Guest ken Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Just had our "van" serviced for the first time, its only a year old and we've done 4000 miles.I was quoted £230 but I queried about a discount as the van was nowhere near the 18000 miles that FIAT recomend regular servicing,anyway, I only paid £170 for the service as they agreed it was a bit steep, good old FIAT in newcastle, if you dont ask you dont get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter goddard Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 We had our 1st service done at 6000 miles at our local Fiat dealer. As soon as I mentioned that the van had only done 6k the service manager suggested we had a "short service" as a full would not be neccesary at that low mileage. Cost very similar to yours, I would reccommend County Motors in Penrith, just check your dealer reset the service computer they forgot to do ours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Clive Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 We had a very similar experience with our Mercedes garage Tony Purslow. First short service was just under a hundred pounds - but that was 7 years back. Now Mercedes car garages are not allowed by Mercedes to service commercials so we are supposed to go to the next town. So Its a DIY job for as long as I can and it will be the local commercial Ford centred garage (they do a lot of others as well including Fiats) afterwards! Keep taking the pills! Clive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rodger Hilton Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 First service. Similiar story in Essex/Suffolk. Fiat Salmon at Weeley and Desira at Bury St Edmunds offer the same first short service. Desira also offer Bronze (9000 miles) and Silver(18000 miles) services for older vehicles at less than half the price of a regular service. Have just checked the price of headlamp protectors for Ducatto. Peugeot garage sells them for £38.50, Fiat garage (Not Desira) £43 and Citroen for £50. What a difference. Rodger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Kirby Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Rodger Not really strictly relevant, I know, but I wonder if you really do need protectors? The current model headlamps are polycarbonate "lensed" so very difficult to break. Unless you're after the ones with a right dip mask for continental use, or unless your headlamps actually are glass lensed, I'd think the polycarbonate is tough enough on it's own. If you are crossing the ditch, and intend doing a lot of night driving, you could perhaps explore buying right dipping headlamps instead. They're more costly, of course, but are surprisingly easy to fit and come complete with all lamps and levelling motors etc, and will tend to give a better light that you'll get with protectors and masks. That leaves you fully street legal both sides of the Channel and gives you a spare set of headlamps! I had to get mine changed because the vehicle was l.h.d. but the cost of a pair was £180 which, when I looked at what I had for the money, struck me a very fair value. They're quite impressive chunks whem you see what's involved! When I checked, the Fiats were cheapest. Hope this is useful. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter goddard Posted January 15, 2006 Share Posted January 15, 2006 I bought Peugeot headlamp protectors for £25 from my local dealer in Penrith whilst the Fiat dealer 300 yds away wanted over £40. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rodger Hilton Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 Dear Brian, Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately I have already ordered the protectors otherwise I would have looked into your suggestion. As it happens I do very little night driving and am only purchasing them because there are so many stories of over enthusiastic continental police endeavouring to catch out as many of us motorvanners (and others) as possible. Rodger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 Peter When did you get the headlight covers, it just seems such a 'cheap' price compared to other peoples experiences I wondered if it was a while ago now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TRIXIE Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 we paid £34 from 4x4 last year. I use the covers all the time to protect the headlamps from damage. Cheaper to replace. Trixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mel B Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 My husband rang round the various companies (Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen) and found that they did differ quite a lot in price. He found one chap who could supply Fiat and Peugeot ones and said that although they appear to be the same, when you look at them together the quality does differ depending on what you pay, and he would let you see them so you knew he wasn't telling porkies. Can't remember which was the best one though! Just bought a pair of protectors off eBay instead, they don't come up very often but we were obviously lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest trixie Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Our protectors were legit Fiat ones in the same box & same quality but cheaper Trixie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brian Kirby Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Have a look also at Phil's posting under "head lights". The upshot if it all was that, for 2006, Autocruise are changing the standard headlights supplied for their Pioneer range for Hella units. The Hellas can be adjusted between right and left dip. This might interest someone as a replacement unit, albeit at a price. However, the Pioneers were well received in the press, so should sell fairly well. I therefore suspect Autocruise will soon be accumulating quite a pile of standard Ducato/Boxer headlamps for which they won't have much use. They may have arranged to return these to Peugeot, they may dispose of them otherwise BUT, they may also be willing to flog a pair (or even one) to a motorhomer at a reasonable price. If you do have a damaged headlamp, they may be worth a tinkle. They should all be left dipping, but I gather it is not that uncommon for RHD chassis units to be delivered with right dipping lamps, so you may even be lucky and get a right dipping pair. Useful if going abroad, and soooooo much better than the masks. Just a thought Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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