Car service

mikew

mikew

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I bought a 1 year old demonstrator last march, its due for its service this march its only done 700 miles in that time, i contacted the importer to ask if it could be put back a couple of months.

I explained we have been pretty much in sheilding since the start of the first lockdown, our car has only had us in it so its a corvid free zone as much as possible,,i am 72 and have serious chest problems my wife is 66 and diabetic. What ever we did even if they collect and return the car we stand a chance of the infection being taken into the car if nothing else.

Two months longer would give us the chance of having the injection and it starting to work, i have been told they cannot help us and the car must go in on the due date.

Not finished chasing this yet and i am so concerned about the virus i would let them void the warranty rather than put us in danger,.

Not put the manufacturer's name in as i don't see that's relevant , its more a case of being annoyed that no matter what care i take it can be ruined by a respectable company.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I thought that nowadays you weren’t tide to franchise dealers for servicing.
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Correct but i being on a pension i bought the maufctuers service plan,
 
mikew said:
I bought a 1 year old demonstrator last march, its due for its service this march its only done 700 miles in that time, i contacted the importer to ask if it could be put back a couple of months.

I explained we have been pretty much in sheilding since the start of the first lockdown, our car has only had us in it so its a corvid free zone as much as possible,,i am 72 and have serious chest problems my wife is 66 and diabetic. What ever we did even if they collect and return the car we stand a chance of the infection being taken into the car if nothing else.

Two months longer would give us the chance of having the injection and it starting to work, i have been told they cannot help us and the car must go in on the due date.

Not finished chasing this yet and i am so concerned about the virus i would let them void the warranty rather than put us in danger,.

Not put the manufacturer's name in as i don't see that's relevant , its more a case of being annoyed that no matter what care i take it can be ruined by a respectable company.
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If they take the car and bring it back to you and you leave it for at least 72 hours I am sure it'll be fine, though if you can leave it longer then even better. If you were really concerned leave it a week or so, or even pay for it to be fogged. They seem to be acting very inflexible, and to be honest I'd speak to another dealer, though I was a month late for one of my services due to being out of the country, it just showed up on the service software on my iDrive but didn't void any warranty.
 
I think you are overthinking this. Get them to collect and return the car, then don't go near it for 72 hours then wipe it down and carry on.
 
This is the reply i got from the importer


Good Afternoon,

Hope you are well.

I have spoken with the dealership in regards to you changing the date of your service a few months later than usual.

Unfortunately, they have advised that it will need to be done when it is due every year/ or every 12,000 miles. They have advised that if this service is missed and not completed when due it can effect the warranty that the vehicle has. The service will have to be completed in March as this would be a year from the last service.

I apologize for the inconvenience, I understand that you did want it changed but the dealership have recommended to have this done when due. We would not want the warranty to be invalid in case there was a repair needed that the warranty would cover.
 
Garages aren't closed so warranties won't be extended. Warranty conditions require servicing and it's always a maximum time regardless of mileage.

Get franchised dealer to collect the car and return it. The chance of catching it is very small if the car is cleaned before you get it back. Leave it for several days before using it and open the doors and put fans on full before sitting in it.
 
My Mini (under warranty) was due a service April 2020 but the franchise dealers were all closed. I was told by Mini UK they would permit up to three months delay in the service, this was eventually carried out in June after the dealer reopened. On the day the dealer collected the car and returned it later same day, having sanitised it before bringing it back. The key fob was returned in a plastic bag. I left the car for 3 days to be on the safe side.
 
If they can collect and return it........would you need to use the car within say 4 days of its return? Virus have a limited survival on manmade surfaces such as the interior of a car!
 
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Main dealers should be sanitizing vehicles when they pick it up and when they drop it off again as well as wearing a mask whilst driving it.
I had my service and MOT last September, I dropped it off and waited whilst it was done so observed the whole process. My key fob was sanitised and went straight into a plastic bag, I had left the service book and locking wheel nut socket in the car, both in their own individual plastic bags the door handle was sanitised before the bloke got in the car, internal door handle sanitised before the door was closed, plastic seat cover put on the seat, plastic steering wheel cover put on and sanitised, handbrake and gear knob sanitised. Bloke was wearing a mask and nitrite gloves. The MOT and Service were carried out by just the one mechanic, he sanitised the same areas again on the car before getting in or carrying out any work, he was also wearing a mask and nitrite gloves. On returning the car to their car park, it was sanitised again, I paid the bill, and the car was brought round to me, bloke wearing his mask and gloves, sanitised all the touch surfaces in the car, removed the plastic covers, wiped the steering wheel over again with a fresh sanitizing wipe, as well as the key fob which he then left on the centre console, wiped the external handle. I sanitised my hands with my own sanitiser before getting in and I was on my way.
In October I had to take the car in for a warranty job, I saw them do the exact same thing taking the car into the workshop, as they needed the car for the day, I had a courtesy car which was brought to their door, wiped down with sanitizer, I already had my mask on from having been in the showroom, and I sanitised my hands from my own bottle. Kept the mask on whilst I drove the car. Sanitised my hands again before returning with their car to pick mine up, mask on whilst I was driving. Sanitised my hands again before driving my car home again even though they had sanitised it when handing it back to me.
All dealers should be doing this, speak to the dealership doing the work, ask them what their sanitation process is. But as others have said, leave the car for several days after they return it, and then give it a wipe over yourself after that. If the car has remote locking and electric windows (and the weather is dry) you may well have global opening on the windows, open them from a distance before opening doors to get in and clean anything,
 
