On the diesel, I'm sure they use vw507 for both types of service plan anyway, so don't worry about the oil.

On the diesel, I'm sure they use vw507 for both types of service plan anyway, so don't worry about the oil.

Yea same oil used as it has to be the same low ash type as the car has a DPF. Mine came from the factory set to Variable as it is meant to and dealer changed mine to fixed without knowing anything about my driving plans for the car or asking then when I saw it was on fixed at collection lied to me told me they all come set to fixed. I suggested we go have a look at the sticker in boot and check the codes and he folded and sent a techie to change it who said he had and it turned out he hadnt I had to go to another Skoda dealers to get it changed. I am still waiting for Motorline Skoda Dartford to call me back (in 10 minutes) from March 2011 but they didn't bother to and I am not a happy customer at all. That and there was damage to car that I didn't notice in the rain that was seen when car was detailed a few weeks later (someone had burnt paint with a machine polisher assuming to sort a scratch that happened at some stage).

For all on the fixed/variable thing as said above if you go to service bit in maxidot you can reset it there no matter what plan your on when you reset it on maxidot it resets to fixed 10K/12months. If I was on 3 years free servicing I would want it on fixed too but as I am not and it suits my use of car its on variable and is due its first service in March next 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

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.

That's all good and well if everyone is as in to the detail as you are,

The fact is, not everyone reads up on service intervals and the small print of service agreements. Even the service intervals on the Octavia continue to cause confusion on here with Octy fans!

If the Blackline is set to variable servicing from the factory and the dealer doesn't at least ask you if you want it changing to fixed then there is a good chance that the vast majority of owners will run their Blacklines until the car prompts them for its first service.

This could be as long as two years if your annual mileage is low or around 10,000 miles or less per year.

The problem is at this point it is too late as you are then left trying to squeeze the remaining two services into the last year, which if you are covering low mileage is going to be tricky as you unlikey to cover the 20,000 miles required to get your remaining 2x 10,000 mile services in before the 3 year limit.

Now, I'm guessing that there will be some flexibility from Skoda but then judging by the attitude of some dealers this could leave you with a battle on your hands.

My point was it would have been far simpler for Skoda to set those Blacklines destined for the UK to a fixed service interval, or ensure that it is properly explained to the dealers.

Yes, most people reading this thread will simply remember to book it in when it gets close to the 12 month interval or 10,000 miles, but how many won't?

Still, it is worth remembering that you can set your service interval to fixed yourself simply by following the instructions in the owners manual.

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.

I had to take out 50% finance, not including deposit contribution or trade in so just short of 9k. But I've just paid it off in full within 14 days and there are no penalities, other than the daily interest change which came to about £15 in total . As far as I'm aware I still get the servicing and the £500 contribution has already been used. Great offer, easiest £800 I've ever had !

I had to take out 50% finance, not including deposit contribution or trade in so just short of 9k. But I've just paid it off in full within 14 days and there are no penalities, other than the daily interest change which came to about £15 in total . As far as I'm aware I still get the servicing and the £500 contribution has already been used. Great offer, easiest £800 I've ever had !

That's the way to do it

That's all good and well if everyone is as in to the detail as you are,

The fact is, not everyone reads up on service intervals and the small print of service agreements. Even the service intervals on the Octavia continue to cause confusion on here with Octy fans!

If the Blackline is set to variable servicing from the factory and the dealer doesn't at least ask you if you want it changing to fixed then there is a good chance that the vast majority of owners will run their Blacklines until the car prompts them for its first service.

This could be as long as two years if your annual mileage is low or around 10,000 miles or less per year.

The problem is at this point it is too late as you are then left trying to squeeze the remaining two services into the last year, which if you are covering low mileage is going to be tricky as you unlikey to cover the 20,000 miles required to get your remaining 2x 10,000 mile services in before the 3 year limit.

Now, I'm guessing that there will be some flexibility from Skoda but then judging by the attitude of some dealers this could leave you with a battle on your hands.

My point was it would have been far simpler for Skoda to set those Blacklines destined for the UK to a fixed service interval, or ensure that it is properly explained to the dealers.

Yes, most people reading this thread will simply remember to book it in when it gets close to the 12 month interval or 10,000 miles, but how many won't?

