General 1st Year Service cost (your having a laugh!!)

[SCORCHIO12]

Hi,

My Panda 1.2 Easy is currently approaching 1yr old and just received a letter from the dealers saying it needs a service. The car has done just over 9000 miles so I said to them that the handbook says its not needed until 2yrs or 18k old.

They advised me to have a basic service as apparently I need this for warranty purposes (is this true?) and it involves oil filter, oil and pollen (aircon) filter changes and a general once over.

They said this incl vat and labour/parts is £190! that's crazy as the parts can only be maximum £60.00 surely.

My question is that if I buy all the genuine parts can I get a garage to do this and get my book stamped without affecting the warranty on the car?

This has to work out cheaper surely....

 

[triumph7]

Hi,

My Panda 1.2 Easy is currently approaching 1yr old and just received a letter from the dealers saying it needs a service. The car has done just over 9000 miles so I said to them that the handbook says its not needed until 2yrs or 18k old.

They advised me to have a basic service as apparently I need this for warranty purposes (is this true?) and it involves oil filter, oil and pollen (aircon) filter changes and a general once over.

They said this incl vat and labour/parts is £190! that's crazy as the parts can only be maximum £60.00 surely.

My question is that if I buy all the genuine parts can I get a garage to do this and get my book stamped without affecting the warranty on the car?

This has to work out cheaper surely....

I don't think you are restricted to main dealers these days in order to maintain the warranty provided genuine parts are used. Maybe others will confirm that this is right......

 

[stu0710]

Hi,

My Panda 1.2 Easy is currently approaching 1yr old and just received a letter from the dealers saying it needs a service. The car has done just over 9000 miles so I said to them that the handbook says its not needed until 2yrs or 18k old.

They advised me to have a basic service as apparently I need this for warranty purposes (is this true?) and it involves oil filter, oil and pollen (aircon) filter changes and a general once over.

They said this incl vat and labour/parts is £190! that's crazy as the parts can only be maximum £60.00 surely.

My question is that if I buy all the genuine parts can I get a garage to do this and get my book stamped without affecting the warranty on the car?

This has to work out cheaper surely....

Hi - there is a long thread on this in the 500 section. If the service schedule is the same it's 2 yrs / 18K miles, unless you do a low mileage (I think 6K is mentioned) or mostly town driving. They then recommend a 'low mileage service' as you have been quoted, although you shouldn't need the pollen filter, so mine was approx £130 at a Fiat dealers. This amounts to basically an oil and filter change, which if you use the correct parts, should be OK at a local indy. Try shopping around at other local Fiat dealers first though?

 

[Photorjp]

I just registered my panda 1.2 with autoworld with a year service plan for £15 a month, including mots when they are due also a curtesy car, I didn't think this was a bad deal? I do 6k a year.

 

[SCORCHIO12]

Fiat have got back to me very quickly with the attached document showing what will happen with when its serviced. This also includes check for recalls or software updates. They also said the car will get a free service wash.

I may just got for it for peace of mind so it doesn't mess up the warranty...

 

[Shrub]

It surprises me (correct me if I am wrong) that Fiat don't offer a pre-paid service package on new Pandas. My wife got 3 years servicing for £199 when she bought her Volkswagen and the same applies with a lot of other makes. It really helps control those running costs and is a lot better value than those awful monthly payment schemes which end up costing an arm and a leg.

 

[jbanfie]

Hmmm, 5 litres of Selenia 'K' pure energy appears to be around £44 an oil filter is probably a tenner, forget the pollen filter and just get any local garage to change the oil, my man charges £20.

All done for about £75.

Now, I have one other piece of information on this subject, 2 year service intervals are quite a new thing, but Volkswagen have been at it long enough for my man to know that lots of Passats on long life service intervals are turning up with worn camshafts. He reckons the last 6 months of running on old oil so from months 18 to 24 do the damage.

I think the above £75 is probably very well spent, as for all the other things on the Fiat check list you'd either have noticed already or can easily check. Oh and a hand car wash is £6 down my neck of the woods!

Cheers

Jon

 

[triumph7]

Hmmm, 5 litres of Selenia 'K' pure energy appears to be around £44 an oil filter is probably a tenner, forget the pollen filter and just get any local garage to change the oil, my man charges £20.

All done for about £75.

Now, I have one other piece of information on this subject, 2 year service intervals are quite a new thing, but Volkswagen have been at it long enough for my man to know that lots of Passats on long life service intervals are turning up with worn camshafts. He reckons the last 6 months of running on old oil so from months 18 to 24 do the damage.

I think the above £75 is probably very well spent, as for all the other things on the Fiat check list you'd either have noticed already or can easily check. Oh and a hand car wash is £6 down my neck of the woods!

Cheers

Jon

I certainly intend having an oil/filter change well before fiat say so.....

 

[Super Uwe]

Hi,

My Panda 1.2 Easy is currently approaching 1yr old and just received a letter from the dealers saying it needs a service. The car has done just over 9000 miles so I said to them that the handbook says its not needed until 2yrs or 18k old.

They advised me to have a basic service as apparently I need this for warranty purposes (is this true?) and it involves oil filter, oil and pollen (aircon) filter changes and a general once over.

They said this incl vat and labour/parts is £190! that's crazy as the parts can only be maximum £60.00 surely.

My question is that if I buy all the genuine parts can I get a garage to do this and get my book stamped without affecting the warranty on the car?

