wookiee
11-06-2009, 04:35 PM
Hi guys / gals
I'm looking for some experience and advice on an issue that’s started today.
Basically, our 07 Mk5 TDi (Match model) has displayed the message that we have 800 miles until the next service is required.
I'm a bit disappointed about this, as in my opinion, the car should not be due a service yet, especially on the Long Life (LL) service plan.
Some details on the car:
Registered March 07
Purchased used April 08: Around 9k on the clock, and dealer advised car would not be serviced due to not being required on the long life service plan.
December 08: Service required indication shown, car serviced against the long life schedule, Car was booked in, serviced & mileage recorded as 19260.
June 09: Service indicator has appears again today, stating that the service is required in 800 miles. Mileage today is 27700.
Ok, so basically the car believes its service is required @ 28500. That’s just over 9k since the last service.
The service book suggests the next service should be Dec 2010, or 38000 miles.
The car is used by my wife, and the type of use couldn't fit in better with the LL description; it’s used on motorway every day, and her commute is a 70ish mile round trip, so check to constant speed, used regularly, enough daily miles etc.
I called into the dealership closest to me at lunch to have a quick chat, and the waters got cloudy...
The dealer is suggesting that use of the trip meter button can "accidentally" put the car into time and distance (T&D) servicing mode. I'm not talking about holding the button here, (I’m not sure what the sequence is to switch the car from LL to T&D, but surely this shouldn't be something you can achieve by accident anyway!) I’m talking about just pressing it to reset the last trip distance. The guy on the service counter suggested he has seen more than one car displaying this problem, and has recent instruction from VW NOT to reset any displays back to LL without carrying out a service!
Doing this without a service (in their opinion) could have warranty implications, as the LL service period would become skewed.
Have any of you heard of/seen this, or experienced anything like this before?
I’ve done a little research on the internet, and found a GTI forum (which happened to be another TDi owner but anyway) suggesting he was told by a dealer that there was an ECU problem which could cause the car to display a service indicator after 8300 miles regardless of being on LL or T&D schedule. However, the thread doesn’t really conclude, and was last updated in 2007.
I’ve also seen a number of VW forums slating dealership work, especially around keeping cars on the LL schedule… mainly because the process to reset the service indicator message for LL and T&D is different, where T&D is much easier and quicker. (And subsequently they may have been lazy and put the car into T&D mode) If so, this is bad for the dealer – Does anyone know of a way to prove if this has happened?
Also, if our car was put onto T&D plan, surely a service should not be required until 29260, so with the early warning accounted for, and should not see any service messages until 28460??? So unless the T&D is not a precise 10K count to next service, this does not quite fit the description…
I plan to take the car back to the closest dealership to review what schedule the car thinks it is on… The dealer implied I should just live with it, and then service the car 18600 miles after their last service! But I’m not really comfortable with that, based on ignoring the LL indication and just assuming the service is required after 18600 could cause damage. At the same time, I’m not prepared to pay for another service after such a short period!
Sure there is a compromise to be made, but I really don’t like getting 'flannel' from dealers...
All comments welcome, and thanks for reading.
I’ll update if I make any progress with the dealer.
I'm looking for some experience and advice on an issue that’s started today.
Basically, our 07 Mk5 TDi (Match model) has displayed the message that we have 800 miles until the next service is required.
I'm a bit disappointed about this, as in my opinion, the car should not be due a service yet, especially on the Long Life (LL) service plan.
Some details on the car:
Registered March 07
Purchased used April 08: Around 9k on the clock, and dealer advised car would not be serviced due to not being required on the long life service plan.
December 08: Service required indication shown, car serviced against the long life schedule, Car was booked in, serviced & mileage recorded as 19260.
June 09: Service indicator has appears again today, stating that the service is required in 800 miles. Mileage today is 27700.
Ok, so basically the car believes its service is required @ 28500. That’s just over 9k since the last service.
The service book suggests the next service should be Dec 2010, or 38000 miles.
The car is used by my wife, and the type of use couldn't fit in better with the LL description; it’s used on motorway every day, and her commute is a 70ish mile round trip, so check to constant speed, used regularly, enough daily miles etc.
I called into the dealership closest to me at lunch to have a quick chat, and the waters got cloudy...
The dealer is suggesting that use of the trip meter button can "accidentally" put the car into time and distance (T&D) servicing mode. I'm not talking about holding the button here, (I’m not sure what the sequence is to switch the car from LL to T&D, but surely this shouldn't be something you can achieve by accident anyway!) I’m talking about just pressing it to reset the last trip distance. The guy on the service counter suggested he has seen more than one car displaying this problem, and has recent instruction from VW NOT to reset any displays back to LL without carrying out a service!
Doing this without a service (in their opinion) could have warranty implications, as the LL service period would become skewed.
Have any of you heard of/seen this, or experienced anything like this before?
I’ve done a little research on the internet, and found a GTI forum (which happened to be another TDi owner but anyway) suggesting he was told by a dealer that there was an ECU problem which could cause the car to display a service indicator after 8300 miles regardless of being on LL or T&D schedule. However, the thread doesn’t really conclude, and was last updated in 2007.
I’ve also seen a number of VW forums slating dealership work, especially around keeping cars on the LL schedule… mainly because the process to reset the service indicator message for LL and T&D is different, where T&D is much easier and quicker. (And subsequently they may have been lazy and put the car into T&D mode) If so, this is bad for the dealer – Does anyone know of a way to prove if this has happened?
Also, if our car was put onto T&D plan, surely a service should not be required until 29260, so with the early warning accounted for, and should not see any service messages until 28460??? So unless the T&D is not a precise 10K count to next service, this does not quite fit the description…
I plan to take the car back to the closest dealership to review what schedule the car thinks it is on… The dealer implied I should just live with it, and then service the car 18600 miles after their last service! But I’m not really comfortable with that, based on ignoring the LL indication and just assuming the service is required after 18600 could cause damage. At the same time, I’m not prepared to pay for another service after such a short period!
Sure there is a compromise to be made, but I really don’t like getting 'flannel' from dealers...
All comments welcome, and thanks for reading.
I’ll update if I make any progress with the dealer.