4th year service cost?
Discussion
£750 including gearbox oil change which I was told was £250, they agreed to throw in an MOT in that which was kind of them. 
Seems a lot to me but I hear of first year Cayman services costing £1200 so maybe its not.
I am keen to preserve my Paint warranty as I am going to need it so staying Main Dealer for now.
Seems a lot to me but I hear of first year Cayman services costing £1200 so maybe its not.
I am keen to preserve my Paint warranty as I am going to need it so staying Main Dealer for now.
Mine is booked into Liverpool for the end of August, used to use Manchester who were good but daughter lives in Liverpool so I can make a day of it.
They are a new centre so we will see how it goes.
If there was a nearer I might try them, I don't know if K-tec Racing do servicing on Alpines.
The only issue I am a bit wary of is the paint warranty, I suspect for it to be valid it has to be inspected by them annually so there is a risk of losing it if you go third party and with the paint issue around wheel arches I suspect its going to be useful to have it.
They are a new centre so we will see how it goes.
If there was a nearer I might try them, I don't know if K-tec Racing do servicing on Alpines.
The only issue I am a bit wary of is the paint warranty, I suspect for it to be valid it has to be inspected by them annually so there is a risk of losing it if you go third party and with the paint issue around wheel arches I suspect its going to be useful to have it.
Just spoken with Glynn Hopkin, St Albans Alpine, and they are quoting £640 (total, inc VAT) for a 4-Year/36k service.
(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
LGC-Adams said:
Just spoken with Glynn Hopkin, St Albans Alpine, and they are quoting £640 (total, inc VAT) for a 4-Year/36k service.
(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
Do you know the name of the person I’ve been trying for weeks to get hold of them.(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
LGC-Adams said:
Just spoken with Glynn Hopkin, St Albans Alpine, and they are quoting £640 (total, inc VAT) for a 4-Year/36k service.
(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
The parts for the oil + filter, air filter, cabin filter are £70 for Renault OEM.(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
And it takes less than an hour and is dead simple.
I've not done gearbox oil + filter yet so can't comment.
Solihull charge £130/hr with 2hrs min charge, so thats £260.
Lets add the parts for the bits I know, thats £330.
I would guess another £50 for gearbox filter and gearbox oil, so thats £380.
No idea where the other £300-£350 goes, this is why I do it myself.
For those thinking they need to make money...the profit is already in the labour rate + parts markup, my parts came from a Renault dealer, trading under 'Renaul Parts Direct' on the internet. There is no reason for these huge additional prices, they are not spending 4 hours servicing your car if I can do it on wheel ramps in an hour.
Castrol Edge 0w40 - 5 Litres was £41.86 inc VAT
Oil Filter £10.07 (Same as the one I took off, the blue one)
Crush washer was £2.74
Cabin filter is about £10 depending which one you get.
In truth I didnt do the air filter this time because the car did 700 miles in the interval, its literally a couple of bolts though.
Oil and Filter is just
10 minutes to lift the car onto axle stands, including finding my rubber pads, its only 2 lifts, 1 each side.
Its about 20 bolts for the under tray, thats about 10 minutes, even if you have to break them with a socket set and spin them off with a small electric driver. I spent a little bit longer as I used a paint marker to mark the holes indicating which ones were big bolts and which ones were small bolts to make it easier to reinstall.
Drain the oil, 10 minutes (assuming your aim is good and you havent got to clean up).
Replace filter <2 minutes.
Undertray back on, about 10 minutes, if that, spin them on with battery driver then tighten with socket.
Replace Oil, takes ages as its bloody awkward, I need to get a better funnel.
Oil Filter £10.07 (Same as the one I took off, the blue one)
Crush washer was £2.74
Cabin filter is about £10 depending which one you get.
In truth I didnt do the air filter this time because the car did 700 miles in the interval, its literally a couple of bolts though.
Oil and Filter is just
10 minutes to lift the car onto axle stands, including finding my rubber pads, its only 2 lifts, 1 each side.
Its about 20 bolts for the under tray, thats about 10 minutes, even if you have to break them with a socket set and spin them off with a small electric driver. I spent a little bit longer as I used a paint marker to mark the holes indicating which ones were big bolts and which ones were small bolts to make it easier to reinstall.
Drain the oil, 10 minutes (assuming your aim is good and you havent got to clean up).
Replace filter <2 minutes.
Undertray back on, about 10 minutes, if that, spin them on with battery driver then tighten with socket.
Replace Oil, takes ages as its bloody awkward, I need to get a better funnel.
It takes a dealer longer than an hour to do a service for numerous reasons.
We need to do documentation, citnow video, all wheels off, measuring discs and pads, Tyre checks etc, diagnostic check, battery check, aircon check, all interior belts etc etc . etc, it’s a lot more than just jack up drain oil for 10 mins, (which should be hot and drain for approx 30 minutes drain everything ), and roadtest.
