HELP! 430 main dealer problems!!!

[360yellow]

Lancasters of Reading are another main dealer who try to find unnecessary work when you take your vehicle to them and I fully understand why the lady in front of me went through her service invoice with a fine tooth comb,I was told I needed £600 of work to replace the supposedly worn bushes on my Range Range which had been inspected and were fine only 2 days before by the indy guy I use!!!!!!
Barons of Farnborough(BMW) are another useless customer care unfriendly garage,They damaged my old M3 front carbon spoiler and said it was like that when I dropped the car off!
They told me after picking up the car from an oil service the sump gasket needed replacing(Under warranty),I asked why the hell they did an oil service if there was a leak as I pointed out they will try and charge me for more oil when replacing the gasket!
Also tried to tell me the flexible joint on the down pipes needed replacing at a cost of £750 and wasn't covered by the warranty!
Simple fix was to cut the flexible part out and replace with a straight through adaptor for £25!
You find a lot of the mechanics don't care a less who work for these garages either.
I think it would be a great idea to start up a warning section for rouge main dealers.
Mistakes happen but it seems far to many main dealers are at it with the customers to fleece them for big money on work that is not needed,They think because you are spending £k+ on a car you can afford to be fleeced.
I would trust an indy over a main dealer anyday of the week,As if they are at it with the customers there reputation will get trashed very quickly.
I would contact the Ferrari factory directly to air your complaint.

[voicey]

Cracked mainfolds on the 430 do seem to be an issue in the US (take a look on Ferrari Chat). There have been instances of crap entering the engine via the exhuast manifold so I personally wouldn't drive if I thought this was an issue. It's an easy check for a workshop - they just blow smoke under the heat shield, any leaking exhaust gasses show up quickly.

[F328GTS]

I had a problem years ago with a Vauxhall main dealer in Biggleswade. They told me I needed new brake pads, I said I would sort it myself. Had them checked and they were fine. 9,000 miles later, took car to a different dealer for service, brake pads still fine. Another 9,000 miles later and pads finally needed replacing, so that was 18,000 miles later.

[Simes]

Originally Posted by 360yellow

Mistakes happen but it seems far to many main dealers are at it with the customers to fleece them for big money on work that is not needed,They think because you are spending £k+ on a car you can afford to be fleeced.

I happen to agree with this.

My car (355, 34k, described by a member on here as 'mint') recently went into the Main Dealers for a mileage service...If I had let them do all the work that they wanted to, without questioning it, the bill would have come to 8,200 Pounds!! Not only that, the 'service' was appalling!

Needless to say, it's going elsewhere next time.

[kryten22uk]

I had cracked/blowing manifolds and was all fixed under warranty without an issue, as I believe quite a number of others have. Don't let them charge you for it.

[Montpellier]

My car ( 2 years old) is in having a service, and guess what. Manifolds need doing, parts on back order. So watch out future buyers of the 430, you will need to replace maifolds and support brackets every 2 years...

[Iain]

Originally Posted by F328GTS

I had a problem years ago with a Vauxhall main dealer in Biggleswade. They told me I needed new brake pads, I said I would sort it myself. Had them checked and they were fine. 9,000 miles later, took car to a different dealer for service, brake pads still fine. Another 9,000 miles later and pads finally needed replacing, so that was 18,000 miles later.

Had the exact same scenario with a VW dealer (except it was disks and pads and 20K miles in total).

[mikey11]

Just had the same issue with Fairfield BMW not only did they sting me ferrari rates for an oil service on a 5 series they said i had two tyre one front and one rear that needed changing due to bulges on the side wall, and so recomended four new tyres so they matched. They said they cant MOT it as the tyres would fail. I explained to the guy that runflats dont get bulges on the side wall and not to bother, picked the car up took it straight to a gararge for MOT no problems after they printed certificate asked the guy to look closer at tyres he said they were perfect. Then took the car to my friend who onwns a tyre company he checked them said fine and that he said they do split occasionally but never bulge.
Fairfields did exactly the same last year to me but only wanted two tyres due to them being bald again took somewhere else and it passed, they were low though. I gave them benifit of the dought last year this year just proves main dealers are thieves and indipendent are much better.

[Mallard]

Had a couple of experiences with VW:-
1. Wife's car went in and they said she needed a software upgrade but if it "froze@ she would an new ECU unit at £500 approx. So phone up., talked to the service manager involved and said if needs the upgrade then VW should be liable and was there a safety issue? he said no and it wasn't required.
Now that's a surprise.
2. Golf in for a service asked them to look at the rattle on startup from cold and they said it needed a new tensioner (£1000) and a door lock which had broken was going to be £375. Took it to a local garage as I had a small water leak. It needed a new rad so I asked him to look at the other problems.
New rad + door lock £460 and the rattle on start up dissappeard.

To be fair the VW's we have have been cheap as chips to run so the garages must be desperate for work as their standard services once every 2 years are cheap as well.

Won't buy another Peugot because of bad experience with the dealer.

Dealers make a big difference and are a major factor when I'm buying a new car due to past experiences.

[zebraman]

My experience with the Ford dealer near me (Polar Ford Hazel Grove) is that they have no interest or passion whatsoever for the cars that they sell.
I've never known a company so disinterested in their product. Sure they are "only" Fords...but the general apathy at the dealer has to be seen to be believed.