Abarth, the firm that...
Abarth, the firm that found fame tuning Fiats for racing, was officially relaunched last night as a car company in its own right at its spiritual home in Turin. The event saw the production edition of the brand’s first new road model in 25 years take a bow, as the wraps were pulled from the 150bhp 1.4-litre Abarth Grande Punto.
Franchised dealers have...
Franchised dealers have a reputation for charging more than independent garages, but a new price promise at VW is set to change that.
The incentive will potentially save owners hundreds of pounds in repair bills, as well as the hassle of shopping around. A VW spokesman said: “We’re so confident our prices are competitive that we are promising to match quotes for any like-for-like service, maintenance or repair work quoted at workshops within five miles of one of our dealers.“ However, research conducted by Auto Express shows that the offer, which lasts until the end of the year, could end up costing the Ger÷man marque more than it thinks.
We called VW main dealers and nearby garages in four major cities for quotes for an oil change on an M-reg Golf TDI. Our table (pictured) shows that one Manchester dealer would have to knock ÷£74 off the price, while more labour-intensive jobs would cost the firm even more.
Our quotes were all based on garages using original VW parts, as per the manufacturer warranty, so it was only the differences in labour rates that inflated the dealer prices.