$434 Oil Change

dumoulin · #1 03-20-2011, 04:19 PM

My dear wife's car needed an oil change. She dropped her car off (Volvo XC 90 12,000km on it...) at the dealership. When she came to pick it up after hours, she discovered that they charged her 434$. Holly crap! Can you believe it! I had buisiness in the city this week end and stopped by to speak to the service manage about it but he wasn't around. I will call in the morning.

I guess they billed her to replace all kinds of things like the HEPA filter and then for some sort of 15 point "BS" safety check, high end filers of all sorts, synthetic oil and 1.3 hours labour to boot!

I guess, at the risk of sounding sexist, some (not all) dealers still take advantage of unsuspecting women figuring they will not know ant better when they are overcharged...

I wonder what the service manager will have to say about it? I just can't beleive it! I can change my diffs, trans and engine fluids on my one ton for that kind of money...easy!

WCTHEMI · #2 03-20-2011, 04:23 PM

What they all did should be on the receipt. Being a new car its probably a scheduled service where they do the recommended services, if you don't tell them any different, they maybe assume that's what you wanted.

doetracks · #3 03-20-2011, 04:26 PM

As much as I'd like to do my own oil changes, I generally take them in. I won't go anywhere that I don't know exactly the price, though.

On a side note, I mentioned this thread to the hubby and his comment was "was that here in FSJ?" - we haven't had a good experience here other than the very LAST one, and we've had a few (unfortunately).

Hope you DO talk to the manager and get an explanation!

dumoulin · #4 03-20-2011, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WCTHEMI

What they all did should be on the receipt. Being a new car its probably a scheduled service where they do the recommended services, if you don't tell them any different, they maybe assume that's what you wanted.

I asked my wife to repeat to me exactly what she told the guy. She told him: "I want a basic oil change."

dumoulin · #5 03-20-2011, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doetracks

As much as I'd like to do my own oil changes, I generally take them in. I won't go anywhere that I don't know exactly the price, though.

On a side note, I mentioned this thread to the hubby and his comment was "was that here in FSJ?" - we haven't had a good experience here YET.

Thing is, they performed work to which she had not agreed to knowing she would pick up the car after hours. They had her ccard number. Either way you slice it. No oil change on a 6 cyl. engine should cost that much and any etra work performed should be agreed upon before....true?

Ken07AOVette · #6 03-20-2011, 04:34 PM

Surely you are not going to roll over and take this, right?

Don't hit him or threaten at all, but make damn sure you get your money back.

BBB is a good place to start as well.

harrydude · #7 03-20-2011, 04:36 PM

yes so true on the oild change but you did take it to the steallership

so oil like 20 bucks a ltr

labour rate well over 100 bucks an hr

so you might be on the mark....

quicky lube might be cheaper

doetracks · #8 03-20-2011, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumoulin

No oil change on a 6 cyl. engine should cost that much and any extra work performed should be agreed upon before....true?

True.

In our case, the shops didn't advise us when something extra was needed. What do you do, demand they take a seal out (just an example)? A $200 quote turned into over $500, with no calls from the shops to advise. Apparently this kind of thing is typical here in FSJ, where the shops deal with a lot of oil patch fleet business.

Give 'em hell!

CaberTosser · #9 03-20-2011, 04:41 PM

BBB don't have a lot of teeth if the vendor you're having a problem with doesn't give a hoot, it's not as though BBB really has any authority other than what they grant themselves. The big, powerful ally on your side in this transaction is your credit card company; you have every right to refuse payment of unauthorized work, they're the 800lb Gorrilla on your side in this instance. Apply vigorously.

If they had her sign a service/work order, best check what it stipulates first.

dumoulin · #10 03-20-2011, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaberTosser

BBB don't have a lot of teeth if the vendor you're having a problem with doesn't give a hoot, it's not as though BBB really has any authority other than what they grant themselves. The big, powerful ally on your side in this transaction is your credit card company; you have every right to refuse payment of unauthorized work, they're the 800lb Gorrilla on your side in this instance. Apply vigorously.

If they had her sign a service/work order, best check what it stipulates first.

Yup, I thought about this same thing.

FishingMOM · #11 03-20-2011, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumoulin

Yup, I thought about this same thing.

which dealership?

dumoulin · #12 03-20-2011, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

which dealership?

The one in Edmonton.

gramps73 · #13 03-20-2011, 05:26 PM

Is the car owned or leased?

dumoulin · #14 03-20-2011, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gramps73

Is the car owned or leased?

We (she) owns it.

gramps73 · #15 03-20-2011, 05:30 PM

Then I am at a loss, I have leased truck and in the very small print it was laid out to what had to be done.

