VW service questions

Theboinkmaster

Hey

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I've a 2007 VW 1.4 golf bought from Grange motors last January and have a few questions as regards servicing it:

1 - I was away travelling for 3 months so car only has 11,000kms or so after the year - should I wait for the service light to appear or should I get it serviced annually? or wait for a certain mileage eg 16,000km?

2 - Bought from Grange motors, official VW dealer with VW warranty - must I go back to their service department (MSL :eek:) or can I get it serviced by any VW approved dealer without invalidating the VW warranty?

3 - Any suggestions of VW approved dealers I can it serviced, was thinking Foster motors in Sandyford or Bradys Castlenock?

Thanks again.

LarWright

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

1 - I was away travelling for 3 months so car only has 11,000kms or so after the year - should I wait for the service light to appear or should I get it serviced annually? or wait for a certain mileage eg 16,000km?

It won't do it any harm to get it done once a year.... 11,000km isn't alot of mileage, but I'd get the Oil / Oil Filter done once a year minimum.

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

2 - Bought from Grange motors, official VW dealer with VW warranty - must I go back to their service department (MSL :eek:) or can I get it serviced by any VW approved dealer without invalidating the VW warranty?

Not 100% sure on this, but I'd get it done in a VW place, just for the stamp in the book, if nothing else!

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

3 - Any suggestions of VW approved dealers I can it serviced, was thinking Foster motors in Sandyford or Bradys Castlenock?

Shop around... You'd be amazed at the difference in Service Prices.

leahcim

I had a 1.4 mk V golf from feb 2005 up until two weeks ago.

In that time I did 70,000 km. I got the first service at 17,000 km (approx 1 year old), this was done by a main dealer. The second service was at 40,000 km and was done by an independant and the final was done at 60,000 by a main dealer.

When I traded this car in the main dealership to upgrade my car they checked my service log to make sure I had a couple of main dealer services. I asked did it matter if the car was serviced by a main dealer or independant, the sales guy told me that it did, because when they go to sell the car most buyers ask if it has a dealer service history and then expect a discount if it hasn't as a consequence they value your car less when trading up.

He said mine was ok as I had a couple of main dealer services.

1 - I was away travelling for 3 months so car only has 11,000kms or so after the year - should I wait for the service light to appear or should I get it serviced annually? or wait for a certain mileage eg 16,000km?

I personally would wait for the service light to come on.

2 - Bought from Grange motors, official VW dealer with VW warranty - must I go back to their service department (MSL ) or can I get it serviced by any VW approved dealer without invalidating the VW warranty?

Any main dealer can give a official VW service.

3 - Any suggestions of VW approved dealers I can it serviced, was thinking Foster motors in Sandyford or Bradys Castlenock?

I would guess they are all pretty expensive. I personally go to Belgard Motors but that is because they are near when I work (I know they are not the cheapest for a service, but it is convenient).

voxpop

Any independent garage can service your VW without invalidating the warranty and can stamp your book - wouldnt go near MSL if I was you, plenty of horror stories.

I've found foster to be expensive - they were looking for about 300 more to do a timing belt job than independents.

If your car is on variable servicing, which it most likely is, the car's ecu will tell you when you need a service depending on your driving style. If you are on interval servicing, you stick to the standard interval - I think the light will come on also. Either way your car manual will give you further info.

Theboinkmaster

Heya thanks for replies

I gave foster motors a quick call and they recommended to just wait for the service light as the car would have a long-service life so could possibly go to 2yrs/20,000kms before needing a service. He said just to make sure I put long-life oil into it. I had to just top up the oil last week and used castrol magnatec from halfords - nothing about long-life. Can anyone recommend the right oil to use and where to get it? I know the castrol one was correct for my engine but don't think it's long-life.

Does this all make sense? So I'll simply wait for the service light and if maybe it doesn't come on before end of summer just get it serviced at a main dealer anyway?

voxpop

Ring grange motors and ask them what oil they put in it - mixing types of oil is not a good thing to do. i.e. mixing semi-synthetic with fully-synthetic

Healyc

Print this out and have a good read of it but remember to change the mls into kms.

