Servicing options - Adelaide

[TomC]

Well my GTI is coming up for its 60k service, which means DSG oil change too. I've been having the car serviced at our VW dealer here in Adelaide but my last couple of experiences there have been really dissapointing and because the car is now out of warranty, I'm thinking of trying someone independent.

There are a couple of posts on servicing options for older model VWs but I'm looking for people's experiences on newer model cars (i.e. MK5 and 6). German Auto has been recommended. Any opinions on this place or any others would be much appreciated.

[h100vw]

If I didn't do my own servicing German Auto would be the choice for me. My side of town and Andrew and his team are straight up guys. I haev sent a few mates there and there haven't been any complaints.

Gavin

[poyta]

Yes I have used German Auto's before and they are very good. Don't expect any better prices than what your paying at your local dealer service agent as they too are very expensive but definitely a lot better service and they seem to know what they are talking about.
If you want a better price you could try CarTek on South road ( about 5 minutes away from German Autos ). I've never actually had a service with them ( only a few mechanical odds and ends ) but they apparently do a lot of Solitaires services if they are too swamped so they are an approved VW service agent.

[Lorenz]

Auto Studio on Unley Road have been servicing my parents Mk4 Golf and TDI Passat for the past 10 years with no issues, great service and decent pricing

[poyta]

Auto Studio on Unley Road have been servicing my parents Mk4 Golf and TDI Passat for the past 10 years with no issues, great service and decent pricing

Mmmm, they sound good. Only thing they don't have that German Autos do is the free car pickup and drop off service which is very handy.

[WEDEL.1]

On the north eastern side, The Volksfactory have been servicing our 2 cars for years.

Maris

[TomC]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. Probably do the ring-around for quotes now. I live near the bottom of the freeway so might try German Auto and Auto Studio first. I've driven past Auto Studio heaps of times and never really paid attention so that might work well.

Has anyone had any experience with Duttons at Murray Bridge? That's only a 30min drive for me. Depends on what they quote I guess, but if it's a lot less than the main Adelaide dealership I wouldn't be against paying $35 or so for the hire car and driving out there

[thezoneR32]

Yes I have used German Auto's before and they are very good. Don't expect any better prices than what your paying at your local dealer service agent as they too are very expensive ......

This is not true. My R32 is about to get its approx $50k service-German auto quoted $300 solitaire want $550!

I have heard that Duttons are quite good with warranty claims (compared with solitaire) but I wouldnt think they would be any better with pricing. Worth a call tho.

I have had all my servicing and mods done at German auto. Good guys very helpful. Solitaire are a bunch of ****heads.

[poyta]

Has anyone had any experience with Duttons at Murray Bridge? That's only a 30min drive for me. Depends on what they quote I guess, but if it's a lot less than the main Adelaide dealership I wouldn't be against paying $35 or so for the hire car and driving out there

I took the long drive up to Duttons to get a warranty issue looked when I was having problems with the DPF. Solitaire weren't helpful as they only regenerated the DPF and sent me on my way only to have the issue come up again a week later. After 3 visits to Solitaire I said enough it enough lets take it to someone who will actually look at cause of the issue. Duttons were fantastic, they were actually concerned about the issue and contacted Germany to get an opinion on how to fix the problem and eventually installed a new map in the ECU to fix the problem. They even drove the car back to me from Murray Bridge to drop it off. Customer service is fantastic but being a dealership I don't think their prices would be any better than Solitaire.

[TomC]

It's kind of comforting to hear other people say they've had bad experiences with Solitaire. My aircon compressor gave up at the end of last year. It was characterised by the radiator fan spinning like mad to try and cool the cabin because it wasn't being cooled by the aircon. It was obvious the aircon wasn't blowing cold air. I had no less than 4 trips over the space of a month to the dealer. They replaced 3 seperate parts (that weren't even broken) before the senior tech came out, looked at it for one minute and said the compressor was broken. What really got my goat is that 3 times the car was signed off as being fixed when it clearly wasn't. To be honest, I still don't understand how that could happen at a dealership?

Anyway, German Auto might get the green light. I'll post the results of my quotes when I get them.

[jets]

Have you considered Transporter on this forum. He services cars, is very knowledgeable with a passion for VWs. He has several late model VWs in his family.

[WhO]

I've given up with solitaire after a string of bad experiences ending with them quoting 11k to replace or 4.5k to fix the auto trans in my partners mk4 v5 bora. They claimed they spent 7hrs diagnosing it but couldnt find a difinitive fault. Ended up scanning it myself and fixing it myself with $500 of parts and 4hrs of my time. They're utterly hopeless at fault diagnosis thus just go at fixing things with a cluster bomb approach. If the car wasn't owned by her parents I wouldn't have ever let it go to solitaire.

Depending on where you live I'd say German auto if down south or up east I've been very happy with Adelaide Exclusive Mechanical. I take the cars we own there and have been more than happy

[poyta]

Have you considered Transporter on this forum. He services cars, is very knowledgeable with a passion for VWs. He has several late model VWs in his family.

Yes, will definatelly give him a call when it comes time to do a service. From what I hear he's mobile too so he can come to your place and do it too.

[TomC]

So, quick update...
Have now got quotes from all the centres listed above. Interestingly, Auto Studio were cheapest by about $50 then... Solitaire. Who would have thought! They quoted me $1200 inc. The others were in fact more, which surprised me.

The other interesting thing is that Duttons suggested I do a minor service with the timing belt and leave the major+DSG for next time. The car has only done 48k and is 3yrs, 8 months old. They quoted $1000 for that (although I'd also negotiate the water pump into that).

Would be interested in people's opinions. I have asked Duttons to give me a quote for the major service+DSG as well. I'm thinking I can go a little longer on the timing belt (as in, until the end of the year) unless it comes back from the service with an immediate recommendation to replace. I'm not so keen to leave the major until next time as that would take the car beyond 60k and 4 years.

[TomC]

Just to update this thread. Had timing belt/water pump done this week at Auto Studio on Unley Road. The head mechanic there, Danny, was extremely helpful. The workshop is also extremely clean and well organised and IMO that reflects well on their pride in work.

They were a couple of hundred bucks cheaper than the dealer too. Only downside and it's a reasonably big one, they won't install anything on the car except strictly VW OE. Something to do with their insurance. So they'd be a good option for getting logbook work done but not if you have performance parts you want fitted.