Service costs

[Calais]

I have booked my 09 RS FSI manual in for a 15,000km service, and have been quoted $360 . (I am supplying the oil too btw)

I asked the dealer why it was so expensive for what I understand to be a simple oil change and book stamping exercise, the response was that they are simply expensive cars to maintain. Needless to say I was fairly annoyed by the blase response and am now looking for another dealer to service my car.

The economics obviously play a large part in owning a car, and I don't intend on throwing cash into the wind. What sort of costs do other users and owners accept as reasonable for routine dealer servicing?

Or is there a portion of work to be carried out that I am not aware of like air or pollen filters at 15k? (I wouldnt expect so)

Cheers

[Bayford Skoda]

$360 sounds about right if your not supplying the oil.

I wouldnt agree with the other dealer suggesting they are expensive. $360 per year is fairly cost effective when you think a Corrola needs servicing every 6 months and costs about $150. 2 services per year at $150 is $300.

With a Skoda they will be using synthetic oil which would make up the other $60. Pretty good in my books.

[zach]

Calais, unfortunately this is the 'benefit' of owning a Euro. When most new models require fully synthetic oil yet cost much less (eg: $200-$250) for a minor service (abt 1-1.5hr) the dealer is robbing you blind.

Try and find a local VW specialist that appreciate the product rather than a dealer with a 16yr old apprentice that may not give 2 hoots. You may not save a great deal but you'll get value for money.

Give a dealer a call about replacing your wipers then you'll really freak out!

[VRS-Vic]

Calais, unfortunately this is the 'benefit' of owning a Euro. When most new models require fully synthetic oil yet cost much less (eg: $200-$250) for a minor service (abt 1-1.5hr) the dealer is robbing you blind.

Try and find a local VW specialist that appreciate the product rather than a dealer with a 16yr old apprentice that may not give 2 hoots. You may not save a great deal but you'll get value for money.

Give a dealer a call about replacing your wipers then you'll really freak out!

Had my first service for 2.0TD RS

$520 ($120 for my wiper blades)

[Preen59]

Dude just organise to book the thing in with my old man next time you're up seeing my sister..

Heaps cheaper, won't void the warranty and he won't feed you any bull****.. Well not as much anyways.


And with all due respect, Dealers will always rip you off for servicing and parts. Sorry but you all do. Some are worse than others, but you're all in the same boat, just different decks.

Had my first service for 2.0TD RS

$520 ($120 for my wiper blades)

WTF? Are they titanium reinforced or something?!

[Calais]

I already have a gross of spare consumables for the RS which I picked up for trade when I bought the car. Filters, fluids and blades, so I can service the car myself in-between visits to the mechanic.

I've only had the thing for two months, and in that time racked up 14,000km (most of it to see preeny's sister)

I also have a response from another sydney dealer with their fixed price servicing, and my original dealer will match it (and fix the dash rattles which plague the car on coarse chip). Also managed to get the sales team on side with a Superb replacement car for the day when the RS is in the shop.

[Calais]

$360 sounds about right if your not supplying the oil.

I wouldnt agree with the other dealer suggesting they are expensive. $360 per year is fairly cost effective when you think a Corrola needs servicing every 6 months and costs about $150. 2 services per year at $150 is $300.

With a Skoda they will be using synthetic oil which would make up the other $60. Pretty good in my books.

When you consider that my car will have three dealer services over one year and 45,000km, not including minor services in-between dealer visits you can see how the $360 each time will add up. Especially when the the costs of materials vs the labour charge is so high.

I really would prefer to utilise a smaller specialist workshop, where the overheads are lower, labour charges more reasonable and a higher standard of customer service and vehicle care. However when warranty work is required, its a matter of choosing the right dealer to hand the vehicle over to.

[h100vw]

I'd be getting the young lady to move and save on the driving........

If you are racking up miles that fast, I'd just do oil changes yourself.

Gavin

[K1W1]

When you consider that my car will have three dealer services over one year and 45,000km, not including minor services in-between dealer visits you can see how the $360 each time will add up.

That's near enough $1000 per year for service, If I could have serviced my Land Rovers for $1000 per year I'd be rapt and my wife has had $2000 bills for individual services on BMW's over the years.

