VW Garage double standards

thelawnet

I bought my VW approved Eos (2.0 T-FSI) for £13k in January. It was first registered 9/11/2006. There's a flexible servicing schedule (max 2 years), first service was 23/5/08 at 9000 miles, second at 17/6/09 at 17,000 miles, then the original owner sold it to the garage.

Third service was done prior to sale 17/12/2010. I bought it in January.

The pre-sale service shows Oil change service only, at 26,542 miles, plus they did an MOT (no advisories, no tyre details given). Basically they spent virtually nothing on the service.

It's now done 30k.

They called me up last week to tell me that there was an outstanding recall on the car, so I brought it in.

They call me up now and said 'Your front brake pads are at 75%, that will be £175, the two rear tyres are at 2mm at the minimum, that will be £170 each, the timing belt is due at 4 years that will be £575, and the brake fluid needs to be changed that's £57'.

So they're trying to part me with nigh on £1500, but funnily enough none of this needed doing 3 months ago. :rotfl:

soup

you must be livid. The crooks. Get the pads and tyres done somehwhere else for half the price. Cambelt, well,up to you,you may want it stamped on the service book by them, you may not.

vikingaero

Seriously, you never checked the tyres out whilst it was on the forecourt?

Brake fluid is normally changed every 2 years, cambelt at the mileage/age interval.

I think a lot of garages work on the principle that if it doesn't need changing for 3k then they don't change it.

thelawnet

vikingaero wrote: »

Seriously, you never checked the tyres out whilst it was on the forecourt?

I could see they weren't new, yes.

BM-AK

VW UK may consider the used car warranty as invalid as technically its not serviced to manufacterers guidelines. I am surprised that it was sold to you as a approved used VW.

I think that you would need to take it up with the dealer your purchased the vehicle from and question why this work (that is now overdue) was not completed. Take it to the dealer principal if needs be.

NeverAgain_2

Front pads seem dear at £175, ditto the tyres - you should be able to track down perfectly decent mid-range ones for £100 each.

Brake fluid charge is bordering on the reasonable, but you could quite safely leave that for a year - many owners never have it changed.

Might be possible to get the cambelt done a bit cheaper, but I suspect it will be a few hundred wherever you go.

victor2

Sounds like you were ripped off a bit. If the cambelt was due at 4 years, then it was due when you bought it. Might be worth a look at what the "VW approved" part of the deal means and if nothing else, using it to negotiate a discount.
You'll get better deals on tyres and pads elsewhere, and they'll probably tell you your brake fluid's fine for another year. That's so long as you're not tied into using VW dealers to maintain a warranty cover.

thelawnet

BM-AK wrote: »

VW UK may consider the used car warranty as invalid as technically its not serviced to manufacterers guidelines. I am surprised that it was sold to you as a approved used VW.

I think the thing is it's an 07 plate, even though the inspection was done September 06, presumably they didn't shift it until the spring.

So the 4 years as not up when I bought it, but it is now.

I've just checked the service book, it says:

Oil service should be done every year/10,000 miles if normal oil is used, or according to the service indicator if long-life oil is used

The other items:
Brake fluid - Every 2 years
Pollen filter - every 40,000 miles/2 years, comes first
Air filter, spark plugs - 60,000 miles/6 years, whichever comes first
Cambelt - 120,000 miles

I've therefore no idea why they are trying to get me to fork out £600 for a cambelt when the service book says it's a 120,000 mile item and doesn't even need checking till 80,000 miles.

According to the service book, the brake fluid wasn't changed at any of the three previous services - it should have been done at the last service. The cambelt is just BS; they did at least change the pollen filter at the second filter.

victor2

Tell them to show you where it says the cambelt is now due and take the issue to their head office.

Strider590

thelawnet wrote: »

the two rear tyres are at 2mm at the minimum, that will be £170 each

:rotfl:

I got a pair of Bridgestone Turanza's in 215x55 R16 for LESS than they want for one tyre!!

Thieving gits!

cardinalbiggles

Strider590 wrote: »

:rotfl:

I got a pair of Bridgestone Turanza's in 215x55 R16 for LESS than they want for one tyre!!

Thieving gits!

£97 each for 2 225x40x17 Continental Sport Contact 3's, I would go elsewhere for your tyres!