VW Fox 1.2 Petrol (2006) servicing advice req.

chaotic_j

I have been trying to clarify some servicing aspects of my VW Fox 1.2 Petrol (2006) and require some advice if possible.

The car is mine and does a low mileage, say 4000-5000 miles per year. Due to high servicing costs at the dealership I am looking to either do some servicing myself or get it done elsewhere at a cheaper price.

My first port of call was the manual, which states for the engine oil VW 502.00 spec. and 3.35 litres. The sticker under the bonnet says that Volkswagen recommend 'Castrol'. I telephoned VW and they confirmed VW 502.00 spec. with recommended brands of Castrol, Shell or Mobil.

When I enter my car registration number on the National Tyres website it tells me that their quote is based upon 5 litres as my vehicle requires, and oil brand Castrol Edge 5/30 Fully Synthetic inc. oil filter.

When I enter my car details (brand, year, type) on the Opie Oils website, Castrol Edge 5/30 is also one of the recommendations and 3 litres of it or another 5/30 oil.

When I previously had my car serviced at the dealership they used Shell Helix 10/40, they say as the car was on a time/distance servicing schedule. When I had it serviced at an independant they used 5/30, and obviously both National Tyres and Opie Oils also show this type of oil as a recommendation, the dealership says this is incorrect as it is for a "long life" service schedule.

The Shell Helix 10/40 meets VW 502.00 and the Castrol Edge 5/30 meets VW 504.00.

Who is right as to the spec. that is required? VW/dealership?

I located the cabin/pollen filter and it is really easy to replace. The one that is in there is a "Micronair" when I look on their website they have two types available "Combi" and "Particle" what is the difference? Is there any recommended brand of cabin/pollen filter? Opie Oils filters are all "UFI" brand, £8.46 or £13.61 with 'activated carbons' - what are activated carbons? The dealership wants £15.64 and cannot say which brand it would be.

The air filter is also a doddle to replace. I am not sure of the brand but the dealership want £15.60, Opie Oils want £8.91 and I have seen a K&M air filter which apparently has a "million mile" guarantee and you can use a reconditioning kit on it each year, this is around £35 for the air filter and £10 for the reconditioning kit - worth it?

The brake fluid was quoted as £8.71 for 1 litre, alternatives on Opie Oils are Fuchs, Millers Oils and Castrol DOT4 brake fluid. I am not sure how much I would need? The instruction manual also does not say.

I am a bit confused over purchasing parts. There seems to be lots of places I can get the parts (dealership, Opie Oils, eBay, Internet) which is best? Will any of these places other than the dealership sell "genuine VW parts"? What is a genuine VW part? I am told it is sealed in a bag stamped VW and could be one of any number of brands that meet the VW spec?

Your advice would be most appreciated please.

chaotic_j

I am also confused as the VW dealership servicing booklet makes reference to the cam belt being changed every 4 years, I read several posts/information on the Internet suggesting that the VW Fox 1.2 Petrol is chain-driven. I asked the VW dealership to confirm this, and they did. However when I look under the bonnet on the right hand side of the engine is a rubber belt - the cam belt?

Hammyman

If you cannot work out what parts you need, you are the last person who should be anywhere near your car with tools. Pay someone. It'll be cheaper in the long run.

The rubber belt you can see is a fan belt. The cambelt, if there was one, would be under a cover. If you don't even know what a fan belt is, you definitely need to pay someone. After you've done that, see if your local college do a basic car maintenance course.

chaotic_j

Thanks for your advice Hammyman. I can find some of the parts that I need I just have conflicting information re: oil grade. I am going to try and have a mechanically apt friend supervise me with the actual servicing if possible.

Understood re: fan belt. I actually did think after I posted this it could be another kind of belt. It is a learning curve for me, the same as anyone else, everyone has to start somewhere.

I have already checked local colleges for car maintenance courses and there do not appear to be any..

proactive

find yourself a good local independent garage that is recommended by someone you trust, i don't think a relatively new car is the sort of vehicle you should be 'learning' on to be honest.

if you don't know what you're doing the money saved on the service could end up being spent five or six times over if something goes wrong.

proactive

apparently the 1.2 is chain driven and the 1.4 uses a belt, so no need to worry about that bit at least

rodenal

Do you know anyone who could do the service foe you and talk you through how its done? Would be the best way to learn I would say. Not difficult to drip the oil and change filters but if you've never done any mechanical work before I can see how it might be a bit daunting.

