundai over a failed gearbox on a 20000 mile, 3 year old car, as he'd had it serviced with a local garage. They tried everything they possibly could to avoid coverage. He had to provide not only invoices but proof from the garage of the exact spec of oil they had used.

On the other hand, I've never extended a warranty, so post 60000 miles (which for me is about 2.5 years) the car goes to my local garage. Despite using three different main dealers for three different Volvos, each time he's pulled out filters that should have been changed, and had been charged for, which were dated before the build date of the car so were likely production line fitments.

You pays your money and takes your choice...

[James77]

Originally Posted by nu11eaf

If you add in the free breakdown and recovery you get with Volvo service the indy garage pricing will not be that competitive, I have usually had free Volvo on call subscription as well when paying for my servicing after the 5 year plan finished.

That is true but from reading posts on here the Volvo recovery service is not that comprehensive.

[James77]

Originally Posted by neilgorin

Whilst the law is quite simple - EU (now UK) block exemption rules mean you can have a car serviced absolutely anywhere that is VAT registered as long as the garage does the work to the correct standard and with the correct parts, then the warranty (whether original or after market) is maintained.

The reality is different.

A friend for example recently had a two month battle with Hyundai over a failed gearbox on a 20000 mile, 3 year old car, as he'd had it serviced with a local garage. They tried everything they possibly could to avoid coverage. He had to provide not only invoices but proof from the garage of the exact spec of oil they had used.

On the other hand, I've never extended a warranty, so post 60000 miles (which for me is about 2.5 years) the car goes to my local garage. Despite using three different main dealers for three different Volvos, each time he's pulled out filters that should have been changed, and had been charged for, which were dated before the build date of the car so were likely production line fitments.

You pays your money and takes your choice...

Long term belief dealers skimp on work I must take a look in my air box and view the date. I know from my own experience when we took wives little V40 to an indy post 3 year plan they pulled the air filter and said it has never been changed. I can't understand this don't service kits include the parts that require changing?

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by James77

Long term belief dealers skimp on work I must take a look in my air box and view the date. I know from my own experience when we took wives little V40 to an indy post 3 year plan they pulled the air filter and said it has never been changed. I can't understand this don't service kits include the parts that require changing?

Kits should include the parts required, but it depends if the garage purchased a kit or everything separate. Then there's the human aspect of it... garages could buy a service kit, but did they use everything in the service kit?

You don't know if a part like an air filter for example has been changed without actually physically checking it yourself. You could have paid for a full service... it doesn't mean it was done. That's the reality of it.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by James77

Long term belief dealers skimp on work I must take a look in my air box and view the date. I know from my own experience when we took wives little V40 to an indy post 3 year plan they pulled the air filter and said it has never been changed. I can't understand this don't service kits include the parts that require changing?

I am sure that this does go on (ie main dealers not replacing parts) but I also think that indies are very quick to present their "evidence" that the dealer is a thief. Everybody has their bias....

[neilgorin]

Originally Posted by Philip Fisher

I am sure that this does go on (ie main dealers not replacing parts) but I also think that indies are very quick to present their "evidence" that the dealer is a thief. Everybody has their bias....

In my case the garage in question isn't a Volvo specialist and by his own admission doesn't deal with a large number of them. The dating on the parts that he's shown me show them to be from my car. It'll be interesting to see what he finds should I keep the car past the end of the warranty - if I keep it that long.