VAG on reliability, parts & service costs

[Tom87]

Says who?
If you skimp on maintenance the reliability suffers. The rich one will not care, but many people will find out that today's manufacturer's recommended servicing caused that they would be better of to sell and buy a new one, rather than spend a fortune repairing it. So, I would start saving for the new car in 4-5 years as soon as I drive the new one from the dealer's showroom.


Sent from my GT-N8000

The general buying public say so... re servicing costs.

But you're dead right on moving them along after 4 to 5yrs. Australia has been lucky in that we generally service our cars pretty well and they do not have to operate in sub zero temperatures and deal with road salt or unsealed/garbage road surfaces.

[brad]

Says who?
If you skimp on maintenance the reliability suffers. The rich one will not care, but many people will find out that today's manufacturer's recommended servicing caused that they would be better of to sell and buy a new one, rather than spend a fortune repairing it. So, I would start saving for the new car in 4-5 years as soon as I drive the new one from the dealer's showroom.

I guess the question is:

Does a VW/Skoda dealer charge more per hour than a Toyota Dealer?

If they do, why? I can understand a VW possibly taking longer due to having a more complicated engine but for a basic 15,000km service there isn't much difference to the minor 10,000km service on a Toyota.

transporter, maybe I've misunderstood but I'm sure that in the past you have advocated services every 7500km/6months even when driven under normal conditions but in this thread it appears you are saying it's OK to go with 15,000km/12m regime. Have I misunderstood?

[Transporter]

transporter, maybe I've misunderstood but I'm sure that in the past you have advocated services every 7500km/6months even when driven under normal conditions but in this thread it appears you are saying it's OK to go with 15,000km/12m regime. Have I misunderstood?

Yes, you did. I always recommend changing the engine oil and oil filter every 6 months/7,500km.
But hey, this thread was started in the spirit of complaining that the servicing of VAG car costs more than the Asian car, so it's kind of pointless to suggest that here.

The last time I've checked, even the Toyota dealer charged well over $100 per hour.

Nothing personal but,
I can understand that the Polo owners are concerned about the servicing costs, however, someone who spend almost $50,000 or even more on a car every 3-4 years, he/she shouldn't be complaining too much about the servicing labour costs, because their hourly rates won't be $30 or $40 per hour either.

[Dutch77]

Nothing personal but,
I can understand that the Polo owners are concerned about the servicing costs, however, someone who spend almost $50,000 or even more on a car every 3-4 years, he/she shouldn't be complaining too much about the servicing labour costs, because their hourly rates won't be $30 or $40 per hour either.

Couldn't agree more with this; I've never really had an issue with the (standard) servicing costs of any of the vehicles I've owned across various brands, and ironically the VW has so far been on the cheap end because of the 12 month interval - although I too think I probably should shorten the cycle a little for oil/filters etc.

No point skimping on something when you have forked out hard earned dollars for it. Anything with moving parts is going to need some work at some stage.. and whether it's $1200 or $2000 over a few years, compared to the purchase price it's a small outlay.

Same reason I have no issue with using a local doctor who does not bulk bill me.. frankly even at their fee level their hourly rate pales when compared to a lot of other professionals.. and I know who is doing something more valuable overall.

[brad]

Yes, you did. I always recommend changing the engine oil and oil filter every 6 months/7,500km.
But hey, this thread was started in the spirit of complaining that the servicing of VAG car costs more than the Asian car, so it's kind of pointless to suggest that here.

The last time I've checked, even the Toyota dealer charged well over $100 per hour.

Nothing personal but,
I can understand that the Polo owners are concerned about the servicing costs, however, someone who spend almost $50,000 or even more on a car every 3-4 years, he/she shouldn't be complaining too much about the servicing labour costs, because their hourly rates won't be $30 or $40 per hour either.

How much the client earns shouldn't be what determines how much you get charged for services (of any type). The charge should be based on the skill set required for the job, the competition for jobs in that area & any overheads that the business has to pay for.
I don't know of anyone that gets a pay rise & wakes up & says "Beauty! I've got an extra $15kpa. I'll sling a few extra twenties at the dealership next time I get the car serviced."

Sure, Toyota (Holden, Ford. et al -are any city dealerships <$100 these days?) are up over $100ph these days but I don't see how a VW/Skoda dealer can justify a higher rate or flat charge just because of the brand name or the "Euro-ness".

[Transporter]

Oh, you don't have to sling the extra $20 for the next service at the dealer just because you got $15kpa rise.

You got that pay rise probably because of the rising cost of living, I don't want think that the company you work for is ripping people of, and is increasing the prices of their product, like the oil companies, real estate, electricity companies, gas companies, registrations and licensing, school and uni fees, the bank fees, oh you name it.

So, why to get the undies in the twist, when you pay more for the servicing?

After all, we all pay the same or less for the car we buy today than what we were paying 15 years ago.

It's the increase in the utilities costs, rents, wages, salaries that drives the price up. Just a snow bowling effect.

[brad]

Oh, you don't have to sling the extra $20 for the next service at the dealer just because you got $15kpa rise.

You got that pay rise probably because of the rising cost of living, I don't want think that the company you work for is ripping people of, and is increasing the prices of their product, like the oil companies, real estate, electricity companies, gas companies, registrations and licensing, school and uni fees, the bank fees, oh you name it.
.

