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Technical Servicing choices on a new 500

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Technical Servicing choices on a new 500

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Cei

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So, I've picked up my new 500, but am flailing around in regards to my servicing choices. So far, I seem to have these options:

1) A servicing plan from my dealer. This costs £543.72 for three years, with a discount of 15% from the original price of £639.67. Paid by monthly instalments, or entirely up front.

2) Pay-as-I-go at the dealer, costing £600-660 at rough prices. However, I've noticed that the myFiat site says I can get a 10% discount off servicing at the dealer, bringing it down to £540-600.

3) 3rd party garage somewhere in South London. Any suggestions? Obviously needs to be using Fiat original parts, and perhaps the service book looks better to a buyer in the future if it is solely main dealer serviced?

The only other issue is that I will be moving in two years from London to south Wales. If I sign up to the plan with my dealer, I'll be committed to driving the car back to London for that service, and it would have to be completed on the day or I'd end up having to spend more money on a hotel.

Thoughts? What do you do for servicing?
 
306maxi said:
there are about a billion threads on this, have a search....
Click to expand...

True, which also means it's nearly impossible to cull the information I need out without spending literally hours reading posts. Instead I was hoping some helpful member with knowledge already in their head would be able to answer my query without fuss or extensive messing about.
 
Cei said:
So, I've picked up my new 500, but am flailing around in regards to my servicing choices. So far, I seem to have these options:

1) A servicing plan from my dealer. This costs £543.72 for three years, with a discount of 15% from the original price of £639.67. Paid by monthly instalments, or entirely up front.

2) Pay-as-I-go at the dealer, costing £600-660 at rough prices. However, I've noticed that the myFiat site says I can get a 10% discount off servicing at the dealer, bringing it down to £540-600.

3) 3rd party garage somewhere in South London. Any suggestions? Obviously needs to be using Fiat original parts, and perhaps the service book looks better to a buyer in the future if it is solely main dealer serviced?

The only other issue is that I will be moving in two years from London to south Wales. If I sign up to the plan with my dealer, I'll be committed to driving the car back to London for that service, and it would have to be completed on the day or I'd end up having to spend more money on a hotel.

Thoughts? What do you do for servicing?
Click to expand...
Use an independent for your service! If you use a fiat specialist with fiat parts your warranty still valid. For South London you can try www.firela-motors.co.uk on clapham road.

Servicing plans are more than a joke.
 
No. How about we have a thread about needless suggestions of mistreatment of new members?

There is a thread by myself on this very subject, perhaps it should be made a sticky and then suggesting that someone use the search function wouldn't be needed and wouldn't be interpreted by some people as a form of abuse. Why the hell even have a search function?
 
306maxi said:
No. How about we have a thread about needless suggestions of mistreatment of new members?

There is a thread by myself on this very subject, perhaps it should be made a sticky and then suggesting that someone use the search function wouldn't be needed and wouldn't be interpreted by some people as a form of abuse. Why the hell even have a search function?
Click to expand...

Whether you mean it or not, posts like the one above come across as hostile to new posters. If you can't see that then....well, not much I can do about that. I was just highlighting it in a non-confrontational manner:eek:

Anyway, back on topic. Cei - as RobinPJ says, if you can provide more info then am sure someone can assist. Based on the price you were quoted for a plan, I think it is unlikely that it will work out to be a particularly great deal as it very rarely does. But we'll wait and see.
 
RobinPJ said:
OK. How many miles will you do? What engine do you have? How long do you plan to own the car for? Are you on a finance deal?
Click to expand...

Under 10k, but not the 6-7k for a low mileage. 1.2L, own the car for 5+ years and yes, finance deal.

I realise I am asking a question that comes up in multiple threads, and for that I apologise, but I did search, and the amount of information that came back was huge and also incredibly varied in quality and also date of posting - some of it surely isn't relevant now. It made it impossible for me to actually make a decision or come up with a plan, hence deciding to post a question.
 
Last edited:
Cei said:
Under 10k, but not the 6-7k for a low mileage. 1.2L, own the car for 5+ years and yes, finance deal.

I realise I am asking a question that comes up in multiple threads, and for that I apologise, but I did search, and the amount of information that came back was huge and also incredibly varied in quality and also date of posting - some of it surely isn't relevant now. It made it impossible for me to actually make a decision or come up with a plan, hence deciding to post a question.
Click to expand...

Hi, can I ask what part of the country you are in?
 
