Servicing the Skoda

[dru]

Just a question about where everyone gets there skoda seviced, whether it's at a dealership or another servicing centre. I have seen posts on here about people saying good things about Camden GTI, which is alot closer to me then the dealership at which we bought our car and hence considering getting my servicing done through them, though I need to check that my warranty will still be valid if I choose to do so. I was able to do it with my Ford XR6 Turbo and was still able to claim on warranty etc.

So, do you get yours serviced somewhere other than a Skoda dealership?

Also, is there anyone on here who gets there skoda seviced through Camden GTI.

Thanks.

[bobski]

As long as they service it to the handbook and you get it stamped, you should be able to get it serviced anywhere. I'm too far away from Camden GTI, they seem to have a good rep, so if I was over there, I'd give them a go. I've used a penrith mob called "ultra service" most of the time, but that was for a falcon XR6T and fiesta which would be common cars... but I never had a problem with them in 7 or 8 services. The Skoda might be a different story though - so if anyone knows someone independent around Penrith with VAG experience - I'd be interested to know.

That said, I have a few things to fix (rear wiper fell off as did the rear water sprayer) and my 15k service is going to be this month, so lack of free time might have me doing it at a dealer.

[K1W1]

As long as they service it to the handbook and you get it stamped, you should be able to get it serviced anywhere.

Legally Skoda (or any manufacturer) cannot stop you from taking the vehicle anywhere you want for service. As long as they service the vehicle as per the manufacturers service schedule and have suitably qualified personnel and you have records that is all that matters. If you go to a third party service centre keep very good records about what is done or not done and what parts (including fluids) are used.

The problem with third party service centres is twofold. Firstly the manufacturer gets their nose out of joint about the loss of income for their franchised dealers so they tend to blame the third party if anything goes wrong. This is where you need to keep excellent records. Many of the larger third party crowds (Lube Mobile and the like) now offer their own extended warranties on work to overcome the perceived threat from manufacturers.

The second issue is that third party service centres simply do not have access to the latest firmware updates and service bulletins from manufacturers so where an update may be done automatically at the Skoda dealer nobody will know about it a Joes Motors. Many of the third party people only buy updates from the manufacturers that are for vehicles that are out of warranty because that is the majority of their business and the cost to them of the updates is way less.

If you can find a good third party repair centre who knows the product and stands behind their work imo it's a better long term way to go than heading to a dealership where a different person works on your car each time and you speak with a different service advisor every visit who didn't work on your car anyway so there is never any real feedback

[BlackSuperb]

I used the dealer in Penrith for my last service and it was all OK. The lease company pays for it so I hope they did the work. I have nothing to suggest otherwise.

Plus they have a shuttle bus that takes you to the Ugg boot and flannelette shirt shops at Westfields.

[Julian Edgar]

When my wife bought her Roomster (a demonstrator) the Skoda dealer said to come back for the "7500 km" service - and put a sticker to that effect on the window.

At 7500km I took the car in for what I assumed was an oil change, and then asked the dealer closely what they were doing at the service. The answer was basically 'nothing'. Furthermore, the service wasn't even required by Skoda.

In other words, as far as I am concerned, it was an utter scam that would cost me $85. By the time I discovered this it was too late to stop them but I didn't pay $85 and I will never go back to the dealer for a service.

I wonder how many other dealers make up shorter service intervals?

[Transporter]

...and most likely you will not miss any update. In 4 years I don't recall any update on our cars. When we had the Jeep Cherokee the one of the update was to reprogram ECU and TCM for less power to assure the longevity (to make sure the engine doesn't cark before the warranty runs out.), we traded in that Jeep after that, it was awful to drive.

[dru]

And if there is an update that needs to be carried out, I am sure someone on here will be posting information about it - at which time I will proceed to head to the dealer for servicing. What I might do is run over to Camden GTI sometime over the next week or so and check it out. Looking over the net, I haven't found a bad comment about them yet.

[brad]

I had mine serviced at CamdenGTI in November. I can't see any reason not to go back to them from a workmanship point of view. The pice was pretty good too.

[stevebucknor1]

where everyone gets there skoda seviced, whether it's at a dealership or another servicing centre. I have seen posts on here about people saying good things about Camden GTI. Which will be better for the car. By the way the car is really amazing and outstanding.

[Ozsko]

In my experience, (service and spare parts over a long period) updates don't get spoken about just done as a routine thing. Mazda ( of which I have first hand knowledge) for instance looks at every car from a central server and has records of what happened to that car. There have been several instances of stolen cars and write offs being detected through the system and the first thing that happens is the police are called then the new owner gets the bad news. Not relevant but it gives you some idea of what happens in the background. If there is a VW update I wouldn't bet on hearing about it as they are routine and not worth mentioning and the dealer most probably might not even know. Mercedes for instance hooks every car up to Germany to do anything and it just gets done with no local input.

[K1W1]

I always ask about updates at franchise dealers. When I took my car in for it's 15k service I asked whether there was anything due at the time I dropped the car off and they looked on the computer and said nothing available applied to my car. These days firmware updates are as much a part of the service as changing the oil and for an owner not to ask and establish what has or has not been done is fairly negligent imo. Firmware updates should really be listed on the invoice along with the parts used.

[Ozsko]

What Franchise? I have never known a service advisor to have any information of that order. Half of them would not know what a spark plug was.

[K1W1]

They know how to punch a VIN into a computer and read the screen.

[Ozsko]

The service advisor does not have access to the car firmware side of things, they have access to the spare parts/service bill system. In Mazda for instance each technician has his own password. What franchise?

Edit, all the above in my experience, some franchises may vary but in general they all seem to work the same.

[K1W1]

That is the way it happened I was standing there looking at the screen so your statement that the service advisor does not have access to the car firmware is factually incorrect as far as my Skoda experience is concerned.

I was at a Melbourne dealership and there are only three so take your pick.