I was under the impression that the service department would price match and one time I was in getting a quote on some accessories I watched one of the technicians preparing a wheel for a tyre change and applying tape all around the rim of the wheel to stop it getting scratched by the tyre lever. I've never seen anywhere else take that sort of care so I was pretty impressed with that. Most places seem happy to bounce the ugga dugga wrench all over the wheel.
The UK is different (
OH! what a surprise!!!), but as an example of Audi's international policy, if one looks at the Audi sites for accessories, UK appears to say nothing, but US site says
"Please select a dealer to view local pricing. Starting MSRP excludes taxes, installation, shipping, and dealer charges. Dealer sets actual price. Contact dealer for limited warranty, inventory level, and return policy details." Audi Aust site says
*MSRP=manufacturer’s suggested retail price incl. GST. Prices from the partner can vary." These have been changed, because both used to clearly say "
Prices can vary between Dealers".
In Oz, at least, dealers make little profit on new vehicle sales. Their profitability stems from Parts & Service $$s, hopefully from their new sales, at least.
Dealers will not simply price match another dealer, let alone with aftermarket companies, and find it difficult to believe the same ideology doesn't exist elsewhere.
As to the tape, no doubt the dealer would be adding the mechanic's time, and the cost of the tape into
consumables, to
load the price. Tyre dealers will take extra care(= time), if requested, but, of course, that adds to the cost. Also depends on the tyre dealers equipment. Most old equipment can not take off tyres with the deep rim protection. The dealer I went to had to send the alloy rim away for costly repair.
