Major Service Cost

[FKisby]

Hello All,

Would appreciate your opinions on the above topic. My XF is due its first major service since I purchased it and I have been budgeting accordingly in anticipation of it coming up.

Having bought it from one of the Marshall dealerships, I thought it made sense to base my saving plan from their service price list that they have on their website - specifically, the fixed price service plan as my car is over 3 years old and therefore fits this criteria. So far, so good. Or so I thought...

Last weekend I called to get the car booked in and was quoted a price far higher than I expected: well over £600 compared to £385 they list under the XF 3.0 D. When I queried this the very nice but not very helpful lady told me 'it's complicated' and then tried to explain something about the mileage (currently approaching 34k) vs. age and whatever comes first. She didn't really know how to explain it and for that reason neither do I now; sorry!  

I then queried it with my specific dealer this morning who have always been great, and they confirmed the price I had been quoted was correct. This time however the reason was around all the extra parts that would be replaced - filters etc. and how this added to the cost, and that apparently my vehicle did not fit the age criteria for the price plan on the site price list. Apparently this is very clear on the webpage but I cannot find anything to that effect for the life of me!

Something seems amiss here and I feel that I need to check further before committing to anything. Does this seems like a normal price to anyone who has had this carried out already? And why would the 'extra parts' costs not be included within the list on their website if they can go as far as splitting the prices by model?

I'd really appreciate any insight on this because at the moment it just doesn't make sense. I have always accepted the fact that running a car of this marque would carry higher than average service costs, but to budget accordingly only to be quoted a far higher figure without a clear explanation warrants more digging I believe.

[Mike Conboy]

Hi Francis,

Try independent Jag Specialists, in my experience no frills, better service and for a fraction of the price of main dealers.

Mike

[Rich Askew]

Hi Francis,

I'm still new to Jaguar and have a 64 plate 2.2d XF. In theory I should qualify for the lower, fixed price service but I'm very cautious about main dealers and their 'extras.' I had the 96k 'B' service carried out by Swallows Jaguar, an independent based in Somerset, just over a month ago.

All in, including branded Castrol C1 Oil and filter, air filter, pollen and fuel filters plus scheduled items and recording the online servicing history ended up costing £310 with the VAT. I used to pay £279 all in for my previous Ford so I'm happy to be honest. They're also incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and carried out a few bits with no charge. Mostly checking over tracking and so on - yes, I know that might create paid work for them but the car's only been mine for a few months and it's worth it for peace of mind getting the battery health, coolant state and brake fluids checked out to reassure me.

It's obviously way too far away from you to be anything other than a comparison but I've seen others recommend servicing elsewhere in the country and I'm sure there's a thread somewhere hear that mentions likely places to have work done if you can dig about.

Best regards,

Rich.

[FKisby]

Thanks Both for your comments and advice, and those who have also contacted me privately.

I had a look elsewhere and as it happens there is a specialist Jaguar workshop barely a mile away from the main dealer that originally quoted me. They have nothing but excellent reviews online and have now quoted me over £200 cheaper than Marshall's. So it looks like that will be where I'm headed.

I'm glad I took the time to get some opinions on this - not just because I stand to save some money and pay what I think is a more reasonable price, but because I feel it's easy sometimes to feel a bit 'railroaded' into sticking with a main dealer just for the sake of it.

 

[Brian Murphy]

Just as most others are saying that independent Jaguar specialists are great. Mine does a far better job than I have got before from main dealers and I usually pay around £300 for a major service. No frills just great work.