The capped price service has the role of taking out any unknown costs that might arise when using a car. There are some sectors in which the prices of the cars are very close to each other, but the differences in costs and service can be extraordinary and surprising as well.
For instance, buying a Hyundai and driving it for about 3 years would probably cost someone a third of the price that is needed in order to maintain a Honda Jazz for the exact same period of time.
There is also the option when one can get a special offer when buying a car. These deals usually involve free servicing. Holden, for instance, gives out this opportunity.
What exactly is capped priced service?
This is one of those phrases you hear more and more around you and especially in the local car market. But what exactly does it mean and what is its purpose, anyhow?
The basic idea on which this concept is based upon is diminishing and eventually throwing away any doubt or hesitation a consumer might have regarding the possibility of his car entering the service during the first 3 to 5 years of the car’s lifetime.
This is an operation that is to be performed by manufacturers which will declare a price ceiling for every individual service that is scheduled on a given period of time during the servicing program.
The time frames usually vary according to the brand of the car, but they are usually somewhere between 3 to 5 years. Those who buy new cars have something less to worry about, but they also need to take into consideration some new financial factors that might appear along the way, except the initial purchasing operation of the vehicle.
Car companies and the capped priced service
Toyota was the first brand to ever introduce this type of service in January 2008. It was named Toyota Service Advantage and gave the new Toyota buyers a price plan that was fixed for the first 3 years of the ownership of the car or for the first 60,000 km.
Yaris, Prius, Camry, Aurion or Corolla were just a few of the first cars that have been covered by this program. After Toyota, Mitsubishi was the next car company that would implement this type of service for its customers.
Nissan was the next big company that would follow the trend in December of the same year, offering their customers a capped priced serving for 6 years or a number of 120,000 km.
Ford made the next move on all of its models in July 2011 and it was stretched to 6 years and 105,000 km. The bonus was that it included the My Ford Standard Roadside Assistance for 12 months.
As mentioned earlier, Holden was the next to make a move and in April 2012 it launched the HoldenWise capped-price servicing on a wide range of vehicles, Hyundai and Kia included.