service? ford, ultratune or..?

chubbyba · 18-02-2008, 10:53 PM

hi guys, im about to do my 1st service on the car and its the 45,000km service. car is still under ford warranty 2

just wondering who goes where 4 their service?

uranium_death · 18-02-2008, 11:16 PM

The VTII has always been serviced at Mobil Car Care.
They've always been honest with servicing, pricing is reasonable and they flush the fuel line on every service or any of that bizzo.

We used to go to Ultra Tune near Brandon Park and everytime we took the XF in, something was always about to break if we went there. However, the Ultra Tune on Waverley Road is pretty good I've been told.

It comes down to who owns the place and what the mechanics are like. Some are dishonest and will sucker clueless people...others will do a great job as they realise that honesty and a job well done will entice returning customers.

charles_wif_xf · 18-02-2008, 11:57 PM

I would go to a Ford dealer before I take the BA to Ultratune.

samftr · 19-02-2008, 12:02 AM

if you got extended warranty keep getting it serviced at ford. that extended warranty is good stuff.

XXRR-50 · 19-02-2008, 09:13 AM

Ultratune in Southland, speak to John. He's been servicing my cars in last 5 years including a BA Ghia that I had. Excellent prices, and there are no apprentices, all guys that work there are experienced mechanics. Would highly recommend them.

Dazza XLT · 19-02-2008, 09:16 AM

Ford for me.

Cheers

Sam_Boss260 · 19-02-2008, 09:33 AM

I did go to Ford. But have ended up going to our local mechanic who has serviced our cars for the last 10 or so years. He works by himself, so no apprentices and he shows you the parts that he replaced at the end of the day. I like that.

FlipXW · 19-02-2008, 09:34 AM

Not trying to promote him or anything, but my dad now works for himself. For the same service that you would get at a dealer you can often save around half the price. Also as some people may think, not every mechanic is dodgy, when dad left Ford and Nissan he took enough buisness with him to be booked out a week in advance all the time. All im trying to say is my best piece of advice is find yourself a good, honest, small buisness local guy. You will save urself ALOT of money. And as long as they are licensed and you get them to use genuine parts then you dont void your warrenty.

Casablanca · 19-02-2008, 11:30 AM

:

weve had a couple of threads on this subject.

Sam_Boss260 · 19-02-2008, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhilXR8

Not trying to promote him or anything, but my dad now works for himself. For the same service that you would get at a dealer you can often save around half the price. Also as some people may think, not every mechanic is dodgy, when dad left Ford and Nissan he took enough buisness with him to be booked out a week in advance all the time. All im trying to say is my best piece of advice is find yourself a good, honest, small buisness local guy. You will save urself ALOT of money. And as long as they are licensed and you get them to use genuine parts then you dont void your warrenty.

Phil, where is your dad's business located?

T3ts50 · 19-02-2008, 11:56 AM

I take mine to Ford. My dad is good friends with the service manager. He is the only one who touches our cars and gives us a huge discount. My dad likes going there because they usually give him any car he wants to take home for a few hours.

CADSKY · 19-02-2008, 06:57 PM

well if your anywhere down on the peninsula then i would suggest going to pat mcgrath autos in hastings, he is a great guy and a great mechanic, has 1 partner (cant rember his name) anywho he was always good to me and other family members. he uses genuine parts and 99% of the time my car was ready to go the same day i droped it off. i still call him for advice even though i live in brisbane and have done for almost a year now, and he's happy to help out.

chubbyba · 19-02-2008, 11:19 PM

yeh think i might just take it to ford. 4 this service neway. if i like what they do i might go back

thanx

[Tonko] · 19-02-2008, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casablanca

:

weve had a couple of threads on this subject.

Geezus that annoys me, someone just posts that with no links or anything. How about actually helping the guy out? Or does that take too much of your time?
--On Topic--
The extended warranty is a good thing, so you may as well use it until its up.
Unless you know of a good 'family' mechanic type like the ones already mentioned.

FlipXW · 19-02-2008, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam_XR6

Phil, where is your dad's business located?

Newcastle sorry mate.