Still, it is worth remembering that you can set your service interval to fixed yourself simply by following the instructions in the owners manual.

All agreed, but it you're not massively losing out if you DO wait the two years until the 18,000 miles and only squeeze two services in. It's the same as most octavia owners, it's only that you feel like you're missing out on something that's included/free, that's all.

Very true, it would just be a shame to miss out on one or more of the three free services.

I'm guessing that they aren't actually free either, they will have been taken into account in the total price paid for the car in some way, shape or form.

The mimimum cost for a fixed service is £129.00. Agreed this isn't a huge deal when you figure that against the £18,000+ paid for the car, but when I bought my vRS part of the attraction was that it had been serviced every 10K and had fresh oil once a year instead of the potential 20K two years with the same oil.

Horses for courses, I just like to make sure I'm getting my monies worth

If the cars are on finance to qualify for the 3 years free servicing they should have been set to fixed at Pdi.

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.

I signed up before 1/10/2012 (when the increased the minimum you had to have on finance to get the £500/free servicing) and only had to take out less than £5k on finance. However that doesn't matter because like stueyhants I paid mine off in full and still get to 'keep' the free servicing. when you're ready just ring Skoda finance up and ask for a settlement quote and have your debit card ready- it's that easy. Hope this helps.

Oh and by the way I found this on page 35 of the brochure about variable/fixed servicing and which option you should choose based on your driving habits and the type of journeys you do. As someone else has already said in previous post the oil usd is the same, they don't use a 'better' oil on the variable service

Service Intervals

When you order your Octavia, you can choose whether your car is on a fixed or a

flexible service regime. Your retailer will help you decide which regime suits how

your car will be driven, enabling your car to stay in the best possible shape.

Fixed regime: Service every 10,000 miles or one year (whichever comes first).

This is recommended if the vehicle is likely to be used in the following way:

> Driven fewer than 10,000 miles per annum and/or

> Mainly short journeys, drive mostly in towns or cities and/or

> High vehicle loading/towing and frequent hill climbs and/or

> Heavy accelerating and braking, using high revs

Flexible regime: Sensors in the engine detect when a service is needed. You will

be informed of this by a service light which will show at any point between 9,000

and 20,000 miles, up to 24 months (whichever comes first).

The flexible service regime is recommended for vehicles with a daily mileage of

more than 25 miles where the vehicle is driven regularly and mainly at a constant

speed with minimum vehicle and engine loading, minimal towing and driven in an

economical manner.

The Blackline is not the same as a Standard VRS it says so in the Logbook. You can argue all you like about it but it will be interesting to see if its log book entry is mirrored by cap+glasses.I presume it will be as all other special editions etc are. The interesting thing is will there be a price difference, again i bet there is because the extras were standard, not add ons for which you gain nowt. As has been said its a no brainer, apart from the no petrol which is a bummer.

Beware, not all 'special editions' are worth more simply because they are 'special editions'.

Agree it will make no difference to resale values.

We'll see. No point debating it now, 1 month after the Blackline was released.

One thing is for sure. It won't harm the residual being a Blackline will it?

No reason why it should, but generally the only reason a special edition is worth more than a 'standard' model is it has something 'special' about it that's unavailable normally. The wheels on this are NOT something special as they can be bought independantly, and that's the only thing that makes it different once it changes hands: things chucked in for free aren't of concern to a new buyer as they can get the same stuff on a normal vRS and they won't give a stuff about how much or little the original owner paid: because i'm very good at haggling, others would paid a lot more than me for my fully specced L&K, but it doesn't mena they'll get more money come resale time because of it, it's just whatever the market dictates. It would just mean I lose less overall.

The car needs to have a individual new colour or something inside that stands it apart. The LE had the tagged seats, just as one example.

The Polo Harlequin looked god awful to some, but it was sort after because of the paint job, the same goes for those special new beetles with the custom paint.

Edited 11 November, 201213 yr by blackspaven

If the car was sold after 2 years/2 services, would the 3rd service be passed on to the buyer, or is it limited to the original purchaser?

Beware, not all 'special editions' are worth more simply because they are 'special editions'.

