First service on VW Passat

Hi,

Got a new passat in Jan and first serivce is now due, should we go back to dealer we bought it from or does it really matter once they are an authorised VW dealer ???

No, doesn't matter.

If you're somewhere where there's a choice, no harm in doing a bit of research to see who's best/cheapest beforehand.

You can go to any V.W. dealer and once there authorised you'll be fine.

You can go to any VW dealer similarly any VW dealer can fix an item broken under warranty (they all have a warranty account)......but back in the real world if something goes wrong with your Passat and you want it fixed under warranty you'll find that other VW dealerships may not be too entusiatic about fixing the problem they give some bulIshi! excuse but basically if they didn't sell the car they don't want to fix problems with it [Total rubbish from a customer point of view but thats VW dealers for you] and your next port of call is the dealer who supplied the car.
IMHO getting your car serviced with the original dealer gives you more leverage over them if something does go wrong. If they don't sort it out not only will you never buy another car off them, you'll never give them any service business again. VW service business is incredibly valuable. They're are a few VW dealership around the country that will service and fixed warranty issues regardless of whether they sold the car Newmarket Motors in Cork and Newcastlewest Motors in Limerick.

Eh? do you have an example of this?

Warrenty work on new cars is covered by the manufacturer, not the dealer.

but in the past they have tried to charge me labour, parts for free etc, i kicked up and all done for free.

Just to clarify: are you talking about a brand new car here (which I assumed you were)? If so, all work carried out under warrenty (i.e. something that doesn't work and requires fixing, rather than regular service items) is free (parts and labour). If it's not a brand new car, it'll depend on the warrenty.

Warrenty work on new cars is covered by the manufacturer, not the dealer.[/quote]

I know that but the dealer will have "Warranty A/c" all work/parts entered on this a/c the manufacturer is invoiced.

We loose on every warranty claim for V.W. and on all the other manufactures I've worked for. If you do buy a car from a dealer and get it serviced by the same dealer you will get a better service and pay for probally nothing.

But from our point of view, if you lived local to us, your local dealer and traveled 60 miles to save €500 and then you have a problem why should your local dealer cover car hire etc. No way!!! You traveled 60 miles for that extra €500 you can travel to that dealer so they can loose money on the claim. Why should we loose on what someone else made a profit on?


If you break down it's a different story, if your within 50kms or 30 miles of your selling dealer you will be towed to them, if it's outside the above range your towed to the local dealer.

My inclination would be:

- buy from place that gives the best deal
- use nearest/most convenient dealer for service, unless they gave problems (excessive cost/lack of competence/lack of customer service), in which case I'd shop around
- when a good service dealer is found, stick with them: no point in moving again for minimal savings

It's a bit out of date, but about 10 years ago I had a new VW that gave (quite) a few problems. Left it with the dealer I got it from: showed little idea of customer service and even less idea of how to actually fix the car. Eventually took it to Belgard, who sorted it out with the minimum fuss.

... and to complicate things a bit more... I have another 5K km for my next service but I'm planning to travel across Europe for holidays and it seems that I'm going to do an extra 1-2K km before I return back (from one side of Europe to the other side and back). That means that the service light will start buzzing somewhere in the middle of my holidays. Now, is this complicated enough? Anyway, here are my options:

1. Bring it for service before I leave for holidays
Pros: pay silly money for an oil change but at least they go to my local garage
Cons: 5000km for the next service and I don’t think I’ll have the time to book and wait (I’m leaving in the next few weeks)

2. Gamble and bring it for its first service with few km overdue
Pros: save the 5000km and still pay the silly money for an oil change
Cons: the engine may die (I know the engines are flexible, but I also have to check if my insurance covers stupidity)

3. Gamble more and try to service it whenever the service light tells me to
Pros: Follow the T&Cs of the car’s SLA (service it when it needs a service in any of the authorised network of dealers all across Europe … do you believe that statement?)
Cons: Pay thousands of euro for an oil change, new tyres, new alloy wheels, new paint on the car, new engine, etc

4. When the service light indicates the service, I’ll do the oil change myself (with the help of a … non authorised service guy) and reset the service indicator according with the manual.
Pros: Save tons of money
Cons: Invalidate the warranty (maybe)

What do you think is the best move? Any additional options?

If I was traveling across Europe I would want to get the car serviced before I went. Who knows what they might find while doing a simple service. Might save you being stranded.

What car have you got, and what are the service intervals ??

My experience of VW service is that the service light on the odometer warns you from 1000 down to zero when a service is due, and then just flashes when you swtich on the ignition to remind you that a service is due (as mine is done now for the last fortnight), but no more than a carton of yoghurt goes off ay midnight when it's best before date is reached, similarly your new car isn't going to suddenyl die on you when you're driving across Europe.

So, you're 1 or 2K "late" in getting a service done - big deal. As long as your log shows regular services done at VW dealers, you won;t invalidate the warranty or jeopardise your chances of selling the car on tomorrow after.

Even if you book a service "on time" to meet service interval requirements, there's no guarantee that your local dealer will be able to fit you in on the day/week that you require so you could over-run your service interval quite innocently anyway

I've got the new passat (06 reg) and my understanding is that it needs service every 30K km.

Anyway, I called the garage and they booked my car for service in the next few days (that was quick, isn't it?). Since it's a new car, I prefer to do the first oil change earlier and enjoy my trip than worry about the mileage.