subtswagon
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Posts posted by subtswagon
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Hi there,
Just saying hello to fellow subies. I drive an 03 TS wagon. Drove it across the country with the family from the east coast. What a blast!!!
No issues with my car yet. It's been great so far. Love to drive in the snow when I was out east. Sure puts a huge grin on your face
If any Vancouverites are reading this, do you know of any independent sub mechanic in our area..just out of curiousity? Thnx....
Ok, off to work I go...
Cheers,
subtswagon
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Hi there,
Talking about steep prices at the dealership, I just did my 48k service on my Impreza 03 and it stated the price of $465......well, it came up to $616.....of course I had to complain to the service manager about how come I have to pay certain parts when it should be included at the 48K.
they wanted to charge me for the air filter and fuel filter. They said, air filter may NOT necessary be change if it's not dirty? C'mon, after 48k, and 2 years later.......any air filter will be dirty....they think as a customer I don't have brains.....so, I beg to differ stating Subaru Maintainence Manual says to change air filter at 48K. And my other beef, it "Top up fluids"....I had to pay $1.96 for them to top up my washer fluid. What gives???
They should be up front about their prices and parts charges. Well, I finally convince the manager that's it not right to do such thing and not inform the customer. The end result, they brought down the price. But I'm still upset about the service. They should tell you what's included in black and white and what's not included. And have you seen their invoice???? It's terrible to understand their charges. And have you seen that section on "Miscellaneous charges"....no details on that...Grrrr.....By the way, I'm in Vancouver. Anyone has that issue to share as well? Thnx.
subtswagon
The main benefits I have found from using indies over dealerships is that they will often forget the "fluff" part of the service, reducing the overall cost.Example? My local dealer wants about $900 for a 96,000km service, and with taxes and waste disposal, it will come close to a grand. Most of the service is "checking" things like horn operation, lights operation, and so on. If you forget that stuff, do the fluids/filters and some crucial checks, you can cut the cost by 2/3.
The indies are typically willing to sacrifice the fluff part of the services (and the profit it generates) to build customer loyalty. It's my experience that labour rates for indies are only a bit less, or the same.
Here's an example...
My Mercedes had a CE light. The dealer would charge $100 to read the codes and about another $100 for "diagnosis" time. It was an Air Mass Meter, which takes about ONE minute to change, but they charge $100. So, for 15 minutes of time, they bill $300 labour and a $400 part. My indie charges nothing to pull the codes, and when he saw the codes and read the adaptation numbers, he knew what it was. It took about two minutes to read the codes and another two to get an AMM from stock and install it. He charged me the $400 for the part and the "labour" he chocked up to customer retention. Guess what? It works. He gets all my repair business, and on some stuff, he does very well. He only made about $60 on the AMM he installed, but for about five minutes work, that's not bad. There is the carrying cost of the AMM itself, but it's such a failure prone part on almost all MB models, they fly off the shelf anyway.
What really chuffs me about the Subaru dealer is that they have the most expensive services of any brand I have seen short of Porsche. Over the same mileage period, going only to dealers, my Mercedes would be HALF of either of our Subarus for service costs. I was not impressed by the cost of MB servicing by the dealer, and downright shocked at Subaru.
New to Vancouver (Richmond actually)
in Meet n' Greet. Your USMB Welcome Center
Posted
Yeah, that's quite a distance from where I am. I'm close to YVR. Now, that I"m working in Abbotsford, my miliage is skyrocketing!!! But I can't complain about the price of gas there..76 cents after the 3.5 cents off.
Suby Show? Where and when?
Yeah, I want an 05 Outback. Looks sooo darn good. I drool when I see one on the road. Before we got the 03 Impreza, we were debating between the Outback, Legacy and Forester. Tough choices!!! But price came into play and the Impreza was the best bang for the loonie.
Cheers...