The Blackline is not the same as a Standard VRS it says so in the Logbook. You can argue all you like about it but it will be interesting to see if its log book entry is mirrored by cap+glasses.I presume it will be as all other special editions etc are. The interesting thing is will there be a price difference, again i bet there is because the extras were standard, not add ons for which you gain nowt. As has been said its a no brainer, apart from the no petrol which is a bummer.

Agree it will make no difference to resale values.

Decided to have a look on CAP this morning for residual values of new cars based on 10K per annum

Standard VRS

Blackline

Make up your own conclusions

the bobbled/rough surface along the lower sides of the car? It's a knightmare to clean.

Dip wash mitt in bucket of shampoo, run along sill, rinse, repeat on other sill. Knightmare! [sic]

I think the points being missed here i know you can buy all the parts to speck it even higher than a black line, so what. its still a vrs in the log book in fact they could be considered as aftermarket extras.which you would have to tell your insurance company about. The Blackline is special because Skoda says it is. Not you or I. as Hulkster says its to early to check residuals 12months should do it. As for the arguement that its not special because you can buy all the extras is crap as we could all buy some model standard cars and spec them up, but as i said they would never legally be the model they aspire to be.They may be good or better but not the same model name.

Edited 12 November, 201213 yr by brownfox

Its not too early to check the residuals as CAP have already produced them

the blackline has its own CAP ID aswell,it is classed as a completely different variant and has its own special edition selection. I only posted this because people said it would be classed as exactly the same as a standard VRS and I could prove that this isnt the case.

Yeah i feel the whole point to this topic was for blackline owners to have a discussion about any niggles etc. However it seams to have been hijacked to discuss VRS generic problems not specific to the blackline. Or even people with neither car putting it down (sour grapes style). My point of view as an owner of standard VRS with options and a new blackline is that they are cracking cars and the only negatives i can think of still exist on the standard VRS anyway.

I think some of the OP's points were valid some weren't really high on my priority of selection reasons and others were just not valid probably due to little prior knowledge of the brand. As a multiple time skoda owner i knew what to expect and was not disapointed.

I'm not even going to start with the niggles on my Blackline - it's been off the road for the past 8 days with a dealer that couldn't be more rude & disinterested when it comes to assisting. I've raised a complaint with Skoda UK. :(

I'm not even going to start with the niggles on my Blackline - it's been off the road for the past 8 days with a dealer that couldn't be more rude & disinterested when it comes to assisting. I've raised a complaint with Skoda UK. :(

Please tell. I like mine and had no issues, interested what problems you have faced and the poor customer service.

I am slightly wary that the boot sill paint work is very easy to scratch on mine, but that's a geneal paintwork issue and someone placing a muddy bag on the sill :(

I've had my blackline since early Oct. Only one problem, rear parking sensor playing up. Appears to be nearside sensor going into dealers to be sorted. Otherwise so far so good and it doesn't have that annoying rattle I had in the rear of my last vrs.

Yeah i feel the whole point to this topic was for blackline owners to have a discussion about any niggles etc. However it seams to have been hijacked to discuss VRS generic problems not specific to the blackline. Or even people with neither car putting it down (sour grapes style). My point of view as an owner of standard VRS with options and a new blackline is that they are cracking cars and the only negatives i can think of still exist on the standard VRS anyway.

I think some of the OP's points were valid some weren't really high on my priority of selection reasons and others were just not valid probably due to little prior knowledge of the brand. As a multiple time skoda owner i knew what to expect and was not disapointed.

The thread ain't been hijacked. At the end of the day it's an octavia vrs. It won't have issues that's unique to it being called a blackline as its still an octavia vrs. So it has the same engines and gearboxes as a normal Vrs only the Amundsen is different. The blackline was / is a great car for the money no one is denying that. It's not like the last ltd edition before the facelift model that was a proper ltd edition with completely different wheels and interior along with being individually numbered.

Please tell. I like mine and had no issues, interested what problems you have faced and the poor customer service.

I am slightly wary that the boot sill paint work is very easy to scratch on mine, but that's a geneal paintwork issue and someone placing a muddy bag on the sill :(

I don't want to clog up someone else's thread too much. There is a thread http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/255235-front-door-locks/