Anyone have experiences with buying car service on Groupon, there are a couple that are super cheap (80% discount) for major service. I'm based on the Gold Coast, what are the chances of the mechanic just doing nothing and claim its been serviced? These prices seem too good to be true.
These shops have good reviews on Google, hmm?
BMW 7 series 2020
My condolences…
Take a punt @PuntyBrah
Seems like one of those "too good to be true" situations. In a "commodity" situation, where the price of goods and service are well known (i.e. we know the oil change is going to cost this much, the fuel filter is going to cost that much, the per hour fee of the mechanic is probably about $40-$50 an hour) then true discounts are rare.
Unless it's a car stealership saying that the normal service would be $1690 but they're going to do it for you for $240 as a one off… in which case they're just charging what you'd normally pay a mechanic that doesn't charge crazy figures.
Edit: and the advantage of a heavily discounted service at a stealership is that at least they will scan your car with their proprietary software and let you know absolutely everything that could possibly need to be fixed — which is often a more thorough check than a normal mechanic will do. (Of course, you take that list and get anything fixed at a cheap mechanic, not at the stealership)
scanning a car doesn't work like that. It will read codes and give a description of the code. This is just showing symptoms, not problems. Some might be a one off because for example a stone got caught between a sensor and gave a false reading. Some will have nothing to do with a problem, eg if a battery was a little down, you might get a heap of random codes when you start the car and various components don't respond to the ecu in time. It takes a mechanic to examine and diagnose based on the scan. I had a customer come in once who had his car scanned and wanted a couple of sensors changed. He did not want me to examine anything, just replace them, despite my warnings. I replaced the parts, and he didn't want to pay, because the problem wasn't fixed. But he had refused to allow me to diagnose and fix the problem. Super Cheap scans cars, and they sell a lot of O2 sensors. 90% of the time there is nothing wrong with the sensor. The problem is elsewhere, and the scan just shows the symptom of another problem.
Dealers scan tools aren't always the best. My current tool cost me 12k, and costs 1.5k per year to update. It can connect to manufacturers systems and download updates, as well as perform dealer level diagnostics. And I charge a lot less than a dealer would to do it.
Check what the "major" service elements included are vs your maintenance service book list.
Something like this https://www.groupon.com.au/deals/direct-autocare-2 is a minor service (basically oil & filter change and quick checks while it drains).
Would be surprised if they actually do an engine flush as claimed…
However, always read the fine print:
Additional costs apply for 4x4, Turbo, Diesel, Light Trucks, European Cars and V6 Engines.
Full Synthetic Oil is available for an extra cost
Yeah and only 10 reviews on Google for him
Car Service, Trustworthy
Check on google, look for car service near you, check the reviews or ask your friends and family. You can't go wrong with that.
Or I can offer you 99% off service, condition apply.
You get what you pay for. Corners will be cut to make up for the costs associated with the discounted service, whether that be budget parts, or a rushed service.
They will try to upsell you on everything to make their money.
This sounds like Pedders "Oh we found a whole list of repairs and for safety we can't give you your car back unless you agree to pay $1,000,000 - luckily for you we have everything in stock and we can do it this afternoon just for you!!"
No. The scam there is they find a shitton of faults and over-charge you on repairs that they miraculously find. It's too easy to be scammed with car repairs.
Find a reliable local mechanic, make sure they show you any damaged parts after removal, and once you're satisfied never go anywhere else. This way the mechanic knows your car, and that if they piss you off they're going to lose repeat business.
(80% discount) for major service
I mean, your spidey senses are tingling, trust them.
80% off means it's either:
1) Usually the 80% off price (eg they expect to sell it at that price so it's not really a discount to you)
2) If it is genuinly cheaper (eg $200 vs $1000 elsewhere) then you are not getting the same service where they will either NOT do certain things that you think they would or they will "find" issues with the car.
My advice is never do heavily discounted "Services"…. heavily discounted products you can probably live with (subject to good reviews prior) but services tend to just mean cutting corners, using inferior substitutes, etc.
Probably more pain than gain.
They'll make their money by overcharging to replace your worn out muffler bearings and up selling you on premium blinker fluid.
:D
If you have to ask….
I want to know where the money for the massive discount comes from? It can’t cost them that much less and still make profit. Do they expect to re-gain the money in another way by not delivering the actual service, ripping you off with extras or is it legit hoping you’ll come back again next time so they can charge full price? Do they get some sort of kickback from Groupon?
Oh… this is going to turn into another “I bought a Groupon to get my car serviced, it was 80% off, but when I got there, they told me I needed $6,000 worth of work thst isn’t included in the service…”
What also happens is the owner or manager of a place gets sucked into a Groupon deal - then down the track realise they were conned and there will be no follow up customers to make up the loss and they get shitty about people coming in to claim to the deal.
Similar to the Entertainment Book
trust me mate, do NOT take them there LMFAO. Look at my post history and judge for yourself lol. Expensive mistake learnt on my end.
Plenty of good shops on the Gold Coast, depending what you need done. I wouldn't bother with any '80% discount services', you're either not getting a 'major' service, or they're doing things on the ultra cheap.
What sort of car do you have and how old?
Got a link to the main ad you're looking at?