Vw Service - Is It Needed ?

zackkilmer · 7 April 2006 at 10:13AM

I have a 3 year old VW polo which I have recently bought outright . It needs it 2 year major service . When I phoned the garage to book the service it said it would cost around £270 , possibly extra !! I realise that VW garages are expensive but am I been conned - does it have to be taken here as its a VW car . I know zero about cars !! Or should I phone around kwik fit etc . She said that they use some special oil so I don't want to harm my car in any way

Thanks

Surf_Widow · 7 April 2006 at 10:22AM

I've also got a Polo although a bit older than yours. Just after Christmas I was quoted a similar astronomical figure for a service from my local VW dealer but decided to use my local garage instead. Three months later the car is running better than ever and my credit card is certainly thanking me for it!

I would guess that any decent garage will have the right equipment (including any "special" oil) to service your car properly and as long as you are happy not to have a full VW service history then go with a cheaper local option.

Good luck with whatever option you choose
SW

coolio_2 · 7 April 2006 at 10:23AM

Find out what the major service entails and find a decent local garage that will do the same for you.

I guess it all depends whether you want to keep that VW full service history thing going or not, it will matter to come when you come to sell.

VW will charge you more. I had my clutch changed recently, VW quoted me min £650, it cost me £320 to get done, and I was much more impressed with their attitude.

I believe they also do servicing, they are PTA car centres, think they're only in the south though.

As for just an oil change (which is good to do every now and again anyway) try National, they did my Golf for £16 including a filter, decent oil that I wouldnt even be able to buy at thaat price.

lday77 · 7 April 2006 at 10:30AM

I would recommend asking your friends/family for a good local garage instead of going to VW, I have 2 polo's one is new and the other a P reg it cost £650 for a service last year, it was only worth doing as it had a full VW service history and I plan to sell it this year.

But I certainly won't be getting the new one done at VW when it needs it, far too expensive.

Don't go to Quick-Fit as they're a rip-off too.

coolio_2 · 7 April 2006 at 10:54AM

No offence, but for your P Reg, £650 will make about £100 worth of difference to the car when you sell it, if that tbh.

It all depends on when you want to sell, how old it is, etc. If I had a car that will fetch £5k+ when I plan to sell it, I would keep the main dealer service history going. Otherwise, I would just use a decent local garage and try and stick to useing the same one for future services.

nomoneytoday · 7 April 2006 at 11:36AM

VW use a long life oil, and set your service indicator to a longer period.

It is fine to use a local garage, but if they use a standard semi synthetic oil you may need to come back sooner...

coolio_2 · 7 April 2006 at 11:43AM

Well semi syn is the one suggested for my car. National do also do the other ones, fully syn is about a fiver more.

I'd rather have an oil change and filter change for £16 more often that a VW one at £60.

zackkilmer · 7 April 2006 at 1:06PM

Thanks for all your advice . My brakes felt a bit spongy so I rang back VW and they said that changing the brake fluid would be £60 extra , and since i haven't had it done then they advised it , so its looking like £350 min !! I may decide to sell in ac ouple of years time so the VW service history is tempting.

fatboyonadiet · 7 April 2006 at 2:42PM

zackkilmer wrote:

Thanks for all your advice . My brakes felt a bit spongy so I rang back VW and they said that changing the brake fluid would be £60 extra , and since i haven't had it done then they advised it , so its looking like £350 min !! I may decide to sell in ac ouple of years time so the VW service history is tempting.

You don't need to get any work done off them, get them to do the service and anything extra get done off a local garage

Brightness · 7 April 2006 at 7:49PM

The local VW garage here tried to rip my son off when he put his car in for a service there. I had a funny feeling that it didn't need all the work they said it needed and so went to a local garage with him and asked them to have a look and see if any jobs needed doing.

Turned out that nothing needed doing at all and in fact they ahd charged us for doing things that hadn't been done at all.

I was furious and went back to the garage with son and asked for manager. They were really rude and tried to usher me off the premises - that was until my hubby phoned me to see where we were as he was on his way home from work. Five minutes later here comes hubby in full uniform and the manager appears, apologises and offers a full refund! Amazing or what?

Vw Service - Is It Needed ?

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