Newish car service TLC sundries

[annihilator]

It's only 12 months old and they are about £3 online.

[Nick W]

It's only 12 months old and they are about £3 online.

When you buy parts from a business who is doing the work, you are going to pay the retail price. It's one of the ways they make a profit, just like any other service industry. And a main dealer's retail price will always be more than an online supplier.

[BazaJT]

Oil will be bought in bulk and delivered by tanker or[given it's 5w20 they've used bought in 250L drums[local Ford dealer uses Fuchs oil] I know it's only £1.70 on the bill but I don't understand where glass cleaner comes into the equation.

[Varche]

It had a free external wash as part of their customer care. That seems reasonable enough. I guessed the glass cleaner was for cleaning the windows afterwards. Just had a look and they vacuumed and cleaned the inside. Nice touch

Nick is right . Dealers have bigger overheads and charging list price ifor oil and filters is the norm. £189 for a service to me for a first 10 kmiles service is reasonable. If you put aside the depreciation then he has nothing else to pay the dealer for the next 10k miles.

[New POD]

This stuff is mainly about increasing your profitability targets and you can further improve them by charging for the stuff and not actually using it, as the customer will never know the difference.

That would be Fraud. As in Theft. As in a CRIMINAL act.

A mate of mine services Motorbikes for a living. He is an ex world super bike mechanic, but only works on big expensive bikes that are out of warranty, and he encourages the owners to come and help and see how it's done. 

He regularly finds bikes where the owner has paid for spark plug replacement, still wearing the original plugs, and occasionally mismatched plugs, where they've replaced the 2 easy to reach one's but ignored the other 2.

[Nick W]

This stuff is mainly about increasing your profitability targets and you can further improve them by charging for the stuff and not actually using it, as the customer will never know the difference.

That would be Fraud. As in Theft. As in a CRIMINAL act.

Yes, it is. And your point?

[Marks DTM Calib]

That's quite steep, even on the Jag (without discount) a basic service is only £200 and they polish it to (plus you get a nice courtesy car and fancy coffee)

[TheBoy]

This stuff is mainly about increasing your profitability targets and you can further improve them by charging for the stuff and not actually using it, as the customer will never know the difference.

That would be Fraud. As in Theft. As in a CRIMINAL act.

It happens. And probably more often than you may think, and both at dealers and back street garages.

[Mister Rog]

Bacterial cleanse is often referred to as an "air con bomb",basically it's a can of spray and you set the car running with air con on and trigger this can,put it in footwell of car shut the door and walk away for a while letting the can empty itself and the "smoke" in the car disappears.Yes you can buy it over the counter and do this yourself[read the instructions though as they may vary product to product]

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog, fags, gof knows what etc. So, anything that helps even just a bit

[TheBoy]

Bacterial cleanse is often referred to as an "air con bomb",basically it's a can of spray and you set the car running with air con on and trigger this can,put it in footwell of car shut the door and walk away for a while letting the can empty itself and the "smoke" in the car disappears.Yes you can buy it over the counter and do this yourself[read the instructions though as they may vary product to product]

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog, fags, gof knows what etc. So, anything that helps even just a bit

It wont help that.  You may get a short term masking, but you need to (properly) deep clean the entire interior.  That's why dealers often walk away from smokers cars, or offer £6-8k below book, as the interior removal and cleaning is very expensive

[Mister Rog]

Bacterial cleanse is often referred to as an "air con bomb",basically it's a can of spray and you set the car running with air con on and trigger this can,put it in footwell of car shut the door and walk away for a while letting the can empty itself and the "smoke" in the car disappears.Yes you can buy it over the counter and do this yourself[read the instructions though as they may vary product to product]

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog, fags, gof knows what etc. So, anything that helps even just a bit

It wont help that.  You may get a short term masking, but you need to (properly) deep clean the entire interior.  That's why dealers often walk away from smokers cars, or offer £6-8k below book, as the interior removal and cleaning is very expensive

Thanks for those words of encouragement 

[Nick W]

Bacterial cleanse is often referred to as an "air con bomb",basically it's a can of spray and you set the car running with air con on and trigger this can,put it in footwell of car shut the door and walk away for a while letting the can empty itself and the "smoke" in the car disappears.Yes you can buy it over the counter and do this yourself[read the instructions though as they may vary product to product]

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog, fags, gof knows what etc. So, anything that helps even just a bit

using the most powerful machine you can get your hands on, hoover the entire interior(seats, carpet, boot, headlining etc) several times. After that, use upholstery cleaner on everything. Then buy a couple of Neutradol gel sachets and leave them in the car. This is how small hotels used to create no-smoking rooms

[Mister Rog]

Bacterial cleanse is often referred to as an "air con bomb",basically it's a can of spray and you set the car running with air con on and trigger this can,put it in footwell of car shut the door and walk away for a while letting the can empty itself and the "smoke" in the car disappears.Yes you can buy it over the counter and do this yourself[read the instructions though as they may vary product to product]

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog, fags, gof knows what etc. So, anything that helps even just a bit

using the most powerful machine you can get your hands on, hoover the entire interior(seats, carpet, boot, headlining etc) several times. After that, use upholstery cleaner on everything. Then buy a couple of Neutradol gel sachets and leave them in the car. This is how small hotels used to create no-smoking rooms

I am getting there, clean, clean and clean again, will get some Neutradol.

At least I can sit in it without retching now   

Beginning to think about other things as well, like updating SatNav. At least the maps are on an SD card 

[Doctor Gollum]

Removing the seats and cleaning the carpet under them plus under the edges of the boot carpet will also help...

[Andy B]

....

I didn't know about these. I may try one, I've inherited a Toyota IQ that just stinks due to moulting dog ...... So, anything that helps even just a bit

I once bought a cheap none runner Astra estate that'd been used as a GSD kennel ..... it stunk inside. I remove various interior panels & carpet,  doused them with various detergents and jet washed them. It always seemed better until you next got in when the weather was warm/hot and you realised it still had an odour of wet dog. 
I was quite glad when it got written off.