As my Scoob is now a year old, I have just had the first body service carried out for the not inconsiderable sum of £147.00!

Imagine my horror when I looked under the car to find they hadn't cleaned off the underside, there was no evidence of any new underseal ANYWHERE - and, to cap it all, the two sections where they had stripped off the underseal jacking the car up for the previous service were still BARE METAL!

Needless to say, I went off the deep end at them the next day and someone got a b*****king. They took the car back, did the work properly this time and I got all my money back.

This was the dealer that replaced my clutch on the same day as the body service. Makes me wonder what steps they left out whilst doing the clutch They will not be having my custom in their service department again.

If anyone wants the name of this dealer then please e mail me. As a clue, they are just outside Reading. They previously shared premises with their Jaguar franchise - sadly since Jaguar moved to s****y new premises down the road, the quality of service has gone downhill rapidly. Prices remain about the highest I have seen posted on this BBS.

So gentlemen(and ladies) - treat this dealer with extreme caution! No 1 for Customer Satisfaction - I think not

And if getting the body service done elsewhere, have a look under the car and check they have actually done something for the money.

 

I had my body service done a few wweks back. What exactly are they supposed to do ? Mine only cost me £60.

cheers

Andy

 

Mine was £140 last week from Bell & Colvill. Me thinks I'll shop around next time.

Regards
James

 

These body services seem to be really inconsistent between different Subaru dealers.

I had my 1st year body service done last December and when phoning around one told me they check the car over and charge £60 while another said they also squirt wax in the doors and stuff and charge £100.

These charges don't include the cost of touch-up paint for the inevitable stone chips or the body stamps they may need to re-apply, so you may end up with a bill for £140 if they have to do a lot to your car.

Paul.

 

Interesting thread this one...

I recently had my MY98 put through it's 12 month service by the supplying dealer, the body service was not mentioned or charged for.

Can someone tell me if the dealer needs to carry this out, what it exactly consists of, or if they judge each individual car on condition at the time of service ( mine had just over 11,000 miles on clock at time)

Any help appreciated as I may decide to take it back and have the work done.

Yex

 

When mine went in (in July) they said, oh, you're coming up to a year (mine was reg 1st August 98), would you like us to do the body service. They went over the car with my fiancee (I wasn't there) and pointed out scratches etc.,etc., but said there wasn't any need to do ahything with them, i.e., there was no perforation down to the metalwork and hence there would be no rust problem. Total price was £60 (plus VAT). I don't know exactly what they did but when I got the car back (they'd washed it whilst it was in for it's service - I do like that) I noticed streaks coming down from various edges, which I guess is the wax etc. This comes off with another wash. They put a little stamp in your service book. The body service only needs to be done at years 1, 3 and 5 and I presume is to maintain the body warrenty. I'm working on the basis that when you come to sell your car it at least looks like you've looked after it, especially if you're trading it in at a dealer.

cheers

Andy

 

I think Subaru are pretty strict on the timing for the body service. Your service book will show a date for the next body service and you only have a fairly tight window around that to get it done in order to comply with the warranty. That's what my dealer told me anyway.

 

There is a description of what they are supposed to do in your service book.

It includes a thorough clean of the whole body, including the underside. Various box sections, door cavities, underside of bonnet etc should be injected with wax. Underseal should be examined and retreated - particularly wheel arches etc. Defects should be notified to the owner for rectification.

You have a 30 day window either side of the first, third and fifth anniversary of registering the car, otherwise your bodywork warranty is invalid. My dealer didn't warn me it needed doing, even though it was the supplying dealer and they had it in for a 15,000 mile service within 2 weeks of its first birthday.

I paid £147 (before refund) and NO paintwork touch up was required.

 

I paid 57.18ukp (inc. VAT) for my bodywork service near the start of this year. You'll know if they've put all the sealant/wax gubbins on because the car will stink for a week or two. As with all Impreza servicing, shop around because the prices vary by massive amounts between garages.

 

Mark,

What dealer did your bodywork service - my MY98's is due soon ?

I would have to agree with Andy H's comments about a certain near-Reading dealership - never give them more than one thing to do in one visit - they usually fail to do either !

Simon.

 

I got mine done at Sparshatts of Botley(Hants). I was pleased with their service, although they didn't clean the car. My SIDC sticker on the back window was definately noted though, so that may have helped!

