that old chestnut

S

slowpat

New member
just had my duke serviced, 1000ds engine- air cooled 2 valver. 3rd service oil, filters belts etc.. no major faults. 2 year old bike, £500 bill ,i think this is a bit excessive. what do you chaps think? i will have to give up being a Ducatisti, back to jap stuff for me i think. or a divorce!!!!!:mad:
 
slowpat said:
just had my duke serviced, 1000ds engine- air cooled 2 valver. 3rd service oil, filters belts etc.. no major faults. 2 year old bike, £500 bill ,i think this is a bit excessive. what do you chaps think? i will have to give up being a Ducatisti, back to jap stuff for me i think. or a divorce!!!!!:mad:
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Running a Ducati isn't cheap - simple as that. I'd be interested to see however, an itemised bill. I was gonna comment on the labour charge making up the majority of the cost but unless there was a seized bolt or something more serious, it shouldn't be that high.
where did you have it done?
 
labour

ducati dealer did the service. did not have fork oil done, i removed fairing, £300 labour. i was expecting £300 to £ 400 total. i know they are not cheap but.....
 
slowpat said:
ducati dealer did the service. did not have fork oil done, i removed fairing, £300 labour. i was expecting £300 to £ 400 total. i know they are not cheap but.....
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Well at £50/hr (I don't know what the rates are for Duc dealers) that's a long time to spend on a 2 valver if nothing was wrong.

Hey, beats Mercedes & Porsche £100/hr!!!! :eek:


...glad I don't own them anymore!!! :p ;)
 
As Ed says the itemised bill needs looking at. One would not expect to have a large number of hours billed for an aircooled two valver. Even with belts - were those done? 4-5 perhaps for a standard service? Especially if you removed the fairings. More if there were big problems? A case for sensible discussion with the dealer.
 
Steve748 said:
This is why I take my Ducati Here
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gotta be honest Steve, I agree and have only ever taken my Ducs to independent specialists.

...what I would add here is that in no way am I slagging off main Ducati dealers. This is just my personal opinion. :)
 
does seem about 100 over the odd's if nothing else was out of the ordaniry however it is peak season for a bike service its always more expensive / longer ques in the summer
 
Scotty said:
does seem about 100 over the odd's if nothing else was out of the ordaniry however it is peak season for a bike service its always more expensive / longer ques in the summer
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I thought servicing cost was fixed not liable to a seasonal variation like roses on valentines day:rolleyes:
 
Steve748 said:
I thought servicing cost was fixed not liable to a seasonal variation like roses on valentines day:rolleyes:
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Ducati Leeds servicing rate does alter in winter, I had a long chat to Charlie last year about this as they struggle to keep up in summer and are quiet in winter, you can't hire and fire skilled technicians so have to find ways to balance the business, my 999 went in in January for its 2 year service which wasn't due till March. AIR the winter servicing rate was advertised on here and their website.

Its worth having everything up to the 3rd service done at a Ducati dealer, during the 3rd service they should spot anything needing warranty work and get it done before it expires. After that you can save money by going to an independent but that depends upon circumstances, living 80 -100 miles from a dealer means i lose a days holiday if i can't get a loan bike :(
 
The rates definitely were shown here for the winter period but it'd still be nice to know how many hours were billed. Without that much of this thread is speculative.
 
:eek: it took 7and a half hours, i took the fairing off. interestingly enough the new sport 1000s with the same engine would cost half as much to service, according to Ducatis new menu pricing! hows that work then.:eek:
 
ProjectImola004 said:
Well at £50/hr (I don't know what the rates are for Duc dealers) that's a long time to spend on a 2 valver if nothing was wrong.

Hey, beats Mercedes & Porsche £100/hr!!!! :eek:


...glad I don't own them anymore!!! :p ;)
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what!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm gonna have to pay £100 an hour to get my car serviced?????? sureley not!!!
 
nic6196 said:
what!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm gonna have to pay £100 an hour to get my car serviced?????? sureley not!!!
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if you have a new merc or porker and it needs main dealer servicing then yep that's about right.

merc truck garage charges 75 plus vat

but if it's out of warranty then go to an independent and it will be much cheaper
 
If you're hacked off with the bill I'd recommend you don't look at the VAT element.

Not far off a £100? and as far as I know HMRC won't have put any hours of labour into the service.


The best way to get value for money for ya servicing costs is to do more miles every year:D

The quality of the ride is rememebered long after the price has been forgotten....................hopefully:)

Ray.
 
Lily said:
if you have a new merc or porker and it needs main dealer servicing then yep that's about right.

merc truck garage charges 75 plus vat

but if it's out of warranty then go to an independent and it will be much cheaper
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phew!!! just checked to costs and the major service is only £200 - thank christ - i nearly had it straight on e-bay there!
 
Just another recomendation for Ducati John , i can cover most things but belts + shims i leave to him , well worth a phone call.
 
With all things, if you don't like it vote with your feet, but supply and demand hold a lot in servicing world. Hopefully you'll find honest dealers who are more driven by passion for the brand rather than profit.
With regards to switching to jap.....Honda quotes I believe 4,000mls(?) for service, so by the time your Ducati has it's fifth service at 30,000mls, your jap will have had 7 services.
BMW are 6,000mls as oppose to Ducati 6,000/12,000
Always factor it in when buying.


WRT Mercs - try getting a Merc garage to do your tracking (which on most of the saloons you will invariably need after say 3~4 years or whenever your missus hits the curb to avoid a hedgehog that had no right to be on the road in the first place, and how would she know if it was a mummy hedgehog or not anyway:mad: :mad: ....I digresss)
Merc tracking - £75 to setup each corner (and you can't just do front or rear on it's own), so there's £300 just to set up. Then £25 for each adjustment. Lucky if you get away with £400 just for the tracking.
 
Honest dealers not driven by profit, more by passion? That's all well and good but even they still need to pay the bills. Not an easy equation, ever. I see both sides of the equation, as a consumer and a retailer. All anyone wants is a fair deal, I hope.

Having problems with hedgehogs then? Or just the missus? :D
 
Pete, passion and honesty are probably a bit too emotive choice of words but you get the jist. I'm sure some dealers see the ducati wallets as ripe for plucking - just as some other marques like porche and merc.
We all want a fair deal and I think it's a bit naive (nay, gullible) of people to think others are as fair as themselves - present company excepted.

With respect to the hedgehog, the scene and conversation was:

Me, being picked up from work by missus and on way to the swedish torture chambers known as IKEA.
After a few miles down country lanes she says "oh by the way, this is a big car but it doesn't half jump back into the road when you go near the kerb"
Me, half shocked by those words, "how near the kerb did you get?"
M "Well I reckon I must have hit it with one of the wheels cos we didn't half jump back a good foot or two"
Me "What on earth caused you to hit the kerb?"
M "A hedgehog ran out on me from the right"
"But it's just a hedgehog, you could have flattened it"
M "But it looked like a mummy hedgehog and that would mean there would be orphan baby hedgehogs"

A fair size chunk was missing and needed a new alloy wheel after that episode.
 
wimmin - can't live with 'em, can't live wi'out 'em! bless........she was deeply in touch with her feminine side! :D

right I'm, off to bed, long day tomorrow.
 
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