The Exhaust Notes Australia office has two fleet cars. At present, both are Ford vehicles. One is a 2013 Ford Fiesta CL (it’s an MY12, and not an Ambiente), the other is an Everest Trend with a bunch of off road gear on it.
We use the latter to tow caravans, and for product testing of the aforementioned products designed for the dirt. It’s currently shod in a shiny set of all-terrain tyres, for example, but has in the past worn roof racks and other goodies for stories.
The not very spritely little Fiesta tends to get used to test tech designed for people with no touchscreen infotainment system. But when it came time to service the pocket not-rocket – it’s an auto, it doesn’t go anywhere fast, we looked at our options.
All our vehicles have always been dealership serviced since we started the business nigh on 14 years ago, as it made sense. But this time round, we wanted to explore our options (particularly with the Fiesta out of warranty for some time).
You see, it had finally racked up 105,000km and it was time for some love and attention to bestowed upon it (to be fair our cars are serviced every 10,000km – it’s just that the the little Ford spends a lot of time parked in the driveway or at train stations).
The local dealership wanted somewhere around $328 to $358 to service it, but would need the car for a whole day. The mechanic down the road, $340, and again, a need to have it parked there for a good portion of time.
The other alternative, a “we’ll come to you” provider. We chose to test out Lube Mobile; yes they who used to have the 13 30 32 TV commercial in the 90s with the kid who couldn’t say the numbers properly at the end (Google it, it’s worth it).
Now running under the slogan “auto service delivered” and owned by Bridgestone, they’re a mobile mechanical offering that can do everything from battery replacement to full log book servicing.
They can supply tyres, complete pretty much any mechanical repair, including auto electrical, and even do pink slips in NSW (vehicle road worthiness certification). The best bit, it all happens in your driveway, or out on the street in front of your home.
Now before you say “yeah, but it’s way more expensive to have someone come to you”, it’s not. The publicly available on their website price to service the Fiesta, to full log book standard and to the manufacturer’s requirements – $351.86.
That’s cheaper than the maximum cost at the dealership and only slightly more than the mechanic down the road. Better still, the mechanic that turned up at our offices to do the work, and his off-sider, were both local, and incredibly professional.
More importantly, it took about 90 minutes to do, we could keep working, and we didn’t have to go anywhere to make it happen. They came to us, the car was ready to drive as soon as they’d finished, and they gave us a comprehensive list of the status of various parts.
That included the brakes, tyres and air filter. It meant that we not only had a fully serviced vehicle, but that we knew how long before other replacement parts would be required. Since our service, we lost the battery in the Everest.
The big SUV died in the driveway, the original, 7-year-old battery finally kaput. Guess who we called? If you said Lube Mobile, you’d be right. Why? Because they were the exact same price as a major battery outlet, and the discount automotive store that’s “super cheap”.
You can check out their services on the Lube Mobile website.
