I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __Routine servicing cost
I had my 2012 NC (54k miles) serviced and MOT’d last week at a local specialist (personal recommendation - excellent Google reviews).
Car last serviced 2 years/2k miles ago - oil/filter and air filter (I know - should be driving her more )
Diff and gearbox oil replaced 2021 at 46k miles.
No evidence that plugs have ever been replaced.
Looking at the service schedule in the owner’s handbook, I thought this service would be another basic oil and filter plus any work that needed doing for the MOT. No need for plugs (62.5k). Diff oil every 50k (done 8k miles ago), gearbox oil after 62.5k (done 8k miles ago) so no need for either of them this time.
Garage owner suggested changing all the oils as they turn acidic over time - and the plugs are every 5 years so they should be done too (no evidence of this in my handbook). Not thinking of selling the car anytime soon and want to keep her running 100% so asked (perhaps wrongly given hindsight) him to do whatever work he would do if the car was his. Didn’t ask for a cost breakdown (another mistake ?).
Got a call to say the rear discs/pads needed changing for the MOT - fair enough - do those too please. Assumed a bill of £4-500.
The bill came to £912 incl. VAT. £900 for a service and MOT - approximately 4 hours labour in total ? Can that be correct ? Looked up the price of the service items and discs/pads and I still can’t decide whether that’s a reasonable price or I’ve been taken for a ride. It’s certainly put me in a difficult place financially for the coming month !
Lesson learned for me to confirm cost of these procedures before agreeing to them.
Would value your feedback. Is this just ‘the price’ for using a specialist and having piece of mind that the work had been done to a high standard - or ‘no’ - go somewhere different next time for better value for money ?
I got all fluids changed (except rear differential fluid) with plugs, filters and brake service. Came to around £600 as I recall which I thought reasonable. It was just after I purchased the car which had a full Mazda history but hadn’t fully followed schedule.
Just for context, Mazda charged me £400 a couple of years ago to replace rear brakes and pads on my MX-5
My most recent service (with an independent garage) included changing all oils and filters, and that came in at around £400. And the spark plugs are around £75.
So it looks like you’ve been charged a fair price there.
If you see your invoice there is a breakdown of costs.
IIRC as follows
service inc all oils engines,gearbox, diff,
Coolant top up, screen wash etc £300
B/fluid change £80
Rear discs & pads OE quality ( not cheap stuff that comes back and bites me on the ass) Free off & replace slider pins as required etc £250
NGK Iridium plugs £80
MOT £50
Would have been nice if I didn’t have to justify it in public but hay ho…….
You have had a car serviced with the very best oils/parts by a specialist to enable you to use your car for the next 12 months for around £15 per week…..
1 decent bottle of wine…..
Regards
Paul R
Then unfortunately this government wants us to put 20% on top (not my fault)
I am not questioning the quality of the work - the car felt good on the drive back from the service. My expectation of the cost (which I did not confirm before any of the work was carried out) was a long way from the reality, which prompted me to write the post.
It would have helped my understanding of the value of the work if the invoice had detailed what the oils used in the service were (and the discs/pads) and split those out from the labour.
The sun is shining and the car is running well, so I’ll concentrate on the positives ! I’ll make sure I check how much the work is going to cost before it’s carried out in the future, so my expectations are realistic.
And just for comparison: I note this independent expert charged £250 for replacing rear discs and pads. As I said further up, a Mazda dealer charged me £400 for that same job two years ago. So this looks like good value for money
The garage you used has a deserved reputation for providing excellent service. Sometimes this costs more than seems responsible but rest assured that there changes are well worth the little extra.how many times on here do you read of shoddy workmanship that requires redoing or go alone amateurs asking the most basic questions about repairs that should never be attempted by anyone without proper experience.quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten! Enjoy. summer is on its way
I paid £710 yesterday for my ND service, MoT,.rear discs etc at the same garage . The work was excellent , as ever. If I’d been unhappy I wouldn’t havestarted bleating on a public forum before having the common decency to raise any concern about the bill with the garage .
I’m taking my MX-5 mk3 2006 to MX5city in a couple of weeks. Full service including rear diff, gearbox oil, cooling flush, new coolant £300, plus vat. Also having the underside rustproofed, bit of cosmetics done ballpark figure £2k all in.
I had my car serviced by Paul at Roddisons last June. Full service including gear box and diff oil (right term?) and I think including the plugs. Mazda quoted me bout £670, so I was more than happy to pay a little less and get what I know to be a better job. So I think it’s about right. He recently put on 4 new tyres, Good Year what’s it F1’s, set up my CRD’s properly with a full alignment and corner weighted etc. It has made such a difference and that was about £970. I may do Mazda this year as it’s smaller service and (depends on the quote though) Paul has now moved, but next year back to Paul. I think with Paul as others have said you’re paying for his experience and I like the fact has raced the cars and knows exactly how they should be setup.
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