I usually get my servicing done at Mill Lane (nr. Basingstoke), who have served me well and who do clean the car. I can't remember why I went to Sparshatts rather than them for the body service. Could be they were cheaper or I may have been much closer to Sparshatts at the time.

It's interesting to hear about a certain garage near Reading because I bought my car there (MY98, Jan 98 delivery) and they were good to me. Their servicing prices were higher than other places though, so I never went back after the 1000 mile service.

 

Andy H,

Looking back at your original post I just had a thought. You definately paid 147 quid for the body service and not the 12 month / 15000 mile service? I paid 144 inc. VAT for the 15000 miler (no body service included) and an additional 57 for the body service. Just a thought anyway...

 

The real rip off is the cost of the two sticky backed stamps. One for the service booklet and one for the tear off that goes back to IM (sorry Subaru UK). Off the top of my head they were 7 quid each!

My 12 month service cost 207 pounds, by the way, inclusive of the body service.

Steve

 

MarkL - 15,000 mile service was £130 (ish). The bill for the body service was £147. It's not the money that annoyed me - it was getting the car back with only half the job done - I still can't beleive there was bare metal visible!

The dealer is Lancaster Reading - I don't see why I should conceal their name.

The car went back to them again this week as the remote alarm wasn't locking the doors. The only reason it went to them was they needed to get the alarm people who fitted it to see to it. To Lancaster's credit they did clean the car inside and out whilst they had it this time.

But I'm afraid I have lost confidence in them over this body service nonsense. Would you send your pride and joy to people who you distrust even the slightest bit?

 

Andy

Please do e-mail me re this mark_johnson@metrologie.co.uk. I assume it is Lancaster in Pangbourne ? This is where I bought my car from and had it serviced at 25,00o miles for about £140 is this steep as well.

Thanks in advance.

Mark

 

Mark J

I tried to e mail you but the address seems wrong. Send me an e-mail with whatever question(s) you have and I will tell you what I can.

Regards

Andy

 

Andy

Will do what is your e-mail address

 

Mark

To send me an e mail click on the little envelope icon above this post!

Cheers

Andy

 

I had the same problem in January. The dealer I bought the car from wanted £400 for 15K service and bodywork service. I rang IM who said a bodywork service should cost £45-60. I decided the original dealer was taking the p*** and went elsewhere.

Emma

 

Bugger, I booked my first service with Lancaster Reading for this Friday. SGT are closer but I was very unhappy with them when I tried to get a testdrive, just got fobbed off and treated as if I was a joyrider. All worked out well in the end, I told them to stuff it and I picked up my MY99 last friday from Rotterdam, and £5k better off to boot.

Anyone know a *good* garage around Slough/Reading area?

Ta, Steve.

 

Glad it is not just you who, have had a bad experience at SGT, I found them reluctant as well, I eventually got a drive for all of five minutues. Also I think they are very pricey £1000 above others or so. Never mind I got an sti instead

[This message has been edited by Paul Wilson (edited 25-08-1999).]

 

Onto my second new, this time Terzo model, in 4 years and have always been concerned over servicing. Have tried 3 dealers and in MY opinion:
Chaplegate(Ferndown) - probably the best customer service you can get, but at a price. Still it is a Porsche main dealer,with Subarus in their spare time. Good points: you always feel that they will do the job. Bad points: expensive - £195 1st year body service. Worth paying the extra at times.
Milway(Salisbury) - just don't.
Sparshatts (Botley) - newer franchised dealer. Sold 2nd hand imports for a while but no longer, presumably now prevented. Good points : cheap - £60 1st year body service. Bad points: For the price, OK. I'm just after the stamp in the book, enough said.

 

For what it's worth, I went to Lancaster to buy a Terzo a few months back and got treated like some poor relative.

Reason being I had just returned to the UK after living abroad and turned up in my mums G reg Nissan Sunny. I've never felt that little in my life.

Eventually bought a Cat from Simpsons in Swindon. Hasn't been serviced yet but the staff are brilliant. Even gave me some Sub merchandise for free!

 

I had a new car on order from SGT. I placed the order in December for a May collection. When I chased up the order in April I was told that there was no chance of getting a MY99 and I may not even get a MY200 in the colour I wanted. I got the impression that they had not even placed the order with IM and were just making a nice amount of interest on my deposit. Needless to say I cancelled my order. I have since picked up a cancelled order from Waldenway in Maidstone. Great service and a great car!