P's James in Bradys VW Service is a good guy, always puts the customer first and there prices arent tooooo bad for a VW/Audi/Merc dealer.


http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/Longlife_servicing.pdf

meathstevie

Oil specifications are in your manual as well. Just buy any brand with matching specification. Whether it's Castrol or Mobil or Bardahl or whatever just make sure you have the right specification. If the garage told you you're on long service intervals it's probably running on some sort of fully synthetic.

crosstownk

voxpop wrote: »

Ring grange motors and ask them what oil they put in it - mixing types of oil is not a good thing to do. i.e. mixing semi-synthetic with fully-synthetic

It seems to me that the OP has not yet had the car serviced. If that is the case then the car still has it's 'first fill' which means that all he needs to do is wait for the service indicator to come on. The service indicator will activate before the service is due - usually about 2,000kms beforehand. However, you do have a point, because it is quite likely that the OP has topped up with oil since delivery - so the question I would ask the OP is, what oil did you top up with, if you can't remember then do you remember how much it cost?

Service the car earlier if you wish, but the manufacturer has set the intervals. If the manufacturer though that these intervals would cause excessive wear or damage they would change them as there would be serious cost of warranty implications. The only guaranteed result of over servicing the car is that it will cost you more....

There is no requirement to go back to the selling dealer - any VW dealer will do if you wish to have full VW service history. You can even go to an independent dealer if you like but you must insist that the independent uses genuine VW parts and the correct specification oil in order to keep your warranty fully valid. You may be required to show proof of same in the event of a warranty repair in the future.

Theboinkmaster

hey everyone thanks a million for the replies.

I just topped the car up 2 weeks ago with about 3/4 L of castrol magnatec 5w-30 which is the correct oil for the engine and is fully synthetic. However i dont think it's long life as bottle does not say anything to that effect.

Hopefully since it was just a top-up i havent caused much damage if ive mixed oils.

ill get a bottle of the proper long life stuff soon - didnt see any in halfords so hopefully will just get some from the garage.

As regards service im just going to wait for the light, thanks a million for for everyone's replies!

Oilrig

Be VERY careful about what spec oil you use. Some of the posters here are obviously familiar with VW's and would be better placed to advice but I do know that some VW's use very specific oils - they need to match the spec number - not just the viscosity, check your handbook for exact details.

crosstownk

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

However i dont think it's long life as bottle does not say anything to that effect.

Hopefully since it was just a top-up i havent caused much damage if ive mixed oils.

You'll need to check the VW spec on the Castrol bottle and compare it to the spec listed in your owners manual. If the specs don't match up then you may well need a service as using a substandard oil reverts the service to 15,000km - even if it was just used to top up.

AFAIK, you need VW503.01 spec for longlife service on a VW petrol engine. I don't think Magnatec is fully synthetic. More like a high grade mineral oil. I think you need something like Castrol SLX or Castrol Edge.

voxpop

I dont think SLX is made anymore, think it has been replaced with Edge. Also I might be wrong but I think Edge (5w-30) conforms to the newest vw spec and will work with all petrol and diesels VWs. Dont take this as gospel as its just a vague recollection from when I went through my own oil top-up slog.

Biro

Theboinkmaster wrote: »

hey everyone thanks a million for the replies.

I just topped the car up 2 weeks ago with about 3/4 L of castrol magnatec 5w-30 which is the correct oil for the engine and is fully synthetic. However i dont think it's long life as bottle does not say anything to that effect.

Hopefully since it was just a top-up i havent caused much damage if ive mixed oils.

ill get a bottle of the proper long life stuff soon - didnt see any in halfords so hopefully will just get some from the garage.

As regards service im just going to wait for the light, thanks a million for for everyone's replies!

If that's the spec that's recommended in the manual, then it is long life. It normally doesn't say it on the bottle. It should have the VW symbol on the castrol bottle anyway, or Recommended for modern VW engines or something to that effect.

crosstownk

Biro wrote: »

It should have the VW symbol on the castrol bottle anyway, or Recommended for modern VW engines or something to that effect.

A bit more than that. It will have the letters VW followed by 50x.xx. As in VW505.00, VW501.00.

LeopoldButters

my care is a Dublin car and am looking at getting it serviced up North the next time I am up there....is there any difference in getting it serviced up north in relation to your service book etc???? i will go to a VW dealer anyway up there....any recommendations on places to go?

Tipsy Mac

LeopoldButters wrote: »

my care is a Dublin car and am looking at getting it serviced up North the next time I am up there....is there any difference in getting it serviced up north in relation to your service book etc???? i will go to a VW dealer anyway up there....any recommendations on places to go?

There's a VW main dealers in Newry, that's the nearest from Dublin, they will stamp the book same as any dealer.

P & R Motor Sales Volkswagen Newry
6-7 Merchants Quay
Newry
Co Down
BT35 6AL

Tel: 028 3026 7722
Fax: 028 3026 5025

LeopoldButters

Cheers Tipsy I will give those guys a shout in the morning