Did they say it would void your warranty if the work was not done..

wwbirds · #16 03-20-2011, 05:48 PM

We had a similar experience in Calgary many years ago with a new volvo.
Scheduled maintenance included replacing many filters lubricating electronic retracting antenae etc. It wasn't nearly as bad as what you are experiencing but it was a healthy $200. + touch.
Unlike you I had agreed to the full service maintenance which was recommended in the owners manual however I refused to pay it when I item by item inspected the replaced filters and dust boots to show the service manager that new filters had not been installed and the lubrication had not been done.
The owner of the dealership refunded all my money and assured me it would never happen again. Six months later I found the same problem with charges for $65. filters not installed and service not performed and have not been back since.
BTW that car is over 20 years old now with over 500,000 km on it and still going strong!

Coulee · #17 03-20-2011, 05:52 PM

Any high quality, expensive vehicle with 12,000 km on it had better not need a $434 anything. If that's what it's going to take to keep you warranty intact, I'd be trading it in at a different manufacturer. Yikes!

dumoulin · #18 03-20-2011, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gramps73

Then I am at a loss, I have leased truck and in the very small print it was laid out to what had to be done.

Did they say it would void your warranty if the work was not done..

They did not. That said, even if they tryed to tell me that, I can't imagine how charging 75$ for a HEPA filter (in winter) or performing a 15 point check worth 166$ would void the warranty... In fact, they added synthetic oil which some manufactures don't like for you to use for what ever reason... The way I see it, there's a misundertanding or a mixup in the shop. I might not get anything back without a bit of fight or compremise.

This is like the time the Town of Lacombe sent me a $1200,00 water bill. I had explained to the person behind the counter that the average home used between 20 - 40 cubic meters of water per month. This bill would have reprsented the equivalent of using 900 water trucks full of water in one month... Turns out they installed a new electronic meter and calculated the difference from the old meter to the new one! LOL

boomstick · #19 03-20-2011, 06:03 PM

aahhh the wonderful scheduled service thing , biggest rip-off goin, ,they wanted $1200 for my f150 and gave me a whole list of things that had to be done to it. my response to most of it was , is it broke ,no so don,t try to fix it .me thinks its just a rip-off and hate the fact that this happens to the lady,s all the time.

dumoulin · #20 03-20-2011, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coulee

Any high quality, expensive vehicle with 12,000 km on it had better not need a $434 anything. If that's what it's going to take to keep you warranty intact, I'd be trading it in at a different manufacturer. Yikes!

Ya I know...crazy! My cousin back east has a couple Ferraris and Porchas and he told me a brake job on a 599 GTB is $35,000. Wayyyyy too rich for my blood that's for sure! Then again, who uses brakes on a car like that!?

Got Juice? · #21 03-20-2011, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumoulin

Ya I know...crazy! My cousin back east has a couple Ferraris and Porchas and he told me a brake job on a 599 GTB is $35,000. Wayyyyy too rich for my blood that's for sure! Then again, who uses brakes on a car like that!?

On a 599 Fiorano they are Carbon Carbon or Carbon Ceramic, and yep they will cost big big money.

Nothing like replacing 4 tires on your Bugatti Veyron though. That little Jewel will cost you
''There are frightening bills, horrific bills, and Bugatti Veyron bills. The legendarily expensive to buy, it seems that the Veyron is equally expensive to keep running, with some pegging yearly running costs at $300,000. It's so expensive, in fact, that Autocar says there's an owner who trailers his car to a particular driving route, then follows behind in a private jet.

Let's just take the tires, for example: in the U.S., the Michelin Pilot Sport 2s fashioned with the Veyron's unique compound cost about $30,000; in the UK they're £23,500 ($38,216 U.S.). Bugatti recommends you change them every 4,000 kilometers, or 2,500 miles, and at every ten thousand miles the company recommends changing the wheels and tires, which runs north of $50,000.

In between those wheel changes will be things like routine maintenance, with a major annual service setting you back about $20,000. None of this is particularly unexpected so long as you remember the Veyron is more a roadgoing Space Shuttle than a car''

That being said, to the OP, 434.00 will change ALL the fluids on my 2006 CTD Diesel.
4 qts brake fluid
12.3 Liters of SS Oil 15-40
All the coolant
Diff Oils F/R and FModifier
Synthetic in the G56
PS Fluid 1.5qts
Oil Filter and Fuel Filter.

And that is if I do the maintainance myself. It will still leave me enough $$$ to buy a case of beer. (Especially when you buy oil in 5 gallon pails and Fleetgard filters by the case.)

Cattle Dog · #22 03-20-2011, 07:38 PM

The fancier more high-end the car, the more the bills, the more expensive the filters because they don't sell as many as say a v6 gm.

And the outragious union/shop rates are 90 to 115 an hour.

If this is a new car, then they do other things to check filters, computor readouts, etc.

