by Nicol Louw
With the holiday season upon us many motorists are having their modes of transport serviced before tackling the long road – and rightly so. If your vehicle neither has a valid service or maintenance plan, you are at the mercy of the service centre where you drop your vehicle off. If you want to avoid headaches and bankruptcy consider the following helpful hints:
- Try to get references for any service station you consider- would you take your child to any old nursery?
- Phone around for quotes and find out exactly what a “service” entails. Also find out if genuine parts are used. You can in some instances provide the parts including oil yourself;
- Before you book your vehicle in, get a written quotation for the complete job;
- Ask about extra monies for “consumables”;
- Try not to book in your car on a Friday – if the job is not completed for whatever reason then you won’t have a car for the weekend. Also, a “Friday” atmosphere in the workshop is not great for quality workmanship;
- Tell the service centre to phone you before starting any job not quoted for;
- If you lack tech savvy and the service centre phones for permission to do a job you don’t understand, first phone a technically minded friend for a second opinion;
- Always ask to see the old parts when you arrive to make sure the job was done;
- Read the small print regarding any damage to your vehicle while under the custodianship of the service centre;
- Make a note of the exact mileage and fuel level when the vehicle is booked in to be able to prove joy rides and/or fuel theft afterwards;
- Remove all valuables from the vehicle;
- Take up any dispute with the service manager first. If no joy then you can always try the Ombudsman or the consumer protection act (CPA) to force your case.
Have you got any tips to add? please do so in the comments section.