VW want you to use their own oil, edge 5w30 should be fine it would t matter if its intended foe long distance intervals or not, would be more pertinent if you put the time/distance oil in and ran it for 20k (I wouldn't recommend running any oil for this length of time though)

mikey72

On a 2006 car you could use either, so long at it meets at least VW502.00.
A 10w40 oil is normally a semi synthetic, whereas a 5w30 is a fully synthethic.
Semi synthetics "wear out" faster than full synthetics, hence haved the fixed service intervals.
Full synthetics can last longer.
This one meets your spec
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_775571_langId_-1_categoryId_165581#dtab

It's 4l, so you'll have a bit left after putting in the 3.35l you need to refill the engine. Keep it for top ups.
and is a decent price.
Use a genuine VW oil filter, although Halfords own brand are supposed to be good, and I've used them in the past.

Go for the non vw pollen filter.
Combi, or activated carbon removes odours, chemicals (same as a cooker hood), the plain pollen filter just removes pollen. I stick to the cheaper one, the activated carbon gets used up quickly anyway, then becomes just a pollen filter.

Stick to any air filter, they're all much the same, avoid the K&M though, it's not a standard part.

Avoid touching the brakes, apart from topping up the fluid.
Then buy anything that meets the spec in your book.
If in any doubt at all on that, go to the VW dealer and use whatever they sell you for the car, but only buy the smallest bottle for topping up.

Anywhere will sell you decent enough parts, Halfords are dearer but reliable, VW are good, motorfactors will normally sell decent copy parts, but I tend to avoid ebay.

You may need a new washer for the sump plug, VW dealer for that if you do.
Don't overtighten the nut putting it back, but don't leave it loose either.

A Haynes manual is always a good buy as well, those I do get off ebay.


Good luck to you and your mate.

chaotic_j

Hi mikey72 thank you for your most helpful and constructive post which is really assisting me in getting to grips with this servicing .

The Castrol Magnatec 10w40 that you linked to at Halfords looks ideal - Volkswagen recommended brand, meets the required spec. and as you say a very reasonable price; I might have to pop down and get one of these soon.. or do you think it would be worth getting two (one for next year as well?) it seems from what you say and that I have read online, having fully synthetic oil in my cars engine would be more a positive than anything else.

My mate mentioned 'Millers Oils' as being a good brand.. but since I'm doing so few miles I think the cost would be a little overkill.

Understood re: the pollen filter. The combi/carbon pollen filter does sound good to me since sometimes I get nasty smells coming from the air vents when driving along the motoway but if, as you say over time the combi pollen filter loses effectiveness then I may as well opt for the regular version.

Again understood re: the K&M air filter. When I actually looked into this further the other day I found out that again, as you say it is a non-standard performance part, meant for racing (which I certainly won't be doing any of anytime soon and isn't really possible anyway in a 1.2 Fox..)

Is it a bad idea to replace the brake fluid? When I researched this online I read that you have to be very careful not to drain the brake fluid completely otherwise you are in the proverbial. When I told my mate what I needed doing to the car in the way of servicing including the brake fluid replacing he didn't express any concern over that..

I already looked into getting a Haynes manual but they don't do one for a VW Fox.

Is it only possible to obtain 'Genuine VW parts' from the local VW dealership? Since they told me that the parts come sealed in a bag with the VW logo 'Genuine VW parts' and could be from a range of different manufacturers what is to say that I could purchase one of these Genuine VW parts to find out that it is the same brand and model of part I could have bought from Halfords or motorfactors at a greatly reduced price.. or does it not work like that?

Another thing you might be able to advise me on if you don't mind please..

When I recently took the car into the dealership for its MOT they did a "health check" read: what repairs/work etc can we sell on your car. Apparently I could need £500 worth of work doing to it inc. VAT. They want me to come back in 6 months to check the two issues identified again.

The sheet says "Discs Front Scored WITH PADS" I was told at the time that my front discs were scored. That when they are replaced it is usually with the pads. The price breakdown for this is £66.68 ex. VAT for two front brake discs and £32.28 ex. VAT for the brake pads. Labour is £75.00 ex. VAT with labour hours of 1 hour. When I mentioned this again with the dealership the other day to find out how serious this was, I said that in my mind "scoring" could mean when a stone chip (for example) had caught between brake disc and pad and left a circular gouge around the brake disc. They told me that this was my interpretation and that the "scoring" was due to the car being "stood" i.e. used less often than would normally be the case. I asked if they meant "rust" to which they said yes..

