I'm getting the oil cooler on my vRS changed next week.

When I was in the garage for them to price up the job I asked them what coolant they use.

The guy pointed to a huge drum of Morris Ultralife Red Antifreeze.

Looking at the specs from their website it says it meets the OEM specifications for the Audi/VW/Skoda/Seat (VAG) group...

http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/Downloads/Ultralife%20Red%20TDS%207854%20Iss%200.pdf

What is "G12" and should I be insisiting they use OEM coolant?

Looks fine to me, but then it's not my car

Edited 16 December, 201213 yr by cheezemonkhai

G13 is the newer one.

I read in the manual that you should only use what is printed on the header tank, mine has G12.

I'll let them use the Morris coolant, if for no other reason than the Octavia PD170 needs 8.3 litres of the stuff. At £7/litre I won't be supplying my own G12 at over £56!

The Halfords Advanced coolant is supposed to meet G12/G12+ specs,according to their Q&A.

Halfords coolant is expensive. Go on to Camskill.co.uk and you will find G12 for about £23 for 5ltrs.

Tapatalk'd from my HTC SXE Beats

I decided to let the guys use their own coolant. According to the website it meets the OEM specifications/requirements for VAG vehicles.

Now, how much do you reckon the total bill will be?

I priced up the oil cooler at £75 +VAT (same supplier the garage uses, but I'm assuming they get trade discount).

They reckon 3 hours labour @ £40 = £120.

Coolant - £30?

I left them a litre of oil to top up after removing and replacing the oil filter housing - No cost.

So that's £270 inc. VAT.

Let's hope I'm not suprised when I get the call!

Halfords coolant is expensive. Go on to Camskill.co.uk and you will find G12 for about £23 for 5ltrs.

Tapatalk'd from my HTC SXE Beats

You say the Halfords stuff is expensive then as a comparison put something up that is just £2 cheaper :think: . Factor in the postage and no doubt it will be cheaper to go and get it from a Halfords instead. Use the tradecard if you have one or know someone with one and it would probably be around £20 for 5L.

You say the Halfords stuff is expensive then as a comparison put something up that is just £2 cheaper :think: . Factor in the postage and no doubt it will be cheaper to go and get it from a Halfords instead. Use the tradecard if you have one or know someone with one and it would probably be around £20 for 5L.

Just to clarify, Irish halfords prices are not like for like compared to the UK. On some items they are nearly 75% dearer, its a whole lot more than just the currency difference.It's cheaper for me to by my Millers additive,Oil and coolant from Camskill and have it shipped to Ireland then it is to buy it from a local Halfrauds !!I also get supplied ex- vat from Camskill because they are exporting and that normally cancels out the shipping cost.also......£7/ltr = £35 for 5ltrs. Nobody mentioned in the post what the Halfords price was.(sorry I'm on a rant)

Hopefully I am not being thick here, but I thought the coolant system capacity on a PD was about 6 litres, and the coolant is diluted 50/50, so you need 3 litres of coolant?

Makes a lot of sense to me.

8.3 litres, its in the manual.

G12 is already premixed so you need 8.3 litres.

If you can find someone nearby with a Halfords trade card, 5 litres of ready mixed coolant costs £13.21 inc VAT. I changed it on the motorbike a couple of weeks ago and kept the receipt for the service history. The pink stuff on the bike is overkill but at that price....

I know the card drops the price on some stuff a hell of alot, didn't realise it would be that much on the coolant. Best ones I've come across are things like wiper blade sets that will reduce from say £15 down to £5. A few years ago I bought a 1L bottle of DOT5:1 brake fluid and the price reduced from £9.99 to under £4.