HI OzB!
Do people usually take their car to the dealer for a capped price service, or is it better to go to an independent subaru specialist? I've heard dodgy things about mitsubishi dealers and others but not about subaru so I'm unsure. The capped price service is $348 FYI.
TY!
Did you consider Kia? Porsche?
Should have gone to Haval
If the car is still within its warranty period, then I would only take it to Subaru. It can make any warranty claims simpler in the long term.
Won't make a difference provided its services by the book. A basic service at a non dealer should be $200 or maybe less, $350 is a joke.
Well it would make a difference. If you had something you wanted fixed or investigated under warranty, then you can take it to the dealer and get it sorted at the same time you get a service done. Having to split your effort between a third party and dealer can create more work for yourself and for many people it's not worth the small saving especially in the first few years of ownership.
Most people don't have warranty issues. Go price up some mb, Audi, range rover etc servicing, the difference adds up quickly. I used to service lots of new/under warranty cars, as people preferred to save money as well as have someone work on their car who cares, as well as won't try to sell them "injector cleaner" and "oil flush" at every service.
While an Indy will be much cheaper they often don't have the specialised equipment that a dealership is required to have.
An Indy also doesn't know about recalls and other safety issues that only authorised dealerships are advised of.
To keep service costs down I always supply my own oil, purchased from SCA when on special, when having my vehicle serviced by the dealership I purchased it from and always tell them not to top up my washers or use any fuel additives. Saves a fair bit every service.
$348 is insane for the 12m service!
If the price was lower I'd say take it to Subaru, it does make warranty claims later a lot easier (when it's outside warranty) but hmm
That's what I was wondering too. And that's a cheaper price than the old impreza which had servicing every 6 months.
Indy….
If you take it to a third party that will affect your warranty won't it?
No.
The ACCC has ruled that any qualified mechanical repairer can carry out logbook servicing without the warranty being affected.
No
What it does affect is out of warranty claims. Things like gearboxes dying early, turbos going bang, etc. If the car is outside warranty but it's been serviced on time by a dealer, the manufacturer is more likely to help out.
Bear in mind this is only a 1% thing, if something major goes wrong shortly after the end of warranty.
Thanks guys that makes sense
Of course not. Imagine if you buy your Subaru, then next month Subaru says "our services now cost $5000". Having warranty dependant on dealer only servicing would be ridiculous.
The servicing is all capped price though so that's not a good reason
Capped price could change. I didn't say it was the real or only reason. What would people in small towns do? What would you do if you were on a trip and didn't have your brand's dealer nearby? Why should one company get a monopoly and try to charge whatever they like for servicing (you do know all the extra scam items aren't included in the "capped price", right?)?
@Quantumcat: Lol there is no contract that specifies service pricing. Also you ignored everything else I wrote.
What would people in small towns do?
Probably not buy a brand new car without doing any research or thinking first. They can choose to either get no value from the capped price servicing, if they want a new car that badly, or drive it to the nearest big town of they think the extra km driven are worth it. You know, like being logical and thinking about major purchases not just buying on a whim.
What would you do if you were on a trip and didn't have your brand's dealer nearby?
Probably not go on a trip when you are about to reach the number of km for a service? You would get it serviced before you leave. If you choose not to, then you know what the consequences are - affect on warranty (not getting serviced according to logbook), not being able to have the capped price (if third party), etc.
Why should one company get a monopoly and try to charge whatever they like for servicing (you do know all the extra scam items aren't included in the "capped price", right?)?
They don't, if a car model costs too much to service then people will buy a different model. You do realise there's loads of car brands right? Toyota, Ford, Kia, Mazda, etc? How is there a monopoly?
Lol there is no contract that specifies service pricing.
If the service costs changed after you bought the car, where the service costs were part of the reason you chose that car - I am pretty sure there would be a public outrage and the reputation damage would sink that car brand into bankruptcy. I am still pretty sure it forms part of the contract, as it is written in the manual of my car. But even if it doesn't, there's no way they could change it and survive.
