4C First annual inspection

[GaryG182]

Hi all,

I have a 4C Spider through Leasys and it’s due it’s first service. Leasys have advised by email they require the vehicle to be service by main dealer so unfortunately that’s alfaworks out of the mix.

Just wondered what quotes people have been given? Monza sport in West Sussex have quote £1035 inclusive and require the car for two days.

Also, I’m away with work a lot and might not be able to fit in the service inside 12months, does anyone know what the grace period is for it to be considered as “serviced on schedule”? I can fit it in the week after the cars first year anniversary.

Cheers

[deggles]

That sounds steep. My first service was discounted to £650 at the main dealer although that was three years ago. It's a pretty basic service apart from about 5 hours labour for the innocuous-looking 'check vehicle fastenings' on the schedule which is what racks up the cost! Labour rate is always negotiable

[geoffrp]

I’ve been quoted this morning by TH White at Swindon which is a 110 mile round trip from me. £1,004 including vat. If it’s with them around 830 in the morning I’m told I’ll get it back the same day.
I’d love to use alfaworks but then that’s a 350 mile round trip, involving an overnight stay and as I’m currently spending a lot of time out of the country, for the next few months, logistics and my disability are dictating that I will probably have to to use the main dealer.

[GaryG182]

Thanks for the input guys. Had a quick call around (hour of my life I'll never get back!), general consensus is "about a month/1000 miles" with one dealer quoting double that as still considered "serviced on schedule". Most dealers requiring the car for 2 days and pricing as follows;

Monza Ashington
£1032

PDH Hassocks
£924

Bishops Guildford
£1110

HWM Walton
(never called me back)

Motor Village Croydon
(never called me back)

Thames Tunbridge
£1097

Ancaster Dartford
£795

Lipscombe Maidstone
(never called me back)

Desira Southgate
£1238

Glyn Hopkins Romford/St Albans
£924

Palmers Hemel
£1008

TH White
£1004

Westover Poole
£1100

Unity Kindlington
£1030

[_Superleggera_]

Palmers are good. Mine is going there at the end of the month for its 2nd annual service.

[Stuart J]

_Superleggera_ said:

Palmers are good. Mine is going there at the end of the month for its 2nd annual service.

HWM are no longer an Alfa dealer so might explain why they didn’t call back

Snows in Southampton are a new Alfa dealer , might be worth a call , they may just get the price wrong in your favour

Edited by Stuart J on Thursday 7th June 19:58

[Armitage.Shanks]

I'm not buying into the 'bolt tightening/checking' especially when these cars are often so low mileage. There seems no difference for a car on 1000 miles and one at the max 12000 miles per year.

So, let's say you have a car with delivery miles on it and it comes to one year old - £1,000 for a service? bks

[thebraketester]

£1000? Am I missing something here? How do they get to that price?

[geoffrp]

I’m off the same opinion. Mines a toy that won’t do anymore than 1200 miles a year. If I was running it like the family bus then the bolts would be checked at 12000 and 36000 miles, but I suppose to keep the warranty valid then it has to be done at 12 months.
Seems a licence for the main dealer to print money, and surely there should be a fixed price menu and they should be charging the same price.

Edited by geoffrp on Friday 8th June 06:36

[GaryG182]

I think they allow 7 hours labour in total of which 5.5hrs is removing panels and checking the carbon fibre tub.

[Stuart J]

geoffrp said:

I’m off the same opinion. Mines a toy that won’t do anymore than 1200 miles a year. If I was running it like the family bus then the bolts would be checked at 12000 and 36000 miles, but I suppose to keep the warranty valid then it has to be done at 12 months.
Seems a licence for the main dealer to print money, and surely there should be a fixed price menu and they should be charging the same price.

Edited by geoffrp on Friday 8th June 06:36

Bolts can loosen over time as the metal relaxes if that’s the correct term so essential if your buying one even if low mileage make sure it’s been done, if you have one I would strongly suggest you get it done

[GaryG182]

Yes I wouldn’t take any chances with a carbon fibre tub car tbh.

Other slight inconvenience is that most require the car for two days (equally prefer them not rush) but it limits your dealer choice somewhat.

[Stuart J]

It would be interesting if someone were to challenge this with the lease company, under EU law a manufacturer can’t insist the car is serviced at a main dealer, only that it’s done to the correct service schedule and any parts used are genuine so going on that it would be ok for Alfaworks to do it , they are cheaper and having worked on so many possibly better than many dealers . Agreed this might be a lease company clause but it’s in direct contradiction to EU law . This may have been discussed elsewhere on other brands so might be worth a bit of internet trawling.
I was lucky as at the time I bought mine as Alfa were chucking in 3 years servicing as part of the deal

This is worth a read, it appears service must be fully itemized if not done at a main dealer to keep the warantee

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.autoexpress.co.uk...