And people who pay dearly to buy a dear car will usually pay dearly for its maintenance.
But it might last very well, too. Enjoy your Volvo.

I drove an old humpback Volvo (looked like the '42 Fords did) in Norway back in 1968: it had a manual tranny stick shift and was a joy to drive.

400 is reasonable. Try having a common in-tank fuel pump installed in a regular older gm car: that will cost 850 smackers, (the car is only worth 3000) and you leave the dealership feeling really financially raped !

jts1 · #23 03-20-2011, 07:43 PM

I wonder what the service manager will have to say about it

In the case that this happend to me he would be saying "Can you please remove your foot from my ars sir"

Alberta Bigbore · #24 03-20-2011, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dumoulin

My dear wife's car needed an oil change. She dropped her car off (Volvo XC 90 12,000km on it...) at the dealership. When she came to pick it up after hours, she discovered that they charged her 434$. Holly crap! Can you believe it! I had buisiness in the city this week end and stopped by to speak to the service manage about it but he wasn't around. I will call in the morning.

I guess they billed her to replace all kinds of things like the HEPA filter and then for some sort of 15 point "BS" safety check, high end filers of all sorts, synthetic oil and 1.3 hours labour to boot!

I guess, at the risk of sounding sexist, some (not all) dealers still take advantage of unsuspecting women figuring they will not know ant better when they are overcharged...

I wonder what the service manager will have to say about it? I just can't beleive it! I can change my diffs, trans and engine fluids on my one ton for that kind of money...easy!

according to the girlfriend who works at a very good autobody shop... says its just a volvo thing. Says they treat customers great over there... but the service department charges a fortune.

She says its not just them... try taking it to a mercedes dealership, same thing

dumoulin · #25 03-20-2011, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jts1

I wonder what the service manager will have to say about it

In the case that this happend to me he would be saying "Can you please remove your foot from my ars sir"

I am currious as well! I'm struggling to wrap my head around it. It's not that fancy of a car and it's not a repair... In any case, as stated by Bogbore, if it is a Volvo thing, be assured that I will not bring the car back for maitanance there; I will either do it myself or at the "quicky-lube" around the corner at it regular service interval.

I remember bringing my 01 GMC truch in to Wheaton when I live in the city 10 years ago. My wipers were not parking correctly. This yopung whipper-snapper tried to tell me becasue I have not replaced my wiper with the AC DELCO (GM brand), they would not be able to do the work under warranty...I almost snapped. I asked him if changing tire brands would also void the warranty....

I don't want to make hasty conclusions about that dealership, but that was STUPID! BTW, they did end up covering the repairs and apologizing. Good thing too, I could has beat that kid silly!

Grizzly Adams · #26 03-20-2011, 09:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Surely you are not going to roll over and take this, right?

Don't hit him or threaten at all, but make damn sure you get your money back.

BBB is a good place to start as well.

BBB is basically ****sing in the wind.

Have never heard a good result form them. If the dealership is even a member, they'll support him. My rule is, stay away from dealerships. Change my own oil on our trucks. Car goes to Wall-mart.

Grizz

FishingMOM · #27 03-20-2011, 09:14 PM

Can you send me a copy of your bill?
I have a friend who is a top tech with Volvo here in Calgary.
He might have some insight, and give you some arguments to use.

dumoulin · #28 03-20-2011, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishingMOM

Can you send me a copy of your bill?
I have a friend who is a top tech with Volvo here in Calgary.
He might have some insight, and give you some arguments to use.

I will see how it turns out and if it doesnt pan out well, I will do so. Thanks FishingMom!

caver77 · #29 03-20-2011, 09:28 PM

Mercedes synthethic oil change can exceed $200.

RandyBoBandy · #30 03-20-2011, 09:32 PM

There is a recommended service maintenance schedule that goes with most vehicles these days. It is usually followed by dealerships and followed by most "good" shops(using the common sense approach). If followed, you will be further ahead using the preventative maintenance approach OR it is your choice to do whatever YOU think is best for your vehicle(just convey that to the service writer). I have many clients that follow the schedules to the TEE and they have had amazing results with respect to longevity. The "one" best example is a long time client with a 1998 S10 Blazer, over 385,000kms, NO CATASTROPHIC incidents! No tow in's..Things done as per schedule...could be an anomily, but I have many other examples. The $435 for the Volvo does not sound unreasonable depending on what was done and the type of service required at the mileage. Parts(especially fluids) for this type of make can be expensive. The power steering fluid is $35 a litre and you CANNOT(if you care) use generic PS fluids. I firmly believe that "communication" between the client and service department would in all cases quench the angst(that I've been ripped off)...it IS okay to ask questions and YES there are stupid questions(contrary to popular belief). Just sayin'...