Spark Plugs - How Much?!

[ClassicStorm 0]

Guys,

 

Just spoken to my Local Stealership and they want to charge me £20 a plug and 1/2hr labour at £75 per hour to change my plugs!!! I think that they need changing every 40K miles and mine have only done about 13K anyway but that is a ridiculous price...£160 for a plug change and no service?

 

The service without oil or air filter as I already have them (100K Service) is £160?! Does anyone have an opinion - I think that the current FVWSH is going out of the window very soon :x

 

John

[dazzyvr6 0]

they must be using platinum plugs,i think i paid £6 each for the normal plugs

[PhatVR6 0]

they must be charging storm tax......seves you right for even asking them to change them for you.

 

if they've only done 13K, why are you wanting to change them anyway?

[dr_mat 0]

In future, take the plugs with you. Supply the oil, filter, plugs, and anything else you want them to change. If you're still prepared to pay the £75/hr for the normal inspection duties, that is.

[Andy Brookes 0]

http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk, you have 3 choices of plugs on this website, standard, platinum and Iridium. You takes ya choice and pays ya money! P & P free.

 

NGK standard as fitted to up to 1995 VR's, BKR5EKU £3.27 each +vat, £23.05 a set

NGK Platinum as fitted to 1995 on VR's, BKR5EKUP £6.44 each +vat, £45.40 a set

NGK Iridium's, BKR5EIX £8.14 each +vat, £57.39 a set

 

Not sure how these prices compare to the likes of GSF and VW.

[ClassicStorm 0]

Phat VR6 - I wasn't asking them to change them,they informed me that they might need changing with this service and so I asked what the charge was...they don't need changing I agree and they certainly won't be!!!

 

Thanks for the info brookesy,I think that I have plat Bosch plugs in at the mo..changed them about 2 years ago so need to check.

 

Does anyone think that it is worth supplying them with the parts and getting the service done at Dane?

[Henny 0]

Dane in Chester? :| Heard some not good stories about their service department and pricing... :?

 

Personally, unless my car already had a full VAG service history, I'd find a good local garage from peoples word of mouth and get your car serviced there... Odds are that most specialists know more about Corrados than a dealer would these days.... :roll:

[dazzyvr6 0]

my car used to be owned by a mechanic at danes in chester

[vr6storm 0]

 

Does anyone think that it is worth supplying them with the parts and getting the service done at Dane?

 

thats what i do with my local $tealer and never had a problem yet.......and it keeps the bill to under £100 :wink: and of course the nice VW stamp in the book :wink: .....tho beginning to question myself if its worth keeping the FVWSH or start using a VW-specialist :? :? :?

[Henny 0]

my car used to be owned by a mechanic at danes in chester

 

It's likely to be a good one then, 'cos the mechanics wouldn't have to pay labour or Corrado Tax on the parts! ;) 8)

 

Just wouldn't take a car I owned to a main dealer anymore after one too many bad experiences... :|

[ClassicStorm 0]

Henny - I do mean Dane in Chester yeah! The car was an MOT failure last year coz one of the exhaust mounts was broken the other ones were fine and it wasn't even remotely loose! :x Needless to say that its getting MOTed elsewhere this year and looking like the service will be done elsewhere too. I agree about the specialists too,got one but wanted to keep the stamp in the service book...that was all.

 

Thanks for all the opinions lads,much appreciated but my feelings towards Stealerships are even worse than b4 right now...

 

John

[coullstar 0]

Some of you guys dont half pamper your cars. The only people who are going to but these cars are enthusiats who will understand that a VW specialist probably has a better understanding of the older cars than the dealerships. All the dealerships care about is new cars & milking as much dough out you as possible (£75 an hour!!!). Anybody who thinks otherwise is delusional. I certainly wouldnt bother if it had been serviced at a Specialist even if it was a low mileage Storm.

[coolrado 0]

i would never have anything done by d*ne in chester i heard a lot of horror stories about them, including a mate who bought a brand new polo took it in for its first service it took them ages to do the service (said they where waiting for parts to arrive) when he jet washed it a week later a patch of laquer peeled off the door, on closer inspection the door had clearly been re-sprayed over the top of the original paint and laquer to cover a foot long scratch.

as it was winter and the light was poor he hadnt noticed it before, d*ne denied all knowledge at first, but eventually agreed to put it right after a lot of hastle.

d*ne in wrexham are a bit better(probably because i get my new work van serviced there) but the prices are still very high.

no dealers seem to be interested unless you have a new car. :mad:

dont know what i would do without the internet stores like gsf,ecp or avs :roll:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

See that amazes me. Why the feck don't they keep the parts in for servicing? Imagine some Lupo GTI driver getting a service. He's going to have to wait 2 - 3 days to get the wiper blades changed cause they don't stock them! How sh1t is that? A service should be: drive-in in the morning, get a courtesy car, collect your car at lunchtime or after work. Job done. Servicing isn't rocket science and the costs and time they have the car should reflect that.

 

It's all a scam. The british public are still hung up on service stamps (even on 10 yr old cars!), so consequently dealers can charge what they like for maintenance, having also stung you for the cost of the car in the first place.

 

I don't mind paying over the odds from some critical parts, but I won't be taken for a ride by having them fitted by inadequate dealer technicians, just for the sake of a rubber stamp. My folder of Stealth Racing invoices is worth 10 x more than a book full of VW stamps to an enthusiast, and that is who the car will be sold to, if I ever sell it.

[craigowl 0]

Yes, VW stealerships have reached an all time low.

My son bought a Lupo GTI demonstrator from a firm with whom he had spent many hundreds of £ on trying to keep a Corrrado VR6 going. He finally paid £600 for a cylinder head skim job on the VR6 which did not solve the original problem, and they were stumped as to what to do next, so he had to buy another car as it was vital for his job.

They wouldn't even give a discount and the Lupo - the number of things that were wrong with it - it clearly had not had an inspection before being delivered to him. All this hassle for something costing about £12k.

Among other things, the car, which does not have a spare wheel of any kind, lacked the standard tyre-inflating aerosol. As we know, demonstrators are usually a handy source of spares for dealership mechanics when the parts department experience the common problem of being unable to get spares for new models. Replacement window regulators were awaited and fitted twice and failed twice - common problem he was told.

There are a couple of decent individuals in the dealership but there is a lack of co-ordination at this chrome and glass palace. Shifting new cars and doing easy services seems to be the raison d'etre.

We hate having to use the stealership but there are much fewer VW specialists up here.