Service costs

[woofy]

Yep unfortunately, you are have been reamed.....around $300 should be it. I paid just under that for the same service and even then they boosted the price of the oil beyond what it should have been.

[MarksVRS]

$200 if you supply your oil. Also expect a free car wash, coffee and drop off locally to be included in that!


I put this link in my previous post but may be missed:

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/f86/servicing-skoda-octavia-approximate-costs-44032-5.html

[daft1014]

Hi all,

Apologies to posting in this thread rather than the other one.

I ended up sticking with the Brisbane dealer for the service and warranty fix.

The 1 year/15,000 km service came to around $340 inclusive of GST, courtesy car, wash etc.

When I read the comments on here about what people pay in other states I rang the next nearest dealer (Nambour) and ultratune. Ultratune quoted $185 and Cricks at Nambour quoted $210.

With this information I called the Brisbane dealer and as suggested in this thread I asked them to explain massive difference in price (they originally quoted $396). They stated that Cricks and Ultratune cannot possibly be using the correct oil and tools for quoted price. They said they would try and reduce the price as much as possible if I stuck with them, hence the final price of $340. I appreciated that they took my concerns on board and tried to come to the party.

This is still more than other prices discussed on this and the other thread as linked by MarkVRS, but I simply cannot spare the time at the moment to get the car serviced in Nambour.

It also needs to be pointed out that other than the cost, the quality of the service has been fine.

As many others have mentioned there is a markup on oil at dealers. The retail price of Mobil 1 ESP in Brisbane is $11.64. The dealer is charging oil at $21.12 (80% markup in cost). If I supplied my own oil it would have been around $230. Next year I will keep this in mind and simply supply my own oil.

To those to answered responded to my post, thanks.

I will need to be more organised and proactive when it's service time next year.

[brad]

As many others have mentioned there is a markup on oil at dealers. The retail price of Mobil 1 ESP in Brisbane is $11.64. The dealer is charging oil at $21.12 (80% markup in cost). If I supplied my own oil it would have been around $230. Next year I will keep this in mind and simply supply my own oil.

$11.64/L?? bargain. Where is that at?

[daft1014]

East Coast Lubes at Eagle Farm. Mind you it only comes in the 20L drum.

[K1W1]

The 1 year/15,000 km service came to around $340 inclusive of GST, courtesy car, wash etc.

I think that's realistic. It's on the higher side for sure but not excessive like the original $396 quote was. I'd be happy to pay that for good service from a dealer I wanted to continue to have a relationship with.

[K1W1]

East Coast Lubes at Eagle Farm. Mind you it only comes in the 20L drum.

So do they sell at wholesale to the public or do you have the ability to buy at trade price?

[Transporter]

East Coast Lubes at Eagle Farm. Mind you it only comes in the 20L drum.

So, the dealer should sell you 20L, then put 4L in the engine and remaining 16L in the boot.
Otherwise, when it is not available in 5L, you can't compare the price. If you buy oil in 1L bottle it costs an arm and leg compared to 20L drum.

[daft1014]

So do they sell at wholesale to the public or do you have the ability to buy at trade price?

They sell retail to the public. I have been buying small quantities of Mobil oil for motorcycles from them for years. They are simply walk in cash sales.

[brad]

So, the dealer should sell you 20L, then put 4L in the engine and remaining 16L in the boot.
Otherwise, when it is not available in 5L, you can't compare the price. If you buy oil in 1L bottle it costs an arm and leg compared to 20L drum.

i think the point is that the dealer buys in bulk (at least 240L drums) and sells at the 1L rate at 100% mark-up. I can understand this if it's a multi-brand service centre & they have to buy special oil for a minority of their customers but if it's a VW workshop with 5 techs on board, they'd be going through about 500L of 504/507 a week, so it's not like their holding costs are huge. Buy price plus 25%-50% would probably be fair & still quite profitable (the civil/mech/elec contract I run is cost plus 25% on materials used rather than materials bought & the contractor thinks that's fair).

[MarksVRS]

I had my oil already although I went to Supercheap to compare prices and all the major brands were around $70 for 5litres which makes it $14/litre. So still cheaper without buying 200 litres at a time.

[daft1014]

So, the dealer should sell you 20L, then put 4L in the engine and remaining 16L in the boot.
Otherwise, when it is not available in 5L, you can't compare the price. If you buy oil in 1L bottle it costs an arm and leg compared to 20L drum.

Perhaps you are right, but the math is quite interesting.

If they service only two cars per weekday per year they are making around $25k profit on oil.

Not a large amount of money, but I guess that pays for the car washing and coffees

[Antiplastix]

Well I think I am about to be royally ripped off...

I have booked my 2009 RS into Brisbane Prestige for it's first service as well as getting them to fix a number of items under warranty.

It has done only 7000 kms, but I was told I must follow the one year rule.

I just had Paul Wakling ring me and tell me that my RS 2.0 TSI was due for a 1 year service even though the car has only done 10,000 kms. When I explained to them that my car had the QG1 variable service interval (15,000 km or 2 years) they had no idea, they even checked with the service manager, who still had no idea. Before you get sucked in to a service you dont need, check your options code. QG0 and QG2 are fixed intervals, eg. 15,000 km or 1 year. QG1 is factory synthetic filled and 15,000 km or at the latest 2 years.

[daft1014]

Before you get sucked in to a service you dont need, check your options code. QG0 and QG2 are fixed intervals, eg. 15,000 km or 1 year. QG1 is factory synthetic filled and 15,000 km or at the latest 2 years.

I was already sucked in!

I asked about the need for a 1 year service as we have only done 7,000 kms but the service manager said it was 15,000 or 1 year... No real surprise there

This is the first I have heard about option codes. Where would I normally find the codes on my car?

Thanks!

PS... What does "with the lot mean". I used to own a 99' Daytona that had medium mods (wolf pipes, cams, custom tuneboy map etc). Lovely bike that sadly met its demise on Mt Tamborine.

[Antiplastix]

The option codes are listed for your vehicle in the front of your Service Schedule book which came with the car. Page 6 and 7 of the Service Schedule book explains the service interval options.