fixed-cost maintenance

should_save_money_newbie

Hi,

getting a new VW golf next week, has anoyne had any experience of using the fixed cost maintenance plan that VW offer?

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/finance/maintenance_plans

it would mean a direct debit of abouut 15-20 a month (depending on which plan chosen) but would it save me money in the long run?

Its a brand new car so hopefulyl wont need that much doing to it over the 3 years that i'll have it.

Cheers for any advice! :T

xycom1

Depends how much an annual service usually costs and how many miles you are going to do?

If you're doing a lot of miles and/or driving the car hard, then I'd go for the option including tyres if you were to take any of them.

Assuming your max price of £20/month is for the top plan including tyres, then that's £240/year. £720 over the three year period.

I reckon you might get through 2 full sets of tyres over 3 years doing average driving, assuming £60 each as a guide price (although this will depend on profile, brand, etc.) then that's £480. Chuck in a new set of windscreen wipers per year (2 replacements circa £25 a time) and a set of brake disks and pads over the 3 years (rough guess £250 all in). Servicing at a dealership for a Golf - no idea how much but could be £200-250 a time?

I would want to see the terms and conditions (what tread the tyres have to get to before they'll change them, if there's a limit to the amount of 'maintenance' they'll carry out, mileage limits, etc.) but it looks like a decent deal to me.

vansboy

Not read thru it totally, but I'd prefer to set my own service schedule, especially on a NEW car.

I don't agree with the extended service intervals, so many makers are going for now & certainly I'd have more frequent oil changes, than they prescribe.

After you've done the 10,000 miles or so, on the oil it comes with, even on the VW spec lubricants, I'd change oil & filter at 5,000 miles max. Even earlier, if it's diesel.

But to answer your Q, I'm with Xycom1's comments READ THE SMALLPRINT carefully.

If you do scrub out tyres a lot, you might just save a few £$£$£.

Otherwise, I'd pay for what needs doing, when it needs it!

VB

should_save_money_newbie

cheers, I think I've got a week or so with the car before I have to say yey or ney to the maintenance so I'll get through that small print!

It is a diesel so I'm saving money!!! (although the 2.0turbo bit might not help)

billy_bulldog

Our SEAT came with the same offer (being part of the VW group). However, getting the sales staff to give me an exact monthly figure for the FCM plan was rather more difficult. They also claimed it would be £15-20 per month, but when they finally got me an exact quote (noting the bigger wider tyres fitted to my car, and the annual mileage I anticipated which was 12-15000) the figure came back as £47 per month!

I politely declined, and being a moneysaver now put £50 per month into a cash ISA specifically for the purpose of paying for car services & consumables. It basically means I am self insuring - after the service costs (200 per year) there is £400 per year to cover tyres, brake pads, wipers etc. If I then don't have to spend that much, I still have the money in my account and not theirs!!! As you rightly say, you don't expect to have to pay out a lot on a new car in the first couple of years, so by putting away a figure that

a) you can afford
b) is enough over the year to pay for services & consumables

you can have your cake and eat it.


bb