X290 Fiat 1st service, HOW MUCH!! (1 Viewer)

[Gcs]

Took the moho in to the local Fiat professional truck dealer for it's 1st 2 year service a couple of days ago, informed them it needed a new offside light unit as it had a slight bit of condensation. All ok, new light on order, would be in the following day.
Rang the next day to find out if it was all completed, to be told yep, all done, light changed, needed a new set of wiper blades (after 2 years?), that'll be £521 total inc vat!!
Picked myself up off the floor and asked if I had been charged for the light unit, oh no, that would have been another £450!
Thought I'd wait to see the bill before I kicked off, but miraculously ten minutes later I get an answerphone message to say they'd applied some discount and the bill was now down to £450. amazed that 70 quid can just be added to see if they can get away with it.
interested as to how much others have paid?

 

[WillH]

Our nearest Fiat Pro dealer charges £95/hr labour.

 

[Hughman]

Doesn't sound too terrible, and I replace wiper blades annually - it's amazing how much better the new ones always work.

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[Lenny HB]

£120 for a light service at local inependant. As they don't need a service for 2 years/28000 miles I wait until it's out of warranty then get it serviced at 2 years by local independent.

 

[Alistair33]

Is the first service indicated by lights on the dash or is it due at a certain time or mileage?

I was thinking of getting it done around the same time as the first habitation check which will be approx 12-13 months &15,000 km

 

[Dare_Devil_Dennis]

I was quoted by my local Fiat commercial dealer in Derby £200+VAT. Sold it now, so won't be taking it up.

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[Hettie's Crew]

North East Truck and Van on Hedon Road Hull, a Fiat Professional and Iveco commercial dealer did our year 2 service for £129 and our year 3 service was £280 because it needed a new fuel filter and MOT.
They also give a full explanation of exactly what's been done and why. I asked to have a brake fluid change and they tested it and said no need, no charge for the test.
I know where we'll be going next year. X250, though I doubt it makes any difference.

 

[busby]

Took the moho in to the local Fiat professional truck dealer for it's 1st 2 year service a couple of days ago, informed them it needed a new offside light unit as it had a slight bit of condensation. All ok, new light on order, would be in the following day.
Rang the next day to find out if it was all completed, to be told yep, all done, light changed, needed a new set of wiper blades (after 2 years?), that'll be £521 total inc vat!!
Picked myself up off the floor and asked if I had been charged for the light unit, oh no, that would have been another £450!
Thought I'd wait to see the bill before I kicked off, but miraculously ten minutes later I get an answerphone message to say they'd applied some discount and the bill was now down to £450. amazed that 70 quid can just be added to see if they can get away with it.
interested as to how much others have paid?

How much,,I pay about £130 for a full service,,,BUSBY,,

 

[Dare_Devil_Dennis]

How much,,I pay about £130 for a full service,,,BUSBY,,

For an X290? I think the oil costs about that much - I bought one litre to carry with me and the cheapest I could find it was about £16.00

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[Christoph]

£99 plus vat for light service at Fiat Truck dealership.

 

[busby]

For an X290? I think the oil costs about that much - I bought one litre to carry with me and the cheapest I could find it was about £16.00

Mine is a simple old 2.0 litre HDI,,,Still gets me to any where i need to go,,Old School...Can afford to change oil and filter every 5000 miles,,BUSBY,,

 

[tonyidle]

I was trying to find the Service Schedule to see where they they poured the ground unicorn droppings when I came across this:

https://www.kwik-fit.com/servicing/information/vehicles/fiat/ducato

There's mention of the warranty further down the page.

I've no experience of them (or any other) as I've never had anything done by the motor trade.

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[TerryL]

Have found wiper blades seem to last only 2 years - I got some on a good deal earlier this year and keep them handy now. Fortunately not needed on MoT earlier this month.

 

[maison]

Use a local independent repair shop and insist on FIAT original parts being used and itemised on your invoice. Warranty will still be intact.

 

[Deneb]

For an X290? I think the oil costs about that much - I bought one litre to carry with me and the cheapest I could find it was about £16.00

£57 for 6 litres and £14 for genuine Fiat filter when I changed mine a few months ago. You can bet the dealer is paying less than this as they will be buying bulk drums of oil so they only draw off what they need to use but charge the customer retail pack prices. Had to reject the first filter that the FP dealer tried to sell me. It was unboxed and covered in dust and what looked like metal filings. Presumably it went back in stock to be fitted on someone else's van!

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[Hettie's Crew]

For an X290? I think the oil costs about that much - I bought one litre to carry with me and the cheapest I could find it was about £16.00

You won't find the dealer putting in the stuff you have to buy over the counter. They'll likely use bulk bought oil like Fuchs Titan Cargo, its the right grade/standard etc and approved by Fiat, but much cheaper bought in bulk.

