Dealer Oil & Filter Change

[Blitzen]

Why don't you do it yourself?? Filter and plug is $24, oil(Castrol 0W-40 from Supercheap Auto) was $55 last week last week when I bought it, and you don't get a tick in the book from the dealer for a 7500km service...
The job takes 15min MAX to do, and you get the self satisfaction of having worked on your own car, and not paying through the bottom for what a 1st year apprentice is going to do anyway, plus they are going to sting you the price of an hours labour(upwards of over $90p/h) for 15min work...

Its up to you, but I know what I would be doing...

[pixl]

I hear what you're saying Blitzen. I would much rather do it myself too, not for the cost, but because I actually enjoy doing the things I can do on my car myself. But ultimately, it's about getting that little stamp. And $150 is a small price to pay to help the resale value.

[Jmac]

Remember all you are talking about is an OIL change there mate - careful. Speaking from an independents point of view if in fact you are only talikng about an oil change, You are still paying someone who has spent MANY years learning, training to repair these vehilces and you will need them when the brown hits the fan. I know i could do plumbing and stuff but still dont mind paying the SKiLLED tradesman to do the job because i know he has served his time doing his trade and would never question his work and i wish Techs would be treated the same.
My 2c like it or lump it

[Blitzen]

Remember all you are talking about is an OIL change there mate - careful. Speaking from an independents point of view if in fact you are only talking about an oil change, You are still paying someone who has spent MANY years learning, training to repair these vehilces and you will need them when the brown hits the fan. I know i could do plumbing and stuff but still don't mind paying the SKiLLED tradesman to do the job because i know he has served his time doing his trade and would never question his work and i wish Techs would be treated the same.
My 2c like it or lump it

I know what you are saying Jimmy, but changing oil was the first thing my dad taught me to do on cars when I was 10 years old.
I know its not something to pay off(Trust me, I have seen the results of people paying things off, from engines or transmissions going bang due to lack of Oil, through to people loosing there lives due to skipping on preventative maintenance), bit I have never been afraid to have a go at changing the engine oil, or carrying out any preventative maintenance on my own vehicle, whether it be a a Caterpillar, Mack, Cummins, Detroit 6V53, Unimog, or my Polo.
If you don't feel confident in doing work yourself, by all means go to someone who you trust(which I find harder and harder these days), but if you are like me, and don't trust the dealer workshops at all, and only visit them for warranty issues, then I go and see someone I trust(Hahahaha, this is usually when I need a Hoist...!!), or do the work myself. I feel exceedingly happy working on my own car, and I really think people need to learn more about the car they put there trust in every day.
I have never admitted to being a good mechanic, but I give it a go!!!

And if you want that stamp, just make friends with a mechanic...Most reputable workshops have their own stamp, or even better, get chummy with someone who works at a VW workshop!!

[Y2008]

I always did my basic service myself (oil, filters, spark plugs) but only when warranty is not an issue. I need to go to the dealer anyway to sort out the veering issue under warranty. So for me, stamp for $150 that's peanuts since the min i could pay doing it at an independent would be about 100-120.

[Roodosutaa]

Just did my first DIY oil change on the Pog last weekend. Seemed stright forward enough.

I had an old-fashioned bicycle chain type oil filter wrench and struggled very badly for an hour and still couldn't get thd oil filter off... felt like VW had welded it onto the bracket. Good thing dad was around so the both of us got under the car (how many men does it take to change a lightbulb...) and tried everything including getting more leverage by putting a pipe over the wrench etc and by the end we both got oil all over from the crushed can and still the sucker wouldn't come off. Didn't help that the coolant hose was in the way and there isn't much room around the filter either.

The solution? Since the filter was already stuffed I went caveman and bashed a screwdriver right through it with a hammer (felt very satisfying too) and turned - voila. Dad said in over 40 years he's never had to take this long to change the oil in a car, or had it this messy.

I know Mazda has a adapter cap that fits over the filter which you can connect to a socket wrench, does VW have something similar?

[gtimk5]

The german filters always seem to tighten up a bit after use. A large pair of multi grips get them everytime.

[gerhard]

Just did my first DIY oil change on the Pog last weekend. Seemed stright forward enough.

I had an old-fashioned bicycle chain type oil filter wrench and struggled very badly for an hour and still couldn't get thd oil filter off... felt like VW had welded it onto the bracket. Good thing dad was around so the both of us got under the car (how many men does it take to change a lightbulb...) and tried everything including getting more leverage by putting a pipe over the wrench etc and by the end we both got oil all over from the crushed can and still the sucker wouldn't come off. Didn't help that the coolant hose was in the way and there isn't much room around the filter either.

The solution? Since the filter was already stuffed I went caveman and bashed a screwdriver right through it with a hammer (felt very satisfying too) and turned - voila. Dad said in over 40 years he's never had to take this long to change the oil in a car, or had it this messy.

I know Mazda has a adapter cap that fits over the filter which you can connect to a socket wrench, does VW have something similar?

Haha, I can remember doing this as well. Can't remember which vehicle it was, though.

You won't need a special tool, because you didn't tighten it that much, did you

[Roodosutaa]

Haha, I can remember doing this as well. Can't remember which vehicle it was, though.

You won't need a special tool, because you didn't tighten it that much, did you

Well I tightened the new one by hand as you do... but it did make me wonder who they used at the factory for the job. Probably someone called Schwarzenegger.

Or more appropriately for this car, Arnoldo.

(*conjuring image of a bunch of bodybuilders marching down production lines with unfinished cars overhead, reaching up and turn and going "argh" in unison)

[Blitzen]

Hahahahahaha...I had the same drama the first time i did it too...Luckily for me, my filter strap has a 1/2in drive on it, and I just borrowed my mates 3ft long Snap On breaker bar(the car was on a hoist). I couldn't believe how tight it was, and I did the new one up hand tight.
However, when I carried out my oil change the other week, the filter was nearly as tight again...This time, the car was only on Jack Stands, and I had bugger all leverage, so once again I begged with the car, sweet talked it, offered it drinks, then threatened violence on it before it let it go!!(Yes, I did apply some oil to the seal before I put it on last time!!)
I have a feeling that the heat just gets to the filter in some way, and binds it up a bit tighter...Thats just my theory anyway... Either that, or I have mincy girly arms with crystal wrists!!!