Reply To: Opinion: Block Exemption is useless if motorists are unaware of it

[graham Lange]

This won’t be popular, but I tend to advise customers with new Volvo’s (we only work on Volvo Cars) to use the main dealer for at least their first two services. There are things we can’t do, that Volvo can. The biggest issue is software. As part of the main dealer service all Volvo’s are given a software upgrade package as part of the service, and whilst we have VIDA which is the full factory diagnostic kit, we can only buy software individually, whereas a main dealer has it as a package and includes it free in a service. We cannot compete with this, and it means that essential updates to new cars are not done, and therefore the car is not fully serviced to manufacturers specification. Now, this may be an argument for different day, but there are two sides to every coin, and usually main dealers do such a poor job of looking after their customers that they come to us later anyway, and the later service items like cam belts etc that really earn the money is often after the warranty period has run out and over three years old….