I have my annual oil change done by a local dealer, and before anyone starts telling me how much I waste my money save me the rhetoric. I don't want to change my own oil, and besides, it isn't that expensive. Sure it is $140 for something I can do myself for half, whatever.

The dealer I have preferred is in St Pete and a bit further, not because the Tampa one is bad, I just have a good rapport with the service advisor and that was where I bought the car originally. They also fixed minor rash on all 4 rims using my IAS tire policy (no deductible/no charge repair through that coverage) so they needed to keep the car for some days to coordinate. Unfortunately my service advisor is now gone, and I don't know if it is because of the pandemic, but the service has gone down! They got my stuff done but communication was non-existent.

The good part about using the dealer is that they give me a no charge loaner for the duration, a 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport. Due to some approval process requirements with IAS I ended up with the vehicle for 6 days. All I can say about the loaner is it was a complete POS, the only good thing I can see is that it was free to use. Ugly interior, drove like crap, for the price not sure why any one would buy that SUV. It was a pleasure to get back into my Grand Cherokee Summit.

 

I've never personally used a dealership for anything except a purchase and subsequent warranty service/repair tampamark.
Your money, your car, so do what you want I say. Too bad you lost your advisor. They can be, as you're not experiencing, very valuable I expect.

 

I used the dealership once last year to change the trans fluid and diff fluid. They were nice enough but took a week longer than expected. Not a huge deal since I didn't need the car right away. The other thing is that their hourly labor rate is $185 per hour, which is a lot. Thankfully I've been able to DIY other stuff like oil changes and addressing minor issues, so I haven't needed to go back. There's also an indie mechanic nearby with great reviews and who works on foreign cars. I plan on reaching out to him if I run into any issues I can't take care of since his rate is much lower than the dealer's.

 

I'm with Tampamark with oil changes at the dealership. Yes, it's expensive, but their method is less of a mess as they use the pulling the oil out of the top of the engine method....I usually save a few bucks when I find a coupon in the mail. We are talking about once a year, which doesn't amount to much money. My personal preference.

 

I take my K&N Oil Filter and Mobil One oil to the dealer and they charge me $36 for an oil change. I've got $37 invested in the oil (Costco) and $11 for the filter (Amazon) so my oil change at the dealer totals $84.

 

[QUOTE=tampamark;2371211
The good part about using the dealer is that they give me a no charge loaner for the duration, a 2021 Land Rover Discovery Sport. Due to some approval process requirements with IAS I ended up with the vehicle for 6 days. All I can say about the loaner is it was a complete POS, the only good thing I can see is that it was free to use.[/QUOTE]

OMG I just had my brakes done at my favorite Bobby Rahal dealer, and I got the Evoque...the entire dash display went blank for the hour-ride back to the dealer. POS doesn't begin to describe it!!

 

I always call the dealer first for a price , then the indie . It can pay to do this . Recently read a thread on the Brit forum , a member had got a price from the local main dealer and it was cheaper by over £145 than the price quoted by the Indy he intended to use . It pays to shop around . Now I mostly DIY

 

Yes, I use the dealer. I get a good customer discount on rate and parts. And my dealer likes to play and customize as I see fit.
They also have no issue sending a flatbed to pick up the car if I’m not available.
It seems unlike many of you, they understand the value of a repeat customer. And appreciate it dearly.

 

Yeah, this may signal the end of going to this dealer. My advisor went on to greener pastures so good for him. I don't know if it was because of pandemic cutbacks but this trip was exceptionally difficult, bad communication, disorganized, I try to be sympathetic to workers and not be rude. But the replacement advisor was clearly in over his head, I knew my car was done but couldn't get a call back on when to pick up so I just showed up. Advisor wasn't there with what looked like a 2 hour lunch break, nobody could get a hold of him, service manager had to sort through his pile of paperwork to accommodate me. Took an hour to sort through everything and get me out, grrrrr....

The other reason I favor this dealer is because they sold me the IAS tire policy and when there is a rash repair they handle it at no cost. The Tampa dealer has a rim guy that charges more than the IAS allowance and I would have to pay out of pocket a bit. Now my IAS policy is expired so no need to worry about that, that plus the advisor is gone and service has declined.

I don't even know any indie's here, but I would become familiar if I needed a more expensive repair. The Jag has been amazing, all I have needed (for the most part) is one oil change a year.

I had a coupon also!!! I find the charge reasonable, when I owned the Porsche they wanted $350 to change oil. Guess what, I did my own. I suppose $140 for an $80 DIY change I am OK with, but $350 I am not. Plus the Porsche was super easy, up on the Rhino ramps, take out plug, let drain, filter was right on the bottom so easily removed. No worries.

