Anyone had a service lately ?

[Kai96]

Anyone had a minor service done in their car recently ? How much did you pay and where did you get it done if you don't mind saying ?

I'd just like a ball park figure so I don't end up paying over the odds as it's my first time getting the car serviced.

Thanks in advance

[pudding]

I throw mine at the local dealer as it's a 5 min walk from my office.   It's about £150ish I think.

Decent oil is £50+, a filter is £18ish, so it's over £70 for labour.  Quite a lot for 10 mins work, but sometimes I just can't be bothered to jack it up, remove the under tray, get dirty, take the old oil to the tip etc etc.  And I get a dealer stamp in the book, which buyers of the limited editions get very OCD about.

[Kai96]

Cheers for that, mine have quoted me around 180ish for the work so theres a little bit of a price gap in there for some reason

[prp74]

Not sure where you are based, but highly recommend AKS tuning. Great service from them.

[pudding]

Cheers for that, mine have quoted me around 180ish for the work so theres a little bit of a price gap in there for some reason

The price can vary through different franchises as they compete for business, and some do price matching.

I find the dealer pricing to be pretty reasonable for general servicing and when they do their £359 belt + pump offer, it makes little sense going to an indie.   But when it comes to repairs, bloody hell are they expensive.   I got quoted £900 to replace the a/c condenser!  Madness.  It's a £150 part and 10 mins to remove the bumper.  Nuts.

[lukemk5gti]

My VW dealer in Ireland is €159 for standard service and that includes a valet (which they can shove up their tailpipe because I'm not having some idiot throw acid over my pride and joy and proceed to dry it with a chamois he just used to clean his work top down with)

Also get the addition of free 12 month breakdown cover, it's their form of guaranteeing the work.

[unzippy]

VW charge £164 for a minor service on a 2L engine.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why

[Kai96]

That is also one of my biggest fears. Them washing my car. We left a do not wash sign in my sister's when she took here for a service. And it still got washed. Luckily I'm decent with a machine polisher though so it didn't matter to much.

Thanks for the advice guys I'll probably just go with my trusted mechanic if not then definitely VW. Hopefully that will save me any future troubles.

[lukemk5gti]

VW charge £164 for a minor service on a 2L engine.

http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/what-we-check-and-why

TECHNICALLY our engines are 1984cc and are therefore less than 2L. I've pulled this trick the last 3 times I had VW service the car and they've honored me at the lower price every single time saving around €25 + vat.

In fairness, it's outrageous to be get charged around €35 all in because I use about 500ml more oil than a normal golf.

[Paradox1]

Ive seen so much shoddy work in the past that ive dont feel comfortable taking my car to the dealer etc

I much rather do the work myself unless its something out of my hands. service is quite simple to do if your confident, and know what your doing. plus saving money too which is a bonus!

[Kai96]

Yeah I understand that the more I talk to you guy's the more I'll be avoiding a dealer I think  they don't sound a good option by the sound of it !

[pudding]

Haha, I like the 1984cc being less than 2L trick 

To be honest, I only let the dealer do the servicing and belts because it's an ED30 and I need the stamps if it's to have any kind of value in the future.  I change the oil every 3-4K myself anyway, so it's purely a box ticking exercise.

I totally get peoples concerns.  Just the other day I was troubleshooting a rough idle and I discovered VW had tightened the spark plugs barely finger tight!!

I dropped it off this morning for it's 2 year brake fluid flush and I specifically asked them to do it with the ABS pump on to flush out the valves, and also flush the clutch through.  I bet they don't do either!

Still, VW dealers seem to like the older Golfs and techs were complimentary about Ed30s 

[GTIEagles]

Good call with less than 2L but if they really wanted to be pedantic about it they could claim that an engine with 1950cc is still technically classed as being 2L!

[reflexsilverfox]

Definitely service it yourself - it's so easy. don't pay £50 for oil either when you can get 5ltrs of 5w40 quantum for £22 delivered off ebay

[reflexsilverfox]

sorry - £16.99 delivered for 5ltrs of quantum 5w40 on eBay. Bargain!