I know with Nissan it's £209 for a minor service (oil and filters plus health check) or £289 for a major one (that's for petrol engineed vehicles). That does include RAC pan-European breakdown and the choice of either a free courtesy car (which at the local dealer have been high spec vehicles both times we have needed one (a note and juke tekna)) or a lift home and back again, and the courtesy car is guaranteed when booked in advance!, part of Nissans service promise.
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Vehicle discussion. The SUV vs standard types of car.
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GRALISTAIR
Established Member
One thing I can certainly say - low carbon etc aside. SUVs are damned useful.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Though you pay through the nose for that dealer service. Kwik Fit might not be posh, but they are as good (or bad) at these basic operations as anyone.
cactustwirly
Established Member
Don't go to Kwik Fit they are cowboys!!
Go to a trusted independent garage for your service.
Although if your car is within warranty you need to go to a dealer to keep it valid.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Never had a problem with my local one. They are franchised, though, so they may have the same problem as...
...who are much more likely to be cowboys - it can be hard to find a good one, though if you do stick to it!
This is false; EU law banned such practice a long, long time ago. The service does however have to be carried out to the manufacturer's specification, which could cause issues with some cars, e.g. the PSA 1.4 diesel of 7-8 years ago had an issue with collecting sludge in the turbo causing repeated failures, so the oil had to be changed by dropping it from the drain plug to avoid this - most garages, even Kwik Fit and main dealers, vacuum it out.
90019
Established Member
Exactly. Plenty of people don't seem to understand this and get caught out by it.
Well yeah, but that's not a fair comparison - any car on brand new winter tyres will go further than an equivalent on worn out summer tyres in the snow, regardless of drive type.
A 4wd with 8mm on winter tyres will go further than the 2wd on the same ones.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
My parents have one of those and quite like it.
Nissan always drop the drain plug as they put a new one in every time they do a service, well at least they charge for it. Our Nissan dealer does seem to be a good egg and only does what's needed, when she had the MOT issue she had taken it in for her service, mentioned it and they looked at and found nothing wrong, when she mentioned where she had been for the MOT they pretty much knew who had done the MOT and had probably had problems with that garage before.
The reason why I believe a lot of Vauxhalls were canned recently is due to PSA not having to pay royalties to GM, and I believe that is also why Holden is now no more as it shared a lot of GM Europe stuff which it now no longer has access to add to the fact that supposedly the new Corsa was pretty much finished and GM hoped that PSA would use the design under licence, of course PSA did not do that as why would they, they can just stick a different body on their own 208/C3 platform.
One thing I will say regards PSA is their merger with FIAT/FCA will be interesting though why can't we for once get a merger that brings together a manufacturer of good looking cars which are unreliable with one that makes reliable cars that are ugly, something that Nissan nearly did with Alfa Romeo, though Alfa oily bits on a Nissan body was not the right way round and as such didn't end well!
The reason why I believe a lot of Vauxhalls were canned recently is due to PSA not having to pay royalties to GM, and I believe that is also why Holden is now no more as it shared a lot of GM Europe stuff which it now no longer has access to add to the fact that supposedly the new Corsa was pretty much finished and GM hoped that PSA would use the design under licence, of course PSA did not do that as why would they, they can just stick a different body on their own 208/C3 platform.
One thing I will say regards PSA is their merger with FIAT/FCA will be interesting though why can't we for once get a merger that brings together a manufacturer of good looking cars which are unreliable with one that makes reliable cars that are ugly, something that Nissan nearly did with Alfa Romeo, though Alfa oily bits on a Nissan body was not the right way round and as such didn't end well!
90019
Established Member
Ah, the Arna - 1980s Japanese styling and handling mixed with Italian build quality and reliability, what could possibly go wrong?
Tetchytyke
Veteran Member
I don't think that is true, to be honest, for the simple fact that independents who are cowboys go out of business very quickly. You'll only ever get scammed by somewhere once. It's been a bloody long time since I've been anywhere where you even see the Pirelli calendar up on the wall.
Kwik Fit, in my experience, are buggers for claiming things need doing that don't need doing, brake pads seem to be a popular one. Last time I was in Kwik Fit, for a new tyre after a puncture, they tried to tell me my brake pads were wearing out. Of course they were, I'd just had a service three months before, from a garage I trust who'd said they were fine. Aye, right. My instinct is that these places prey on people who don't understand cars and, as such, are fearful of using the local independent.
But, as with any big national chain, YMMV.
The prices for main dealer servicing take the pee, and always have done, because people still believe that using an independent will invalidate warranties or reduce the value of the vehicle.
Nym
Established Member
On the note of main dealer servicing, I do like their level of service having gone from running an old vehicle to just buying a new one on a service plan, the quality of service is very nice.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Probably true - if you do know your stuff, though, Kwik Fit can be quite convenient - they are not expensive, they generally keep decent hours and open on weekends, and if you know something isn't needed but they claim it is you just decline it (though it is worth having a look, because often they will get it right).
Very true.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I've had some terrible experiences with main dealers, but by and large you're correct - you don't half pay for it, though. The plan helps spread the cost, but overall probably costs (including some built into the purchase price, no doubt) far more than going to an independent, and definitely more than doing it yourself. Though DIY is probably ill-advised within warranty as it would be very easy for them to say "prove it was to spec" and you have basically no way of doing so.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I'm not sure I'd say Nissans were ugly, anyway - they're distinctive with a bit of a Japanese twang, but not ugly. The only modern cars that are/were really ugly are the old Fiat Multipla and the Renaults with a "backside". (The Avantime was a rubbish concept, then they went on to make them all look like that!)
