Shock Horror - we are getting screwed by Car Dealers on W'tee and Servicing

[NW3192]

Check out this article on the ACCC's findings into the Car Industry (link below) and in particular W'tees and Servicing. We are being screwed and VW is no different.

How do you navigate the path? Do you get Servicing done at a quality independent workshop (who you have developed trust with over years) and only call VW when it's a recall or w'tee issue? OR is it VW all the way (with the extra cost) OR something else

Access Denied

In the past I've used VW during the w'tee period then my local workshop - (between 1/3 and 1/2 the cost).



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[feenix74]

Servicing done at a quality independent specialist VW workshop (who I have developed trust with over 15+ years) and only call VW when it's a recall or w'tee issue (after it has been diagnosed by my quality independent specialist VW workshop).

[Tigger162]

This is what I'm doing, screw the dealer I say, money robbing bastards.

[ian]

My cars Warranty runs out in October it will be the last service i will be getting at any VW dealer
Specially after i receved a letter offering me a Dealer warranty
Providing i service my car evert 6 Months /10,000 KM
God ive only done about 18,000in the three years that would mean a service every 3,000KM

[Kachingg]

Yep i agree i have my own vw specialist and my new golf will be there from 1st service onwards
Its going back to vw for its free 1000km check up (and hopefully dynamic tailights) but thats it
My mechanic is keen to check out the new alltrack has not had one in for service yet

[The_Hawk]

Some seem to be better than others and even then it can be down to the individual(s) you deal with. I had my Multivan serviced by Paul Wakeling VW when I was in Sydney for almost 5 years and they were always very good including a couple of warranty claims over the years. They did get substantially better when they split their facilities off from the main group to their current dedicated workshop which happened a long while back now. I know others have reported poor service from the same group too... so who knows. I had the opportunity to talk to the tech guys from out the back on occasion they were quite knowledgeable and down to earth and helpful. Again, nothing but good things to say about them.

My other VW's have always been to VW specialists who I've had excellent experiences with. Camden GTI was great when I was in Sydney and Volkwerke are excellent here in Melbourne. Similar to dealers there is always mixed reports about how good/bad people's experiences are, but I'm behind and highly recommend both.

When it comes to new cars, getting them serviced by the dealer is usually more expensive, but the reality is that it *should* be nothing more than basic servicing and things *should* just work (after all it's a new car). For most people, that's exactly how it works. When it doesn't happen and you have you have claim warranty (or worse good will) having that factory stamp can be of significant value and can make the whole process easier. After all, it makes for a more compelling story when you can say the manufacturer has been the only person to touch it and has done *ALL* the requisite servicing. Of course, from a strictly legal standpoint, all you need is a qualified mechanic with the appropriate consumables.

That aside, I think specialists are the better choice for a range of regions. They are usually far more passionate about the brand, after all, they chose to specialise for a reason! How many specialists also have a racecar or project cars or a restoration project... and 27 of their own VW's... It's more than a job for most.
I think you also tend to get better qualified and experienced workers for the same reasons (this isn't always the case but I find it usually is).
Price, we all know specialists tend to be cheaper, again, not always, but usually. This especially extends to repair work. The dealership uses new OEM parts only with pricing set by head office. Your specialist can source parts from a much wider market and tends to do much better on price, second hand parts are also viable options in many cases.

[stefcio007]

Parents use independent mechanic, supply the genuine parts to them and they only charge us labor. Easier for them and saves us money.

For my car I do everything I can myself, anything over my head and ask mechanic to do it.

[Sunny43.5]

I walked away from our local dealer after two incidents where the cost of quoted repairs ran off their tongues with out any hint of concern for the customers hip pocket . Okay sir your auto shudder and lumpy gear change cant be fixed as we dont service them that will be $12000 ! then next visit after a repair bill of $3600 for a service and air con bearing failure the reply was yes sir we fixed the bearing with a $1600 new compressor . Oh and by the way sir your Turbo may have an internal oil leak yes we can further reduce your life's savings by another $6000 Not money robbing bastards as mentioned above but CRIMINALS hiding behind a corrupt company .

[feenix74]

Yeah . . . hell no.

