I've only had my Blackline for about a week and i'm loving it. It performs much better than any car I have owned before and the consumption is pretty good. I'm very impressed by the music system, especially the quality of the sound and the way it plays music from an SD card.

But there are a few niggles that I need to speak to the dealer about...

1) Fuel filler cover does not depress shut as it should. It can take up to about 10 attempts before it finally latches.

2) SatNav maps don't appear to be up-to-date - there is a major road in Derby that has been there for a couple of years now and the Nav does not know of it. I need to ask if an update is available.

3) Service schedule. According to the servive book I was given at hand-over my next service is due at 20,000 miles. That seems an awful long way away. And with such a long servive interval the 3years/30,000 miles of free servicing will only cover 1 service? That seem like a con.

4) Also It seems like an exercise in penny-pinching that there is no red triangle in the boot.

1) don't worry it's deisel so you won't have to do that very often

2) not surprised

3) you need to go and beat the cr8p out of the salesman. There are 2types of service plans avaiiable-veriable and fixed. It's covered in the owners manual which you should go for based on what type of journeys you do etc. from what you've said you should be on the fixed 10000 12months plan, not the variable one. When I ordeded mine the dealer went through it all flr me and signed me up to the fixed plan so I get 3free ones. Not sure if you can change this now but if the dealer knew how many miles you'd be doing I'd expect them to sort it with Skoda or give u 2 free.

4) no triangle.....you didn't get a jack or wheelbrace either!

Akaik, all octavias come with the fixed long service plan. I waited until I got to about 18,000 miles or so when it started blinking at me then got it changed to the short service plan, which is about every 10,000 miles (I think the code is either QG1 or QG2, with the long service is the latter, but it'll be in the list of codes in your logbook and on the stickers in the car itself). Dealer will programme this service schedule into the car's system for free. I figured it's designed to run until that point from the factory, but after that I had the same thought as you. Long service plan is on the assumption that you do quite a few miles and I THINK the oil used is slightly different. I only do about 10-12,000 a year so wanted more regular changes.

3) you need to go and beat the cr8p out of the salesman. There are 2types of service plans avaiiable-veriable and fixed. It's covered in the owners manual which you should go for based on what type of journeys you do etc. from what you've said you should be on the fixed 10000 12months plan, not the variable one. When I ordeded mine the dealer went through it all flr me and signed me up to the fixed plan so I get 3free ones. Not sure if you can change this now but if the dealer knew how many miles you'd be doing I'd expect them to sort it with Skoda or give u 2 free.

Thanks for these replies.

i don't expect to be doing more than 10K per year, at least for the first couple of years so I'll ask to get it changed.

The salesman didn't even discuss annual milage with me.

i don't quite get it with these long service plans - they seem to be totally geared around oil changes but surely there are other components that need to be looked at more frequently than every 20K miles. E.g. brakes.

2) not surprised

Why do you say you're not suprised?

my sticker in the door says 10,000 miles service. the MFD says service due in "18,000 miles" so i think theyve put the car on the wrong one too.

Ill give em a ring at some point.

To be honest, my thinking was they've put longlife oil in from factory on the premise that they're all set up for long-service, so I left it until the first service to change mine as it doesn't really need it before that seeing as it HAS the longlife oil in it that one time. After that, it's gonna have the standard oil in and it can be changed to the shorter term servicing.

Just saved money cos it meant I effectively had one service at the price of sort of two if i'd have IMMEDIATELY changed it to 10k. Personally, i'd leave the first one THEN change it, but each to their own.

Reference to what Littleade said, afaik and what I was told by a guy at Skoda CZ, ALL octavias have the long service plan programmed, so it'd up to the individual to READ THE MANUAL, understand what type of mileage they're likely to be doing, and THEN make a decision on how they want it serviced (it's what I did, but the sales guy did ask if I was alright cos I sat in their parking lot for two hours quietly reading the entire manual and checking stuff... which also also lead to me showing them the climatronic on/off switch mod which none of the mechanics knew about!), it's not really up to the salesman to question that, but if they did they WOULD be going above the normal required performance of a salesman, but some might. Then again, they could probably ask you a hundred things to check the car is PERFECT for you, but you'd be there all day.

