I've had my 08 Octavia Estate since new although the first year it was a lease car and it's currently set for variable interval servicing. The first service indicator came on at 18,500 miles. It's now done 33,000 miles and will be 3 years old in March 2011. In the past I've always had my cars serviced and MOT'd at the same time, but I'm not sure what'll be best with a Skoda. Will it be best to change the servicing to a fixed 12 months and get service & MOT done together at around 9,000 miles or to leave it at variable and get the MOT done as a separate thing.

The other question I have is, should I take it to a franchised Skoda dealer 20 miles away, or take it to a nearby Volkswagen dealership that advertises Skoda servicing? I'm sure there's people on these forums that'll know the best way to deal with this. Thanks

Any VAG garage can service the car tot he same level - BUT - if you have a VAG independent gagrage in your area they can do the same job to the same quality and often offer reduced MOT cost with a service.

I got a VAG quote for my Octys 4 year (major inc belt etc) service down from £860 (at either a VW or Skoda) garage to £535 at my local VAG indy, with fully qualified VW trained techs and genuine VAG parts and that included the MOT for £19.99

Any VAG garage can service the car tot he same level - BUT - if you have a VAG independent gagrage in your area they can do the same job to the same quality and often offer reduced MOT cost with a service.

I got a VAG quote for my Octys 4 year (major inc belt etc) service down from £860 (at either a VW or Skoda) garage to £535 at my local VAG indy, with fully qualified VW trained techs and genuine VAG parts and that included the MOT for £19.99

Thanks, it's probably worth checking out for local independents. My main dilemma now is whether or change to fixed 12 months or stay at variable - which would be 2 years going by current trend.