First Service

[fathead82]

Can anyone enlighten me as to the cost of the first service (prior to any parts or labour)? My C1 will be 1 year old in July/August, and I'll need to put the money aside to get it serviced. Due to the date of purchase I never had nor needed according to Citroen the 1k check up.

 

Had no problems with the car thus far (touch wood), tires seem to be holding up well etc. Oil and water regularly checked and healthy.

 

I know you get stung on the first service, so just wondering what the standard charge was?

[Martin_1973_uk]

I paid £180 but if you shop around people on here have paid less.

[ColinC1]

Mine was £175 (in 2007) from my local Citroen dealer for what is essentially an oil and filter change, plus a tick box list for checking off a few things.

 

Its a case of pay up if you want to retain your warenty.

 

It is quite expensive for a dealer service, but they are just trying to claw back money on what is essentially a reasonably priced car with not a big profit margin.

 

Funny thing was, is that my 2 seater convertable at over double the price of a C1, was under £100 for the first year service. So much for C1 economy cars, he he.

 

PS (another option).. You can go to a non-dealer garage and use genuine ctroen parts and get their garage stamp, to make it a bit cheaper, but I used citreon for the first year service just for peace of mind.

[Trotsky]

@ £160 for a decent dealer;

last one was £115 but rubbish dealer. If the car has no known problems then a cheaper dealership may do but if anything needs checking beyond the standard service list of jobs, avoid.

[fathead82]

Has anyone gone through the first service and not gone to a dealer? I'm just interested to here of experiences because my local garage, who I always used for my old car, have said they can do the work and keep the warranty intact. He pointed me to this:

 

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/.../page38070.html

[kfk]

Theres nothing to stop you taking your car to your own choice of garage......as you say your local has already said they can service it for you.

 

Things to remember though:

They must use genuine parts to maintain warranties

they may not have diagnostic equipment that can comunicate with your vehicle

They wont have the facilities to check if your vehicle is subject to any recalls/product updates that would be carried out free of charge by your Citroen dealer

If you have any warranty issues you will have to make a booking at your local dealer to deal with them seperately (more time off)

Should you have problems with the vehicle later in its life 'non Citroen dealer' servicing could affect any goodwill you may be entitled too.

 

A recent example in our workshops of a non dealer serviced vehicle that only sees us for warranty work:

.....customer complaint, noisy turbo......diagnosis, failure of turbo due to incorrect oil/oil change procedure/insufficient oil changes.

.....the vehicle was used a taxi, and he was saving money getting a local garage to service it........ now i wont say they were doing anything wrong, but equally its only theres and his word that that everything has been done correctly, i think if the owner had known at the outset he might have been looking at replacing an engine and turbo within 3 years he would have had it dealer serviced.

 

Try not to think of the short term savings, it could cost you more in the long run!

[750Nig]

Personally I use an independant MOT garage to service our C1. I buy the filter(s) from the local Toyota garage (cheaper and closer) and take them to the independant for fitting.

 

The warranty is still valid, I have been back to the dealer twice in two years for a broken mirror adjuster and a window that wouldn't wind up straight - no problems either time and I don't expect there to be in the future. The warranty terms are there in black & white.

If they p*ss me off, I wouldn't buy another car from them, it's not rocket science.

You pays yer money and takes yer choice.

 

The dealer cost for a C1 service far too much, we also have a 1 year old golf which I have just had serviced at the VW dealer and it was cheaper than the Citroen C1 service - amazing. I thought the VW would be far more.

At the time of our 1st C1 service we owned an 02 Fiat Stilo, the same dealer offered to service that for £75. How can they charge £75 for an old 1.9 turbo diesel and £140 for a 1litre petrol ? baffles me.

[fathead82]

Thanks to all for your responses.

 

Ended up going with my usual independent local garage - always been good in the past. 1st service came to the grand total of £75 including parts and labour. Oil filter changed, new oil and an all over check. The car has only done 7500 miles in the year, so thankfully nothing needed replacing.

 

One thing picked up on was my front passenger side Disc, totally and utterly rusted to hell. The local garage are ringing up the dealership I bought the car from tomorrow to check out the warranty situation. The break isn't dangerous to drive on, but they have noted it down as a precaution more than anything. Guy at the garage thinks the car probably sat on a forecourt for sometime prior to being sold, and wind + rain have hit only that side. If warranty covers it, they'll do the work at no extra charge :rolleyes:

 

Very very happy C1 owner. First year of ownership done & only £110 for tax and service.

[Johndouglas]

my front passenger side Disc, totally and utterly rusted to hell.

 

 

Don't understand that! Usually a couple of miles down the road and the pads have cleared all the surface rust away and the disc is shiny. I would get it looked at before the warranty period finishes. Maybe the caliper is seized.

[Martin_1973_uk]

Does seem very strange as the rust normal clears once you brake so if that isn't happening then your brakes are not working. Let us know if Citroen fix it under warrenty.

 

On another note, for new tyres check out event tyres as they not only come to your house nationally but they are very reasonable and quick. I paid £120 for two front Michelins, the same that come with the car and that was fitted and VAT.

[Trotsky]

Brakes;

been away twice for a week at a time this year, leaving the car parked up.

 

Both times I found the brakes either stuck on the handbrake - not freeing off the drums, having to rev a bit and drive off to free them, and the discs sounded hissy as if scraping away for a while.

 

It looks like the drums & discs need virtually everyday use in these beasts. Maybe the steel in the discs is more susceptible to rust than other cars as even a 2 day park up can cause the hissing noise from the brakes.