Here I explain my latest experience about car servicing in Spain at a dealership.
So, my car is about due a service I decided last month, then low and behold a couple of days later the warning appears saying Oil Change Due in 21 days. That kind of decided it, let’s get this booked in at a dealership.
Now, this is usually easier said than done, as we have discovered in the past when it comes to car servicing in Spain. However, we knew the dealer in Torrevieja had staff who spoke pretty good English so we thought this would be ever so straightforward.
How did we know they had English speaking staff, you may ask. Well, months ago my car warning was flashing up that my key needed a battery replacement. I tried 3 mechanics in Quesada and none could / would fit the battery, to the extent that one said I would need to speak to a main dealer, ” I don’t want to be responsible if I fuck it up, trying to open your key with a pair of scissors, as I don’t have the correct tool to do this”, as he explained his reason.
Off to Torrevieja we went, straight to the dealership, who swapped both batteries using a pair of scissors to open the key, and charged me 18 for them both. While I was over there, I popped into one of the petrol stations and filled up, saving over 11c per litre compared to the prices local to me.
Back To Booking The Service
Sorry for rambling, so basically we needed to pop into the outskirts of Torrevieja, one of the reasons was to drop off some food and household stuff at the Foodbank, that we try to support on a bi monthly basis. I’d said I’d fill my car up too, while over there so it would make sense to go to the dealers in person.
Managed to park outside the door, result. Walked into the dealers, served almost straight away at the service desk, result once again. The guy spoke really good English, came out to the car, jumped in and took photos on his tablet of the milage and service notifications from the cars settings.
He said the service would take a couple of hours, after I asked if I’d need to leave it all day or not.
We then walked back to his desk, we made the appointment for 11.15 for the following week, left all our current details and job done! This looked like an easy car servicing in Spain experience.
Day Of The Service
So we drove down to Torrevieja, taking the AP-7, skirting around Quesada and the trip took 33 minutes, due to roadworks as you head into Torrevieja. Got to the dealership with 4 minutes to spare, managed to park up a short distance down the street, walked in to the service desk.
Soph had parked next to where I had parked. Our intention was to find a nice coffee shop or bar, have a couple of hours in the sun with a drink or two each and then a bite to eat.
Said hello, then explained I had a car booked in for a service at 11.15. Guy asks where my car is, so I explained I had to park just down the street. He then told me it needs to be brought around the back to the garage, ( maybe had this been explained the week before I would have known and done it ).
Thanks to the one way system, this took almost 5 minutes to get the car parked in the garage entrance.
Now this is where it gets interesting/annoying. As he’s taking all my details again, he casually mentions that the car needs a special part to go with this service, so he will need to order this and it will arrive on the following day.
So I said, I just leave me car and collect it tomorrow, to which I was advised it was not possible to leave my car over night.
By now Soph who had no idea where I was, as I had been in there so long and she was expecting just to pick me up and whisk me off for a coffee had parked up again and walked into the dealership. She obviously could see my expression and asked what the issue was.
I through gritted teeth, explained to her. Her face said enough for me to know she was as pissed off as I was. Her comment of ” So we need to come back a second day to get this fitted” got a nodded response from the guy who was busy on his computer. ” Why was this not ordered as you knew what this service was for” as her next comment, got a Spanish shrug of the shoulder.
What Next?
So, just as we think things are finished, the guy starts to say, I’ll just tell you how much the service will cost….
WTF, I was ready to explode here. ” we took the extended 5 year service plan, so there should be no charge ” I told him. He then told me he would need to check on their system. He proceeded to do this 6 times, as their system kept crashing.
Eventually he gets into their system, checks the information, shows us the screen which confirms we have this plan valid until June 2026. I leave him the keys, I say to him that both fobs are showing they need a new battery, and we start to leave.
Because by now it’s been 48 minutes since I first walked in, I knew there was no way this was going straight on the ramp and was going to be ready before they closed for lunch at 1pm. According to their website, they closed 1pm and reopened at 4pm, so I knew it was going to be a case of us returning home to have to come back! Oh the joy.
He said he would ring us to let us know when the car was ready, then confirmed our number. Soph said let’s go grab a drink, so we said we’d called to Bar El Bosque, where we’d called a couple of times back in November when I was going to the hospital for outpatients.
We parked up, went and got a table in the lovely warm sun and ordered. Our thoughts were to stay here till 1pm, for their lunch time to see if they rang before that. If not, we’d drive home and do something more productive. Needless to say we were back home before 2pm.