 

[chaser]

Mine is a simple old 2.0 litre HDI,,,Still gets me to any where i need to go,,Old School...Can afford to change oil and filter every 5000 miles,,BUSBY,,

Ditto change it every year but the cheapest with the right spec, if you do that it doesn't have to go on for thirty thou miles or three years or whatever, havnt priced it up for this years self service but I think £60 covered all oil and filters last year and as to wipers the mot place I use replaces wiperblades free if he fails them

 

[Steve and Denise]

Last time I had our 3.0 Fiat serviced the oil and filter quote was £189 on top of our 2 year service and brake fluid change which from memory was over £500 included pollen and fuel filter also greased the rear axles.
That was the one and only time!!!!
Our new Fiat will get a 2 year service at the dealers (warranty cover)

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[Ex-caravantugger]

For an X290? I think the oil costs about that much - I bought one litre to carry with me and the cheapest I could find it was about £16.00

I bought my 1 litre top-up from Opie oils for £14 on a 10% off deal. Would recommend. Mike

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I wanted to have an early, oil change on the Sprinter, and they are working it out for an estimate.
Oil and filter change
They want to do a automatic gearbox oil and filter change at first service although not many miles.
Change the brake fluid, ALREADY????
and because it is through the letterbox front on an A class extra time to do the oil change.
about £480 plus VAT.
I am getting the proper 10/40 low-ash, oil, and filters from another dealer at £70 for 20 litres and filter £7.00. Special MB gearbox- fluid, filter and bottom gasket unknown yet , and do it myself over the pit at the farm workshop. As it is coming to the end of warranty no point in throwing away a busload of money.
Am I being unreasonable, that is enough to run it for a fairly long trip. It is more than a months pension income and once saving deplete that is it.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Just had a standard service, the Alko axle lubricated and MOT on our 2011 Fiat based MH done by a local independent, total cost was £247.

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[Richard n Ann]

£115 for the first service at an independent so I could have the book stamped for any warranty claim.
Then about £37 a year for oil (Total fully synthetic) and filter change, done properly, with no hassle, by me

 

[PhilG]

It never ceases to amaze me how little people are prepared on proper maintenance , after spending £50k plus on a MH and countless hundreds more on accessories.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Basically services are just oil changes, they DO NOT do any inspections or electronic checks those are extras you will be lucky if they do an electronic search for recalls or other items.
Oil changes are done by the junior members and the actual technicians are doing repair work. The labour rate is the same for all work done. Proper maintenance is a misnomer until the miles build up and the services start to get the higher rated numbers. We do not even get a service book now to have stamped. Inspection work is different from service. MOT seem to be the only time an inspection is done nowadays. On all my vehicles I inspect and drive them noting the slightest difference in performance and behaviour. most cars made 150000 before being passed on.

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[Hettie's Crew]

It never ceases to amaze me how little people are prepared on proper maintenance , after spending £50k plus on a MH and countless hundreds more on accessories.

Unfortunately spending money does not generally equal proper maintenance. Having a good knowledge of what proper maintenance actually is resulted in us not using our Hymer dealer where we bought.
We were quoted £1890 for a three year service package when we bought ours. We thought, we've just spent all that money so why not get it 'properly maintained' and signed up. "We take care of everything" On receiving the paperwork I was concerned at the repeated use of the word 'check' and the lack of any reference to the Alko chassis. I also read the Fiat service schedule for a 2.3 Ducato.
So I 'checked' with the service department...
They will check the functionality of the fridge, cooker, heater and electrical system, not service any of them, that will be extra. Trauma and Dometic describe the annual service requirement in their handbooks.
They don't do the chassis lubrication, that would be extra.
They follow the Fiat service schedule for the vehicle part, which states first service required at year 2. So why would they charge £630 for each year?
I cancelled the service agreement and use my local NCC AWS for Habitation who actually service the components required for £145.
I also use my local Fiat Professional dealer, £129 last year, £280 this year inc MOT.
Much cheaper, but I'm getting proper maintenance.[/QUOTE]

 

[Deneb]

It never ceases to amaze me how little people are prepared on proper maintenance , after spending £50k plus on a MH and countless hundreds more on accessories.

Well, from my point of view, is it sensible for me to pay someone £250 to do something that I am capable of doing myself for about £70 cost of materials and an hour of my time.

Yes, I have had the extra outlay of tools and diagnostic equipment but these have been acquired over a lifetime and have paid for themselves several times over. Fully functional diagnostic equipment for the X290 as just one example costs less than a single oil change at a main dealer.

My experience of "proper maintenance" under warranty servicing includes a cross threaded sump plug on a car serviced according to the invoice by "our highly trained technician", other instances of fixings being removed and not replaced or discarded (bolts, screws, clips) and being told that tyres, brake pads etc. need replacing imminently when they quite obviously don't but are a good source of profit for the garage. All of these instances occurred at franchised dealerships. I'm capable of checking the work that has been done, but how many people would be blissfully unaware of such defects, happily handing over a small fortune time after time?