munch said:
I think you are overthinking this. Get them to collect and return the car, then don't go near it for 72 hours then wipe it down and carry on.
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This.
 
agree as above you are overthinking it, let them do it and return it and leave it for as long as you want and wipe it down.
catching covid on a surface is unlikely especially after 72 hours.
 
Spare a thought for the mechanics who are having to drive 5-10 different cars a day and mooch around inside them and have no option to shield or protect themselves or their families.

If you are shielding, surely the car doesn’t need to be used, so you can let them pick it up and drop it off, you don’t need to go near it.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Spare a thought for the mechanics who are having to drive 5-10 different cars a day and mooch around inside them and have no option to shield or protect themselves or their families.
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If the dealerships as thorough as the one I use, there is minimal risk to customers as well as employees. It will be the private garages that maybe a bit more lax in their approach.
But as you say mechanics do have to deal with numerous cars a day, and some customers do leave their cars in a right state inside. It's not just covid they would be worrying about catching.
 
nilagin said:
If the dealerships as thorough as the one I use, there is minimal risk to customers as well as employees. It will be the private garages that maybe a bit more lax in their approach.
But as you say mechanics do have to deal with numerous cars a day, and some customers do leave their cars in a right state inside. It's not just covid they would be worrying about catching.
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I work in multiple garages a day collecting waste so I see the state of some cars and some garages.
Whilst the main dealers are somewhat on top of it, the smaller ones aren't. At least two of my customers worked through having confirmed covid. One of which I was in just before Xmas and they never said they had it. I found out after through someone else that they were confirmed when I was in there. Luckily I wear a mask and keep away from people as much as possible.
 
If its a main dealer if its anything like mine ( Toyota) they will sanitize the car before and after doing the work so let them collect it and return it, then spray the inside surfaces with
disinfectant your self when you get it back just to make sure
 
My village mechanic sanitised his courtesy car for me while I waited, then he sanitised my car before he drove it into the workshop.
The reverse was done when I picked up my car. He can't afford to get sick and doesn't want his customers to get sick either.
Even if they don't do a comprehensive job then you can simply leave the car alone for a few days.
 
TCR4x4 said:
I work in multiple garages a day collecting waste so I see the state of some cars and some garages.
Whilst the main dealers are somewhat on top of it, the smaller ones aren't. At least two of my customers worked through having confirmed covid. One of which I was in just before Xmas and they never said they had it. I found out after through someone else that they were confirmed when I was in there. Luckily I wear a mask and keep away from people as much as possible.
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I follow a mechanics group on Facebook, and some of the photos they post up are horrendous. Footwells full of rubbish upto the level of the seat squads. One bloke even found a used tampon in the centre console cup holder of one customers car.
 
nilagin said:
I follow a mechanics group on Facebook, and some of the photos they post up are horrendous. Footwells full of rubbish upto the level of the seat squads. One bloke even found a used tampon in the centre console cup holder of one customers car.
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Id refuse to touch it until it was professionally cleaned. Why should they put up with that kind of mess.
 
Does the car have a variable service option rather than every year?
 
TCR4x4 said:
Id refuse to touch it until it was professionally cleaned. Why should they put up with that kind of mess.
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Some are beyond even professional cleaners, certainly car cleaners / valeters.
Just found a few examples from the Facebook group.
No.1 a courtesy car returned by a customer. ( The mechanic (garage owner) obviously not good at spelling.
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No.2 This is relatively clean compared to some.

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And No. 3 I have seen videos on youtube of cars turning up at valeters with similar interiors to this. I also marshalled at a tarmac rally at Woodbidge MOD about 10 years ago and the bloke in the radio car where I was stationed had a similar interior.

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