08 VW Passat - Car Service - Cost Advice

moochie

Hi there,

I'm looking for advice on the pros / cons of getting my car serviced from the car (VW) dealership I purchased the car from versus getting it serviced via a local non affiliated mechanic. (who is generally regarded as a very good mechanic)

This time last year I bought a 08 Passat (1.4 TSI) from a dealership with 44KM on the clock. There was a sticker saying the car required servicing @ 58KM. The car is now on 61KM. I put the car through NCT in Dec as I wanted to do this while in warranty. It passed NCT.

Now that the car is over 58KM and over a year since I bought it I'd like to get it serviced. I rang the dealership this morning to get a quote for servicing and was given the following information:

• Car is > 60km, so requires a full service
• Full service costs €250 (which includes my 10% for being a loyal customer)
• Full Service will include: Filters (air and something beginning with a P!), Plugs.... I assume oil
• Also because I am a loyal customer I will get it washed and vacuumed for free

The dealerships normal cost of servicing is 150 for standard servicing which I'm told happens every 15KM (but because of the 60KM a full service is required).

Before I purchased the car the previous owner did all servicing with the dealer. My intention would be to keep this car for the next 4-5 years so I'd guess there is not a massive benefit of the fact a car was always serviced by VW mechanics? (Based on the fact it will be ~ 8 years old by then). I'm thinking the cost of paying "dealership prices" over the next 4-5 years with outweigh any benefits on sale of the vehicle at that point? Or perhaps the benefit will be me being a loyal customer to this dealership if / when I purchase my next car from them?

So I guess my questions are for those mechanics on here:

• Is there such thing as a 60KM Full Service for this make / model?
• Approx how much would a non-dealer charge for this service?
• The non-dealerships route probably would not have VW computerized heathcheck etc. Would that be a big deal?
• Any advice on long term dealership / vs non-dealership servicing? I'm guessing dealership will always be more expensive for parts?

Appreciate any feedback.

Thanks

Rich

George Dalton

First of all it must be said that the €250 you were quoted from the dealer is a pretty good price for a major service. We would charge €200-220 for the same job using genuine VW parts. So they must be doing you some kind of deal on the job considering their labour rate is probably close on twice our rate.

They are also correct that at 60,000km the major service with spark plugs is due.

There is no advantage for you in going to the main dealer for the service over a good independent who is familiar with the car in question. Most good independents (and plenty of the bad ones ) will have the diagnostic gear to hook up to your car so that is not an issue either.

However if you do decide to go down the independent route then make sure the correct oil and other parts are being used. The one thing in favour of the dealer route is that at least you know genuine parts and correct oils are being used (in most cases anyway)

These engines do not like anything other than the correct spec oil and will not react well to being left too long between oil changes either.

Nonoperational

A main dealer full service on a 2008 car, with VW 507 oil, oil filter, long life plugs, air filter, pollen filter, check over, a wash and a hoover for €250 is not too bad at all.

Yes, VW's require full services every 60k or so. Basically it's the plugs and air filter (maybe pollen filter) above an interval service which is just oil and filter.

A non dealer would charge any where from €200 up.

A good VW indy, or just a good indy, would probably have a basic code scanner at worst and VCDS at best. VCDS is as good as the dealer software in my opinion.

In my opinion that price wouldn't put me off a main dealer. The only other option I'd consider would be a GOOD independent, that will use proper VW507 synthetic oil, and OEM parts. Nissan doctor and George Dalton post here and would both be as good as a main dealer for servicing. But they probably wouldn't be a whole lot under €250 for what you getting I'd say.


Edit: George replied while I was typing this, sorry for the duplication.