Citroen service deals

[osx]

Decided to try the local Citroen dealer as there was a particular repair that my trusty indy would not touch (front strout leaking) as the car is a C5 Exclusive 2008- with Hydractive suspension.
I got a quote for £550 (including VAT and labor) for replacing the strout, 2xfront disk pads, 2xfront disks and 1xfront antiroll bar linkage.
Does it sound reasonable or should i try my luck elsewhere?

[Northern_Mike]

That doesn't sound bad at all for a main dealer price.

[addo]

Got to make a quid somewhere.

[osx]

Think the offer was for brakes and pads (£250 total which is the usual price without fitting).

[Northern_Mike]

The local Indy here couldn't match the dealer for brakes, timing belt and waterpump, or front struts and assorted bits. Did the suspension bits myself in the end, but got another Indy up North to do the timing belt for about £100 less than the dealer price.

[qprdude]

I doubt if you will find a better quote for the work . I would think that being a dealer, all parts should be OEM and carry a full warranty. Personally, I use a Citroen agent because of the warranty they gave me when they sold me the car, but having had a couple of bad experiences with a local indy (who is supposed to have a good rep), I will probably stick with the Citroen dealer who supplied the car .
I get a free loan car , excellent service and trained mechanics.
I've kind of lost faith in Indy's recently, mainly because it's difficult to hold them to account sometimes, whereas a main dealer has the equipment , often the spares and has to keep to a certain standard to keep his dealership. That's my take on it anyway.

[myglaren]

As you have found qprdude, not all dealers are bad. There are one or two good ones but they hide themselves well.
Conversely, not all indys are good either. Flies in the face of stereotyping but them's the breaks

[qprdude]

Yep, I've used Indy's for many years, but after the bad experiences with them, and good experiences with the main dealers, I think I might be a convert. I think maybe having very few main dealers in the area (or none in my case ) it makes the few work harder to attract loyal customers whereas with an Indy every couple of miles, they know many customers are going to do the rounds for a better price (does that make sense?)
I reckon a lot of owners have become price driven recently, hence the Indy's may be cutting corners.(cheaper spares, quicker turn around etc)

Each to their own I suppose, and you can only go by your own experiences.

[osx]

Ok. Everything done at the dealer
one strout (these are quite expensive for hydractive suspension citroens), 2xfront disk pads, 2xfront disks and replaced both front antiroll bar linkages as one was a bit wobbly and didn't want to have advisories.
£560 and generaly satisfied from the service as the guy seemed to know what he was doing