Why do you say you're not suprised?

Because I've had similar happen on new road layouts when in my 1.4TFSI which was 12 months old when I traded it in for the blackline. It had the same sat nav, though I've not driven where I had the problems so don't know if where I had problems has been updated yet. Not sure if the sat nav is updated when the car is serviced as I neer had mine done cause I traded it in 1st!

my sticker in the door says 10,000 miles service. the MFD says service due in "18,000 miles" so i think theyve put the car on the wrong one too.

Ill give em a ring at some point.

They are all set to variable (around 18K miles) from the factory, unless a dealer alters it to 10K service interval it will always be 18K or thereabouts to the first service.

Variable servicing is fine though, had all my previous Skodas on variable, never had any issues with any of them. 1st MK1 vRS did 54K miles before I sold it and had 3 services, 2nd Octavia 2.0PD140 sold at 100K miles after just 5 services and the Superb had 2 services in 40K miles before I sold it. The Audi is being switched from fixed to variable at its next service, and its currently on 182,000 miles.

The 100K octavia was still running its original brake disks and pads. Brakes should be checked periodically regardless of wether a service is due or not, you should not rely on just services to pickup on wear and tear parts.

Thanks for these replies.

i don't expect to be doing more than 10K per year, at least for the first couple of years so I'll ask to get it changed.

The salesman didn't even discuss annual milage with me.

i don't quite get it with these long service plans - they seem to be totally geared around oil changes but surely there are other components that need to be looked at more frequently than every 20K miles. E.g. brakes.

When I was looking through the manual I found a section that covered the service options- but I can't find it now! anyway it basically said if you do lots of long runs on motorways and over 10k a year and don''t accellerate hard and don't do many short journeys then the variable service plan is designed for that type of driving. Obviously if that's you you won't be on the brakes, cornering hard or generally enjoying yourself so the car doesn't take as much punishment, so with the fully synthetic oil you can have it serviced less often. If you do shorter journeys, less then 10k and wizzed about a bit you'd need to consider a fixed service plan. As I won't be paying for it I'll have the yearly one please as I'll be in the second catagory! Sorry if I was expecting too much of the salesman expecting him to ask questions that could be important- I just went on what I've experienced and thought that would be the norm based on the 'skoda customer promise'

Just saying that there's a whole raft of things they COULD ask you, that's all. Probably the majority of people would just blindly and happily follow when the car tells them to service it, but think about where you're pointing out the difference in servicing?

Chappers the petrol has a 2.0 Turbo engine (MINE has 272 bhp and 333 lb ft /452 nm of torque,) not a Honda vtec engine, and I change up at 3000 rpm

I accept that (I had an 02 plate Passat several years ago with the 1.8 20v turbo petrol engine and the low down torque was extremely good for a petrol), however a lot of petrols are not turbo - I swapped a 120i BMW for the Octy - the same 170bhp - but that needed revving to access the power. The Passat was extremely poor on fuel though and a lot of our mileage (actually the wife's these days and she moans like hell about having to fill the car up) is in more built up areas - the Passat was giving very low 20's - the diesels are usually giving us high 30's into 40's over the same use. Like I say, it's personal choice. We're happy with our diesel and would find the petrol a compromise - you prefer petrol and wouldn't want to run an oil burner.

The Blackline gets three years free servicing right?

To get all three free services the car needs to be set up on fixed (time and distance) servicing. which is 10,000 miles or 12 months - whichever is reached first.

This way you'll get your three services.

It it hasn't been changed from variable (up to two years / 20,000 miles approx.) to fixed during the PDI (pre-delivery inspection) by the dealer then you aren't going to get your monies worth unless you are doing more than 20,000 miles / year.

The Blackline gets three years free servicing right?

To get all three free services the car needs to be set up on fixed (time and distance) servicing. which is 10,000 miles or 12 months - whichever is reached first.