I'm not defending the cost it seems excessive to me for the work involved but in comparison to other vehicles it's not dear.

The problem is that many European dealers charge fixed prices for services. If it's an X thousand km service it's Y dollars plus consumables. The Y dollars is based on the service taking, say 3 hours to do but in reality the workshop get the job done in an hour or so so a well run workshop may be recouping 12-15 hours charge out equivalent for a mechanic who is working an 8 hour day. Guess what? Service departments are now paid commissions and bonuses, I bet that comes as a surprise. The Service Manager is many franchise dealerships is often the most highly paid staff member, more than any of the sales team.

Just for a laugh ring your friendly local franchise dealer, ask them what their hourly charge out rate is and ask them if they will do a service for you charged on the hourly rate plus consumables while you wait (stopwatch in hand of course). If they haven't hung up on you by that stage I would be astonished.

[space-godzilla]

I have booked my 09 RS FSI manual in for a 15,000km service, and have been quoted $360 . (I am supplying the oil too btw)

I asked the dealer why it was so expensive for what I understand to be a simple oil change and book stamping exercise, the response was that they are simply expensive cars to maintain. Needless to say I was fairly annoyed by the blase response and am now looking for another dealer to service my car.

The economics obviously play a large part in owning a car, and I don't intend on throwing cash into the wind. What sort of costs do other users and owners accept as reasonable for routine dealer servicing?

Or is there a portion of work to be carried out that I am not aware of like air or pollen filters at 15k? (I wouldnt expect so)

Cheers

I have a 2008 diesel RS with DSG that was recently about due for the 12 month/15,000 service. I live in Canberra so on the face of it, my choices among Skoda dealers would seem to be limited. However, I had a driving trip to Sydney planned so I sent a quick e-mail around to ask about prices.

I don't know what the etiquette is about "naming and shaming" so I'll just talk in general terms. (As an aside, should we maybe start a thread on Skoda dealer experiences? Positive feedback would probably be helpful to steer people in the right direction.)

So I sent e-mails to three of the dealers in the Sydney area (I didn't bother with the fourth dealer in Sydney because they never replied to my e-mails when I was shopping around for a car), the dealer in Wollongong, the dealer in Newcastle and my local dealer in Canberra.

I received the following quotes (in ascending order): $280 to $320 (which was later somehow "amended" to $330), $325, $345, $350, $385 and $415.20.

I went with the dealer that quoted me $325 and was very happy with them. In fact, the final bill came in under $320 (a pleasant surprise). They were in Sydney but as I said, I was going there anyway and it was still much cheaper than I would have paid in Canberra.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[spellbound]

Adealide dealer , was the only one when had it done in august 12months /10k

labour 169.42
oil castrol slx111 105.00
consumarables 6.45
waste levy 4.36
loan car 35.00
screenwash 3.25
sump plug 3.44
filter 25.56
352.45 + gst $387.70

local speed shop sells oil for $80 , screen wash , funny it was full with rainwater , maybe they drained it .

cheers

[zach]

wow so that's about $125 p/hr inc gst. the rest seems reasonable except the oil. I bet if you took your own oil you wouldn't get $116 discount as they're making big margins on it.

did you get a cup of coffee and a nice leather lounge to sit on

[woofy]

I think mine was in the mid 350s including the fully synth oil. I pay 200ish including fully synth oil for my mazda 6 twice a year, but only do 15k each year, so tend to get the interim service, the skoda works out cheaper so far, and that service included a pollen filter change which isn't always in the 6 service.

[brad]

This is my thread on my 15,000km service

And my 30,000km service

I would suggest your dealer is greedy.

[mrx]

Just checked my receipts, and my independent specialist VW mechanic charged $220 including fully synthetic oil. I still find it a bit rich for an oil change, but if you want a warranty what can you do? $45 of this was for a diagnostic check and service interval reset, when he knows damn well I have vagcom, but I understand he has to make a living somehow. I guess it looks better than charging and extra $45 an hour labour.

Still, I would rather deal directly with the person working on my car, who has only worked on VAG group cars for years rather than some apprentice at a dealership, who's sole task is to pump as much volume through as possible.