I bought my latest Multi v4 from J@L in Carlisle. When getting the first service, which was free as part of the deal, i saw that they has a Ducati poster for servicing that gave the service time for every model . The annual inspection service was down for 30 minutes. As I'm in Glasgow , I asked Ducati Glasgow for the cost of the service and was quoted £129. They said it takes an hour. I phoned Carlisle and they said the cost is £52, It takes 30 minutes. My original intention was to give it to Glasgow for the convenience. But at a difference of £77 , it leaves a bad taste.
All depends who you know and speak to like everything in life these days. I bought a pair of carbon wheels a few months ago from someone off this forum and phoned Ducati They came back to me about five days later saying their mechanics “don’t fit after market parts”. A whole 4 months after they’d fitted some cnc rear sets for me with no bother. I mentioned this to them and they said “oh we can do it at the end of August then”. This was back in May.
May have said this already, but I think fitting someone else’s used carbon wheels is a bit of a poison chalice for main dealers. The story would be different if you bought factory approved new from them, and not just because of the spend, but because of the risk to reward ratio. They can’t charge you very much to fit wheels, and they can’t be sure they aren’t damaged already, but if they strip a disc bolt, or whatever, while fitting, they could upset the customer through no fault of their own, and in extremis, if you then go out and they fall apart causing a crash, they will be implicated because they fitted them. I would think that asking you to come back in August was their way of saying “please go somewhere else”
I would imagine the cost of a lot of things is cheaper in Carlisle than Glasgow. It’s how capitalism works.
In practice it’s nigh on impossible to do the service type in the time Ducati publish in their Transparent Maintenance tables, especially if one wants to do it diligently and thoroughly but it is what it is. The most recent iteration is attached. Perhaps Glasgow have a policy of a minimum of 1hrs work ? I can’t say I’d blame them, one could spend a good chunk of that 30 mins just getting the bike from where the customer has left it to the workshop, onto a lift, on axle stands, secured, and raised into position, then reversing all that to get it off and back out again. Just putting it out there.
Laurence at J&L is great, nice guy and very helpful. His prices do seem to be cheaper. I didn’t get my latest bike from him but he still carried out the first service and loaded my Termi map despite it being a free service and him having to wait six weeks for payment from Ducati. That bi annual check just seems to be a visual check over and adjust if required as far as I am aware. I would rather ride 70 miles to them than 10 miles to my nearest dealer
Think the difference is what type of dealer they are. Full corporate dealer or independent authorised dealer. Would have a big impact on costs. It is great that J&L are able to pass on savings to their customers.
If the job took more than half an hour; I'm sure J@L would charge more than the half hour rate. Ducati say its a half hour job. Its a visual check.
