Hello! Please go gently on me -- I'm a complete newbie.

 

My wife and I are considering buying our first ever brand new car, which will be a 1.2 TSI Yeti. One of the things I am not sure about is whether the Skoda service plan is a good buy or not. Our annual mileage is likely to be 8000 or under, lots of short journeys, and my expectation is that annual servicing will be the way to go. 

 

We've been offered the three-year/30,000 mile service plan for £454. 

 

It is very hard to figure out what exactly this includes. Skoda's description of the regular 1-year and 2-year services at

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/servicing/

 

does not seem consistent with the service plan description which simply states

 

"The service includes a maximum of:

 

• 1x Oil change at 10,000 miles or 12 months
• 1x Inspection service at 20,000 miles or 24 months
• 1x Oil change at 30,000 miles or 36 months
• 1x Dust and pollen filter at 36 months
• 1x Brake fluid change (if required) †"

 

(http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/service-plans)

 

Not having bought the Yeti yet, I can't seem to find information on what servicing is actually required to retain the warranty and what is recommended. 

 

In any case, the Skoda pricing on 1 and 2 year services comes to a total of £507 which is not a lot more than the service plan. 

 

Any help in understanding what's required and the best way to go with this would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Edited 24 March, 201412 yr by guymo

If the offers are still out there,  I think that If you buy the car on Skoda Finance you will get three years free servicing.  When I bought mine a year ago the salesman offered me this even though I intended to buy the car outright;  he did the sums and I found that if I took out the finance,  and then paid it off in six months,  I saved about £300.  And at that time there was no 0% finance available.  (If paying off after 6 months you keep the free servicing...it is also transferrable to any new owner of the car).   

These offers are changing all the time,  but its worth asking the question, surely?

1st off - Welcome.

 

2nd - You will get lots of different opinions but the best advice i can offer is -  

         Ring a couple of Skoda dealer service departments & ask what the price is for a 1st & 2nd service on the car you are interested in, bearing in mind the price quoted at the time will increase each year.

         Add say 2.5% for inflation to the 1st price, then again to that to make the 2nd year. ( repeat if you want to continue).

         Add these prices together to give you a reasonable indication of what to budget for, & you can compare this  to the offer.

 

I would not worry about the detail of what will be done for pricing purposes, as it is a set menu of items that are done at the 1 & 2 yr service intervals that dictate the cost.It is any extras that can bump up the price.

 

You can opt for variable servicing, which can push the service interval either longer or shorter depending on your driving style & the menu of price is still the same.

I wouldn't bother.

 

See 'Skoda's National Pricing Policy', they claim it is only suitable for cars over 3 years old year, it isn't, all of the dealers I have used have applied it to my Superb and Octavia.

 

They've added this small print to encourage participation of the expensive service plans.

 

If you are on annual / fixed price servicing then you should pay no more than £129 for each service.

 

Given your mileage you won't need a fuel or air filter within the first three years so won't need a major (inspection) service (£249).

 

What ever the major manufacturers claim there are only a few elements that are replaced during a service:

 

Oil and oil filter

Air filter

Fuel filter

Pollen/cabin filter

Spark plugs (petrol only)

Brake fluid

 

The rest is visual checks which are done on all services (the garage wants to find revenue earning faults) .

 

In three years you'll need 3x oil and filter changes (£129 x3 = £387) and one brake fluid change (at 3 years @ £45)

 

Pollen filter, air filter, fuel filter and spark plugs are all changed beyond the three years.

 

So your three years sevicing using Skoda's National Pricing Policy will be £432 compared to the service plan at £454.

 

Not much of a difference but also not the huge saving they try and use to sell you the plan...

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/national-pricing/servicing

Take it on 0% finance - whether you need to or not. Take it for the maximum 42-month term.

 

2 reasons:

 

1. Free servicing for 3 years.

2. Stick the money you were going to pay on the Yeti in a high-interest account and earn interest on it for the 3.5 years - better for that money to be sat in your account than theirs.

 

If you need to sell or change early, just pay it off and buy it outright.

 

There is absolutely no reason NOT to go with their 0% deal if you're buying a brand new Skoda right now.

No 0% or free servicing deals now on the Yeti - both ceased on 31st December.

 

2.9% now on the Yeti, although the 0% still available on some other Skoda moodels.

 

http://www.skoda.co.uk/finance/finance-offers/new-yeti-offer/default

Thanks for all the replies. I'm delighted to have found this forum!

As has been pointed out, 0% and free servicing are not available on Yetis at the moment which is why this was a question in the first place. I think, having done some sums in the light of silver1011's helpful post above, that it's close enough that there's no point in paying the servicing fees up front, so we have decided not to take out the servicing plan.

 

@137699: one additional reason not to take out the 0% finance (if it were available) is the hefty discount for cash that we seem to have negotiated. Still waiting for the offer in writing but the deal seems very good.

 

Thanks again!

Thanks for all the replies. I'm delighted to have found this forum!

As has been pointed out, 0% and free servicing are not available on Yetis at the moment which is why this was a question in the first place. I think, having done some sums in the light of silver1011's helpful post above, that it's close enough that there's no point in paying the servicing fees up front, so we have decided not to take out the servicing plan.

 

@137699: one additional reason not to take out the 0% finance (if it were available) is the hefty discount for cash that we seem to have negotiated. Still waiting for the offer in writing but the deal seems very good.

 

Thanks again!

Yes that is a factor. Seems most brokered deals (and some dealer direct), can get 16% off if no finance, but only around 5 or 6% when taking the low rate PCP.

Ah right - didn't realised they'd killed 0% on the Yeti.

 

As for discount, we sill managed to negotiate almost £2000 worth of discount on ours - even with the 0%. The dealer basically said it didn't matter a jot to them whether we took cash or credit - they get the same money either way so the propensity for discounting is the same.

Ah right - didn't realised they'd killed 0% on the Yeti.

 

As for discount, we sill managed to negotiate almost £2000 worth of discount on ours - even with the 0%. The dealer basically said it didn't matter a jot to them whether we took cash or credit - they get the same money either way so the propensity for discounting is the same.

Good work! We struggled to find a dealer who would take more than £500 off before we went to the internet-based brokerages, who put us in touch with dealers who would, but only for cash. Truthseeker's description seems close to our experience. 

Ah right - didn't realised they'd killed 0% on the Yeti.

 

As for discount, we sill managed to negotiate almost £2000 worth of discount on ours - even with the 0%. The dealer basically said it didn't matter a jot to them whether we took cash or credit - they get the same money either way so the propensity for discounting is the same.

My understanding (and others on here), is that dealers subsidise the 0% deals, so have far less room for negotiation.

 

Having said that, your £2k is still a good discount by dealing direct with the dealer, but maybe not as good as the 16% brokered cash deals that some Yeti owners here have achieved. On a £25k Yeti that is worth £4k, and £4800 on a top spec £30k one.

 

Don't forget, that the most dealers tell the customer want they want to hear  - ie: "doesn't matter a jot to them".