Oil change £175 ?

[decuk]

The cam belt is basically made up of a "rubber" compound and fabric or steel threads. As with tyres on say a caravan or trailer for example, they seldom wear out due to lack of millage. What happens is the rubber tends to age hardened with"heat" the sun etc. This dries out and cracks, which exposes the the re-enforcing fabric/steel. If fabric this gets wet and rots. In any case the rubber becomes brittle and crumbly. If this happens to the cam belt due to engine heat, It can lead to a new engine. So although the belt usually lasts far longer than they state for replacement time. It's a cheaper option than the engine. Come car resale time it's a question often asked, when was the cam belt changed.

[FlyingGecko]

that doesn't sound kosher to me!

Thanks. I'm here all week!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very good. Next!

[glosrich]

For home servicing it can be useful to use one of those oil extraction pumps. Pipe goes down the dipstick tube into the sump to suck the oil out.

Ok you may not get every last drop out, but saves messing about on the floor undoing sump plugs and under trays etc.

Pela make them, they start around £35.

[silver1011]

Minor service (fixed intervals - 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever is reached first) = oil and oil filter.

 

Major service (variable intervals - up to 20,000 miles or 2 years, the car decides for itself when it needs a service) = oil, oil filter, air filter, pollen filter, fuel filter (diesel), spark plugs (petrol).

 

Note: the extra items on the major service are only replaced 'if required', which on almost all Skoda models isn't until at least 3 years or 60,000 miles. Therefore do not ask or pay for a major service unless you are absolutely sure everything is getting done.

 

Far too many people are paying £269 for a £149 oil change, and Skoda know it.

[silver1011]

Hi, my Octavia, bought new in March, is on a variable servicing regime which, given my low  annual mileage, means it wont need a service until March 2018.   !!!

 

I would like to give it ,at least, an oil change in March 2017.

 

My local dealer quotes £175 for an oil change.

 

This is ridiculous 

 

I cannot do it myself.

 

Ought I accept this, or use an independent garage ??

 

Advice please

 

As the car is a keeper and as you cover low mileage it makes no sense to be on the long life / variable service intervals. You should be on fixed.

 

The aim here is to ensure the car gets fresh oil at least once a year, ideally just before winter where the cold starts (and associated engine wear) are increased.

 

If you cover less than 10,000 miles per year then the car will flag for a service every 12 months, ideal.

 

I'm on variable but due to my mileage (30,000 / year) I still get fresh oil at least once a year.

 

Do not pay £175 for an oil change. The MAXIMUM you should pay is £149 as per Skoda UK's fixed priced servicing promise*.

 

*Note that the fixed pricing is for cars 3 years or older, some dealers use this as an excuse. Good dealers honour it for all ages. You need to find a better dealer.

Edited 4 June, 2016 by silver1011

[SuperbTWM]

If you really want a save a few quid you can always ask somebody on here if they are local to you to do it for a bit of beer money

[silver1011]

To give you an idea on the material cost for an oil change.

 

Here is the exact same oil the Skoda garage use. £20 for 5 litres delivered. The dealers buy it by the 10 gallon drum for a fraction of this cost...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Quantum-Longlife-3-5W-30-Fully-Synthetic-Engine-Oil-5-Litre-Bottle-SPECIAL-PRICE-/222135781206?hash=item33b8530756:g:NJAAAOSwA4dWFlAu

 

£7.50 for a MANN oil filter (the same as OEM)...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mann-Oil-Filter-Paper-Element-Type-VW-Passat-Golf-Skoda-Octavia-Seat-Leon-Audi-/351630610782?fits=Car+Make%3ASkoda%7CModel%3AOctavia%7CCars+Year%3A2015&hash=item51ded1515e:g:IGUAAOSwqrtWmR9y

 

So for less than £30 you are good to go.

 

The rest pays for the labour, free wifi, coffee, glass showroom, pretty receptionist and Christmas party.

[SkodaVRS1963]

Any garage will happily charge their work out at £65 an hour and then employ an apprentice on £4 an hour to do said work.

 

A qualified mechanic (paid £15 an hour) carries out a 10 minute cursory check of the work to ensure it's upto scratch.