The dealer that I bought my Caddy has been good with the warranty work:

1. A leaking sliding window, which they tested and then replaced.
2. My specialist VW mechanic diagnosed that the water pump was leaking (pointed at the four broken water pumps lined up on his reception counter and said "pick a failure mode"), dealer replaced the water pump and got VWA to pay for new timing belt at the same time (as the timing belt was "contaminated" with engine coolant).

But I still trust my specialist VW mechanic more than the apprentices that they have working at the dealership service department and stories like Sunny's just make me cringe. Other recent stories are:

A colleague's Amarok let go a diesel fuel line at the top of the engine a couple of months ago, the other VW dealer in town took a week to diagnose what the problem was before then ordering the replacement part and fixing it (another week). Pretty bloody obvious when you open the engine bay and there is diesel fuel residue everywhere and you can see the fuel hose dangling unconnected. Even a first year apprentice should have been able to figure that one out in 30 mins.

Heard another story of an Amarok that was serviced at a VW dealer down on the coast, apprentice put the wrong engine oil in it, engine seized after a couple of 100kms. Dealer refused to accept responsibly, tried to blame owner and refused to release the vehicle back to the owner until the owner had pre-paid for the repair work. They only released the vehicle when the owner got a lawyer involved and only confessed to their error when owner got NRMA involved (NRMA sent their engineer to inspect engine and then had engine oil sample tested). My specialist mechanic told me another story about the same coastal VW dealer, a Transporter got flatbedded up them, owner provided invoices from the VW dealer which detailed the work they had done to try to get it working again but failed. Invoice stated "repaired following the instructions on forum".

[The_Hawk]

apprentice put the wrong engine oil in it

There isn't exactly a lot of choices for VW oil, especially in a dealership I would have thought. Isn't the VW genuine "Longlife III" 504/507 compliant and pretty much the standard across just about anything seeing the inside of a dealership these days?

[feenix74]

I understand that the dealership in question is not just an exclusive VW dealership (ie it sells a couple of makes of vehicles), hence the service department works of a couple of makes . . .

[Kachingg]

I walked away from our local dealer after two incidents where the cost of quoted repairs ran off their tongues with out any hint of concern for the customers hip pocket . Okay sir your auto shudder and lumpy gear change cant be fixed as we dont service them that will be $12000 ! then next visit after a repair bill of $3600 for a service and air con bearing failure the reply was yes sir we fixed the bearing with a $1600 new compressor . Oh and by the way sir your Turbo may have an internal oil leak yes we can further reduce your life's savings by another $6000 Not money robbing bastards as mentioned above but CRIMINALS hiding behind a corrupt company .

Yeah damn

It,s posts like this that will keep me going back to max my vw mechanic he owns over 7 vw,s and has many more in various stages of restoration its all he does and his wife does the books and his son is working alongside him all in the family and all love vw,s
Better than seeing the latest apprentice drive out of dealership in his hsv/silvia/wrx ect

[Umai Naa!!]

There isn't exactly a lot of choices for VW oil, especially in a dealership I would have thought. Isn't the VW genuine "Longlife III" 504/507 compliant and pretty much the standard across just about anything seeing the inside of a dealership these days?

Would have to be a mutli-franchise dealership for that to happen.

Meanwhile the '09 Tiguan I worked on yesterday had 15W40 Shell Rimula in it, according to the previous independent workshop's invoice. Certainly looked thick when I drained it...

[Sunny43.5]

When we bought our latest Transporter from a BIG VW dealer in the Valley in Brissie a few years back I only took it to them ONCE after purchase due to total ignorance from their "technicians "and the service personel . Got fobbed off by an idiot who when I told him what was wrong he ignored me and forced me to spend 3 hours driving and then waiting for this idiot to diagnose exactly what was wrong. Then they told me that the doors that rebounded on the striker plates were not faulty and their answer was to spray a lubricant onto the door seals DUH . Any one could tell the seals were compressed to the point that the doors bounced back when you closed them , remember the TV ad where the guy is telling customers who are buying another make of car that his brand is just like a VW and he is shutting the doors to show how they shut with a nice thunk . Well ours shut more like a Chinese built Chery car , oh no thats wrong the Chery would have been better than the VW !! Independants for me all the way now will not go near those big guys anymore .

[Idle]

My Mk7 TDI has had 3 services (by the same dealership) and has had 3 different oils (none VW branded) + the delivery oil so should be getting the "benefit" of all the various additives..