Apparently VW's are cheap to maintain now...

[alexaescht]

Volkswagen Australia - Unexpected Value

[Transporter]

Yes they are. Just the cost of common servicing parts; like the engine oil, air filter, cabin filter is almost double compared to Subaru XV, Impreza. The Korean cars aren't any cheaper either, the filters for Hyundai Santafe diesel cost more than for the VAG cars.

[Umai Naa!!]

Spot on.

Filter prices are very competitive, even cheaper than non genuine Ryco in most cases.

[brad]

My God! Which homeless shelter did they get the interviewer from? Nice Big-W suit.

Needed an oil filter for mine (TSI downward pointing spin-on) on Friday.

Repco wanted $36 - didn't ask the brand, just laughed & walked.

OEM was $24 last time I got one.

Got a Mahle for $20 from a mate.

[Umai Naa!!]

Mahle and Hengst are suppliers to Volkswagen. Same parts, just no VW logo on them. Usually better-priced if the retailer wants to be competitive.

[brad]

I knew that. In fact, the Mahle box appears to have the VW partno on it.

When I had the Cabrio I found some stuff surprisingly reasonable & others simply laughable in the profit margin they were trying to achieve.. It always paid to ring VW first.

[Transporter]

Mahle filters are very nicely packed especially their carbon active cabin filters.
Be aware that VW dealers are also stocking on genuine VAG filters made by Filtron (WIX filters) that are made in Poland. I have compared the Filtron air filter to Mahle and found out that the Filtron has less pleats and is quite rough looking when you see it next to the Mahle filter.

[Tim]

Just had a look at the VW site where you can enter the model and it tells you their recommended servicing prices.

Capped Price Servicing | Volkswagen Australia

Whats the point of capping unless its capped at a competitive price? $400+ for a 15k service on a Golf doesnt seem like great value to me.

[Umai Naa!!]

It's capped across the dealer network to stop dealerships undercutting one another.

They've done the same with spare parts, too with regards to stock transfers. Dealerships pay full retail on parts sent from other dealerships, which sounds odd when a couple of dealerships are owned by the same parent company.

[brad]

Just had a look at the VW site where you can enter the model and it tells you their recommended servicing prices.

Capped Price Servicing | Volkswagen Australia

Whats the point of capping unless its capped at a competitive price? $400+ for a 15k service on a Golf doesnt seem like great value to me.

It's still cheaper than what a lot of dealers try & charge. For my similar spec Octavia they wanted $950ish for the 60k service that is now $672.

notice also there is virtually no difference between a 15k & 30k whereas most dealers would be $200 extra for the 30k.

Agree though, they aren't giving it away and the service options being offered by their competitors look a lot more innovative.