urbanmaser
Member
- Messages
- 2,911
Ok there have been several posts relating to the difference between main dealers and indies.
First of all let me begin by saying that it is unfair to compare the costs from a main dealer with those of an indie.
Basically, you are going to achieve cheaper servicing and repair from an indie who is running a perfectly good service but at a greatly reduced overhead to the enormous overheads a main dealer has.
So you may well ask if I can get cheaper prices and a good service from an indie, why do I need to consider a main dealer?????
Good question.
Firstly, if we are talking about a new car up to 3 years old, there is little option other than to use a main dealer in order to protect the warranty. There can be little arguement there. The previous owner of my car chose to do some paintwork with a BMW specialist........net result he has invalidated the warranty from Maserati relating to bodywork. Cheap in the short term.......costly in the long term.
Once the 3 year warranty period is over and unless one is buying an extended warranty, the relevance of the main dealer becomes less important but still carries some advantages.
Let me continue by saying I have no particular affiliation with main dealers and I am more than aware there are some fantastic indies out there, Emblem being just one of them.
Sometimes, in order to promote business in lean times a main dealer will offer to price match an indie. These offers are normally for a limited time and the main dealer is at liberty to still refuse to meet a price if it is going to cause them to lose money - what business would take on business at a loss???? It is always worth asking on the forum or phoning around to establish any current deals. I doubt many main dealers are going to offer a reduction in cost unless one asks for it.
There is even competition between main dealers. You may get a situation where one main dealer is offering to say replace a clutch at promotional price which is a loss leader, whereas another main dealer decides that he has no need to offer the reduction, but it is always worth asking.
For me , now that my warranty period is over, I will probably continue to go down the route of main dealer for basic servicing, always trying to price match. If godforbid I have a serious issue like cats, F1 pump etc I cannot envisage me spending vast sums just to protect the main dealer service record.
Please lets just keep a clear distinction between the main dealer and the indie both of which have their advantages and disadvantages.
On a final note I would say that when buying a used supercar, whilst the main dealer is going to be some 10 to 15% dearer than an indie, one has to weigh up the peace of mind of the protection one gets from being under the umbrella of the manufacturer.
Also, one can sometimes negotiate extra main dealer warranty which gives added peace of mind and further diminishes the difference in cost. Having said that there are indies like Nuvola which offer some beautiful cars.
I am sure I have opened a can of worms here, but please lets keep any debate civil and fair and not use it as a platform to sling mud. The above is only my view and I know there will be many who do not agree.
First of all let me begin by saying that it is unfair to compare the costs from a main dealer with those of an indie.
Basically, you are going to achieve cheaper servicing and repair from an indie who is running a perfectly good service but at a greatly reduced overhead to the enormous overheads a main dealer has.
So you may well ask if I can get cheaper prices and a good service from an indie, why do I need to consider a main dealer?????
Good question.
Firstly, if we are talking about a new car up to 3 years old, there is little option other than to use a main dealer in order to protect the warranty. There can be little arguement there. The previous owner of my car chose to do some paintwork with a BMW specialist........net result he has invalidated the warranty from Maserati relating to bodywork. Cheap in the short term.......costly in the long term.
Once the 3 year warranty period is over and unless one is buying an extended warranty, the relevance of the main dealer becomes less important but still carries some advantages.
Let me continue by saying I have no particular affiliation with main dealers and I am more than aware there are some fantastic indies out there, Emblem being just one of them.
Sometimes, in order to promote business in lean times a main dealer will offer to price match an indie. These offers are normally for a limited time and the main dealer is at liberty to still refuse to meet a price if it is going to cause them to lose money - what business would take on business at a loss???? It is always worth asking on the forum or phoning around to establish any current deals. I doubt many main dealers are going to offer a reduction in cost unless one asks for it.
There is even competition between main dealers. You may get a situation where one main dealer is offering to say replace a clutch at promotional price which is a loss leader, whereas another main dealer decides that he has no need to offer the reduction, but it is always worth asking.
For me , now that my warranty period is over, I will probably continue to go down the route of main dealer for basic servicing, always trying to price match. If godforbid I have a serious issue like cats, F1 pump etc I cannot envisage me spending vast sums just to protect the main dealer service record.
Please lets just keep a clear distinction between the main dealer and the indie both of which have their advantages and disadvantages.
On a final note I would say that when buying a used supercar, whilst the main dealer is going to be some 10 to 15% dearer than an indie, one has to weigh up the peace of mind of the protection one gets from being under the umbrella of the manufacturer.
Also, one can sometimes negotiate extra main dealer warranty which gives added peace of mind and further diminishes the difference in cost. Having said that there are indies like Nuvola which offer some beautiful cars.
I am sure I have opened a can of worms here, but please lets keep any debate civil and fair and not use it as a platform to sling mud. The above is only my view and I know there will be many who do not agree.
