You guys are lucky at least you have a few options in Edinburgh the are very few.
Yep, and here in the North East…its dealer or nothing!
I dont buy the idea that you are paying for reputation and better service.
I rate Mike highly too, but Horizon don’t have an engineer from the Lotus factory there virtually every week looking at and working on customers cars, B&C do. Their access to Lotus is unrivaled. For a new model I don’t think your car can be better looked after. Unfortunately you have to pay for that.
Ian
Thats fine if you are having problems with your car but we are talking about servicing costs here not the engine dropping out. Oils, filters and spark plug changes are the most basic skills of the motor mechanics profession yet we still get charge the earth for it.
B&C can fix problems before they become problems during the service, and they know about them because they are in constant touch with the factory.
Ian
at the end of the day its still just an oil and filter change, then a few basic safety checks. dont think it needs factory intervention here
alos any dealer can do recall work which is usually for free anyway and is also preety rare
B&C can fix problems before they become problems during the service, and they know about them because they are in constant touch with the factory.
Ian
Ian - I think that was the USP for main dealers BEFORE the invention of the internet. The 1st people to know what the problems are, are the customers and through sites like this we often see both major and minor issues playing themselves out long before the factory gets involved.
Back in the days when I let JCT600 near my car, I would discuss issues with them that were common knowledge (including the potential causes and remedies) and they had no idea what I was talking about; or even worse deny that they had ever seen the problem before when the owners had previously posted on the net.
As an example I would quote the Exige & 340R fires leading to the revised ECU.
I would love to see the age profile of a main dealer’s customer base for servicing. I would assume that each new car returns to them for the A/S sale and then through most of the warranty period, perhaps falling off towards the end and then taking a huge plunge once warranty expires.
Would a 5% retention rate after 3 years seem unreasonable? Main dealer servicing makes them money on the new business through the door.
The other issue is staff turnover at main dealers - the front office staff were forever disappearing to other marques at JCT. Contrast that with any independant where the anecdotal evidence is that the same faces are there year in year out.
Sorry Ian, I cant see where your coming from on that one??
As far as I have ever experienced (especially LOTUS) no car manufactureres ever replaces known failure items unless they actually break or are a safety recall, which in that case all are returned regardless of what dealer you use.
Its widely known that the early s2 gear lever breaks… Would my dealer replace mine for me if I asked?? Would they buggerey… Would B+C?? No, of course they wont, not unless I want to pay for it myself that is…
I have seen this all before with the Audi dealerships… It would appear the further south and towards London you go the more you pay…Simple as that, nothing to do with who happens to be able to screw the oil plug up better.
[but Horizon don’t have an engineer from the Lotus factory there virtually every week looking at and working on customers cars, B&C do.
Is that because their own mechanics can’t do anything?
I speak only slightly with my tongue in my cheek. I have been fobbed off by a main dealer with “we are waiting for the service engineer to visit us to advise on the fix” only to meet the said engineer the next week and find the remedy was issued in a service bullitin a month ago and the lazy buggers either hadn’t read it or couldn’t be bothered to implement it.
I would love to see the age profile of a main dealer’s customer base for servicing. I would assume that each new car returns to them for the A/S sale and then through most of the warranty period, perhaps falling off towards the end and then taking a huge plunge once warranty expires.
Exactly as you say…I have no choice but to get the book stamped for its first service as it still holds some warranty, and for what it is worth I need to try and keep it intact.
even if the car is still under warranty doesnt mean you have to take it to a main dealer for servicing
I dont and still get warranty work done
On more than one occation I have had zero priced items on my B&C bill where they have proactively investigated things that didn’t look right, sometimes with a Lotus engineer. This was much more than trawling a database of faults.
Lotus engineers learn from cars they see, they see those cars at places like B&C. If they see something they don’t like they investigate, which in my experience meant replacing parts and taking them back to Hethel.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think �400 is too much. But, for the first years of a new model I was keen that my car (at least once a year) saw people that really knew it. After 3 years of ownership and once the S1 had had all/most of its faults uncovered I have choosen to more generally use lower cost outfits, but that doesn’t reduce my respect for B&C or the wish for them to exist in to the future.
Ian
Happy Birthday BTW
That is a glowing review, wish all main dealers did that instead of needing a kick up the a*se to do anything
Thanks, I even had a call from an Exiger. I like that Bday feature!
Oh B&C needed a kick up the arse to answer the phone on occasions! But I guess that means they were busy.
Ian
Whoa, just spotted that Happy birthday, matey
Ta v.muchly!
I hope you get two presies one for your B-D and one for Christmas.
Oh Jamie, you’ve hit a sore point there!
The thing I hate most is when people try and supply them after Christmas - WHY IS THAT?! WHY WOULD THAT BE OK?!! WOULD THAT BE OK AT ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR, EH, EH?!!!
But I had a very lovely day.
Ian
hi all…
had my s2 exige 9000 mile service done at B&C a few weeks ago and total bill was �304…
they lent me a VW polo for the day which came in really handy for a few trips down the tip and to do my xmas shopping (ssssshhhh dont tell them!)
ive been using B&C for several years now and have no complaints… apart from sometimes being difficult to get thru on the phone
xslippy
Just got my Exige back from B&C today (1yr svc) - very happy with the service and the cost - a nice experience all round. I probably will go independent from now on but for the first years work I think they are excellent. As mentioned earlier in the thread lots of zero cost items done on the car - nice attention to detail in investigating problems much more thoroughly then others have.
I was also intending to sell the car but having had a nice drive home I’m not so sure anymore
B&C are good.
I’ve had great service from them. No hassles at all. In fact better than the service I’ve had from Audi, Alfa or BMW