I had our 11 month old Fabia 1.9 tdi Sport booked in for its first service with local Skoda garage at a cost of £113 including the VAT which seems rather expensive for just an oil change , so rang the local Volkswagon dealership for a quote and was told £80 including the VAT so they now have the job .

Cancelled my service appointment with Skoda telling them why and they inferred that if there was any warranty issues Skoda might not honour them because it was serviced at a non Skoda Franchise , surely as VW is the parent company this should not be the case .

VW incidentally say that they can reset the service indicator and have all the necessary filters and oil in stock

comments please

Rubbish, as far as i was aware, as long as genuine parts are used, and its done at a vat registered garage theres no issues.

matt

I'd ring back and kick off for being down right lied too! Also mention to them that you have posted what you said on the internet. I hate garages and dealerships which lie!

“Due to the Automotive Block Exemption Regulation which came into force in 2002 and was again reviewed in June 2010, motorists can have their vehicles serviced, maintained and repaired at a garage of their choice (not just the main dealers) without the fear of invalidating their vehicles warranty if genuine parts are used”

I agree with matt, you can take it anywhere but it should be a VAT registered dealer as this allows Skoda to reclaim their VAT. However, think carefully about this. The one area where you can have a problem is when suddenly the VW garage tells you they have noticed a problem (leaking oil seal, or some other problem etc etc) that needs fixing under warranty. Sometimes, and it depends on how good the VW dealer is, they may say it can't be done right away and you will need to rebook after they have received an authorisation from Skoda to do the work. Or you may be asked to pay for it yourself then reclaim from Skoda. It can happen either way in my experience. With your Skoda dealer any warranty jobs just get done instantly without delay on the service unless it's a really big job for which they need you to rebook. In addition to this, if you take it to any other dealer other than a Skoda dealer, you will probably miss out on Software Updates for your car, or you may be asked to pay for them for which you usually won't be recompensed by Skoda. Updates at your Skoda dealer are free in warranty and usually free out of warranty if you use your dealer every time.

Regarding the cost you were quoted by the Skoda dealer, it is just a little more than I would expect, but not by much. However, ask the Skoda dealer exactly what he is doing on that service and then check what the VW dealer is doing. You will notice the Skoda dealer does a bit more usually, it's not actually just an oil change service as most people think, it is also a partial inspection of your vitals too to make sure the wheels don't drop off. It all take time. If you ask your Skoda dealer nicely they will usually try to keep you onboard by offering a discount. My first service was £76 on my PD engine and I watched while it was carried out. Very good it was too.

the cost of 4.5 lts of oil for my 1.9 tdi sport was £56 plus the vat (skoda service) so £113.00 not bad

the cost of 4.5 lts of oil for my 1.9 tdi sport was £56 plus the vat (skoda service) so £113.00 not bad

£56 sorry but you paid OTT , I dropped the oil out of my Fabia at month 5 and bought 5 litres of 505.01 spec oil + oil filter from my Skoda dealer £32 including VAT

I can confirm what Estate Man said about Skoda dealers going the extra mile when doing a service

That was my experience when I lived down in Essex

The Hayes dealership in Clacton were excellent.

Having now moved to the cold north I now will find out what Claybank are like in Eccles.

I have just got my new Fabia from them.

sorry £ 46 pounds plus vat claybank Eccles also ordered fabia 1.2 tsi se