How much (and where) for a 45,000km service

[mikinoz]

I just quoted $550 for a 30K service at Barloworld Five Dock and am reconsidering if I need to be bent over that hard...

[Greg Roles]

Mate that's a measly $223 difference to mine yesterday. Pittance!

Go the dealers.

[TDIESEL]

My TDI gets it's 45k service next week. Quoted $440ish by local dealer and $210 by local Ultratune using genuine oil and parts! Guess who gets my folding stuff?

Decision aided by first call to dealer........hello, can I get a quote for a 45k service for my 2006 2.0L TDI Golf?
Dealer service dept...is that a diesel or petrol???

[iampivot]

Ask what oil they will be using.

[Greg Roles]

Yep, particularily important with PD TDI and even more so DPF.

[TDIESEL]

Ask what oil they will be using.

Genuine VW oil. I've spoken with franchise owner/operator of shop and they do quite a few local VW'S and usually have a daily parts drop off from the VW dealer. They did my 30k service for literally half the price of the dealer as well.

[Maverick]

Genuine VW oil. I've spoken with franchise owner/operator of shop and they do quite a few local VW'S and usually have a daily parts drop off from the VW dealer. They did my 30k service for literally half the price of the dealer as well.

There is no such thing as Genuine VW oil, VW don't manufacture oil but instead publish oil standards.

http://www.my-gti.com/7/volkswagen-oils-50400-and-50700

I'm not sure how they can do the 30K service for half the price of the dealer as the cost of oil, filter, air filter and so on would be over $150 leaving less then $60 for labour?

If you want to kiss your warranty goodbye take it to Ultratune, they won't be able to do everything the dealer will do and don't have access to TSB's. If the put the wrong oil in you'll have all sorts of problems down the track. If they damage anything you probably won't know until the next service a year later and Ultratune will deny doing it.

Why spend $30K+ on a car and then skimp on the yearly service by taking it to people that run a cut price franchise.

[docjames]

Gary Crick Maroochy did 3 year (only done 17000km!) $250 I supplied oil.

Pleased with service.

[TDIESEL]

There is no such thing as Genuine VW oil, VW don't manufacture oil but instead publish oil standards.

http://www.my-gti.com/7/volkswagen-oils-50400-and-50700

I'm not sure how they can do the 30K service for half the price of the dealer as the cost of oil, filter, air filter and so on would be over $150 leaving less then $60 for labour?

If you want to kiss your warranty goodbye take it to Ultratune, they won't be able to do everything the dealer will do and don't have access to TSB's. If the put the wrong oil in you'll have all sorts of problems down the track. If they damage anything you probably won't know until the next service a year later and Ultratune will deny doing it.








Why spend $30K+ on a car and then skimp on the yearly service by taking it to people that run a cut price franchise.

Thanks for the concern but one could also ask how VW charges around 250 in labor for some underpaid apprentice to drop the oil, twirl on a filter and do a quick eyeball of the things on the service checklist.

Service franchises pay trade prices for their parts so they still make a profit on the parts they use, as well as their labor.

I'm totally happy with the Ultratune franchise I deal with at Windsor (can't speak for others) and had no problems in the last 15,000k since I took it there. As for the oil..The franchise operator actually stated that Valvoline now produce a similar grade to the VW Specified grade but he refuses to use it and will only use the oil supplied by the dealer.

I don't see it as skimping, more a case of being open minded and not blinded by sales hype and scare tactics from dealerships. Remember that servicings are where dealerships really make the money from a new car sale and the reason why they suck up to you so much to get your repeat business.

At the end of the day I'm happy with my decision, will have $200 more in my back pocket and everyone else is free to choose whoever they want to service their dub.

[iampivot]

I think 30K service is more expensive than 45K service in any case, so a comparison there would be irrelevant?

[Maverick]

Thanks for the concern but one could also ask how VW charges around 250 in labor for some underpaid apprentice to drop the oil, twirl on a filter and do a quick eyeball of the things on the service checklist.

They don't charge that much, take a look at the work involved in each service and you'll see that most VW dealers charge a pretty reasonable rate.

Service franchises pay trade prices for their parts so they still make a profit on the parts they use, as well as their labor.

I guess when they hire monkeys the $60 in labour for the service will go a long way

I'm totally happy with the Ultratune franchise I deal with at Windsor (can't speak for others) and had no problems in the last 15,000k since I took it there.

That doesn't mean they're doing the work properly, just means the VW is well built. I wouldn't trust an Ultratune franchise with my lawnmower but each to their own.

As for the oil..The franchise operator actually stated that Valvoline now produce a similar grade to the VW Specified grade but he refuses to use it and will only use the oil supplied by the dealer.

Similar grade? Again that doesn't mean anything it has to be VW standard approved. Hopefully he is getting the oil from the dealer but it sounds a bit suss to me.

I don't see it as skimping, more a case of being open minded and not blinded by sales hype and scare tactics from dealerships. Remember that servicings are where dealerships really make the money from a new car sale and the reason why they suck up to you so much to get your repeat business.

