3 year service & MOT

[Keithuk]

hi guys.

Last month I had a phone call from my dealer Stoke Volkswagen saying according to our records your car is due for a service and MOT in January. Yes I know it is I was going to book a date next month. He said I can book a date and time now as we might be busy in January. Ok so we worked out a date and time and he was going to email me with the details, he never did so that 1 mark against them. I get another phone call last week saying the same its due for a service and MOT at the end of the month. I said they phoned me last month to tell me this and he gave me a date and time but he never confirmed this by email which he said he was going to do. She checked the worhshop loading and it hadn't been booked in so she booked it in for today, 2 marks against them.

I took it today at 10:00 and said at 3 years its due for the free brake fluid change. She went away to check, it was due for the free brake fluid change they will do that as well as the MOT. I also said I'm still not happy with the drivers seat sagging which was reported on the last service, but thats another long story which I won't tell you unless someone asks. An hour and half later it was done, I could see them working on the car through the reception window while I sat down and drank 3 cups of coffee.

Job done I paid the £49 MOT and went out to the car. The service schedule was on the seat and I browsed through to see what had been done. Brake fluid change NO, I went back in. Have they changed the brake fluid because it hasn't been ticked in the service schedule? She went away to ask, no it hasn't been done that 3 marks against them. So they brought it back in to change the brake fluid. I could see the technician doing the rear brakes then the workshop went quite for a while it was bleeding lunch time. He came back and did the front brakes. I said in the previous 2 years its been serviced here you've ticked longlife oil used YES this year you have ticked NO why? We do use longlife oil but because mine is the time/distance 10k service they don't tick that because the longlife is generally for 20k longlife service.

Last month I had another phone call from a girl in sales. She said you had a new GTD of us 3 years ago, we have some great deals on new cars at the moment and we can offer you a good part exchange on yours. I said no thanks I'm out of a job at the moment its a job I want not a new car are you after anyone? We are after people if you drop your CV in we will let you know. While I was there today I dropped off my CV for the service manager. After the 3 marks against how this company operates efficiently I'm not sure that I would want to work for them.

Tyres.

For the past 3 months I've had a slow leak on one of the rear tyres I used to top it up every 3 weeks then wait for the light to come back on. I'm not working so I couldn't repair the puncture. Just after Christmas I was topping the tyre up every 2 days so the puncture was getting worse. I also noticed one of the front tyres was loosing pressure, I could see the screw in that one. I went to to our local tyre place to ask if they could repair a puncture which they did. I said I have a screw in the front tyre as well can you do that while I'm here? They looked at it and said these tyres are getting low you would be better of putting two new ones on. There was 3mm on the fronts they were still legal. I said quote me a price for the same tyres. Now I have searched online for tyres previously and I've always had my tyres from mytyres.co.uk their price was £96 plus fitting. This local company quoted £100 fitted so I said you may as well get me 2 tyres. I went back the next day and had 2 Bridgestone Potenza RE050A. Without the puncture the front tyres would have easily done 20k before they needed changing, current mileage 17,940.

Ok guys thats my service story I'm sorry if it was a bit boring.

[vwcabriolet1971]

"they don't tick that because the longlife is generally for 20k longlife service".

The only low ash oil suitable for a VW diesel fitted with a PDF is the long life oil variants that satisfy / are approved to VW507.

[zollaf]

soooo, what about this drivers seat sagging that you reported on the last service ?

[vwcabriolet1971]

So what unapproved oil ( not VW507) did they fill your engine up with ? I would insist they replace oil with the correct specification or you could find your DPF getting clogged-up a lot earlier than normal.

[Keithuk]

They assured me it was the approved 507.00 I have seen the 45 drums of Castrol Edge 5W/30 around the back.