 

So: the punter gets charged 3 hours labour plus parts for a "minor service", ergo £195 + VAT.

 

The cost to the garage is an hour @ £4 and 30 minutes @ £7.50.  Plus the costs of the oil which they've bought at a massive discount and then charged out at an inflated retail price.

 

My source is the wife of a local franchised garage (not Skoda!) who openly says it's "money for old rope" because if you service the car yourself and something catastrophic happens, the dealer will wash their hands and hang you out to dry.

 

It's actually a very profitable line of work if you can get into it.

[Item]

Is the mazda petrol? I cant say if you had abused it by changing the oil every 2 years it wouldent have hit 130k without failure but by chainging the oil at 7k it has to make the probability of failure less and the internals have to have reduced wear.

Generaly petrol cars in my opinion or less hastle than diesels, if its naturaly aspirated, its even more critical with turbos that they have clean oil, even more so with diesels. If you strip a turbo down and look at the clearences you will see what i mean.

 

Only ever had petrol cars - Mazda is petrol and my VRS is the TSI...

 

Will definitely be doing the Skoda at 12 months as I am unlikely to have hit 20k km by then!

[Rodge]

The cam belt is basically made up of a "rubber" compound and fabric or steel threads. As with tyres on say a caravan or trailer for example, they seldom wear out due to lack of millage. What happens is the rubber tends to age hardened with"heat" the sun etc. This dries out and cracks, which exposes the the re-enforcing fabric/steel. If fabric this gets wet and rots. In any case the rubber becomes brittle and crumbly. If this happens to the cam belt due to engine heat, It can lead to a new engine. So although the belt usually lasts far longer than they state for replacement time. It's a cheaper option than the engine. Come car resale time it's a question often asked, when was the cam belt changed.

It was 10 years or 100 thousand miles for my Mk 1 Focus. 5 years or 60 thousand seems a bit poor.

[octavianestate]

Its a interesting take - I don't know one way or the other for sure, but I would be surprised if we can't trust the manufacturer on this one.

If their recommended oil change frequency is damaging or shortening the life of the car, then ultimately it would still impact their sales and reputation if their models were known for dying or becoming catastrophically unreliable after the first 3-4 years or so.

A car with a good reputation for a long life and reliability down the track has surely still got to be a win for the brand overall?

Do you have any sources to back up your claims - be interested to do more research on it.

Cheers

Trust...lol

Did you hear about the so called emissions scandal. One of the world's biggest car manufacturers caught in what had to be the world's biggest mis-selling scam.

Trust 'their' engineering excellence. Dealers get confused about the service interval.. . Fixed or variable. My dealer had to 'phone a friend' regarding this as they did not know.

Trivial stuff like this makes me suspicious.

I was also in opinion that oil does degrade. Whether an oil is long life or not it's prudent to periodically change the oil filter (and oil) to inspect for metallic debris even if the oil is deemed 'ok'. After all its not just the coolant keeping that engine cool.

[Item]

Trust...lol

 

 

Don't misunderstand - my assertion of trust is certainly not based on the manufacturer being a paragon of virtue or behaving in any way altruistically!

 

It behoves them to have a brand/car which is reliable and holds its value as much as possible as well as one that doesn't cost them too much in warranty repairs over its 3 or 5 year lifespan. That being the case, I would be surprised if they willingly committed to a service regimen which was detrimental to the car.

 

But like you say, who knows how they really think...

[GBHam]

I took my own oil at the 2 year service and saved €100 here in Germany. (Authorised dealer) could not believe it.

[JohnMorr]

The cam belt is basically made up of a "rubber" compound and fabric or steel threads. As with tyres on say a caravan or trailer for example, they seldom wear out due to lack of millage. What happens is the rubber tends to age hardened with"heat" the sun etc. This dries out and cracks, which exposes the the re-enforcing fabric/steel. If fabric this gets wet and rots. In any case the rubber becomes brittle and crumbly. If this happens to the cam belt due to engine heat, It can lead to a new engine. So although the belt usually lasts far longer than they state for replacement time. It's a cheaper option than the engine. Come car resale time it's a question often asked, when was the cam belt changed.

The service schedule for my Mk.2 Octavia called for a cam belt change every 4 years even with low mileage. Same for the Mk.3?

