Caravan Servicing Costs

You've done well with your car's service. SWMBOs car has just had a service, admittedly at a main dealer, which was £200. But I agree, the caravan 'normal' price seems very high.

They will charge what the market can stand, and unfortunately there isn't the amount of competition to bring prices down, like there is in the car servicing market.

Have you checked out what a registered mobile service engineer would charge?  We live in Yorkshire and I've seen adverts in this area, for an engineer who will come to your home for £145 or you can take it in to his workshop for £135.

Our caravan is in France now, and the last service was carried out by an engineer who visits storage depots and does the service there.  We paid £150 for our last service but the cost has now risen to £160.

We have used an independent service centre since 1995 and they charge £175 for a single axle and £200 for twin. Looking for an independent near to you may be an idea?

On a couple of occasions it has been convenient to use a dealer, that supplied the van, and the price has been higher.

In regard to comparing with cars my car service costs are more but, as with the van, its a necessary cost to maintain the warranty so even if it was a lot more I would have to grin and bear it. 

We bought our van from Marquis. Their habitation service is £234. The terms of the 5 year warranty requires the annual habitation service to be carried out by Marquis alone. Apparently even work carried out at the Auto-sleeper factory service department must be first approved by Marquis to maintain their 5 year warranty.... Ah well, 3 more years to go and we can use a local mobile engineer. 

They charge that much because they can and vanners pay up regardless. 

I think costs are reasonable. I use local mobile approved chap and think the costs (£150 I think) are OK. I stayed with him a few services ago and saw what he had to do. The equipment and specialist tools, van, and parts all have to paid for. If you say a service is 4 hours for full mechanical and habitation check, and it take him 30 min each way to get to site then this is about £30/hour which is reasonable.

Automotive garages vary from £36/hour to £75/hour for franchised dealer.

I use a NCC MCEA approved mobile workshop. Most brands give you the option to use a certified mobile to maintain warranty. I dont think the costs are unreasonable for the safety and peace of mind it gives me.

would be nice if the caravan club could negotiate say 10% discount with the NCC  for members on servicing and parts. yes-wishfull thinking.

£75 an hour? And some. Citroèn in Bolton charge £80odd & across the road at Mercedes it's more like £120

I noticed that car servicing costs increased when they started calling mechanics vehicle technicians!

They started calling unskilled people mechanics some years ago. Then they started the Technician and Master Technician nonesense. People working on caravan maintenance are often called Engineers. I have never met an Engineer yet who works on car or caravan maintenance. 

What hourly rate would you say an experienced caravan maintenance worker was worth today? What would be a sensible hourly rate for a dealer to charge for the same person?