captainslarty said:

ALso, the car comes with a handbook detailing the service schedule.
IF a main dealer is not operating to that schedule - change the main dealer. !
And let me clarify, the first place you quoted IS a CRAP quick fit special. !
Dont touch them with a barge pole.

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It is a FIAT main dealer and surfing the net they are not the only ones that do these standard / better / best, Bronze / Silver / Gold levels of servicing. Presumably not the case in Portugal.

pand said:

It is a FIAT main dealer and surfing the net they are not the only ones that do these standard / better / best, Bronze / Silver / Gold levels of servicing. Presumably not the case in Portugal.

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All that is, is a one size fits all way of generating income - ie - they try to be all things to all men - or all cars.
They are a dealer for MANY manufacturers, jack of all trades, master of none.
Get the yellow pages or whatever you have and ring the Fiat main dealers and ask for a proper service. You are not looking hard enough.
I actually now think you should definitely just take the car to them, open your wallet and ask them to help themselves
You do not seem prepared to look for alternatives. I think they are a PERFECT company for you. They make LOTS of money out of people JUST like you, Go for it. you will, I am sure, be absolutely delighted. Mechanical Ignorance is bliss for these rip off merchants .

pand said:

4 year old Panda 4x4.

Hi, wondered if anyone can help

For the first time we have been offered a "standard service" or a "major service". Fifty quid difference (30 if you include getting a voucher back)

Major service adds
spark plug change (apparently a must for Fiats but not in the standard service!
air filter change
fuel filter change
and air con check

Any advice - should we skip the extra stuff or is that asking for reliability trouble?

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Hi pand,

I thought best to refer to your original post to respond.

As has been pointed out earlier, it's important that the service is carried out in line with the manufacturer's schedule in the service book. You are quite right in saying that many main dealers offer gold/silver/bronze service deals - IMO they are not necessarily a bad thing as long as they tick all the boxes in your service booklet. It's debatable whether they would or not though.

In terms of other options, I would consider the following:

1. Pop your postcode into the Fiat UK website and see if you have got any approved Fiat service/warranty dealers nearby as opposed to the main dealers who do sales. We have got a new shape Panda 1.2 Easy which is due for the major 36k service (about three hours in total). The local "main" dealer wanted £430 for that particular service, whereas the smaller service/warranty place has quoted £290. A massive difference in price!

2. Similar to above, but a general Italian car specialist independent would also be worth looking at if you have any nearby.

2. As your car is now out of warranty, once you've found out what parts you need you could always try and get them from somewhere like Shop4Parts. Buying the parts online will probably save you money, meaning that you just need to negotiate a labour rate with your garage.

captainslarty said:

They are a dealer for MANY manufacturers

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When I said "For the first time we have been offered a "standard service" or a "major service". This is the same main dealer that we bought the car from and the same main dealer who have serviced it for it's first 3 years and the same main dealer who still sell and service FIAT cars as a main dealer.

pand said:

When I said "For the first time we have been offered a "standard service" or a "major service". This is the same main dealer that we bought the car from and the same main dealer who have serviced it for it's first 3 years and the same main dealer who still sell and service FIAT cars as a main dealer.

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Well, you can mark them as one to avoid in the futrure like the plague then.
A car supermarket selling disposable items. You might buy a computer from Dixons or PC world, but you wouldnt, in your wildest dreams, let them touch it afterwards.... - find a real dealer with real mechanics as the gentleman above said, use fiat.co.uk. - ring around, your car has probably been botched since new by these Kwik Fit meets ALDI car stealers... probably worth the first REAL service of it's life..