Servicing Costs

[SazzaG]

As most of these threads have been lost, I thought we could all repost our experiences of good/bad cheap expensive servicing.

Ducati London South - I just phoned them to sort out some warranty issues. They said to bring the bike in, so I thought I'd book its first annual service at the same time. £380! Help, I really don't want to pay that much for them to change the oil, and twiddle a few nuts (so to speak).

Where else in the south is good, and cheaper than that?

Saz

[Pedro]

Sazza

Moto Rapido do the same service for around £250 I think although not a franchised dealer, they do good work tho

Ped

[SazzaG]

Cheers Ped,

The bike's still under warranty, so I presume it need to take it to a dealer. I bear it mind for later though!

S

[psychlist]

CMW yet Sazza?

Franchised dealer at not unreasonable prices.

[SazzaG]

Getting a quote from Mel as we speak, Paul!

[psychlist]

CMW yet Sazza?

Franchised dealer at not unreasonable prices.

[Melnie Mouse]

Hi Sarah, you checked your pm box, got quote from CMW for you...

[CK & AK]

C'mon Mel - spill the beans - what is the 'annual' sevice cost for an ie' then?

C

[superlight3]

Or if you want a more 'personal service' :D

Cheers.

Lee.

[Melnie Mouse]

oi Lee.... ahem...:)
o.k. CK, downstairs parts dept, said to me when I asked for Sarah, it be about 300-350... by way, I don't know if you read a reply to the t shirt thread, i put a note on there for you, asking if there were any monster business cards I could have, as in my line of work, I get to see many monster owners or potentials, and would be nice to give them something official rather than just telling them about how lovely we all are and what fun we have... (!) :)

[parkduc]

Visit Snells in Alton (by the rail station). Franchised dealer who offer a good service at competitive prices.

[Julie]

I've been quoted £275-£300 for Ruths M600 service inc belt change. And about £250 for my 1 year first service on my 620 from Italia Lincoln.

I think thats about right????Yeah?

[Julie]

PS ..whats CMW

[Grim]

Sorry to switch the thread a bit, but has anyone got any opinion of Alf's Motorcycles in Worthing. No longer a Franchised dealer, but were once upon a time. Convienient for me as I pass it on the way to work, and bought the bike secondhand from them, etc.

[superlight3]

Alf's a great guy.

No longer 'official' but you and your bike will be looked after very well.

Cheers.

Lee.

P.S. Sorry Melenie... :-)))

[Melnie Mouse]

CMW is a bike shop in Chichester that franchise for Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha....

Alf's in worthing, most people would rather go CMW or P&H, unfortuneately they do not seem to look after bikes very well in servicing side... ho hum... but then again, anything bad, people slag off, and no one does it for car places, so we never hear anything do we? I mean there's no bury hill place for cars is there? yet, if any bike dealer does a mistake, EVERYBODY get's to hear about it!

[NattyBoy]

Grim...nearly bought a Senna from a guy whod had everything done by alfs. Looked through the service receipts and it all looked very professional. Guy couldnt speak highly enough of them (although he must have had a sense of humour as he wanted £8000 for his Senna and wouldnt budge..!!!)

Nat

[Melnie Mouse]

superlight.. message understood... but i'm afraid, not meaning to be biased, that i've had a few friends who have gone there and come back with chipped paint work, and on more than 1 occasion and several friends, one person said they didn't even change plugs when supposed to and charged for it! dishonesty I don't like...

[NattyBoy]

Hi Sazza

(IMO) I wouldnt touch 'official' ducati dealers unless its imperative for warranty reasons. In my experience they charge the earth, and more often than not its just a spotty YTS yoof doing the work supervised !!!!

Lees not going to big himself up so Ill give him a hand !!!

Hes got a great setup and I think he may be still doing 25% off servicing...

Also, although its a little distance from you, if you dropped your bike off with Lee, theres a fantastic outlet village at Bicester (just down the road) to spend the day at (I know how you women like to shop!!!!).

Nat

[superlight3]

Do women like to shop?????? :confused: :confused: :confused:

Only an S4r in the pipeline......

Best I do some more servicing. :rolleyes:

Cheers.

Lee.

P.S. I've still got the 25% discount for UKMOC members till the end of February - but best be quick, only a few slots left.

