Bracing myself

Sending my Renault Clio in for a service is usually a dicey affair. In the two years I've had this car, it have never escaped the dealership with just the intended work done. There is always something else. Also, it has never lasted from one service interval to another without additional visits being required.

So to prepare myself for it's 90 000 km service this morning, I decided on a reasonable figure for work that needed doing and some extras. I then added a grand onto that figure and that's what I budgeted on.

Well, so much for that idea ... despite my best efforts to outdo the dealership, they still came in 32 bucks over the budgeted figure.

Which gets me to thinking: Do these guys assess you when you drop of your car, determine what they think you would spend, add a few hundred bucks onto that, and that's what they charge?

I'm not sure I've ever been pleasantly surprised at the cost of something relating to a motor vehicle. Every purchase, service, bit or bob is just a bit more than I expected. Doesn't matter if I pad my budgeted figure, or what I pad it by, I'm always a little under the eventual cost.

I think it's a global sales conspiracy. There isn't a salesman out there who will give you exactly what you want. They'll all push your budget to it's limit. "What are you willing to spend on that sir?, R100? well we have this really great one for R120"

Our problem is that we allow it. Perhaps because we think that that extra little bit of quality compensates for being a little more out of pocket. Or, like my Renault, there is no other option if I want to keep my warranty intact.