The drivers seat sagging. It was about 3 months before the service last year that I noticed the seat wasn't feeling very comfortable I thought I would leave it until the service and tell them then. When I took it in for its second service I said the drivers seat appears to be sagging at the back, no I'm not a big fat bloke only 14 stone. They said seats aren't cover under warranty. I said seat covering aren't but seat build/contruction is. The technician cam back to me and said he couldn't find anything wrong with the seat back. I said its the base not the back who told you the back was sagging. He said that was written on the job card, so that a 4th mark against them. They checked it and said they needed to order a new seat base. I was busy at work so I couldn't take it in so I arranged for them to collect and deliver it back when it was finished. They bought it back and I asked the driver is it ok now, he wouldn't say anything and gave me the keys. When I drove it, it was exactly the same as before so I went back to complain. They said they had fitted a new seat base and they checked there wasn't a modified one due to problems. I took the technician out to the car to show him. If he sits on the passenger seat everything is how it should be. If he sits in the drivers seat it sags at the back. The thing is he might not notice it straight of you have to drive it for half a mile or so then you notice. I saw the driver that picked up my car for the seat job I didn't say a word but he said to me that seats no different is it, I said no, he told them that when he returned.

They said there is nothing else we can do, contact VW customer service and see what they suggest. I emailed VW Contact and explained the problem. They replied saying they have contacted the dealer and they have replaced to the seat base. There is no fault recorded for that model so the standard seat base was fitted. They said go back to the dealer and compare it with the seat in a new car. I said there isn't much point in that as the new GTD comes with leather seats as standard. They suggested I take it to another dealer for investigation. I went down to Crewe Volkswagen and a technician had a look at it he said he could find anything wrong with it. I said drive it down the road half a mile and you will notice it more. He said he didn't have time just book it in and we will remove the seat and check it out. I took it in I could see them working on it but they said they had the seat out and the only thing they found wrong was the pivot bolt was loose. I said they are t*****s at Stoke. There is something wrong with the backsides of these VW technicians if they can't feel the difference between two seats.

So I'm stuck with it.

[-M-]

You should get a follow up phone call from VW regarding your experience - this would be the time to express your concerns.

You can claim seat coverings for premature wear etc on warranty no problem as they are a material defect.

It may be worth finding a good automotive trimmers and see if they can rectify it.

[vwcabriolet1971]

"They assured me it was the approved 507.00 I have seen the 45 drums of Castrol Edge 5W/30 around the back."

As I said in my previous post, if they had used the approved VW507 oil ,which is a long life oil , why they didn't tick the long life box on the service doc. ?

[-M-]

"They assured me it was the approved 507.00 I have seen the 45 drums of Castrol Edge 5W/30 around the back."

As I said in my previous post, if they had used the approved VW507 oil ,which is a long life oil , why they didn't tick the long life box on the service doc. ?

It's only as good as the person ticking the boxes at the end of the day - it may be that they saw it was a time and distance service so just didn't tick it due to routine.

TBH most engines in the VAG range have a spec of 5W/30 507.00 whether they are on longlife or time and distance. Only some of the older model VAG stuff and specific Touareg's have a different spec requirements.

Check your invoice to see what spec oil and how much you were charged for it.

[Keithuk]

There is no invoice as such because its the last service on the 3 year service plan. The visual check list says brake fluid change £59 but they changed that eventually as I've mensioned above. The also mensioned the the AC service at £79 which they mensioned last year. We used to sevice AC where I used to work so that one will have to wait until it gives trouble. It also says Sold brake fluid change so they must claim of VW because I didn't pay £59.

[Rorry]

I really hate getting our VW serviced at the dealers - even though it's "free" for 3yrs they still manage to make you feel that you're being scammed!

When I booked ours in for its second service I got directed to the garages call centre - the guy there told me it was a MAJOR service and would take 3hrs. I managed to contact the garage directly and they said it was an Inspection service and it would take a couple of hours. In practice I was in and out of the place in 90 mins, and that included a wash and vac. OK, I know they do as little as possible on these service plans, but why not be honest about it? Or, more likely, cash paying customers are being ripped off by having their cars over-serviced.

I was told it needed an air conditioning service (funny that's not in the service schedule and not covered by the service plan) and they said they wouldn't be doing the brake fluid change or MOT as part of the plan at 3 yrs! I had a mini epi and they said they'd look into it and called me later to say BF is included but MOT isn't.