Also on the sheet is "Starting to split both sides lower arm bushes". This wasn't explained too much just that along with the other issue it needed looking at again in 6 months time to see if they had further deteriorated. The price breakdown is £16.38 for 2 bushes ex. VAT and labour costs of £225.00 ex. VAT with labour hours of 3 hours. When I researched this online I found something similar with a different brand of car where the discussion said that there was a big difference between "starting to split" and actually split. That the splits could be microscopic and a lot of cars would have tiny splits on these arm bushes. I mentioned as to whether the splits could be microscopic to the dealership and they said that indeed, they could be?

Is the issue with "lower arm bushes starting to split" something that might be worth writing to VW about? After all with such a low mileage these bits of rubber should have lasted longer surely?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

mikey72

chaotic_j wrote: »

The Castrol Magnatec 10w40 that you linked to at Halfords looks ideal - Volkswagen recommended brand, meets the required spec. and as you say a very reasonable price; I might have to pop down and get one of these soon.. or do you think it would be worth getting two (one for next year as well?) it seems from what you say and that I have read online, having fully synthetic oil in my cars engine would be more a positive than anything else.

Oil doesn't go off, and it's a good price, it depends on how well you get on with this service though.
There always a good offer on somewhere though, and there will be another one sonmewhere next year.

chaotic_j wrote: »

Is it a bad idea to replace the brake fluid? When I researched this online I read that you have to be very careful not to drain the brake fluid completely otherwise you are in the proverbial. When I told my mate what I needed doing to the car in the way of servicing including the brake fluid replacing he didn't express any concern over that.

No offense intended, but I wouldn't advise doing it until you have done a few of the more basic jobs, if it goes wrong, or the bleed nipple shears, or you get air in, you're stuck.
Do it next year if you decide you like working on cars.

chaotic_j wrote: »

IIs it only possible to obtain 'Genuine VW parts' from the local VW dealership? Since they told me that the parts come sealed in a bag with the VW logo 'Genuine VW parts' and could be from a range of different manufacturers what is to say that I could purchase one of these Genuine VW parts to find out that it is the same brand and model of part I could have bought from Halfords or motorfactors at a greatly reduced price.. or does it not work like that?

It does work that way, but you don't know who makes what.
VW don't make their own part, but the ones made for them will be branded vw, even if bosch (for example) make them.

chaotic_j wrote: »

The sheet says "Discs Front Scored WITH PADS" I was told at the time that my front discs were scored. That when they are replaced it is usually with the pads. The price breakdown for this is £66.68 ex. VAT for two front brake discs and £32.28 ex. VAT for the brake pads. Labour is £75.00 ex. VAT with labour hours of 1 hour. When I mentioned this again with the dealership the other day to find out how serious this was, I said that in my mind "scoring" could mean when a stone chip (for example) had caught between brake disc and pad and left a circular gouge around the brake disc. They told me that this was my interpretation and that the "scoring" was due to the car being "stood" i.e. used less often than would normally be the case. I asked if they meant "rust" to which they said yes..

Also on the sheet is "Starting to split both sides lower arm bushes". This wasn't explained too much just that along with the other issue it needed looking at again in 6 months time to see if they had further deteriorated. The price breakdown is £16.38 for 2 bushes ex. VAT and labour costs of £225.00 ex. VAT with labour hours of 3 hours. When I researched this online I found something similar with a different brand of car where the discussion said that there was a big difference between "starting to split" and actually split. That the splits could be microscopic and a lot of cars would have tiny splits on these arm bushes. I mentioned as to whether the splits could be microscopic to the dealership and they said that indeed, they could be?

Is the issue with "lower arm bushes starting to split" something that might be worth writing to VW about? After all with such a low mileage these bits of rubber should have lasted longer surely?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

I'd leave it all if they pass the mot.

Rubber perishes with age, 5 years is a long time dragging along under a car.

These could be replaced by a decent independent garage, at a better price than a vw dealer, but only when they actually need it, or consider it if it comes up as an advisory.

Edit

as to the Haynes manual, borrow one from the library with the same engine, the Fox replaced the Lupo, and is based on the same platform as the Polo.
It may not the exactly the same, but will point you is the right direction, if your bear is mind there may be some differences to watch out for.