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$110 CDN is only £55 ! Just goes to show what a rip off the equivalent central London dealers are at £165 hour
How does that show that central London dealer rates are a rip off?
Do you know how expensive property is in central London?
That is a fair point, bear in mind property and therefore rent is cheaper across the pond as are labour rates.
I still do think we are overpaying on labour at MB dealerships.
On another point, I recently had an EML light on. MB diagnosed a split Kompressor hose which required the removal of the air box ECU etc.
Shortly after I had a pedal sensor issue for which the dealer replaced the pedal & after this did not solve it the ECU. This still did not solve it so it went back in and apparently it was a loose connection near the ECU!
Now my drivers door is not recognised, since the car was returned.
Being cynical (and i'm sure its true) I could say that when the hose was replaced the wiring was disturbed the pedal & ECU did not need replacing and my door not working is also reltaed to the messing about. What the problem was and what they admitted it to being was a loose connection no doubt caused when the hose was replaced.
Can I prove this...NO are they going to own up about it...NO
Where do I stand now? potentially having to fork out £300 for a door control module... am I pi$$ed? you bet I am!
That is a fair point, bear in mind property and therefore rent is cheaper across the pond as are labour rates.
I still do think we are overpaying on labour at MB dealerships.
On another point, I recently had an EML light on. MB diagnosed a split Kompressor hose which required the removal of the air box ECU etc.
Shortly after I had a pedal sensor issue for which the dealer replaced the pedal & after this did not solve it the ECU. This still did not solve it so it went back in and apparently it was a loose connection near the ECU!
Now my drivers door is not recognised, since the car was returned.
Being cynical (and i'm sure its true) I could say that when the hose was replaced the wiring was disturbed the pedal & ECU did not need replacing and my door not working is also reltaed to the messing about. What the problem was and what they admitted it to being was a loose connection no doubt caused when the hose was replaced.
Can I prove this...NO are they going to own up about it...NO
Where do I stand now? potentially having to fork out £300 for a door control module... am I pi$$ed? you bet I am!
How does that show that central London dealer rates are a rip off?
Do you know how expensive property is in central London?
Yes I do thank you, I have a flat there. I have a Japanese friend with a place in central Tokyo where property prices are almost as high and the dealer labour rates are much cheaper there.
adam
A couple of things make that seem unlikely - I don't know, but it seems unlikely to me, that the property costs would be much different in say Paris or Munich, and what is *hugely* higher is the cost of employing people in those places.The high labour rates in the UK (and especially London) are the direct result of EU competition regulations brought in as a result of the 'rip-off Britain' campaign.
A couple of things make that seem unlikely - I don't know, but it seems unlikely to me, that the property costs would be much different in say Paris or Munich, and what is *hugely* higher is the cost of employing people in those places.
In the UK, there may well be high 'headline' figure labour rates, but I know that the lease companies pay a fraction of those rates, and hefty discounts are available from most dealers, simply for the asking. Inchcape, for example, owner of my local and quite a few other MB dealerships, regularly advertises heavily discounted servicing, and reduced rates on other work.
Whenever I see a French or German MB dealer (or any other car brand for that matter) the showroom is invariably a rather cheap-looking pre-fab on the road way out of town. In this country, it appears that you cannot obtain authorised dealer status without a heavy investment in state-of-the-art facilities - including a showroom you could happily copy for your own living room and a workshop whose floor you could happily eat your dinner off.
Who is to blame for that I wonder? Is it the Vehicle manufacturers forcing these expensive premises (in premium locations) on the sales companies or is it the British public who have (by voting with their feet) shown that they will go to the flashiest joint in town to put their money down? I don't know the answer.
I remember when VW forced the dealers to separate Audi out as a separate operation - with the inevitable boost in plate-glass window sales. This would rather point the finger at the manufacturers but look at how the Audi showrooms have "poshed" up even further since then.
Philip
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