No, I get decent pay rises for OPD, improvements in process, cost savings, productivity increases, taking on more responsibility etc. The last time I looked we'd capped our maintenance budget at the same level as 5 years ago but brought another $120million of maintainable assets onto the books. Cost of living/cpi increase might be worth ~$2500pa to me which really is jack in the scheme of things.

BTW: I still don't think you get what people are trying to say regarding the price of servicing. It's the cost of the service work compared to other brands in a similar price range & market segment. I'd also venture to say it's the cost & what appears to be a lack of product knowledge among the various levels of staff at the VW/Skoda dealerships.

[Transporter]

As I said before, it's pointless.

[Umai Naa!!]

I happened to speak to a high-up staffer today at my local VW dealer regarding some of the issues in this thread. He was happy to share some facts, with some extra opinion thrown in for good measure.

In regards to higher service costs with VW/Skoda compared to other brands (baring in mind, this particular dealership represents 4 other brands as well), there are a lot of contributing factors. Some of these include minimal profit margins in not only the vehicles, but in the service parts as well, and the ever-expanding mandatory tooling (I mentioned this earlier on in the thread), which is either leased or purchased outright (Holden, in comparison, has f-all in the way of special tools).

In comparison to the other brands the dealership houses, the VW franchise would seem to be the one that 'costs' them the most to maintain. So how do they turn a profit to keep it viable? Higher labour rate.

The service parts themselves, are line-ball, compared to the Japanese brands. i.e Oil filter and sump plug for $20 for a VW/Audi/Skoda. Mitsubishi, Mazda, and Toyota passenger vehicles are about the same. Unless you've got a TSI engine with the spin-on upside-down $30 oil filter...

Only other major difference is the oil, which could be up to twice the price, depending on where it comes from.

[ziggyboy]

In regards to higher service costs with VW/Skoda compared to other brands (baring in mind, this particular dealership represents 4 other brands as well), there are a lot of contributing factors. Some of these include minimal profit margins in not only the vehicles, but in the service parts as well, and the ever-expanding mandatory tooling (I mentioned this earlier on in the thread), which is either leased or purchased outright (Holden, in comparison, has f-all in the way of special tools).

In essence he just admitted to higher costs of maitenance on a VW. More complex tools required for more complex parts. That has implications not just within warranty but afterwards. If something breaks, the chances of non-VW mechanics fixing it is slim, plus the replace vs repair ratio will be bad (let's be honest, how many DSG mechatronics have been repaired? Everyone who's had problems had theirs replaced) They're $3,500 a pop. Jesus christ.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this dealership figure just shot themselves in the foot on this one. Fact: VW is more expensive to own over Asian cars. It also does not help if they're more unreliable because that means more stuff to fix (correction, in VW's case, replace). Unreliability issues get highlighted even further if they cost a fortune to rectify....hence why we're even in this thread in the first place.

[Tom87]

https://www.toyota.com.au/owners/service/service-advantage

Capped Price Servicing
Ford Australia - myFord Capped Price Servicing

And other manufacturers are scurrying to get onboard. Even smaller groups like Chrysler Australia (Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Fiat, Alfa) are supposedly putting together an optional service package from new (so rather than capped price services you can pay for services up to a certain time/km period upon purchase of the vehicle).

VW needs to do something if only to stay competitive. They keep rattling off about how they don't understand why people think they are expensive...has anyone at VW ever owned a VW and not had "mates rates" servicing or not had one on a lease?

[Umai Naa!!]

In essence he just admitted to higher costs of maitenance on a VW. More complex tools required for more complex parts. That has implications not just within warranty but afterwards. If something breaks, the chances of non-VW mechanics fixing it is slim, plus the replace vs repair ratio will be bad (let's be honest, how many DSG mechatronics have been repaired? Everyone who's had problems had theirs replaced) They're $3,500 a pop. Jesus christ.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that this dealership figure just shot themselves in the foot on this one. Fact: VW is more expensive to own over Asian cars. It also does not help if they're more unreliable because that means more stuff to fix (correction, in VW's case, replace). Unreliability issues get highlighted even further if they cost a fortune to rectify....hence why we're even in this thread in the first place.

I'm failing to see what your point is.

In essence, you've taken what I've written, put 1 and 1 together, and came up with 3.

[ziggyboy]

I'm failing to see what your point is.

In essence, you've taken what I've written, put 1 and 1 together, and came up with 3.

You've said Holdens require jack all tools. Wouldn't that suggest it's cheaper to maintain them? Not hard to understand.

[ziggyboy]

VW needs to do something if only to stay competitive. They keep rattling off about how they don't understand why people think they are expensive...has anyone at VW ever owned a VW and not had "mates rates" servicing or not had one on a lease?

I know someone who works for VW in Sydney. They get their company cars serviced there, LOL, for free. Plus he offered me 'shadow servicing' to 'test' their dealerships. I'm not sure they understand how much it really costs for real people.

[Umai Naa!!]

You've said Holdens require jack all tools. Wouldn't that suggest it's cheaper to maintain them? Not hard to understand.

At which point did I, or the person I spoke to yesterday, deny that VWs were cheaper than everything else to maintain?

All I pretty much said was "Yes they are, and here's some of the reasons why".