I also factor in the fact the dealer gives me a loaner car. That is something indie's don't do (usually). Maybe not a big deal, when I had 3 cars and my motorcycle it really wasn't necessary to have loaner. Now I have pared down the fleet to just 2 vehicles so it is a convenience I enjoy.

Isn't putting non-Jag oil into your car sacrilege??? Nevermind, let's put a pin in that one and reserve that debate for one of the 10,000 useless oil threads. I am in the camp that I am sure it is just fine.

I had an Evoque last year, didn't overly impress me, but it didn't underwhelm like the Discovery did.

Smart, I have switched between dealers as each offers some pricing on certain things, mentioned it prior, but the Jag has been so amazing all I have really needed (for the most part) is oil changes. If something major was needed probably would invite quotes from an indie.

There you go, that is some service, flatbed pickup. My previous advisor was pretty decent about quoting reasonable prices. Certainly a better cost on oil change than the dealer closer to me. All good.

 

Posted a related thread recently- I am a big fan of the dealer I've used for about five years, but I've reached the point where their prices are going to be an issue.
But I WILL miss the free loaner as my XKR is my daily driver, and sometimes I've had that loaner for a week or more. I usually get an XF or an XE. Meh. They're fine.
And yes, personnel is everything-- not just the service rep but the mechanics (obviously). I couldn't justify using Rusnak otherwise, and if they left, I would too.
Ironically, the oil change is now the one thing I DON'T use them for. I'm with the DIY folks now and it's about $90 the way I do it. (Dealer charges $195 and I'm now trying to do 6-month change intervals. So it would add up.)

 

I hear you PK, there are always tipping points for everything in my mind, cost to ROI.

The last time I approached my Tampa dealer about an oil change was couple years back. The Service Advisor gave me a crazy list of items that was needed to be changed and wanted $800, when I told him just the oil he tried to guilt trip by saying people who have a car of this level should go with his high priced list. I went immediately to the other dealer, that crud don't fly with me. Later I went there for a tire replacement and he was gone, a more reasonable young lady was in his place. She was hot also, the triple threat, good looking, capable, and a nice person. An all around improvement from the jerk I dealt with before. However they were still a higher priced for an oil change than the other dealer I frequent.

 

I've finally gotten to the point in my life where "convenience" is the determining factor for purchasing most things (unless over the top insane cost)....I'll be rich a day later. Oil changes for the Jag at dealership.....For my Lexus my Indy... He charges me $18 while I bring my Mobile 1, Toyota filter, and drain plug washer.

 

Yeah Boca, I am in the same boat. There was a point in my early days I would never in my life pay to have someone do what I can myself. I still mow my own lawn, take care of my pool, repair my own appliances (when within my ability or a decent youtube how-to). I just don't enjoy changing oil and can easily afford to have it done.

My Grand Cherokee uses regular oil, 6 quarts, the Jeep dealer charges me all of $36 per change. Even if I can do it for $20 myself I won't, $16 is just that expendable.

 

i guess i'm still early enough in days to try to do most things for myself, but really i try to be judicious about determining when to have a professional do something for me. looks can be deceiving, as in, "yeah that looks easy enough." i still derive a lot of enjoyment from learning-while-doing but i've also learned to calculate a) whether i'm going to fail, and have to have the car taken somewhere on a flatbed and b) assuming success, whether my time is valuable enough or not to "buy" this fun with it.

by that i mean, i always do the cold hard math first, but based more on time lost than money lost (or "gained" by saving). the what-am-i-paid-per-hour vs. what-am-i-saving-by-doing it-myself math doesn't really make sense to me, if i don't also factor in the time "lost" in so doing. when you give it to someone else to do, you buy back all of that time. more money can be earned, but time is irreplaceable. you can't just estimate your hourly rate and price it that way, you also have to think about what else you won't do because you are doing this. that first DIY oil change is highly educational and highly satisfying but i would imagine the 1000th is virtually worthless to anyone -- yet all of them took about the same time away from you.

 

Last fall when I bought my 210 XK with 50K on it I went to the Jag Dealer to have all the fluids changed and a good once over of the whole car. I wanted a base line to start a regular service record. The only thing he couldn't do at the time was a transmission flush, he said that takes a separate service appointment.
I knew it was going to cost a few $$, but I take care of my toys.
The Jag Dealership is a 2 1/2 hours drive and then spending a few hours in their lounge (which is very nice)
In about 3 more weeks I get to wake her up after spending the past 5 1/2 months all wrapped up with a battery tender attached. I've checked around here and found my BMW Dealership will do the pan drop transmission change for an estimated cost of $800, checked with a local garage that does foreign cars and has an experienced Jag mechanic working for them, they spent about 20 minutes looking up parts for an actual estimate, recommending I use the real Jag. transmission fluid and pan from Jaguar. Their estimate was $1,020, and I can drop it off and pick it up the same day and they are in town.
That price was right in line with the information I had gathered here and on line. So I"m going with them for this and may use them for other services if thing work out.
I'm sure the Jag Dealership 2 1/2 hours away would come close to this quote, but for time and distance I'm staying local.

