Popped my ND2 in to the local stealership yesterday for its first service as they are now able to offer a socially distanced service.
Whilst I want their staff and other customers to stay safe I was interested to see a charge for PPE (personal protective equipment) on my invoice.
It was £7
Has anyone else experienced this at Mazda dealerships since they have been able to take vehicles in for servicing, and what is your opinion on the charge?
(Worth adding that they had fitted a disposable steering wheel cover and paper floor mat to my car, and all staff in the building were wearing masks gloves etc.)
Although I hate that word you got the term stealership correct.
Although they could have stated it somewhere (maybe had) in the reception that the charge would be applied. I suppose we may see this charge applied hidden or not at some service outlets.
No such charge at my local garage and I know they use seat and wheel protection then always send out the reception lady with her spray stuff and cloth to wipe it down
From my experience at Main Dealers of Vauxhall, VW, Honda and Mazda over the years…
They have always used the plastic seat covers, paper floor mats.
Not seen steering wheel covers, (but may have).
The problem is (as you know) Main dealers DO have high over heads, so DO need to make some form of viable profit to stay afloat.
Hence the high cost labour charges.
I always price match the service costs via different dealers in Wiltshire and surrounding areas.
I ended up in Newport last year and honestly saved quite a few £’s after fuel etc.(Bit of shopping at Tesco’s too!).
Is the £7 reasonable.
Did you ask/challenge it?
In the current scheme of things probably yes, (It’s only the cost of a pint in London apparently).
C’est La Vie.
Enjoy your TD.
They didn’t point out that it would be chargeable when I booked it in or when I dropped it off, but when I called to book it in I was told the first service was £230, and that obviously included the PPE charge as I paid £230.
Still hurts that a minor service was that expensive though! PPE charge or not haha!
FYI (if not already aware).
Just checked and the Mazda Booking online is back up and running.
Not sure whether you have used it before, but you can see the difference in price from one dealership to another. From experience the online price is always cheaper anyway.
My guess is that it’s a charge for the mask, gloves or whatever for the tech who did the work (PPE), not the stuff left in the car which is normal practice usually. To be fair (?) some of the motor trade dealers are really on a cliff-edge survival-wise at the moment.
Given that PPE is not cheap (supply/demand has driven up prices hugely) and also that many businesses - not just in the motor trade - have suffered badly as a result of C19, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see many more businesses having to pass on the cost of PPE to their customers.
Just like other things which used to be “free” (disposal of old tyres, plastic bags in supermarkets, etc) are now charged for, I guess we’ll have to get used to being charged for PPE.
So are they going to start barging for other PPE like goggles, ear defenders, etc? Disgraceful especially as services are high profit actions.
To give you reference my family own a garage so I get everything cost with discounted labour. I had oil, filter, gearbox oil and did oil changed on my NC for less than £60 in Feb. It was about 50/50 parts labour.
Some times you get sucked in due to warranty etc. You can if you wish go to an independent garage and have it serviced. As long as you use genuine parts they can’t void the warranty if you should need it. But sometimes when a car is out of warranty a good main dealer will still do it for you and claim it back. Swings and roundabouts and what the individual feels comfortable with. Just an opinion.
Like others, I do mine myself and it’s quite satisfying to do so.
businesses are going to have to pass on the cost of the whole thing in order to survive, not just the PPE, so stand back and watch prices for everything rise.
just had a conversation with a friend who is a hairdresser (and doesn’t drive an MX-5), now working to make his premises safe, without prompting he said the cost of PPE for the client and the staff will be added as an item to the bill, plus an overall price rise to take account of the loss of -earnings for what will be about 3.5 months before he re-opens in July, as he hopes.
I am inclined to agree with that. At the end of the day, we will all need companies and businesses to survive. If they all start going to the wall, the remaining ones will have us all by the short and curlies!
As long as they are sensible and don’t go OTT, I personally will be okay with it.
Even my fish n chip supper has felt the price increase. Been without since lockdown. They started up again and thought I’d give them a try as they’ve made it easy and safe to order and supply you.
All good still as tasty as ever but now 80p more on what we normally have. Small price to pay whereas before I’d moan if they stuck a 20-30p increase on during the year.
Turns out I got off lightly! A friend has just collected his BMW from the main dealer after it’s first service and they charged him a £20 PPE surcharge…his car is bigger though I guess
When I had my S3 Audi did the 1st service on that, I noticed they had charged £7 for topping up the washer fluid! I pointed it out and said not a chance I filled that yesterday…they removed the £7
I do wonder how much ppe is really required to service a car over that which they had in the first place. Mechanics generally wear gloves all the time anyway. Steering wheel, floor and seat covers should be standard practice already. A face mask wont help unless its a job that already required one so what exactly are you paying for?