This way you'll get your three services.

It it hasn't been changed from variable (up to two years / 20,000 miles approx.) to fixed during the PDI (pre-delivery inspection) by the dealer then you aren't going to get your monies worth unless you are doing more than 20,000 miles / year.

I got my free servicing, not because it was a blackline, but because I took out the Skoda finance- I also got the £500 manufacturers contribution towards the initial cost (which together were worth another £1k over and above the overall VAT back and included extras package of the Blackline). I think the APR was 7.9%. The APR was higher than you could get in the high street, but I wasn't bothered because I paid it off as soon as the paperwork came through and I took out the minimum I could on finance. It actually wasn't my idea, but the dealers and when he explained the benefits it was a (nother) no brainer. From what I remember I could choose either the fixed or variable service package as part of the deal I got, and after listening to the dealer's advice I chose the fixed one because I'll be doing less than 10k a year, so the dealer must have set this up as part of the PDI as you suggest. There may have been other packages available and I know that the terms of the deal changed after I'd signed so you had to take out more finance, but that's how I got my 3 years free servicing.

The Blackline gets three years free servicing right?

To get all three free services the car needs to be set up on fixed (time and distance) servicing. which is 10,000 miles or 12 months - whichever is reached first.

This way you'll get your three services.

It it hasn't been changed from variable (up to two years / 20,000 miles approx.) to fixed during the PDI (pre-delivery inspection) by the dealer then you aren't going to get your monies worth unless you are doing more than 20,000 miles / year.

Surely it doesn't matter what the dealer has set, my contract with the garage was 3 years servicing or 3 x 10,000 miles whichever came first. So if they have set the servicing wrong it shouldn't matter, I just book the service at the 10k miles point irrespectve and turn up. They shouldn't be able to turn me away because they failed to set the car up properly

I have just checked and my dealers have put my next service interval down as 10,000 in the handbook, without me asking them too or even discussing it. Doesn't really bother me as i will be doing mid service oil changes anyway. But i would take it up with your dealer seams like they are being a bit stingy and as you say hoping to get away with doing just the one service in the first 3 years.

Let's get this straight, the option as to which service interval you use is completely down to the customer and not in any way down to Skoda so whichever one you want the dealer will just comply. Again, ALL octavias leave the factory with the long service set in the management system, but if you rock up to the dealer's at 10,000 miles and request the first service then, there's absolutley no reason why they won't do it, change the service reminder to short service schedule and just carry on.

The dealers/skoda ren't trying to get out of anything, it's just the way it's come out of the factory and makes little difference to them what they do.

Surely it doesn't matter what the dealer has set, my contract with the garage was 3 years servicing or 3 x 10,000 miles whichever came first. So if they have set the servicing wrong it shouldn't matter, I just book the service at the 10k miles point irrespectve and turn up. They shouldn't be able to turn me away because they failed to set the car up properly

Nobody's set the service wrong, and it's NOT the dealer that's set it, it's how it is from factory, it's just how they all come and won't change unless they happen to specifically ask you on acceptance of the car or you request it at that time.

are you saying that all blacklines get free 3 free services in 3 yrs or 1 big one at 18000mls free.

Surely it doesn't matter what the dealer has set, my contract with the garage was 3 years servicing or 3 x 10,000 miles whichever came first. So if they have set the servicing wrong it shouldn't matter, I just book the service at the 10k miles point irrespectve and turn up. They shouldn't be able to turn me away because they failed to set the car up properly

That's what I'm going to do.

I had 3 year servicing but long life on the car, when I went in at 18,000 miles for a free service they weren't happy as the offer was 3 x 10,000 however they did it no issue and set it at 10,000 for my last free service.

My Blackline was set wrong (not wrong but at longlife) if you go into the maxidot and reset the service it defaults to 10K servicing, simple.

1) Fuel filler cover does not depress shut as it should. It can take up to about 10 attempts before it finally latches.