As said, South London currently, with a move to South Wales in two years :)
 
If you want simply to service your car and maintain your warranty at the lowest possible cost, then in the first three years you will only need one service, at 18,000 miles. If you (or probably better, your dad, husband, boyfriend, male friend) can haggle a bit, you should be able to get that service for under £200 at a Fiat dealer and probably 25% less than that at an independent.

You are right that you technically do not need a low mileage service annually if you are going to be going your expected mileage. Even if you did, or if you wanted to love your engine a little more by servicing it annually, you should be able to get an oil and filter change for around £100.

Thus, over three years, servicing should not need to cost you more than £400. This is why Ahmett was a little rude about a servicing plan that will cost you nearly £550. Also, don't forget that you pay for the service plan monthly in advance of the work being done, so the true cost is £550 plus the interest that you have lost out on, or the other use to which you could have put your money.

Personally, if I was you and going to keep the car for five years I would get it main dealer serviced but I would shop around like mad for the best price. I think buyers like a main dealer history and it will make the car probably a little more valuable and almost certainly a little easier to sell. I would also get the oil changed annually even if technically you are above the low mileage threshold.
 
RobinPJ said:
If you want simply to service your car and maintain your warranty at the lowest possible cost, then in the first three years you will only need one service, at 18,000 miles. If you (or probably better, your dad, husband, boyfriend, male friend) can haggle a bit, you should be able to get that service for under £200 at a Fiat dealer and probably 25% less than that at an independent.

You are right that you technically do not need a low mileage service annually if you are going to be going your expected mileage. Even if you did, or if you wanted to love your engine a little more by servicing it annually, you should be able to get an oil and filter change for around £100.

Thus, over three years, servicing should not need to cost you more than £400. This is why Ahmett was a little rude about a servicing plan that will cost you nearly £550. Also, don't forget that you pay for the service plan monthly in advance of the work being done, so the true cost is £550 plus the interest that you have lost out on, or the other use to which you could have put your money.

Personally, if I was you and going to keep the car for five years I would get it main dealer serviced but I would shop around like mad for the best price. I think buyers like a main dealer history and it will make the car probably a little more valuable and almost certainly a little easier to sell. I would also get the oil changed annually even if technically you are above the low mileage threshold.
Click to expand...
Thank you - though as a 28 year old (married) guy I'm not sure I'll ask my dad or a male friend to ring round ;)

The advice to keep the oil etc topped up to keep the engine happy is probably a good idea - it might cost a bit to do, but better in the long run. Still thinking my dealer is going to be expensive though - does anybody have a strong opinion on buying the parts and just paying for labour?
 
RobinPJ said:
Sorry, not sure why I thought you were female....
Click to expand...

I thought they all were!
Service plans are generally very poor value. However, my daughter and I both own Vauxhall cars. Local Vauxhall dealer Peter Vardy has a five year service plan, so five services including everything (parts and labour). Total cost payable £11 monthly, so each annual service costs about £132. Total cost £660. We both plan to keep our cars for five years due to the 'Lifetime Warranty' Vauxhall provide. This compares very favourably when you price each service individually. Quite a significant saving. Any items like brake pads, etc. I'll keep on top of and do myself with genuine Vauxhall parts. So quite cheap motoring for the next five years.
Any Fiat plan I have looked at has been rubbish value.
 
Last edited:
Cei said:
Thank you - though as a 28 year old (married) guy I'm not sure I'll ask my dad or a male friend to ring round ;)

The advice to keep the oil etc topped up to keep the engine happy is probably a good idea - it might cost a bit to do, but better in the long run. Still thinking my dealer is going to be expensive though - does anybody have a strong opinion on buying the parts and just paying for labour?
Click to expand...

Buying your own parts and just paying for labour will usually save you a bit of money; maybe not absolute tonnes, but a little bit nevertheless.

What I would recommend is take a look at a site like Shop4Parts. I've used them several times and the service has always been good.

As for the labour charge, your best bet is to ring around and see what the various dealers charge.

A low mileage service (i.e. oil and filter change) is an hour's labour maximum.

An 18k service (which includes oil, oil filter, air/pollen filter if necessary, spark plugs, brake fluid if necessary) is between an hour and an hour and a half, although really it should be nearer the lower end.

A 36k service (which covers all of the above plus a few more major checks as outlined in the service manual) is between three and three and a half hours labour.

Hope this helps anyway.
 
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