[SazzaG]

Originally posted by NattyBoy
Hi Sazza

(IMO) I wouldnt touch 'official' ducati dealers unless its imperative for warranty reasons.

Believe me Nat, I'm well aware of the price gap! Grrrr. I've got to wait until April 2005 before I can use a non-franchised place.

Lee, you're not franchised are you? I guess not. No franchise would offer 25% off!

Still, I'll just have to grin and bear it. Still, if I get the corroded forks replaced on warranty, it will ease the pain a bit.

Saz

[gary tompkins]

Got my previous service (12000 miles) done at Dave Wood Racing last October. Top job and very reasonable on price, but Dave's not an official service agent, so only really an option for out of warrentee bikes.

Dave was also a lot cheaper than On Yer Bike's (6K service) even though he carried out far more work & replaced more parts :confused:

My 2 year warrentee wasn't due to expire until mid Feb 2004, but as I knew the bike would be lucky to cover more than a couple of hundred miles over winter, I decided to take a chance.

I'll be doing most of my own work (oil changes, filters & belts) in future, and just get the shims done at a reputable shop like DWR. ;)

[Novice]

Is the servicing price for real??

Okay, I am no mechanic but the financials don't make sense to me. £380 for an annual service is MORE than what you pay for a £20,000 car!!!! :eek:

I thought the servicing on my current bike was steep. I am thinking of getting a Monster and the insurance cost had already put me off a bit. If the servicing costs are this high, I have no chance of affording that.

Is the £380 service the "expensive" one or the cheap one in the maintenance schedule?

This leads to my next question, what is the running costs for a monster? Average insurance for London and servicing cost for London?

Thanks in advance.

[paul620sie]

Check out this thread for Insurance cost debate;

http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5309

As for servicing, only had one so far (the first sevice at 650mile approx). Riverside Northampton, an official delaer, quoted £100 approx but charged about £80 when i collected it. Even so its a lot for an oil change and a load of checks.

I'm not looking forward to the first major service, £400 ish is twice what i'd pay to service my car at a VW dealer!

However, its all worth it just to ride a Monster, best decision I've made in years.

[spacemonkey]

Insurance in London is steep unless you have a garage. But the Monster is quite reasonable all things considered. Servicing on them is overpriced, and no mistake. After all it is a very simple air cooled engine without a fairing-so why double the price of a faired Honda?? Find an independent that you trust and stick with them. If you go somewhere like Ducati London South, you might as well bend over in front of the desk...

[netstar]

ducati leeds was more expensive than London... I go to Lincoln and the first service was mmm £££ second not so bad. Anyway its a nice ride form sheff to lincoln and if you talk nicely to fred he'll let you test a nice new 900ie! or whatever. Nets x :p

[Julie]

lincoln is the best dealers i have been to. they are great guys

[Elmo]

Just had a 12000 mile service at Ducati Coventry the price was £330.00.

[Novice]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The price of a monster is now quite reasonable. I just can't believe the running costs. I think I will need to do my sums again.

[gary tompkins]

Novice,

You will get ripped off by a lot of dealers for service charges, but if you shop around you can get the costs down. The independant service agents charge less, but cant really be used during the warrentee period.

Costs I've been quoted are £200-£300 +vat for a 6000 mile service, and £350-450 at 12000 miles. The 1st service varies a lot, as some have had it F.O.C., some paid for just parts and I personally got stung for £170 :eek:

You can save £££'s by doing as much of the routine work you can manage yourself, and only pay shops to tackle the more complicated stuff. DIY Oil and filter can be done in less than an hour, and cost £30-45 depending on what oil you use. A pair of cam belts is I think just under £30 now, and takes me around an hour and a half to swap. A lot of dealers would try to charge you nearly £200 just to carry out these two jobs! :rolleyes:

Throw in a bit of chain adjusting, checking desmo gear and general tweaking, and it is'nt hard to see how most dealers come up with a £300-400 charge with labour costs at £40-50 an hour.

My 2 year warentee expired this week - so guess who will be fettling my bike now? ;)

[netstar]

Its more fun doing it ur self and you learn as u go along> At least if things go wrong youve only ur self to blame! Nxxx off to clean the princess with a tooth brush ... if I can stand this cold wind!