Golf VI Service costs

[brad]

Why don't you guys do your own services for a fraction of the cost. Save money, save time, save the high risk of the dealer damaging your car and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that it was done correctly.

I have almost always performed my own services for every car I have ever owned. I log everything, especially if it is outside of the standard checklist. I even sign the service slips and mark them as having been done by the owner.

The owners manual specifically says that scheduled services need to be carried out by suitably qualified personnel or the warranty will be void.

I've got a plastic card from the MTAA that says I'm suitably qualified but I don't have access to the scan tool or any workshop rectification programme info (you'd be suprised how many unofficial recalls there are), so for a few hundred dollars a year (I get 3 services in 2 years, total cost ~$1000), why stuff about DIYing?

When I had my Subaru, I know of plenty of fellow owners who got free engine rebuilds out of warranty because they maintained a relationship with a dealer. Think of it as insurance.

[Grover]

Yeh you are correct Maverick... if you don't have the ability or skill required for a specific task then you should leave it to someone who does. I will always seek assistance from others when the issue is beyond me.

I am lucky that I am very competent mechanically.

Something else to think about... you can be super qualified and extremely well trained but if you lack an eye for detail, don't care about what you are doing, are unskilled at the delicate tasks (rough) and generally damage everything you touch then you should apply for a job at a dealer workshop.

[brad]

Something else to think about... you can be super qualified and extremely well trained but if you lack an eye for detail, don't care about what you are doing, are unskilled at the delicate tasks (rough) and generally damage everything you touch then you should apply for a job at a dealer workshop.

Not nice mate. I did half my tool-time at dealerships or franchised shops. By my guesstimate I was a midrange mech in the dealership (half were better than me, half worse) and I don't tick any of those boxes above.

The biggest problem with dealerships are the good techs get given the problem cars & difficult jobs & the lousy ones do the services.

I must have pulled dozens of dashboards out of cars because I could put them back together without leftover parts & take all the squeaks & creaks out. Used to do all the dual aircons in the busses, people movers etc and lots of interior fixes because I didn't leave the cars covered in grease. At most, I would have done 5 services a week compared to the average guys 15-20. So yeah, it's unfortunate that most of the initial experience with the dealership is with the bottom percentile mechs & it's only when there's an issue that you get one of the "good guys".

[tuan0011]

I'm in the market for a 118TSI and have tried changing oil on my sisters 08 audi TT. Compared to my rx8 it is time consuming, removing screws, the plastic undertray and the odd oil filter container looking thing.

Is this the same issue in the 118TSI?

I am against dealers doing anything to my car also.

[Guest]

Yeh you are correct Maverick... if you don't have the ability or skill required for a specific task then you should leave it to someone who does. I will always seek assistance from others when the issue is beyond me.

I am lucky that I am very competent mechanically.

Something else to think about... you can be super qualified and extremely well trained but if you lack an eye for detail, don't care about what you are doing, are unskilled at the delicate tasks (rough) and generally damage everything you touch then you should apply for a job at a dealer workshop.

I dont know bout anyone else? But maybe you just have an issue with your local dealer? I know of some pretty good vw dealerships with some very good technicians

[Maverick]

I've worked next to service departments that flog cars cold, watched them do it on a number of occasions. Its not their car, they just don't care half the time.

How do you know the cars were cold? They would have been driven to the dealership so would have been at operating temperature when they arrived.

And how do you know that they were not testing problems with the car?

It's easy to judge when you don't know the full story.

I'm sure most dealerships are fine, but you might get some apprentice who gets into your golf for the first time... hey i wonder how this thing goes. I know it happens, how often? Maybe all the time, maybe once in a blue moon... personally I do most of the stuff I can handle myself... and get trusted ppl to do the rest. At least I know the car is always treated well, instead of bouncing off the limiter with the cold engine.

I doubt that it occurs often at all at least in the dealerships I've gone to where the workshops and surrounding areas are all in view of their customers.

[Umai Naa!!]

It takes two to tango. What's worse? A paranoid customer who avoids dealerships, or one that waltzes into the workshop helping themselves to your hard-earned tools and equipment?

Seriously, take the car to a dealer. If they mess something up, they'll fix it. If you mess something up, you pay for it. You do the math.

In addition, we had a customer try and pull the warranty card on their '06 Beetle last week, when it stopped. When they presented barely any service history anywhere, and mostly limited to a basic oil change, VW wiped their hands of it.

[pwl]

I don't have access to the scan tool or any workshop rectification programme info

yup - the days of effective self-service are pretty much gone, since you really need some specialised equipment & software to talk to the engine management system properly.