Personally, I'd rather pay (a lot) less to know that a job has been done properly and completed in line with my expectations.

Yes, I've spent a lot of money on a motorhome and countless more on accessories, which is part of the reason I prefer to invest my money and my own time in looking after it properly. If you're not capable of carrying out mechanical work yourself, a good reputable independent workshop is a far better bet than a main dealer in my opinion.

And yes, @GWAYGWAY is correct, the first service for a Ducato X290 consists of a change of oil and a few filters, plus a list of visual inspections. Hardly difficult.

 

[Ivory55]

It never ceases to amaze me how little people are prepared on proper maintenance , after spending £50k plus on a MH and countless hundreds more on accessories.

May be a lot of people who buy a large item like a canal boat, caravan or motorhome are not cash rich. The item is brought with inheritance, redundancy etc and with interest rates low and not wanting to have savings that the government will take to pay for their care later in life they spend it now. Then by using careful spending they can enjoy it.

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[Steve and Denise]

I think if we had a good independent in our area I would use them but our van is 9 mtrs so will not fit in many garages.
I always used to do all of my own work maintenance etc but now have not got the gear 5t van, a simple oil change or grease the alko rear end yes but much more is a garage job now.

 

[PhilG]

Unfortunately spending money does not generally equal proper maintenance. Having a good knowledge of what proper maintenance actually is resulted in us not using our Hymer dealer where we bought.
We were quoted £1890 for a three year service package when we bought ours. We thought, we've just spent all that money so why not get it 'properly maintained' and signed up. "We take care of everything" On receiving the paperwork I was concerned at the repeated use of the word 'check' and the lack of any reference to the Alko chassis. I also read the Fiat service schedule for a 2.3 Ducato.
So I 'checked' with the service department...
They will check the functionality of the fridge, cooker, heater and electrical system, not service any of them, that will be extra. Trauma and Dometic describe the annual service requirement in their handbooks.
They don't do the chassis lubrication, that would be extra.
They follow the Fiat service schedule for the vehicle part, which states first service required at year 2. So why would they charge £630 for each year?
I cancelled the service agreement and use my local NCC AWS for Habitation who actually service the components required for £145.
I also use my local Fiat Professional dealer, £129 last year, £280 this year inc MOT.
Much cheaper, but I'm getting proper maintenance.

[/QUOTE]

I think your first statement is a great indicator of the state of play ... loads of these 'checks' are stuff we can all do ourselves ,so why pay a huge amount of money to have a few boxes ticked... at the end of the day , its all just 'insurance' , that should something go properly wrong you will be covered by the warranty.

For those that have the skill and kit to do your own, fair play, i do everything i have the kit to do on all of our fleet,and apart from Cambelts, havent paid anything for maintenance for a long time.

I am aware that there are people that cant do that, or are no longer able , and my point was , that if you are going to the 'proper' place, you are going to pay proper money. Try getting a BMW main dealer to open your bonnet for under £250 .

Understanding what you are getting for your money is a good start, you obviously looked into that , and saved as a result .

 

[Deneb]

I am aware that there are people that cant do that, or are no longer able , and my point was , that if you are going to the 'proper' place, you are going to pay proper money. Try getting a BMW main dealer to open your bonnet for under £250 .
[/QUOTE]

What do you define as a "proper place" though? Go to a main dealer, and you are just paying well over the odds. Two items I have had experience of:

Mondeo rear hub bearing that I bought a few years ago. GKN were one of their OEM suppliers at the time, may still be but I don't know. Ford main dealer wanted just under £190 for a GKN unit in a blue and white box with Ford on it. If you're not fitting it yourself, they'll then happily charge you £100 plus per hour on top of that to do it for you. Local motor factors were selling the exact same GKN bearing assembly in a GKN marked box for less than £80.

I got to know the parts manager in a small franchised dealer many years ago - now a block of flats as the smaller "family" dealerships have long since shut down. At the time, I had a Carlton. He showed me a copy of the parts price list for service items. The front pads on the 2.0 litre Carlton I owned were also fitted to a number of other Vauxhalls, some introduced several years before my car. If I walked in as a customer and asked for a set of front pads for a Carlton, the list price was almost three times as much as it was for the same set of pads ordered for a different model. The reason? The Carlton was at that time still mainly serviced in dealer premises as a relatively new vehicle, so the inflated price was charged to customers on the service invoices. Vauxhall recognised that the older models fitted with the same pads were rarely if ever seen in main dealer premises due to their age, so the pads were priced at a more reasonable level for those vehicles, broadly equivalent to local motor factor prices.

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