Also you ignored everything else I wrote.
I ignored everything that was too nonsensical to reply to, but since you insist I have replied above.
@Quantumcat: Haha. All a moot point anyway, as the government and everyone else thinks it's illogical to allow a monopoly in servicing, feel free to lobby for it though.
I have a Nissan diesel with a 20k service interval. Nissan’s capped price is $670 (around that figure) for each service. I instead use a mechanic I trust and pay $190 with the occasional $300 amount and have it serviced every 12-15k. The extended warranty is not worth anything in 99% of cases to start with so I’m not paying almost $700 to them for a service to keep their extended warranty.
A new car should not break down and putting handcuffs on consumers (extended warranty) is deceitful.
My car died about 6 months out of warranty. As every service had been done by a dealer the company rebuilt the top end of my motor for free and supplied me with a loan car for the 5 weeks it took to get it all sorted (diagnostics to fix). Worth the dealer services I reckon. I wouldn’t bother out of warranty though.
Does NOT say much for dealer servicing at all.
The dealer literally KILLED your car….OMG!
It was a design issue not a dealer issue. Saved me $1000's so I am not complaining. The dealer fought for me to get the issue fixed even though it was out of warranty. (I was also the 2nd owner, and it was not originally purchased or serviced through my dealer until after I purchased it when the vehicle was a year old). according to forums others were not so lucky in getting theirs fixed, not sure if they were serviced at dealers or not. I don't like paying the price for dealer services but in my case it paid off. I also got my 9 year old landcruiser (different vehicle) serviced at dealers when we travelled around australia. Had an issue after a service but I was over 1000km away in another state by then and it was fixed cost free at the next dealer.
For $350 every 12months I'd just go to the dealer. If Subaru were still doing 6 monthly services or I was doing 20k per year I'd look at alternatives.
$350 is reasonable for capped price servicing but it all depends on whats involved.
Id imagine the first service might only be an oil change . if even that
In that case its much cheaper to go down to your local garage as they would only charge about $150.
You definitely DONT need to go to a Subaru specialist unless you want to get ripped off as Subarus are very common and well known to most mechanics.
Note that the capped price is not the same for each service.
Here is the schedule of charges from Subaru for the common Impreza
Capped Price Servicing Costs
Scheduled Service Intervals for Subaru Impreza 2.0i AWD, 2.0i-L AWD, 2.0i Premium AWD & 2.0i-S AWD²
'A' Service 12,500kms or 12 months $350.25
'B' Service 25,000kms or 24 months $588.31
'C' Service 37,500kms or 36 months $350.25
'D' Service 50,000kms or 48 months $763.97
More information about Subaru capped price servicing and costs for other models here:
https://www.subaru.com.au/service/pricing/capped-price-servi…
Yep. Year 2 has an expensive service for mine then it's $350 again.
Are Subaru's generally more expensive to service or do other manufacturers just underquote on servicing?
Every new car buyer should at least bargained for complimentary 3yrs servicing if they won't bulge on price. First three service won't cost them much money as there's very little to do for most cars.
Dealers normally give a goodwill 10-15% "discount" just to have you back the next time.
We take the Ford back to Ford for a few reasons:
- free map update (particularly useful given the amount of roadworks in Sydney)
- free NRMA roadside assist membership - works well with petrol discount and other offers.
- free loan car
Will definitely end up paying more as the service is consist of oil + filter change, ECU + other firmware update if any, filter "cleaning" and tyre rotation. Parts will probably cost $100 for the full synthetic oil + filter… 2 hours labour $100… leaves $150 margin for the dealer to pay for overhead… if 4 car jacks are occupied, 8 hour days churning out 32 cars… that's a nice $4800 revenue a day at the dealership.
Whilst the Ford mechanics are probably average at best… independent garages outside are hit and miss…
I considered taking my Toyota Camry into a Subaru specialist when I did my 12 month service.. But after a lot of thinking I ended up taking it into Mitsubishi. They were not that bad, however I regret not taking it to Ford.