Entry level car service

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brownhaired

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Hi all,
Just getting a feeler here as not very car savvy, is 5k normal for a major service for an entry level car(i10)? Dealership prices seem insanely high. It's the fourth/60 000km service.
 
Have fun with your 100k cambelt service coming up. Dunno, 5k doesn't seem that bad for a major service depending on how much work they did. Do they alert you before the proceed about what's to be done and how much each item will cost?
 
saor said:
Have fun with your 100k cambelt service coming up. Dunno, 5k doesn't seem that bad for a major service depending on how much work they did. Do they alert you before the proceed about what's to be done and how much each item will cost?
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Thanks for the heads up, I'll brace for that. They did. It's all the usual things - fluid changes and air filters and such. Still seems a bit crazy to me. 2-4k seems reasonable but 5 just hurts.
 
Thanks for the feedback, I really do appreciate it. @Neuk_ I'm glad I'm not alone in my thinking. @rh1 it is all the basic things. Fluid changes, air filter replacements, spark plugs and an oil change - just the stock standard stuff for a fourth service @dunkyd I'm not sure what S/B stands for?
 
It's a bit mindboggling, the extended service plan which covers service 5, 6, and 7 is around 9k but the fourth is just over half that amount. Can't make that make sense
 
brownhaired said:
How bad is this cam belt service? Two mentions of the dreaded 100km service and I know it must be bad.
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It's just a belt but the trick is that doing it wrong can have dire consequences for the engine so dealerships are able to use this to strike fear into customers.
 
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brownhaired said:
Thanks for the feedback, I really do appreciate it. @Neuk_ I'm glad I'm not alone in my thinking. @rh1 it is all the basic things. Fluid changes, air filter replacements, spark plugs and an oil change - just the stock standard stuff for a fourth service @dunkyd I'm not sure what S/B stands for?
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For partial reference, I did a major service on my Touareg in 2020 which included oil, oil filter, sump plug, air filter, fuel filter and cabin filter which came to R3400 through a friend that runs his own workshop. The bulk of that was the three hours labour and the 2 x5l of oil, although there was oil left over.
 
TheChamp said:
It's just a belt but the truck is that doing it wrong can have dire consequences for the engine so dealerships are able to use this to strike fear into customers.
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It is more than just a belt, normally rollers, idlers, tensioners, etc. as well but the bulk of the cost is labour which depending on the car can be very high. My B6 A4 we did the waterpump at the same time and the easiest way to get the job done was to remove the front of the car including bumper, lights, radiators, etc.
 
Neuk_ said:
It is more than just a belt, normally rollers, idlers, tensioners, etc. as well but the bulk of the cost is labour which depending on the car can be very high. My B6 A4 we did the waterpump at the same time and the easiest way to get the job done was to remove the front of the car including bumper, lights, radiators, etc.
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Yeah, this one is an i10, most probably single cam so just belt and tensioner, it should be an hour job for a skilled tech but dealership will still want to pretend like it's the most delicate operation ever performed in the workshop and want to charge thousands of rands for it.
 
Got some mobile mechanic guy to change cam belt on my car a couple of years ago, also single cam so no complicated stuff just belt and tensioner, belt plus water pump and thermostat, all for just over R3000 after some workshop qoluoted ridiculous amounts just because it's a cam belt so it should be expensive.
 
When you are out of warranty and take your car to a private mechanic, only then you realise what a ripoff the dealerships are and how un-thorough they are in properly servicing your vehicle.

The only thing about the major service is the cost, and I'm not talking about the cam belt replacement, that takes more effort, but the cost is still unjustified.

But hey, it's a business
 
Neuk_ said:
It is more than just a belt, normally rollers, idlers, tensioners, etc. as well but the bulk of the cost is labour which depending on the car can be very high. My B6 A4 we did the waterpump at the same time and the easiest way to get the job done was to remove the front of the car including bumper, lights, radiators, etc.
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Yeah, they charge for the knowledge to do it efficiently, not necessarily for the effort
 
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