VAG Servicing - Walsh Motors Belfast

LittleGarry

I am not sure if I should be putting this here or in Bargain Alerts so Mods please move it if you see fit!
Having done a fair bit of research online regarding servicing for my 2.0 TDI 08 Audi A4 I took the trip up to Belfast yesterday and am very happy that I did. The car needed a full (major) service, I dropped into the Audi service centre in Sandyford and got a quote from them for €530 which I thought was a little on the steep side - not to mention the fact that they included in the quote an amount of €74.88 + VAT to replace spark plugs - it's a Diesel car!! This was having seen the car and getting the exact details from their system via the chassis number;) If this is their level of attention to detail I really have to wonder.
Having seen past reviews on Boards and vagdrivers.net I said I would give Eugene Walsh a try. I made contact with him via the website http://www.walshmotors.co.uk/ and he quoted me £140 for a full long life service (using a higher grade of oil than std service).
Brought the car up yesterday, arrived shortly after 9am and had the car back by midday - he done the rear brake pads also as they were on the way out. I was charged £130 for the service and £60 to supply and fit the brake pads. I cannot recommend this guy highly enough, it is very clear from the conversation that I had with him that he is very much on the ball and knows the cars that he specialises in inside out and backwards.

Nonoperational

How far did you have to travel?

Think it's pretty mental driving to Belfast for a routine service and pads when there are some excellent and reasonable independents here that would do the job. A few of them even post on this forum. I suppose if it's not a long drive that's different.

LittleGarry

I drove up from Dublin, so it was roughly a 3 hour round trip. We actually made a day out of it also while we were at it, dropped into the Outlet Centre in Banbridge for a few hours etc. so it wasn't like it was drive up - service - drive back. I suppose I should also have mentioned that I have a company fuel card also so that did not need to be factored into the equation.

mickdw

The dealer quoting for the spark plugs is gas.
Just to clarify, apart from the spark plugs, were they quoting like for like? That seems like a crazy difference in price.
It is worth noting that many dealers in the republic are doing very cheap offers on basic servicing although it tends to creep up if additional works are needed.

sean1141

I have seen it with parts from the north. They use to work out cheaper to get genuine vag stuff from the north delivered than to buy spurious down here. Also the customer service up north from the parts guys was way better than dealers down here.

Tropheus

Had the same experience with genuine parts up North. Front pads for the Audi allroad, €237 + VAT from a Southern Dealer, £99 + VAT up North. Crazy.

There's nothing special about the pads to justify that price.

crosshair1

I think most independants down south would have prices similar to those charged.

gebbel

I used to go to Walsh Motors regularly when both the exchange rate and the high prices charged down here made sense for me to do so. Now it doesn't make sense. A good independent down here will do it for no more than anybody up North. But I will agree that Eugene Walsh is a top mechanic and a gentleman.

Nissan doctor

What exactly was done for the £130?

LittleGarry

@Nissan doctor included in £130 was:

• Oil Filter
• Air Filter
• Fuel Filter
• Long Life Engine Oil
• "Service Parts and Labour"

@ crosshair1 I don't think there are many independants around that could have stamped the service book with their stamp which includes the Audi Logo? I would also be surprised if an independant would be able to get any software updates etc from Audi - apparently there is a licence fee that must be paid every year for access to / use of this info? Correct me if I am wrong.

@mickdw - Audi Service Centre Quote was:

• Extended Service €351.43
• Replace Pollen Filter €51.41
• Replace Spark Plugs €74.88
• Replace Air Filter €52.45
• Grand Total: €530.17

There was no mention of the Fuel Filter being changed on this quote - I don't know perhaps it might have been included in the "Extended Service" figure?! I questioned them on the pollen filter and they said that Audi recommend that it is changed every 30,000, I told tham that it was changed the last time the car was servced in MSL Pottery Road - 17,000 miles ago...... surprised they cannot see this info on their system either!
I would imagine if they discovered that the back brake pads needed changing also I would have left with little change out of €700 - as this was what happened with MSL previously!

George Dalton

LittleGarry wrote: »

@ crosshair1 I don't think there are many independants around that could have stamped the service book with their stamp which includes the Audi Logo?

Eugene Walsh has no more right to put an Audi or VW logo on his stamp than you or I do.

Kid Nothing

Any independent garage using genuine parts and following manufacturers guidelines for servicing can stamp your book for you and protect your warranty. A little Audi sign makes no difference to that Any garage can make up stamps with Audi signs on them, it doesn't make one more official than the other. As for the updates, I know for a fact that Audi don't let any unofficial garage access to these. I'd love to hear more about this...

Also why should Audi be able to see you're car's service history if it was previously in MSL, they're two completely separate companies!

LittleGarry

Kid Nothing wrote: »

Any independent garage using genuine parts and following manufacturers guidelines for servicing can stamp your book for you and protect your warranty. A little Audi sign makes no difference to that Any garage can make up stamps with Audi signs on them, it doesn't make one more official than the other. As for the updates, I know for a fact that Audi don't let any unofficial garage access to these. I'd love to hear more about this...

Also why should Audi be able to see you're car's service history if it was previously in MSL, they're two completely separate companies!

I would have thought that in this day and age that records of a car's service history would be kept electronically and shared between Audi Dealers - particularly when paying top dollar to have the car serviced in a main dealer. I am well aware that MSL are no longer an authorised service centre but I still would have thought that the info should be available to other Audi dealers - maybe not?
Regarding Audi not letting unofficial garages access updates / software there are quite a few posters on vagdrivers.net that seem to think differently! It would appear that VAG UK don't have an issue with charging independent garages a licence fee to access / use this info. I actually had a discussion with Eugene Walsh about this on Saturday - this is a quote from his website:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

"Walsh Motors received a letter from VW group UK with regards the unauthorised use of there logo's Walsh Motors would like to state that we are not main dealers in fact are aim is to compete with the main dealers by offering the same service at a lower cost.

Walsh Motors would also like to state that they have bought the official dealer diagnostic tool from VW Group UK. We also pay a licence fee for VW and Audi software and technical information just the same as the main VW & Audi dealers."

George Dalton

LittleGarry wrote: »

"Walsh Motors received a letter from VW group UK with regards the unauthorised use of there logo's Walsh Motors would like to state that we are not main dealers in fact are aim is to compete with the main dealers by offering the same service at a lower cost.

:rolleyes:

Kid Nothing

I've made enquiries before to VW Ireland before and been told it wasn't possible but maybe things have changed...

As for the records 'between Audi dealers', there's barely any chance of this happening across the different MSL garages nevermind between competitors such as Audi!