Just had the 30K service. Do I really need an air conditioning service too?

[khamtran]

I just had the 30K service (after 1 year, 9 months) at South Yarra VW on my Golf 103TDI and the consultant suggested that I should also do an conditioning service at a cost of $185. He said that my air vents were dirty, had moisture in them and that if I didn't have them cleaned they would likely start to emit a foul smell.

I was sceptical as my interior is very clean and smells nice and fresh so I didn't want to spend $185 on something that might not even occur. He said that the moisture was caused by running the heater with the air con turned off. With the air con on it would dry out the vents which I will now do more often.

If I choose to do the air con service later he said it would cost $185 plus the cost of the pollen filter which is $55. So I decided to leave it for now.

Has anyone had any experience with this? $185 sounds like a hell of a lot to just clean out some vents.

[Brendan_A]

The pollen filter should have been replaced as part of the 30k service. They are just trying to rip you off!

[khamtran]

The pollen filter was replaced as part of the service but they said that if I choose to do the air con service later on I would need to replace the pollen filter again.

[khamtran]

That was what I was suspecting... the typical up-sell.

[buzuki]

$185 sounds a bit steep.

What they say could happen is true. But out of all the cars ive seen, theres not many that have had a stinky smell, and if they did, its usually from a smokers car.

[khamtran]

He made it sound like if I didn't do it I would almost certainly get an absolutely awful smell. I did consider it for a moment but like you said $185 sounds steep especially as I was already dishing out $515 for the service.

[SMOK3Y]

$185 sounds a bit steep.

What they say could happen is true. But out of all the cars ive seen, theres not many that have had a stinky smell, and if they did, its usually from a smokers car.

its not just smokers but the type of smoker. Ive youd be surprised at the number of non smoker people who find out i smoke in my cars and could not smell it.