Do you get what you pay for with servicing?

AlpineAlex

Member
Messages
191
Never heard of GVE - and the "Major Service" seems very cheap ! I have used several outfits since 2006. Used to live in Bedordshire but still sent my car to SportsItalia.

Main dealers never again. Charged for work clearly never carried out.
McGrath - sent my car here when faulty. They strongly advise a "full inspection" before stating any repairs. Turned out to be the best £160 ever spent on my QP V. The report was two pages long with must do items, advisable then nice to have handily In these colours. Still have this report and work in-progress on some. Strongly advise this service if local to you.
"Supercar servicing" sent my QP to shoddy garage in Dunstable who might have changed the oil but dare not change the plugs. They were terrified coil pack would fail. Hid this from me until I challenged them.
Bell Sport & Classic in Marykate. Wonderful people, recommend without qualms. Go visit - just. to ogle:D
Barr Tech in Canbridge. Lovely guys who restored my 911. Their engineering skills beyond reproach but last visit it was just the two brothers so can get very busy.

This is very useful, thank you!
 

MarkMas

Chief pedant
Messages
8,796
Your quite right. I was discussing this with Ash and we came to the conclusion main dealers only complete the tasks it’s booked in for then the ramp is cleared on time for the next booking.
What we do is report all or any issues then parts are ordered and the ramp essentially becomes blocked.
This then impacts the next booking for that ramp and we fall behind.
We could do as the dealers and maximise the turnover and profit but that’s not why we do it.
This is why cars that come into us take longer. It’s a tricky one to balance as a blocked ramp causes workflow issues and in turn less revenue.

Yup, it's a choice between the superficially pleasing:
"Thank you for bringing your car in for servicing this morning, sir; it's all done now. That will be £2,000, and good luck to you."
and the more deeply satisfying (but a bit scary):
"The service was just £1,395 mate, but we've had a look and: front suspension bushes and front lower shock bushes need replacing, OSF steering arm inner joint failed, NSF track rod end failed, NSR shock bush failed. We are going to need another week."

I appreciate the extra care, but you have to be in the mood for bad news!
 

rs48635

Member
Messages
3,181
Unless you already have a detailed PPI report suggest getting known specialist to review that car.
No idea of the statistics but many a "cheap QP" can has rack up bills exceeding purchase price IF every issue were to be resolved. Be open minded and realistic, fix the safety issues and drive car while improving things as you go along.
Oh and welcome to the forum. pictures please!
 

AlpineAlex

Member
Messages
191
Oh and welcome to the forum. pictures please!

Thanks!

No pictures yet as I'm only considering the car.

The car has a full service history with 3 stamps from Mcgraths, one from a random local indie non-specialist in 2016, as well as recently a lot of work done such as new steering rack to fix a leak.

The last service was at a Maserati main dealer but it wasn't a major service. Next one is the major (hence me researching costs).

The sort of person you'd want to buy a Maserati from I'd say as it is no expense spared.

The car aesthetically was a little tired though, curbed wheels, dull paintwork with quite a lot of hairline scratches and the rear of the inner door was a bit battered due to kids being in the back. There was also a rattle coming from the centre console which I would need to get fixed otherwise it would drive me insane.
 
Last edited:

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,013
Thanks!

No pictures yet as I'm only considering the car.

The car has a full service history with 3 stamps from Mcgraths, one from a random local indie non-specialist in 2016, as well as recently a lot of work done such as new steering rack to fix a leak.

The last service was at a Maserati main dealer but it wasn't a major service. Next one is the major (hence me researching costs).

The owner is one of (if not thee) richest people I've ever met, had a collection of cars and dropping £10k to fix some advisories was clearly a non-issue to them. The sort of person you'd want to buy a Maserati from I'd say.

The car aesthetically was a little tired though, curbed wheels, dull paintwork with quite a lot of hairline scratches and the rear of the inner door was a bit battered due to kids being in the back. There was also a rattle coming from the centre console which I would need to get fixed otherwise it would drive me insane.
Given your location, Alex, I highly recommend Cambridge Autogleam for all polishing and protection. They’ll sort the wheels as well. They’re in Foxton.
 

doodlebug

Member
Messages
913
I'm in Cambridge too, and I've used Lancaster in Colchester, Grimaldi Engineering in Halstead, McGrath Maserati in Kimpton, Barr Tech in Cambridge and SportsItalia on the south coast.
Everyone seems to slate main dealers but I always found them very good and they used to match independents on pricing as well.
Rob at Grimaldi is great to deal with. Managed to sort a problem with the engine temperature sensor fault when neither Lancaster nor McGrath could.
McGrath were very thorough doing a full pre-service inspection before starting work. On a subsequent visit to fix the engine temperature sensor fault they more or less said "they all do that sir". To be fair to them, they had only just started doing 4200s and Quattroportes. Previously they concentrated mainly on the older biturbos.
Barr Tech also were OK, but they didn't have the facilities to do repair an alarm fault so the car had to go to a main dealer.
SportsItalia have had my car twice. I have been very impressed with the quality of the work and attention to detail, so I expect to keep using them even though it's quite a long way away from Cambridge.
 

rs48635

Member
Messages
3,181
to be fair main dealers need to be treated as discrete units. I have met other owners who have good local main dealer who price match Independent on older cars.
The shop I used up near Nottingham? were awful. Only sent it there to maintain valuable FMDSH. Day before I was due to deliver I called at 16:55 to verify courtesy car only to be informed "they're all out sir" and followed up with blatant lie "we were going to call you".

Car collected two weeks later instant red truck. Charged over £1600 for my first 3200 service ( didn't change air filters + who knows what else), performed (early) MOT when expressly told to leave it (was waiting on new exhaust). Pushed me to have other needless work done. Managed to fit several tires of screen wash into the tank I DELIBERATELY overfilled before sending.
Filthy car delivered week after, claiming they had used the same truck and "dropped it round the corner due to access issues". My car had an extra 150 miles on the odometer and correspondingly less fuel.
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,013
Ah yes I've heard of them, I had planned to use AutoStore for car storage. I'll check them out.
They're a great team. Mine was there over the winter. Nathan buffed, Gtechniq'd and generally loved it to max shininess, Jules re-did some PPF and put a light tint on the rear screen and Pav stored it. It's everything you want for winter care all in one place. And if you need paintwork doing they can point you in the right direction for that as well.