Servicing Costs & Citygate Group

[rdann]

Having had a company car for the majority of my working life, I am now faced with owning and running my cars. My own car is a Honda S2000 which is a performance sports car, and have been very pleased with both the quality and value of Honda servicing.

Last year I purchased a 6 month old Golf 2L TDI for the wife, and have been pleased with car, but less with the VW dealer network.

Service messaged appeared, 4 months earlier than expected, so decided to get it booked in for its first service. Phone my local Citygate dealer in Little Chalfont, and was quoted 2 prices, I asked what was the difference, they did not seem to know, but it seemed the first service is just a oil and filter change. So I was confused and decided to phone another dealer, they told me the cheaper quote was not for my car, and the more expensive one was correct, he did seem to know what he was talking about (unlike Citygate)

All Honda dealers I have used have always given me a discount (min 10&#37 so my last service with them was £150, but I have noticed that all VW dealers said no, the only exception was Citygate who said they would give a discount if you become a life member, and was told I would get a 10% on my first service, so decided to book with them.

Thats when the fun started, when I tried to book I was then told that there was no discount on the first service, and they also applied an enviorment charge of £10, also to comply with their terms for membership, you had to have any additional items they felt was appropriate, which they Identified 2 further items. I decided stop the booking, and told them they just was not competitve, they then said they would match my lowest quote, and would phone me back, they did not.

So I phoned 3 dealers and got 3 different prices for the same service:-

Citygate Group £194.86 + extras £90 total £284.86

VW Aylesbury £178.24

VW St Albans £172.64

The other 2 agents made no refference to any additional cost.

I did not expect to find such a big difference on the same service from VW dealers, so it is worth phoning around first.

[Paul_mkV_golf]

I did not expect to find such a big difference on the same service from VW dealers, so it is worth phoning around first.

It's also probably worth phoning round other VAG dealerships, e.g. SEAT, Skoda, Audi, as the engines/components are shared in quite a few of their cars- gives you further options should you want to get it done by a main dealer.

[rdann]

It's also probably worth phoning round other VAG dealerships, e.g. SEAT, Skoda, Audi, as the engines/components are shared in quite a few of their cars- gives you further options should you want to get it done by a main dealer.

That’s an interesting point; I normally stick to the manufacture to ensure there are no problems with regards to any guarantee work, and then when it past 3 years I look at other options.

This is the first VW car, and I get the strong feeling that VW will try and get out of warrantee work if they can, so I am trying to make sure I do everything by the book.

I have read that any service agent can do the work, providing they use VW parts, and this will not invalidate your guarantee, not sure I want to put this to the test though.