Bearman · 20-02-2008, 07:04 AM

I've got this dilemma as well now that Etheridge Ford has closed up their Vermont yard and workshop, which is now a Holden dealership (cough, spit). This was only 5 mins drive from my house. Now it's a bit of a hassle to go to another Ford place, I'm right in the middle of a triangle formed by Etheridge in Ringwood, Knox Ford in the gully and Strapp Ford in Burwood.

Don't laugh, but I'm considering taking it to K-mart tyre and auto in Vermont South. They did work on my step son's car (10 year old Hyundai) which needed a service, timing belt and a good once-over. Their service was good, price reasonable and the guys there seem like a good bunch.

My wife had her car (another 10 year old Hyundai) there as well because of a collapsed wheel bearing. It needed a general service as well. She had previously had work done at a different K-mart tyre and auto branch (brakes all round, new rotors and drums plus clutch). The Vermont South guys covered the wheel bearing failure under warranty from the previous work. No ifs, no buts!! I was impressed as I thought, being a franchise, they'd say "not our problem". It looks to me like the various K-mart branches are well co-ordinated with each other.

Another plus is that they are a 5 min WALK from my house!!

samftr · 20-02-2008, 08:30 PM

Thats handy. check it out and see how you go with the setup. Having a network to back up a warranty is always a good thing. do you know anyone else who has had work done through them?

yift · 20-02-2008, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearman

I've got this dilemma as well now that Etheridge Ford has closed up their Vermont yard and workshop, which is now a Holden dealership (cough, spit). This was only 5 mins drive from my house. Now it's a bit of a hassle to go to another Ford place, I'm right in the middle of a triangle formed by Etheridge in Ringwood, Knox Ford in the gully and Strapp Ford in Burwood.

Don't laugh, but I'm considering taking it to K-mart tyre and auto in Vermont South. They did work on my step son's car (10 year old Hyundai) which needed a service, timing belt and a good once-over. Their service was good, price reasonable and the guys there seem like a good bunch.

My wife had her car (another 10 year old Hyundai) there as well because of a collapsed wheel bearing. It needed a general service as well. She had previously had work done at a different K-mart tyre and auto branch (brakes all round, new rotors and drums plus clutch). The Vermont South guys covered the wheel bearing failure under warranty from the previous work. No ifs, no buts!! I was impressed as I thought, being a franchise, they'd say "not our problem". It looks to me like the various K-mart branches are well co-ordinated with each other.

Another plus is that they are a 5 min WALK from my house!!

good to here bearman. i run one of their service centres and they are not franchised, they are owned by the coles group. the guys down at vermont sth are honest and genuine so you will never have any dramas with them.

Smoke Pursuit · 20-02-2008, 11:28 PM

Ford but i supply my own filters and oil (dealer cost on filters) and i buy my oil elsewhere.

Zabrowski · 21-02-2008, 03:35 PM

I use Kmart at Redbank (QLD) for my servicing. Been there 5 times with the Falcon, Excel & our old Pulsar. No probs at all. Great bunch of guy's, good prices.

Only went to them the first time because it was the only place that could get me in urgently. Silly me left it till the week before christmas to get the car serviced & was heading to Sydney in a couple of days.

:

We've been going there ever since.

I'd always assumed they were franchised, glad to hear they aren't.

addi_351 · 21-02-2008, 06:13 PM

Hi all,
I cant agree more with having peace of mind when getting your car serviced but just because a workshop has one or more aprentices what makes you say the qualatiy isnt their? I am an aprentice myself, where i work it is only me and the boss, we have many contracts, including the local council's fleet and other transport companies and yet they dnt have a problem with us working on their brand new cars or trucks. So i think the comments about having an aprentice where you have your car serviced are hash and bottom line, if an aprentice did work on your car im sure the boss would check over it like mine does.

RepSpec · 21-02-2008, 06:45 PM

yeah i was just about to say whats wrong with apprentices, me and the old man work on outboards in a family business and most of the time when he is busy with other things, im the one who does the work

dont be so hard on apprentices, just remember your favourite mechanic was once one too...

cheers
brendan