I took my Chevrolet Spark in for a service – This is what I paid

I recently took my 2015 Chevrolet Spark to a dealership in Centurion for a service, and I have bad news: it was really expensive.

After praising my Spark at the start of the month and telling the world why I chose it over a VW Polo, the service brought home the reality that Chevrolet has left South Africa and parts can therefore be pricey.

The service

The dealership was to do a general service on my car, which had reached the 90,000km milestone a little while back.

I also asked them to notify me of any potential part replacements, as I suspected that my Spark needed new stabilizers and that the clutch was nearing the end of its lifespan.

The service on my car involved replacing or topping-up of all of the vehicle’s fluids, including the oil and brake fluid.

All four spark plugs, the air and oil filters, and the windshield wipers were replaced, and the handbrake was adjusted, too.

The work listed above came to R2,673 before tax, of which R1,230 was attributed to labour, while the remaining R1,443 was for the items themselves.

With tax, the final price I ended up paying for my car’s service was R3,074. 

A breakdown of the parts installed and their prices is below:

• Oil filter – R68.86
• Gasket drain – R19.17
• Element A/CL – R220.11
• Spark Plug x4 – R263.48
• Brake fluid – R88.33
• Front Wiper blade – R62.70
• Rear Wiper blade – R49.39
• Oil x3.5 – R217
• Filter pass – R454.38

Unexpected costs

While my Spark was being given its needed TLC, I received a call regarding those additional costs I feared.

The dealership said my car needed new stabilizers, that they would skim the disc brakes, and that the clutch did indeed need replacing.

The cost for all of this: R12,826.48 excluding VAT.

I declined the repairs and replacements, and when I went to pick up my car at closing time I asked for a full breakdown on the cost of the parts I’d declined – which they kindly provided.

The breakdown showed that R5,256.48 was for the components – meaning the other R7,570 was for labour.

When I asked why the labour was such a large chunk of the quoted bill, I was told that replacing the clutch would take multiple days.

With VAT, this would have been R14,750.48 – bringing the would-be total for my car service up to R17,824,45. 

The next step: making a plan to replace the parts at a more affordable rate.