Not saying the time taken is always the book time but it does more time if everything done properly.
Regarding anyone doing a service elsewhere / on their own etc, please keep the receipt for all parts used including the oil used as this will help greatly with any future warranty claim you may have as service history will have to be proved, and the parts receipts are perfect for eveidence.
We need to do documentation, citnow video, all wheels off, measuring discs and pads, Tyre checks etc, diagnostic check, battery check, aircon check, all interior belts etc etc . etc, it’s a lot more than just jack up drain oil for 10 mins, (which should be hot and drain for approx 30 minutes drain everything ), and roadtest.
Not saying the time taken is always the book time but it does more time if everything done properly.
Regarding anyone doing a service elsewhere / on their own etc, please keep the receipt for all parts used including the oil used as this will help greatly with any future warranty claim you may have as service history will have to be proved, and the parts receipts are perfect for eveidence.
Yep, there is more to it but then a lot of the service things people who do own services will do continually anyway (e.g. brakes, pads, tyres, lights, belts, road test, wipers, coolant check etc). + cctv and stamps and diagnostic/battery/ac etc are all things most people can’t do/won’t do at home so there are extras that don’t count in the time. The loss for not doing these is usually minimal as problems tend to be easily apparent from aircon/battery, although with cars becoming more complex a diagnostic tool is probably useful.
It’s not like for like i agree, but there are cheaper ways to service than spending £700 for really not a lot of effort.
It’s not like for like i agree, but there are cheaper ways to service than spending £700 for really not a lot of effort.
I may well go outside the dealer network now as it doesn't look like Alpine are going to be doing much in the way of goodwill gestures once the warranty is up.
Does anyone know what you have to do to maintain the paint warranty as I pretty sure most of us will need it at some point on wheel arches.
Does anyone know what you have to do to maintain the paint warranty as I pretty sure most of us will need it at some point on wheel arches.
LGC-Adams said:
Just spoken with Glynn Hopkin, St Albans Alpine, and they are quoting £640 (total, inc VAT) for a 4-Year/36k service.
(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
For a sports car I think it's pretty good value. Porsche are asking ~£3k for the four-year service on a GT3 for example.(I have the extended Warranty, so think this is a prudent expense - seems a lot for the jobs but probably not outrageous?)
Oil change + Filter
Air Filter
Cabin Filter
Gearbox oil change
Mine was booked in for the 4 year service with gearbox oil change at W London last week. When I booked in I was offered an Alpine loan car as it would be an all day job apparently (£874 inc Vat, with the MOT extra). The day before they called me to remind me of the appointment and repeated that I would have an Alpine loan car. Can you guess what's coming?
I arrived 15 mins early, and was told to sit and wait, which I did for 20 mins. They finally admitted that the senior sales guy had changed the lock code on the safe and gone away on holiday without anyone knowing the new code, so they couldn't get into the safe and get any of the Alpine keys. The guy wasn't answering his phone or email. Plus although there were lots and lots of Renaults and Dacias on the site they had no other car they could lend me. Plus Andy who has looked after my car since new was no longer there.
As the MOT had expired already I couldn't just drive away so they said they would do the MOT in an hour and get me on my way. Needless to say an hour came and went and when I finally got the car back after 1.5 hrs I was very late for the meeting I was due to go to...
I won't be darkening their door again.
I arrived 15 mins early, and was told to sit and wait, which I did for 20 mins. They finally admitted that the senior sales guy had changed the lock code on the safe and gone away on holiday without anyone knowing the new code, so they couldn't get into the safe and get any of the Alpine keys. The guy wasn't answering his phone or email. Plus although there were lots and lots of Renaults and Dacias on the site they had no other car they could lend me. Plus Andy who has looked after my car since new was no longer there.
As the MOT had expired already I couldn't just drive away so they said they would do the MOT in an hour and get me on my way. Needless to say an hour came and went and when I finally got the car back after 1.5 hrs I was very late for the meeting I was due to go to...
I won't be darkening their door again.
Yarlsberg said:
Answering my own question, seeing as no one else did…
I used Rentech indep Renault RS in Portsmouth for the 4th year service. Good work and more responsive than my Alpine dealership in Winchester who didn’t bother calling back .
4 year service: £360 including the gear oil change.
That's about half what an Alpine (sic) dealer charges. It's about time we found some other "indies" - it's not as if servicing the car is rocket science - and Renault RS dealers will have access to all the info they need, and may well be much closer.I used Rentech indep Renault RS in Portsmouth for the 4th year service. Good work and more responsive than my Alpine dealership in Winchester who didn’t bother calling back .
4 year service: £360 including the gear oil change.
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