Back in the late 1990s my partner and I bought a new Hyundai Excel … it was cheap and a fun car to drive and that’s what made it right for us at the time. The salesman was genuinely friendly and so, out of curiosity I asked him what the dealer markup was for an Excel. I was surprised when he told me that the dealership made just $500 from the sale of the car.
$500??? Obviously the next thing I wanted to know was how on earth did the dealership make a profit when all they got was $500 and he was happy to tell me that the dealership made their money on servicing charges. He then went on to tell me how to make sure that we didn’t pay too much on each service.
Of course over the years the servicing costs have only gone up and these days even a basic service on your car can put a serious dent in your bank account but spare a thought for those people who drive the ultimate sports machines.
The cost of a first service on a Bugatti Veyron for example can set you back around $A27,300 and from there the cost of servicing just continues to rise. The first service on a Jaguar XJ220 won’t set you back that much – it’s only a mere $A14,000 (and I thought $200 for my last service was expensive).