Just a thought, There is a plastic teather that holds the cap to the bodywork. It can sometimes can become twisted and interfear with the hinge that shuts the cap.

I got my free servicing, not because it was a blackline, but because I took out the Skoda finance- I also got the £500 manufacturers contribution towards the initial cost (which together were worth another £1k over and above the overall VAT back and included extras package of the Blackline). I think the APR was 7.9%. The APR was higher than you could get in the high street, but I wasn't bothered because I paid it off as soon as the paperwork came through and I took out the minimum I could on finance. It actually wasn't my idea, but the dealers and when he explained the benefits it was a (nother) no brainer. From what I remember I could choose either the fixed or variable service package as part of the deal I got, and after listening to the dealer's advice I chose the fixed one because I'll be doing less than 10k a year, so the dealer must have set this up as part of the PDI as you suggest. There may have been other packages available and I know that the terms of the deal changed after I'd signed so you had to take out more finance, but that's how I got my 3 years free servicing.

Chaps,

I've been looking through my paperwork for the servicing and I've got 2 forms which if you've got your free servicing you should have. the first is a form called 'New Free Servicing Q3 12' which I signed at the dealership when I picked the car up. the second (and more important) is a letter from Skoda that came a few days later with the finance agreement number, car deatails and is called 'Your Skoda fixed-price service plan' which includes a section 'What the plan includes' Mine has:

a 3 x sevices

b 1 x oil change at 10000 or 12 months

c1 x inspection service at 20000 or 24 months

d 1 x oil change at 30000 or 36 months

e 1 dust and pollen filter at 36 months

f 1 x brake fluid change if required.

So I guess if you've got this letter from Skoda your quids in and it doesn't matter what the service interval sticker in the car or anything else says. If you haven't got this agreement then you'll need to chase the dealer and skoda to clarify what you have (or haven't) got Cheers Ade.

I've had this letter.

so 10K oil then longlife oil as next oil change at 30K

No, the inspection service is not what you think.... You get the normal servicei.e. Oil and filter etc PLUS they give the car a once over and check things not checked under the normal service. Sounds daft but that's how it is. The assumption that you need to use 1oil for a 10k service and something Less for the variable service (it's not long life) is something i'd advise against. Vag

VAG stipulate a minmum spec for the oil and this needs to be used irrespective of how often it's changed. Sorry I'm anal about oil, but using anuthing less than what skoda suggest could ruin the engine. I'd rather be on the safe side especially as it's a performance engine, tho the petrol heads may dissagree! :-)

I was told by my local dealer they use the same oil irrespectve of the service plan. The long life oil may be more expensive but I guess they save money by keeping it simple and not having to maintain different types of oils.

No, the inspection service is not what you think.... You get the normal servicei.e. Oil and filter etc PLUS they give the car a once over and check things not checked under the normal service. Sounds daft but that's how it is. The assumption that you need to use 1oil for a 10k service and something Less for the variable service (it's not long life) is something i'd advise against. Vag

VAG stipulate a minmum spec for the oil and this needs to be used irrespective of how often it's changed. Sorry I'm anal about oil, but using anuthing less than what skoda suggest could ruin the engine. I'd rather be on the safe side especially as it's a performance engine, tho the petrol heads may dissagree! :-)

I am happy now thought it was an odd way of doing things. I never do my own oil always had a Skoda service at the dealer to ensure the warranty.

I got my free servicing, not because it was a blackline, but because I took out the Skoda finance- I also got the £500 manufacturers contribution towards the initial cost (which together were worth another £1k over and above the overall VAT back and included extras package of the Blackline). I think the APR was 7.9%. The APR was higher than you could get in the high street, but I wasn't bothered because I paid it off as soon as the paperwork came through and I took out the minimum I could on finance.

Hi, what was the minimum finance you had to take. I've currently got nearly the full value on finance but should have the money to clear it in a month or so. I want to leave enough on finance to qualify for the free servicing.

Oh and my blackline is awesome, apart from the tail gate water fun! Which I plan to fix today with the door trim from Halfords.