[Rodge]

The thing is its the same oil...

It is for the diesel engines, but the petrol engines get VW 504.00 instead of 502.00. According to http://www.oilspecifications.org/articles/vw_motor_oil_specifications_explained.php which Sheldon.Cooper posted a link to, 504 is significantly better than 502.

[Trebor77]

If I use an indy garage, do I invalidate the guarantee ?

[Jigger72]

If I use an indy garage, do I invalidate the guarantee ?

 

As long as they use Skoda/VAG spec oil and Skoda/VAG OEM parts (oil filter, etc. ) you should not invalidate your warranty.

 

Didn't you get a free servicing plan when you bought new? I think most do.

[Trebor77]

I didn't.  I will contact them & ask, I only bought the car in march so have awhile

[mobil531]

Re cam belt change for Mk3

Skoda do not have a service requirement to change the timing belt at a given mileage for the petrol engines. They require it to be inspected at 240000 kms and thereafter every 30000 kms. This is from the factory workshop manual. VW/Audi/Skoda Australia want to change them every 105000 kms, just shows what they know ! Just drumming up extra work imho.

Regards

Roger

[glosrich]

Re cam belt change for Mk3

Skoda do not have a service requirement to change the timing belt at a given mileage for the petrol engines. They require it to be inspected at 240000 kms and thereafter every 30000 kms. This is from the factory workshop manual. VW/Audi/Skoda Australia want to change them every 105000 kms, just shows what they know ! Just drumming up extra work imho.

Regards

Roger

 

240k kms or 150k miles seems a bit high imo, if the car was a keeper I'd recommend getting it done before then. I know its a glass fibre reinforced belt and all that, but for what it costs its cheaper than a new engine.

 

It may be what it says in the factory manual, but lets face it VW dont have a great reputation for their engineering decisions, they tend to just design a new engine every 3 years to run away from their mistakes. The TSI timing chain engines spring to mind, lots of broken chains and rattling problems there. Oh we'll just start using belts again to get away from that problem say VW....

 

And once its out of warranty they dont give a toss anyway if it breaks.

 

If you want a car with a good engine buy a Honda. Just a shame they dont make any good cars at the moment with their engine in.....lol

[mobil531]

Glosrich

I will do what Skoda advise re timing belt, although I respect your opinion I put my trust in Skoda who design, test and manufacture the cars.

As for Honda, yes good engines. My other car is a Toyota Kluger bought new in 2005, 181000 kms, serviced and maintained by myself as per Toyota service schedule and running like new.

My Octavia is a keeper which I will maintain myself after warranty, if and when it goes uneconomically wrong I will scrap it and buy something else. I will not buy from VW group again despite my Octavia being really good.

Regards

Roger

[Gerrycan]

Any garage will happily charge their work out at £65 an hour and then employ an apprentice on £4 an hour to do said work.

 

A qualified mechanic (paid £15 an hour) carries out a 10 minute cursory check of the work to ensure it's upto scratch.

 

So: the punter gets charged 3 hours labour plus parts for a "minor service", ergo £195 + VAT.

 

The cost to the garage is an hour @ £4 and 30 minutes @ £7.50.  Plus the costs of the oil which they've bought at a massive discount and then charged out at an inflated retail price.

 

My source is the wife of a local franchised garage (not Skoda!) who openly says it's "money for old rope" because if you service the car yourself and something catastrophic happens, the dealer will wash their hands and hang you out to dry.

 

It's actually a very profitable line of work if you can get into it.

I'd agree that dealers appear to make a substantial profit but the picture you present is incomplete.

Our local dealers excellent new facilities are maintained to a very high standard of presentation, apart from the mechanics there are administrative staff and management of course, and probably a computer department somewhere.

Then there are other expenses for power, rates, insurance, training staff, probably a lot more that I can't think of now 'cos its past my bedtime.

Anyway none of that comes cheap and has to be incorporated into the eventual customer charge.

 

Coincidentally my cars 2nd annual service will be performed this Friday, so it is considered a major service with the brake fluid and cabin filter also requiring a change.

I will be using the dealer during the period of the warranty but once that is up I will probably find a local independent who does not have so many overheads.