Why $99.00 Servicing is a catch 

cheap price

Every few years the Brisbane automotive scene sees the good old $99.00 service offer get pushed into the market again.

So let’s have a good look at what this is……

A “cheap car service” is exactly that a “cheap car service”,

please don’t confuse this with a “Good car service” they are two completely different items.

A Cheap car service

So what sort of car service do you get for $99.00

Fact: The math doesn’t work63442802 canister with machine oil and oil filter isolated on the white background

Let’s look at the math, a quick survey around the industry suggest an average hourly rate for a mechanics business is still only about $120.00 per hour (pretty low compared to other trades we all have to use)

Now let’s say your vehicle takes 5 litres of engine oil, costing between $50 - $70 retail

A quality oil filter $15.00 - $20.00 retail

Even go on the cheaper end and you still end up with basic parts of a quick oil and filter change costing $65.00.

So what’s left for labour out of your $99.00 service deal is $24.00, for less ¼ of an hour of work performed.

Fifteen minutes is certainly not enough time to properly service any vehicle and accurately report on other areas of the vehicle that may require attention

  • For example
  • The Brake system
  • The cooling system
  • The steering
  • The suspension

In fact it will take longer than 15 minutes to properly test drive the vehicle and put it up on a hoist, so assuming the advertised price of $99.00 is what you will pay seems unrealistic if you want automotive businesses to properly service your vehicle and provide you with trouble free motoring.

If your vehicle is under warranty and requires Log Book servicing getting a $99.00 special could even void your warranty as the work involved cannot be properly carried out in ¼ of an hour.


So why do these offers exist?

The primary goal of the offer is to get your vehicle into the workshop and your details on their marketing database, from that moment on, whoever is making the offer, need to upsell items and labour to you, to make the transaction financially viable for them.

The usual result 

a young man listens on the telephone with an annoyed expression on his face

You end up paying for a $99.00 service + extra money for additional items that most reliable Automotive Businesses already include in their service quoting any way.


A Good car service

Good Mechanical businesses will always provide you with service estimates based upon the vehicles Age and Kilometres, this governs what the vehicle manufacturer tells us is required to be done at that given point in time.

So the price is calculated by the work required for your vehicle, versus work performed cut back to accommodate a $99.00 special.Log book stamped

This is done to ensure quality service standards (set by the vehicle manufacturers) are maintained across the industry keeping the fleet of retail vehicles sharing the road safe and reliable.

The old adage of “The offer is too good to be true” applies in the case of the $99.00 service deal. Even if you do walk out having only paid the advertised price, clearly you only got $99.00 worth of value and very little peace of mind.

Please remember “A cheap price” means nothing when you’re stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck because the service you expected was not provided.

Future Auto Service Centres base thier prices on providing Quality services that meet or exceed industry standards, after all our clients deserve nothing less