Collecting The Car
So, for some reason the ringer on the phone wasn’t working, but we got a call after 5pm to say the car was ready for collection. I was sat here in just an old pair of shorts and tee shirt, so said, ” I’ll be there in half an hour”, to be answered with ” No, that is no good the garage is closing and I am waiting just for you”. Now my O level maths means I can work out that 5.30pm plus half an hour means it is not 7pm, which is their advertised closing time.
Anyway I very quickly got changed, told Soph I’d drive her car there and for her to buckle up.
Catral To Torrevieja In 22 Minutes
It’s the first time I’ve made this trip in 22 minutes, shall we say. I am always dismissive of estate agents out here who advertise a property as being 20 minutes from the sea. maybe driving at over the speed limit and not in the rush hour it’s possible. Anyway, we got there, pulled up outside the door and dashed inside. Here were 2 of the sales guys sat at their desks, chatting to each other. The mechanics had gone, but the guy on the service desk was still there, sitting under the sign with their opening times advertised.
I got a sort of part apology about the mixes up in communication, the guy told me when I asked about the key batteries ” I only had one battery, so did just one, but there is no charge for that”.
Sheeeeesh, not having a specialist part in stock is bad enough, but only having a single battery for a key is shocking!
Returning Thursday
So as they don’t use WhatsApp, the phone is fully charged, the ringer works and I’m dressed and ready to make the journey back to Torrevieja.
It’s now almost 5 pm and nothing, so I have called the dealership service desk for an update. Keeping in mind, I need to drive across to them, let them remove the old part and replace it with the new part, then drive back, means I am now going to be looking at the rush hour drive! They will ring me ‘straight back’, their words, not mine.
Me being me, I said to Soph, ” I bet they never ordered this part”. She smiled sweetly, rolled her eyes and said, ‘you may be wrong’
Anyway 26 minutes later, as I am updating this ( and fuming ) no return phone call. So on 59 minutes the phone rings. The part should be with them tomorrow. WTF, so I have sat here for a day, waiting them to ring me….
Anyway, keeping my cool, I said ” so you will ring me as soon as it is there, as I have appointments tomorrow afternoon?”
I got a positive reply to this, thankfully. My next question was ” how long does this take to replace and fit?”, the answer back was ‘ a minute or 2, maybe 5 at the very most’.
Sweet Jesus…………
Friday
So it’s now Friday, 48 hours after the car service. I get a phone call mid morning to confirm the cover has arrived. I asked what time they close for lunch, to confirm it was 13.30, then said I’ll be across before lunch.
Soph and I endured the drive back into Torrevieja, through the road works, through the people flocking to the market, through all the idiots in hire cars who drive at 20Kmh everywhere.
At the junction of a side street, where I’m wanting to turn right, into the flow of traffic, a truck drive decided not to let me pull out, but in his determined state of mind, managed to clip the back end of a car that was in the lane to his left.
The car behind the truck stopped to let me pull out, we both then overtook the truck and his victim, as they were both out of their vehicles, having an argument about his crap driving. Moral of the story, don’t always be a prick on the road. By letting me pull out, he’d have lost half a second or so, as it was he now had to sort out an accident….
Anyway, we got to the garage, went straight to the service entrance, down the tiny side street. Parked in the workshop and the guy came straight to us. He jumped in the car, popped the bonnet, removed the engine cover and replaced it with the brand new one. This took less than 3 minutes! It took as long to get the further pages of paperwork, then we were back on the road, but this time heading down to join the N332.
Car Servicing In Spain Takeaways
- Just because they say it is booked in and text to confirm this, DO NOT ASSUME they have got the right service booked in!
- Ask where you should bring the car to for the service.
- Allow an hour for the paperwork and admin, when you arrive with the car you have already booked in and given the details for.
- IF you have taken out a service package, best to take all the details with you when you go to both make the booking and get the service done. Actually, best to email first with this information, requesting to make the booking. It seems these companies can and will decide the car has not done enough mileage and the service isn’t actually required.
Finally
As much of a pain up the arse going to the Alicante dealer was, as they spoke no English and despite having a time booked, being told to sit and wait in the reception and being there 30 minutes later with no idea of what was happening, it was in a way less frustrating as this experience. Partly as we’d been there twice and knew they don’t speak English and on the second visit we got a taxi booked to take us into Alicante, where we went to a few bars including Momen and had an enjoyable day out there.
I think Soph and I agreed that the aspect of not ordering the part ( singular item ) that was needed for this specific service, meaning a second day of driving back into Torrevieja was the big bugbear here.
I am pleased to report we managed to get this done and dusted, be it on a Friday. We then went for lunch and I had to have a cocktail too, to settle my blood pressure. Next for my car though, is the first ever ITV it will be needing.