Other than Nissan, Toyota etc, the other source of highly reliable cars is Germany, and those all look good too. That said Ford also have a decent reputation these days, and none of those are ugly, either!
I didn't know FIAT was merging in too - that's like lumping all the unreliable cars in together!
My experience of mail dealer servicing is that they seek opportunities to maximise the amount of work done (of course with a corresponding increase in the cost to the customer). It seems that the obligation to stock millions of pounds worth of replacement parts exacerbates this desire to change things that might not need it at the time of the service. For many years, I have been going to a Mercedes specialist that has access to the service database and can usually get parts within 24 hours, - often same day.
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Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
There are enough motor factors out there that getting any part for a mainstream car (either as an independent garage or an individual) is easy enough. You can usually save a packet by getting "pattern" parts, though these can be of lower quality.
nlogax
Established Member
They do make a lot more sense in terms of utility where you live, certainly in getting Big Stuff from A to B...shopping, diy etc. Also helps that parking spaces at your average Home Depot or Target are about 30% larger than equivalents here.
GRALISTAIR
Established Member
I am toying with the idea of starting a new thread but it probably would not get much traction here. Decarbonizing UK even with SUVs should be not too bad - but the USA? Not going to happen.
nlogax
Established Member
True, it's pretty unlikely even if the likes of Ford, GM and Toyota work hard to electrify their models en masse. I have many friends who'd rather divorce their spouses rather than split up with gasoline to fill their trucks and SUVs. It would require a massive cultural shift which doesn't seem likely any time soon.
Yes you are 100% correct , PSA did not want to pay the fees , however to pull the plug on VX second best selling car is madness.
Also again you’re are correct with the Corsa GM had the new one ready and waiting to use yet PSA was not interested , now you have a over priced Peugeot instead , on top of that the grandland and crossland are both terrible cars. I can see vx really struggling as a brand
I suppose for PSA acquiring GM Europe was more about removing a competitor than anything else, getting GM Europe for nothing, essentially, must have been the icing on the cake. Naturally Vaxuhall/Opel will end up just being names and if sales don't meet expectations then the brands will die, Vauxhall especially. Similar to what happened to Chrysler Europe/Talbot.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
The question is where it would sit. Obviously Citroen and Pug use the same platforms, but there's a clear "budget family" marketing on Citroen and a more premium marketing on Pug. Where do you put Vauxhall?
I can see one of two things happening - either Vauxhall dies as a brand, or they drop one of Citroen or Pug and insert it there (possibly more likely Citroen as Vauxhall isn't a premium brand). Though I'd be very concerned if I was a Vauxhall main dealer - they won't need both chains.
Based on the advertising they've been doing for the last few years, they double down on it as "The British Brand", possibly doing the same to some extent in Germany, with opel being pushed as the (affordable!) german option. I think you're right in that to keep vauxhall (or opel) they'll have to shift the 'home' brands around a bit, but you could probably get away with putting Vauxhall in the middle somewhere, with Citroen doubling down as the cheap/young person's option, and Peugeot the slightly more upmarket option (alongside DS). Whether that is sustainable I don't know, but I think they'd definitely sticking the griffin on UK cars than killing it off and insisting you buy a Citroen or Peugeot.
Fully decarbonising may take a while, but it is beginning to happen. The 'premium' euro manufacturers (including Land Rover) are bringing their hybrid (plug in to mild and everything in between) tech over, Ford are offering a range of electrified vehicles and have been rigorously downsizing engines for a decade now. Given enough time (and incentives/threats) they'll start to come round.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
DS is a weird one. I wasn't aware that they'd moved it into its own space rather than as "Citroen DS", and it does seem, in that form, to pointlessly clash in market space with Pug.
They've not got many vehicles out, so it'd be easy to miss (although the same can't be said for their vehicles - yuck!)
That said, the intention is that DS is positioned above Peugeot, with very distinct styling and considerably more upmarket interiors as standard - more like the market space that Audi sits in (with Peugeot being VW and Citroen being the SEAT/Skoda analogues if we're doing VAG comparisons)
cactustwirly
Established Member
I don't see why PSA need to get rid of any of their brands. They all target different sorts of buyers, just like how VAG has VW, Skoda, Seat and Audi selling basically the same cars.
I can see them rationalising on production facilities within the group though.
cactustwirly
Established Member
I thought the opposite, Citroen being slightly more upmarket than Peugeot. But both brands are fairly budget anyway.
With DS being the upmarket brand, it remains to be seen how successful it will be.
thejuggler
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I'm not sure I'd say Nissans were ugly, anyway - they're distinctive with a bit of a Japanese twang, but not ugly. The only modern cars that are/were really ugly are the old Fiat Multipla and the Renaults with a "backside". (The Avantime was a rubbish concept, then they went on to make them all look like that!)
Other than Nissan, Toyota etc, the other source of highly reliable cars is Germany, and those all look good too. That said Ford also have a decent reputation these days, and none of those are ugly, either!
I didn't know FIAT was merging in too - that's like lumping all the unreliable cars in together!
Having owned three German marque brands (8 different cars) they aren't 'highly' reliable. All suffered problems. None of them were over 4 years old, no more than 50,000 miles.
Top of the pile are the Japanese, boring, but reliable, which to me is the important factor.
cactustwirly
Established Member
Volvo's are very reliable as well, if you want something premium.
But BMWs, Mercedes and Audi aren't the most reliable.
Tbh most modern cars are fairly reliable, except the French and their dodgy electrics.
My car is partly a Mitsubishi, so it's reliable.
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