This has to work out cheaper surely....

Hi SCORCHIO12,

I think the quote your dealer has given is very high to be honest. For that sort of price they should be doing the spark plugs too. £190 for what is essentially a low mileage service is taking the p really.

Getting your own parts is a good idea. As for going to an independent, you are of course well within your right to do so as long as it is a VAT registered garage.

My personal opinion is that it is worth getting some dealer stamps whilst the car is under warranty; it might help you out if you are looking for FIAT to make a goodwill contribution later down the line for a warranty claim. But it's your call.

 

[JTD_Liam]

For a 1.2 there's no way the low mileage/interim service should be £190. That's about what I'd expect to pay at 18,000 miles/2 years.

For context my parents paid circa £130 for an 'annual' service at 11,000/1 year on our 500 TwinAir, so considering a 1.2 has a cheaper oil filter, I'd say no more than £120 for an interim service on that.

You could leave it till 18,000/2 years if you plan to get rid after a few years, but if you wanna keep the Panda long term, a quick once over inbetween the regular intervals will do no harm.

 

[Andy Monty]

I'd be tempted to get a genuine filter from a fiat parts specialist and a bottle of selina oil and do a oil change myself then bang it in at just before its 2years or 18k are up

 

[macamxthe1st]

I recently got a letter from Autoworld re 1st year service (TA Easy). I was very cleverly worded to stress the need without actually lying or being downright misleading. I rang them stating that I understood that the service intervals were 18,000 miles and I had done 11,000 miles and did not intend to have a service carried out until 18,000, would this affect the warranty. No I was told and it was done to their system not being updated from previous Panda's. I had in fact had an oil and filter (correct oil and Fiat filter) done at Halfords at 9,000 for £69.

Geoff.

 

[asxetos]

I agree with the method described above.

Just do an oil and oil-filter change, using OEM products and don't tell anyone about it or stamp anything. For the sake of the new engine, do that at 3000 miles or 5000 miles or 10000 miles or whatever miles you feel like it.

Then, at 18000 miles go to your FIAT service center and say "Hello, I am here for my first service".

Everyone's happy including the engine!

 

[jamesbrownontheroad]

Desira in Norwich called me the other day with this idea... ~£180 for a first year service. Politely declined; I'll see them next year or at 18,000 miles.

Desira do offer a prepaid service plan, as discussed above, but I rues it must be a dealer thing, not a Fiat UK initiative.

 

[nigelspanda]

I plan to get my panda 4x4 get a full service every year even if I only do 6000 miles , although I topped up the radiator reserve with blue coolent because it was half way to somewhere where the groove is I could not see , I hope I will not be penalized on my warrenty next march

 

[macamxthe1st]

They are all at it. posted earlier about supplying dealers letter re "1st year service" Low and behold got a call from Stoneacre Lincoln who had carried out some warranty work, I quote " Hi, the service manager has asked me to call to tell you your car is due it's first year service". "No it's not, it's due at 18,000 miles and I have checked and confirmed this". "Errr! Ok we will update our records"

Bloody shame, cracking little car, rubbish dealer network. Due to their behavior when the service is due it will be carried out by an "independent garage" as I would not trust this lot if this is how they perform.

Geoff.

P.S. I am going to have a word with "Trading Standards" in the morning then will make a call to Fiat.

 

[Bigredbus4468]

I was offered a 3 year service plan at Vospers Plymouth today for £550 pay monthly. They did say low mileage should have ab low mileage service or wait till 18k if over 11k???

 

[Moultoneer]

I was offered a 3 year service plan at Vospers Plymouth today for £550 pay monthly. They did say low mileage should have ab low mileage service or wait till 18k if over 11k???

I think an 'early' service (mainly oil and filter change) is justified if a low
mileage in the first year (< 5000 miles) is made up of many short trips.

However, although I do a similar low annual mileage, I'm sticking to the
18,000 mile schedule because I normally only use my car for journeys
of at least 50 miles. It's short trips which ruin the engine



Chris

 

[Bigredbus4468]

So is it worth it paying £16pcm and may having it serviced on Vospers say so? I was thinking of this ad additional insurance as all my costs would be covered.

 

[Super Uwe]

I was offered a 3 year service plan at Vospers Plymouth today for £550 pay monthly. They did say low mileage should have ab low mileage service or wait till 18k if over 11k???

Hi Kevin,

We have seen a few offers like this on the forum.

Some people are dead against them as they think they're a rip-off (which is definitely true in a number of cases), whereas others like them as it helps to spread the cost of things.

As to whether Vospers' offer is worth it or not, you will need to find out a few things from them:

1. How many services it covers; it might be over three years, but if you only get two services then it is almost certainly going to be a waste of money.

As an example, I got our 1.2 Easy serviced at the dealer in May which cost £187 all in; this included oil, filters and spark plugs and a wheel swap, and was essentially the full 18k one as specified in the service book. So if you are paying £550 and only get one more service, that makes the other one around £360 - which again will probably work out far too much.

2. Mileage - if you are only going to be doing a few thousand miles, then I doubt the plan will be much good either as you are unlikely to ever need that much work doing over the three years.

3. What is covered - often service plans quoted on here by other posters are generic and don't have any relevance to the manufacturer's service schedule. If you can find out what is covered then it will be easier to tell whether it is worth it or not.