They don't make that much money out of servicing, even if they made $200 each service (which they don't as they have to pay labour) that $1000 over the 5 years of car ownership. But a fraction of that once the costs are factored in. Hardly a massive win for the dealers. I'm not blinded by sales hype but I know how complex the car is and how easy it is for someone to stuff something up, the dealer works on the car and they're responsible. Resale value as well, I would never buy a car serviced at Ultratune so you're costing yourself there as well.

At the end of the day I'm happy with my decision, will have $200 more in my back pocket and everyone else is free to choose whoever they want to service their dub.

Hopefully you won't regret the decision, personally I would rather take a car to Kmart Auto then Ultratune and that's saying something.

[iampivot]

Be happy you don't live in Norway, I used to see service bills in the range of 8000NOK back ten years ago. That's about $2000. I have no clue what the service bills are there now..

[TDIESEL]

I'm not blinded by sales hype but I know how complex the car is and how easy it is for someone to stuff something up, the dealer works on the car and they're responsible. Resale value as well, I would never buy a car serviced at Ultratune so you're costing yourself there as well.

Hopefully you won't regret the decision, personally I would rather take a car to Kmart Auto then Ultratune and that's saying something.

Not blinded by sales hype? Sounds like you have a good relationship with your dealer and you are a loyal customer...they have done their job well!

Enjoy paying a premium and I'll enjoy saving a bit and getting the same end product.

Not having a go at you personally, but to form an opinion on a national franchise based on the acts which happened years ago at one particular store is not my definition of being open minded. I've worked in the new car industry for a number of years and have seen some very questionable acts which could quite easily fall into the same category as the one you have put my preferred choice in. I choose not to put all dealers in the same basket though and if people feel confident by going to them for their service, good for them. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

[Transporter]

They don't charge that much, take a look at the work involved in each service and you'll see that most VW dealers charge a pretty reasonable rate.



I guess when they hire monkeys the $60 in labour for the service will go a long way



That doesn't mean they're doing the work properly, just means the VW is well built. I wouldn't trust an Ultratune franchise with my lawnmower but each to their own.



Similar grade? Again that doesn't mean anything it has to be VW standard approved. Hopefully he is getting the oil from the dealer but it sounds a bit suss to me.



They don't make that much money out of servicing, even if they made $200 each service (which they don't as they have to pay labour) that $1000 over the 5 years of car ownership. But a fraction of that once the costs are factored in. Hardly a massive win for the dealers. I'm not blinded by sales hype but I know how complex the car is and how easy it is for someone to stuff something up, the dealer works on the car and they're responsible. Resale value as well, I would never buy a car serviced at Ultratune so you're costing yourself there as well.



Hopefully you won't regret the decision, personally I would rather take a car to Kmart Auto then Ultratune and that's saying something.

Well said Maverick, I agree with you. He should have a fleet of the VW cars take them all to Ultra Tune and post the comment 150,000km later not with one car and at 15,000km.
Pay me now or pay me later is still valid.
Wish him luck with any possible warranty claim

[Maverick]

Not blinded by sales hype? Sounds like you have a good relationship with your dealer and you are a loyal customer...they have done their job well!

What I do know is that by maintaining the relationship that the dealer and VW will be more inclined to help me in the event of a problem, they won't question my service standards either when I have a warranty claim and if something occurs out of warranty they are also going to help something they won't do if you don't service the car with VW.

Enjoy paying a premium and I'll enjoy saving a bit and getting the same end product.

Except the end product is not the same, my car will be worth more as it has full dealer service history. Yours has been serviced at a chain that doesn't have the equipment or experience to perform the service properly, the VW dealer specialises in VW and has factory trained staff who know what they are doing and have access to support from VW along with TSBs and other information that Ultratune done.

Do you go to a vet when you have a health problem or someone that specialises in humans?

Your car doesn't have the simplicity of a EA falcon, Ultratune and other places like that are not able to service it properly, that's a fact. They don't have the equipment (VAS 5052 dealer tool is over $20,000 - I bet they don't have one - nor even a Vagcom/VCDS) and probably don't know what a CANBUS is (they'll think this is Jimmy arriving on Friday afternoon in a mini bus with the beers).

Not having a go at you personally, but to form an opinion on a national franchise based on the acts which happened years ago at one particular store is not my definition of being open minded. I've worked in the new car industry for a number of years and have seen some very questionable acts which could quite easily fall into the same category as the one you have put my preferred choice in. I choose not to put all dealers in the same basket though and if people feel confident by going to them for their service, good for them.

Ultratune don't specialise in anything, they will service any car, the staff they have are not well trained nor well paid and this is reflected in the price you pay. If they use the wrong oil you will lose warranty on your engine. If they miss a DTC that goes on to cause a failure of a system you will lose warranty.

What you're doing is paying them to do oil change, it's only a matter of time before they miss something or stuff something up and your minor savings you made will end up costing you a lot more. Even just from a resale perspective you're going to lose a lot more then you saved, I'm not the only one that wouldn't touch a car that has an ultratune franchise.

Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing.

At least it'll show which car to buy and which one to avoid when people are looking later