Have a 500s which is coming up to a year old with only 5000 OTC.

I have just had my local main dealer ring me saying we were due for a service £165, even though this car is on the 18000ml / 2year service plan.

He explained that even though the car is on the 18000ml plan it still has to be serviced yearly and this only costs £165 with a bigger service £450 in two years.

Is this right or are they being cheeky?

Whatever about the price they're right about the interval, if mileage is low it should be serviced at 12 months, it's really only an oil change. I had mine (TA) done at 12 months 10k. Make sure they use the correct oil though.

Hi itsbigmal,

It's a bit of a grey area. Technically the manual says that if your annual mileage is 6,000 miles or less then you "should" get an oil and filter change done after year one. Possibly a 2014 model like yours has swapped "should" for "must" in the wording - maybe you can confirm?

So on that basis your dealer is correct. £165 for an oil and filter change is probably a tad steep even from a main dealer, but that price might include the other filters, spark plugs too. Worth double checking with them.

As for the £450 quote - the 36k mileage service as per the book does involve quite a lot of work. Our old 12 plate 1.2 Panda had this service done last April and it cost £275 from a Fiat dealer (not a sales one, just service/warranty work). Here's my thread:
https://www.fiatforum.com/garages/219107-w-sanders-sons-holsworthy-devon.html

Even though it's a Panda, it's basically the same work involved.

Super Uwe said:

Hi itsbigmal,

It's a bit of a grey area. Technically the manual says that if your annual mileage is 6,000 miles or less then you "should" get an oil and filter change done after year one. Possibly a 2014 model like yours has swapped "should" for "must" in the wording - maybe you can confirm?

So on that basis your dealer is correct. £165 for an oil and filter change is probably a tad steep even from a main dealer, but that price might include the other filters, spark plugs too. Worth double checking with them.

As for the £450 quote - the 36k mileage service as per the book does involve quite a lot of work. Our old 12 plate 1.2 Panda had this service done last April and it cost £275 from a Fiat dealer (not a sales one, just service/warranty work). Here's my thread:
https://www.fiatforum.com/garages/219107-w-sanders-sons-holsworthy-devon.html

Even though it's a Panda, it's basically the same work involved.

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:yeahthat:

15 mins later the postman arrives with a letter from the main dealer I purchased the car from. I contacted them and they ran a check with Fiat which confirmed that the car is on an 18000/2 year service and do not have to have any service till then, it is just the computer that spits out a std letter.

Whatever the official service intervals may be, you should get a service at least once a year to make sure everything is OK. Fiat like other manufacturers wants to extend service intervals, but in so doing it may be a false economy if faults aren't picked up before the MoT comes in after 3 years. Ideally, even for a new car, all the MoT type tests should be done annually.

Modern oils may claim to allow longer intervals between changes, but if you want to keep your car running well, changing the oil every 10,000 miles or annually as a minimum.

itsbigmal said:

Fiat which confirmed that the car is on an 18000/2 year service and do not have to have any service till then

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True, but with your low mileage of 5000, you should be having the oil and oil filter changed at 1 year old, a requirement/recommendation by Fiat...but not at that price. I got a local independent to do mine along with basic checks of tyre pressures, fluid levels, lights etc (he also spotted an exhaust leak that was then repaired under warranty at the Fiat Dealer), for £37.44. I supplied him with the correct specification oil, Castrol Edge 5w40 (£24.99 from Costco) and genuine oil filter (£5).

MN500 said:

True, but with your low mileage of 5000, you should be having the oil and oil filter changed at 1 year old, a requirement/recommendation by Fiat...but not at that price. I got a local independent to do mine along with basic checks of tyre pressures, fluid levels, lights etc (he also spotted an exhaust leak that was then repaired under warranty at the Fiat Dealer), for £37.44. I supplied him with the correct specification oil, Castrol Edge 5w40 (£24.99 from Costco) and genuine oil filter (£5).

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That's absolutely fine in my opinion once the vehicle is out of warranty. Yes, we all know about block exemption rules etc and how getting your car serviced at an indy is in all likelihood going to be a damn sight cheaper and of course shouldn't cause any warranty issues. I've done it myself during a warranty period on our old 500 and saved a considerable sum of money on a 2nd service but at the expense of not having the benefit of Fiat technical diagnostic downloads etc. I nearly got clobbered for a dodgy steering motor which was only sorted because I took it to a Fiat dealer for a proper health check prior to the 3rd year dealer warranty expiring and just a couple of months before I traded it in.

Any old garage can read fault codes and clear them etc with decent diagnostic kit, but I'd wager many won't have access to Fiat's download data pool and so if the vehicle is under warranty and the ECU needs flashing/updating, it won't necessarily get done let alone any warranty recall work such as under dash wiring etc.

I see and agree with your point, particularly for goodwill repairs out of warranty (Fiat is fairly poor on these anyway according to some on here). It's a gamble I have taken.

I have taken my choice to use independents due to some of the silly prices being charged for very simple maintenance on what is a small, cheap and basic car that does very low mileage for us (I don't mean to offend anybody here but it isn't a Mercedes S-class is it).

The OP has been quoted £165 for a simple oil change. Disgusting, it's over twice what mine cost and as retail prices for the parts are around £30 it's a huge amount for labour. As for the quoted £450...even for the 36k service that takes 3.50 hrs on a 1.2 500 (18k is 1.10 hrs) it is still a lot for me to shell out.

Our bigger car has gone to the Ford dealership for services from new and will continue to do so as I find their prices much easier on the wallet. My 37.5k major service cost £183 with plugs, pollen and air filter.

MN500 said:

I see and agree with your point, particularly for goodwill repairs out of warranty (Fiat is fairly poor on these anyway according to some on here). It's a gamble I have taken.

I have taken my choice to use independents due to some of the silly prices being charged for very simple maintenance on what is a small, cheap and basic car that does very low mileage for us (I don't mean to offend anybody here but it isn't a Mercedes S-class is it).

The OP has been quoted £165 for a simple oil change. Disgusting, it's over twice what mine cost and as retail prices for the parts are around £30 it's a huge amount for labour. As for the quoted £450...even for the 36k service that takes 3.50 hrs on a 1.2 500 (18k is 1.10 hrs) it is still a lot for me to shell out.

Our bigger car has gone to the Ford dealership for services from new and will continue to do so as I find their prices much easier on the wallet. My 37.5k major service cost £183 with plugs, pollen and air filter.

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We have a Suzuki dealer 10min walk from us, and it is also a Ford service/warranty dealer too.

With the KA basically being a 500/Panda, we may actually give them a shout and see what sort of quote they come up with for my wife's 500 once it's out of warranty.

Super Uwe said:

We have a Suzuki dealer 10min walk from us, and it is also a Ford service/warranty dealer too.

With the KA basically being a 500/Panda, we may actually give them a shout and see what sort of quote they come up with for my wife's 500 once it's out of warranty.

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Correct oil, compatible parts and the ability to do service counter resets (which is something my independent cannot do and I will have to think about next year). Great idea.