$717 for 2 Year Service

[miss_gti]

Hi All,

I just took my car into South Yarra VW for a 2 Year service and only just realised they charged me $717!! (Silly me, I signed the receipt without paying attention).

How much did everyone else pay for their 2 Year service? I feel absolutely violated.

The itemised invoice shows the following items:

Total Labour: $386 (I've noticed the 'labour costs' have gone up 27% from the 1Yr service despite the items being the same)
Total Parts: $121
Total POL: Castrol- $99 (does oil really cost that much??)
Total Misc: $44
Tax: $65

Has this got anything to do with me getting the car serviced in a higher socio-economic area? Do they rip you off more?

To make matters worse, no one cared to remind me that I was entitled to a 10% discount with the 'Platinum card' despite making an absolute killing from my service!

The only reason I took it into VW to get it serviced was so I didn't violate the warranty which expires at the end of the year (thank god for that, I am never getting my car serviced there again)

[Umai Naa!!]

Surely they itemised the invoice better than that.

There's no break-down of the parts used?

How many kilometers on the car?

[seangti]

Yup, sounds like they saw you coming. How many km's on the car? You'd really want to know what took them ~4hrs+ to do a service on the car. Tyre rotation, fix rattles/knocks or anything? But don't expect to see them return any money to you. That price for oil isn't uncommon for good stuff and pretty consistent with dealer pricing. But you're usually best to take it to a reputable independent (check out supporters of this forum), that won't void warranty.

[miss_gti]

Surely they itemised the invoice better than that.

There's no break-down of the parts used?

How many kilometers on the car?

Yes there was a breakdown as follows (most of which I don't quite understand):

PARTS
Oil filter- $23
Washer, sump- $2
Washer fluid- $2
Fuel Inj clean- $13
Filterelem-$49
Brake Fluid 1Lt- $29

The labour costs consist of $281 (for standard service items. Note 1st year service they charged $221 to carry out the same items) plus $105 for Brake fluid service.

It all seems a bit too dear..

---------- Post added at 09:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 AM ----------

Yup, sounds like they saw you coming. How many km's on the car? You'd really want to know what took them ~4hrs+ to do a service on the car. Tyre rotation, fix rattles/knocks or anything? But don't expect to see them return any money to you. That price for oil isn't uncommon for good stuff and pretty consistent with dealer pricing. But you're usually best to take it to a reputable independent (check out supporters of this forum), that won't void warranty.

It was a 2 Year service but I had only done 21,134km on the car..

How does one know whether an independent servicer would or wouldn't void the warranty? I thought VW would automatically void the warranty as soon as you get it serviced elsewhere?

[Umai Naa!!]

It seems pretty straight-forward to me.

Sure, they're dear, but I can't see an independant place doing it that much cheaper than a dealership.

As for warranty, VW wont void it if you go elsewhere, providing the correct oil is used, and they're licensed. But once the warranty is finished, they're less likely to do favours for you.

[h100vw]

It seems pretty straight-forward to me.

Sure, they're dear, but I can't see an independant place doing it that much cheaper than a dealership.

As for warranty, VW wont void it if you go elsewhere, providing the correct oil is used, and they're licensed. But once the warranty is finished, they're less likely to do favours for you.

2 years is a brake fluid change. Labour for that would be on top of 1 year service.

Gavin

[Umai Naa!!]

Yes, that's correct. Hence why I'm not surprised at the price.

The labour times for that kind of service are broken down like this (According to VW's literature):

1.5hrs - 15,000klm interval service.
0.3hrs - Brake fluid replacememnt.
0.3/0.4hrs - Pollen filter/Air filter replacement. (Hard to tell which one it is.)

[Bug_racer]

It seems pretty straight-forward to me.

Sure, they're dear, but I can't see an independant place doing it that much cheaper than a dealership.

I dont even charge that much for a 60k major service !
30k is $385 with me .

[Umai Naa!!]

You must be getting your DSG oil and spark plugs pretty cheap then!

[Bug_racer]

You must be getting your DSG oil and spark plugs pretty cheap then!

I quote DSG seperate as some customers change it every 30k km .

[brad]

Yes, that's correct. Hence why I'm not surprised at the price.

The labour times for that kind of service are broken down like this (According to VW's literature):

1.5hrs - 15,000klm interval service.
0.3hrs - Brake fluid replacememnt.
0.3/0.4hrs - Pollen filter/Air filter replacement. (Hard to tell which one it is.)

Assuming the above is fair & reasonable (the brake fluid time is too short & in practice would be 0.5/30m-0.7/42m; the filters should be 0.2 each so it all evens out). That adds up to 2.5 hrs. Most City dealerships are charging $110+GST/hr? Which is $302.50 inc GST but the OP was charged $80 more. Seems a bit excessive to me.

Also, $13 for injector cleaner? That's not part of the service schedule.

$49 for an filter element - cabin filter is $20ish, airfilter around $30

Sounds like they are trying to maximise their profits bigtime.

[Umai Naa!!]

Those labour times are from Volkswage themselves.

The labour time for brake fluid is bang-on, if you use their pnuematic filler unit.

The labour times for the pollen and air filters are linient, as some cars like the New Beetle can be a real cow to do either, at times.

Metro dealerships are known to have a higher labour rate, but some rural dealerships know how to charge, too.

At the end of the day, you buy a Volkswagen, you pay Volkswagen prices. You buy an appliance like a new Lancer, it's $195 up to 60,000klms.

[Transporter]

Those labour times are from Volkswage themselves.

The labour time for brake fluid is bang-on, if you use their pnuematic filler unit.

The labour times for the pollen and air filters are linient, as some cars like the New Beetle can be a real cow to do either, at times.

Metro dealerships are known to have a higher labour rate, but some rural dealerships know how to charge, too.

At the end of the day, you buy a Volkswagen, you pay Volkswagen prices. You buy an appliance like a new Lancer, it's $195 up to 60,000klms.

I saw much higher invoices in the gloveboxes of these cars. I also saw Hyundai Accent charged $350 for first 7,500km service and much ore than that for 15,000km. I even took the photos of it.

[Umai Naa!!]

Most of the Mitsubishi range is a fixed price now. Anything above that are probably additional things.

Nissan and Toyota have capped-price servicing as well.

[Transporter]

Most of the Mitsubishi range is a fixed price now. Anything above that are probably additional things.

Nissan and Toyota have capped-price servicing as well.

Yes you right about that, the power steering system flush set one of my customer back some $135 more for 70,000km service on her 3 years old Corolla. She paid almost double of what she originaly signed for.