 

I have multiple choices when it comes to servicing my XKR. I use the dealer I bought it from. Why? They come and pickup the XKR and drop off a loaner which is either a Land Rover of some type or an XF or XE. No charge for the pick up or drop off. I guess the cost is built into the repair or oil change cost. I also have built a relationship with both the Service Writer and Service Manager. Given that the dealer is a good 45 minutes away the drop off/pickup feature is very attractive. Oh and the only major issue in 5 years was the water pump replacement.

 

I tried an indie for the basic stuff first. Disaster. And then a Jag specialist for a more involved issue. It took the dealer a week to figure out what the indie did wrong. I never liked changing my own oil. It's not worth my time, and disposal is always an issue. I'll happily pay
the dealer (Palm Beach Jag, here's a tip...stay away from Fort Lauderdale Jag). I get a loaner and they give the car a once over and inform me of potential issues. In 10 years I never changed the oil on my 635CSI. I did everything else, from subframe bushings,
to to valve adjustments, and only one indie ever did a better valve adjustment, and he taught me how he did it. I may have more reason than most though. This dealer wants my car, and since they're an Aston McClaren dealer as well, I've told them they can have mine
when they have a DB9 to replace it with...be careful what you wish for....

 

You know, this reminds of a situation that happened with my previous BMW 650. Went to an indie that was highly recommended to replace a $5 oil gasket that required 8 hours of labor to dig out. Typical BMW annoyance. The dealer quoted $1200. The indie $600. Went with the indie, got the car home, all was good, then week later the post-nasal oil drip was back. Took it in and the indie said it was a different part. I could clearly see it was coming from the gasket he replaced. He refused to admit that, had the car in the dealer for something else and they took pity on me, quote a lower $1000 price, told them fix it, never leaked again.

Thought about filing a small claim, also had some dark thoughts about beating the guy down (a throwback to my rowdy youth but of course I have too much to lose for that foolishness), but in the end just moved on. Now that I think about it I should give him a bad Yelp review dammit. That is how we handle things now!!!

 

DIY'd all my cars and bikes for the last 30 years. There's a very good rental garage in North Miami called GarageYourself. Since I live in a condo, I've been renting a lift and space there as needed for 7 years. Decent price: $30/hour. Highly recommend it to anyone in the Miami/Ft Laud/ Palm Beach area who likes to fix their own. Also, I bought SDD software and am comfortable with it.

 

I DIY everything. I am not sure what a lot of stuff costs because I only know when I call for the poops and giggles. I'm at 84k miles in my VW, and at that you should do the DSG transmission fluid and filter swap (every 40k). I got a quote and they said $475; parts from fcpeuro for LiquiMoly and an OEM filter was $78 shipped. I did it in about 3 hours and that included taking time to jack up and down, wait the lengthy time for the top fill through the filter hole with a funnel method, and doing an air filter and fuel filter (and can of diesel purge) at the same time. They want $1300 for a timing belt job, which its near due for too, and parts to do it all with OEM parts and some aftermarket locking tools (with WP, tensioner, idlers, timing belt, serpentine belt, 2 things of coolant) is $300 and I'm doing it this Easter weekend. I'm going to do a full coolant swap versus just what comes out to WP level; also doing a brake fluid flush; that's $10 for good fluid. So a total of 10 hours is going to save me about $1400; which is nice and I know it's done right. $140 an hour for a little bit of my free time is acceptable for me some of the time, so nbd. With the covid out there, this helps fight boredom too.

The dealer JBMI went to is the one across town from me; so it appears $1k is their price; but I think I'm under $300 for the ZF brand fluid and pan I bought. That JLR dealer IS the BMW+Mini dealer as well, so I bet the price is no different to hop the service wall. Maybe the VW/Audi/Hyundai/Maserati dealers are cheaper, who knows? I know my oil changes are pretty reasonable at home; I think $35-40 for Mobil 1 (I do the sales and rebates) and under 10 for the filter. I don't know how much the dealer even charges for an oil change; it takes me a half hour to get there and a half hour to get home; I can have the whole job done in that, so its not really a time savings. The dealer at VW nails $30 over my cost for an oil change on a TDI VW; I bet Jaguar is more of a gap.