Reading through this some don’t have to be with a main dealer so worth reading your contract carefully
https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/guide...

Edited by Stuart J on Friday 8th June 13:02

Edited by Stuart J on Friday 8th June 13:07

[Russ_H]

After phoning around the Coventry / Birmingham / Leicester areas best I've managed is £750 from Research Garage Nuneaton.
Most dealers wanted £900-£1020. Still feel like I've had my pants pulled down.

A bit of a jump after paying £160 for the 1st service on my Golf R

[detee]

Chesterfield do a deal if you join the owners club! That may help and its only £40.

[GaryG182]

Russ_H said:

After phoning around the Coventry / Birmingham / Leicester areas best I've managed is £750 from Research Garage Nuneaton.
Most dealers wanted £900-£1020. Still feel like I've had my pants pulled down.

A bit of a jump after paying £160 for the 1st service on my Golf R

Yeah that’s a very good price. Mines currently at Monza in ashington as it’s my local (couple of miles away) and they are charging £895...

[SimianWonder]

The fact that a low volume mini-exotic with a carbon fibre tub isn't cheap to service surely shouldn't come as a shock. As above, the servicing includes two potentially time-consuming and extensive checks in "check mechanical fastenings" and "check vehicle fastenings" with the procedure on Elearn coming out and about sixty pages for the pair, with the process involving something along these lines...



That said, the prices you're quoting do seem to be higher than I'd expect, though if you're London based or shopping primarily in that general vicinity labour rates will be proportionately higher than out in the sticks.

[Armitage.Shanks]

Stuart J said:

geoffrp said:

I’m off the same opinion. Mines a toy that won’t do anymore than 1200 miles a year. If I was running it like the family bus then the bolts would be checked at 12000 and 36000 miles, but I suppose to keep the warranty valid then it has to be done at 12 months.
Seems a licence for the main dealer to print money, and surely there should be a fixed price menu and they should be charging the same price.

Edited by geoffrp on Friday 8th June 06:36

Bolts can loosen over time as the metal relaxes if that’s the correct term so essential if your buying one even if low mileage make sure it’s been done, if you have one I would strongly suggest you get it done

How is it then that Alfa authorised dealers in the US have a different arrangement and some agree that bolt tightening/checking does not need to be undertaken until near 12k miles have been racked up?

There are lots of owners on the 4C forum who have confirmed this and that it doesn't affect their warranty given AR are underwriting it. Some suggestion of a Service Bulletin to that effect. That said getting a defnitive answer out of AR UK will be a long shot.

On the 4C Forum there is a step by step DIY of which bolts are checked and most confirm panels, including the 'bonnet' do not have to be removed to access.

My view is Fiat UK don't service many of these cars so rather than take a pragmatic approach charge the full time cost. If a car rolls in with 500 miles on it at year one I'm sceptical they'd actually check ALL the bolts.

[Andy-6ufnp]

I'm off in the morning to get my first service by TH White in Swindon. My each way trip is 83 miles so 332 miles logged just to pay £1004.00 for a first service at 6k miles. No dealers on the South Coast near me can touch them, one has lost their 4c technician, another doesn't have a ramp suitable but has the technician and the last garage near me are getting their technician qualified sometime at the end of August but that's too long past the anniversary.
I called AR customer service to see if that the extra few weeks after the service was due would affect the warranty but they refused to agree and couldn't comment about the lack of local dealers, I swear I heard them shrugging their shoulders.

[Armitage.Shanks]

Andy-6ufnp said:

I'm off in the morning to get my first service by TH White in Swindon. My each way trip is 83 miles so 332 miles logged just to pay £1004.00 for a first service at 6k miles. No dealers on the South Coast near me can touch them, one has lost their 4c technician, another doesn't have a ramp suitable but has the technician and the last garage near me are getting their technician qualified sometime at the end of August but that's too long past the anniversary.
I called AR customer service to see if that the extra few weeks after the service was due would affect the warranty but they refused to agree and couldn't comment about the lack of local dealers, I swear I heard them shrugging their shoulders.

I'll be interested to hear if there were actually any bolts that needed tightening. AR dealers WILL do a service without bolt-tightening if the mileage is low.