I’m standing on the sideline of some new truck negiotation and picking up on some odd points, as a deal sweetener Scania are proposing to throw in an R&M deal supposedly worth some fantastic figure to offset the higher cost of the vehicle.
Now forgive my ignorance regarding the finer points of owning and paying for a motor (employee you see) but is this a bit of smoke and mirrors? A new vehicle will have some sort of warranty to cover for things that fail within that period, being new things should fail less than they do on a 10 year old veteran and anything that we manage to break would be classed as driver abuse and therefore chargeable.
So is the offer of a couple of years R&M actually worth the inflated vehicle price. Sorry no figures but conveniently one balances the other out if you understand.
8wheels:
Now forgive my ignorance regarding the finer points of owning and paying for a motor (employee you see) but is this a bit of smoke and mirrors? A new vehicle will have some sort of warranty to cover for things that fail within that period, being new things should fail less than they do on a 10 year old veteran and anything that we manage to break would be classed as driver abuse and therefore chargeable.
In my opinion, R&M deals aren’t worth the paper they are written on. The salesman will spend night and day convincing you that the truck you are about to buy is the most reliable on the market and will give you years of trouble free running … then 2 minutes later will try and sell you a full R&M package to cover for “unexpected breakdowns” and give you the peace of mind of (expensive) fixed price maintenance. 
You will also be amazed at how little the dealer will find wrong with the truck while it is covered under the R&M deal, but at the first PMI after it runs out they will present you with a list of faults as long as your arm! Also, there are no shortage of horror stories relating to trucks presented for annual test by dealers as part of an R&M package!
8wheels:
So is the offer of a couple of years R&M actually worth the inflated vehicle price. Sorry no figures but conveniently one balances the other out if you understand.
In my opinion, no! If you don’t look after the maintenance in-house, the next best thing is to find an independent workshop to look after it.
You’re supposed to get 2 years free R&M when you buy a new Scania anyway. Least I did when I bought in '06. Never took an R&M deal out after the 2 years. Only thing that’s needed replacing was a clutch after 700 thousand clicks, a front steering rod and a sensor for the Opticruise and a cab mount thing.
I think the point has been missed on them, they recently put the old motors on to an R&M deal which does make sense as they are well used and abused 10 year olds and were costing a lot to keep running. I can see the sense in that decisioon but not on a new vehicle for the first few years.
The point raised about dealers not finding anything wrong with vehicles whilst under R+M is a debatable one.Any dealer worth its salt will “fill their boots” on R+M vehicles as the contract end balance & risk is 9 times out of 10 held centrally (either with the manufacturer or with the dealers contract department) therefore it is in that workshops best intrest to find as much wrong with it as possible.Its literraly all reward & no risk.
With new vehicle sales at an all time low & increased competition from independant repairers it is the one way dealers can increase sold hours & parts sales.
I would take the 2 years R+M up front & see how it goes in year 3 before making any rash decisions.
Whilst I agree that it’s worth having for nothing, the value of the product is questionable when a similar spec Vovlo would be about £10k less.
Sometimes less could be more it would seem. I will raise my thoughts with those concerned but I was told yesterday “We’d like to stick with Scania” so it may not be effective.
Curiously if I’d had a pound for every time in the 4 odd years I’ve worked there I’ve heard “■■■■ Truck**** I’ll not have another Scania” or “Next time I’m going to buy Volvo” I’d probably be able to afford one myself!
tidy hampton:
The point raised about dealers not finding anything wrong with vehicles whilst under R+M is a debatable one.Any dealer worth its salt will “fill their boots” on R+M vehicles as the contract end balance & risk is 9 times out of 10 held centrally (either with the manufacturer or with the dealers contract department) therefore it is in that workshops best intrest to find as much wrong with it as possible.Its literraly all reward & no risk.
Certainly not true with my local Merc or Volvo dealers. The R&M liability is held within each independent, and hence the pricing and service level of the contracts is decided at a local level.
tidy hampton:
With new vehicle sales at an all time low & increased competition from independant repairers it is the one way dealers can increase sold hours & parts sales.
Curiously, my local Merc dealer reports the opposite. They are selling new trucks faster than they can procure them, so much so that they have turned business away recently as they could no meet the purchasers requirements for weekend maintenance slots.
Having had an R&M deal with Mercedes the local dealer was so bad I was obliged to have their work checked by a local independent,paying twice so to speak then the engine blew up at 280,000k’s and again at 560,000k’s problems with synthetic engine oil so maybe it was worth having on such an unreliable piece of junk.But R&M I think is probably one of the biggest rip offs in our industry today.
Armagedon:
But R&M I think is probably one of the biggest rip offs in our industry today.
I have to agree…10 grand plus for two or three oil changes over a two year period seems to be a lot of money…the relevant manufacturer’s warranty should be strong enough to cover component failure for at least 24 months,with or without any R&M deal. When a vehicle is new,it should need the least amount of workshop time…as it gets older,this maintenance requirement will increase and component failure will become an issue from year five/600,000km upwards. This is when a manufacturere’s R&M deal should kick in…not when it is shiny & new
As usual Riverstick is 100% correct. The R&M package sound’s like a bad deal to me,get yourself a well respected non dealer garage,they offer the best value i think.
FH16Globetrotter:
tidy hampton:
The point raised about dealers not finding anything wrong with vehicles whilst under R+M is a debatable one.Any dealer worth its salt will “fill their boots” on R+M vehicles as the contract end balance & risk is 9 times out of 10 held centrally (either with the manufacturer or with the dealers contract department) therefore it is in that workshops best intrest to find as much wrong with it as possible.Its literraly all reward & no risk.
Certainly not true with my local Merc or Volvo dealers. The R&M liability is held within each independent, and hence the pricing and service level of the contracts is decided at a local level.
tidy hampton:
With new vehicle sales at an all time low & increased competition from independant repairers it is the one way dealers can increase sold hours & parts sales.
Curiously, my local Merc dealer reports the opposite. They are selling new trucks faster than they can procure them, so much so that they have turned business away recently as they could no meet the purchasers requirements for weekend maintenance slots.
I am on the side of FH16 here, irrespective of where the account is held, either centrally or locally, the parts have to be ordered in at stock order prices and the work carried out at reduced rates like warranty work. If a lorry needs urgent parts, the dealer has to order & pay VOR yet can only charge them out for less, as much as 30% less.
It is the same for a dealer when they supply & service lease vehicles, the costs are already worked out, there can be no added extras on the invoice, so they don’t look for faults that cannot be charged out.