I just returned from the second variable service of my 63 plate 140 CR diesel manual hatchback at a main dealer.

 

The car has done 28000 miles, the first variable service was carried out at 9000 miles, when the car was two years old.  (I bought it one year old with almost zero mileage)

 

The feedback I got was that the front tyres were wearing unevenly and would need to be replaced soon.  The tread depth readings were:

 

Front left: 

Outer 6

Middle 4

Inner 6

 

Front right:

Outer 6

Middle 5

Inner 5

 

The variance in tread depth across the tyres doesn't seem like much to me, would anyone be concerned with this "uneven wear"?

 

The other defect identified was that the front discs are pitted on inner edge.  (will require pads and discs). They seemed to be of the impression the car was safe to use for now, but it would be the end of the world if I didn't get the work done before February / March next year, at a price of £275. They did say the pads had 10mm remaining.

 

Does this sound right?  Is £275 a reasonable price for the work?

 

The other one was that the air conditioning was not blowing cold, and should be re-gassed. It seems to be blowing cold to me, but in the cold outside temperatures it's hard to tell. I'm sure I can get that done for less than £85 they quoted, but if I understand correctly the air conditioning gas also contains the lubricant for the pump / system.  Do you think it'll be OK to wait until the start of summer to get this done, or is a lack of gas going to starve the system of oil and cause damage?

 

 

 

 

They're looking for work. I'd bet a dollar against a dog biscuit that there's nothing there which needs doing to pass an mot, and only stuff which will make a nice fat profit for the dealers in these lean times...

The front left purely shows the tyre has been slightly over inflated, the front right is neither here or there and the pitting is as Rustynuts said they are trying it on for work.

They're looking for work. I'd bet a dollar against a dog biscuit that there's nothing there which needs doing to pass an mot, and only stuff which will make a nice fat profit for the dealers in these lean times...

 

That's what I had suspected, particularly when I realised I have just paid £300 for an oil and filter change and a brake fluid change, the rest of what they did was just looking for work.

£300 is about £100 too much.

Get a good Indy in your area to look after car from now on.

I am amazed they never hit you with "the Buckled wheel" as well :notme:

I got my Merc regassed locally for £19 through a Groupon deal check locally on it they have deals in the winter time

Edited 22 December, 20169 yr by DEL80Y

Ref the Air Con

 

Buy a cheap Air Con Thermomiter, stick it in the grill on the dash, turn Air Con to cold and see what the Temperature drops to.  There is a lower limit but I can't remember what it is though

Edited 22 December, 20169 yr by Auric Goldfinger

If the opening post was titled 'guess which three items the local Skoda dealer tried to scam me for?"

 

I'd have guessed:

 

1) Tyres

2) Disc & pads

3) A/C re-gas.

 

Oldest trick in the book.

 

They tried it with me on my 2 year old 2008 Octavia. I sold the car earlier this year with the original discs and pads and several clean MOT certificates.

Get a good Indy in your area to look after car from now on.

I am amazed they never hit you with "the Buckled wheel" as well :notme:

I got my Merc regassed locally for £19 through a Groupon deal check locally on it they have deals in the winter time

 

I had planned to get a recommended local garage to do the service, and they had quoted around £160 for the service plus the brake fluid as an extra, but I was reading on here about very expensive repairs which may occur in the future, and Skoda subsidising some of the cost on the basis the car had been maintained in the dealer network, and that swayed me to get it done there this time.. Hopefully nothing to worry now for a while, and then I will think again about the best thing to do!

I've never had an issue with my dealer in fact quite the opposite and I find it very sad when people have these experiences.

Especially as Skoda have fixed price servicing...

Especially as Skoda have fixed price servicing...

I always bring my own oil for the service and even allowing for the oil I have never paid the service price I have always negotiated.

Even as a dealer employee I can see the dollar signs in their eyes here.

Crap explanations of why work is required has made it completely unjustifiable.

If they'd have said:

Your brake discs appear to be scored on the inner edge, your vehicle might benefit from new discs and pads on the front? Alternatively your pads are only minimally worn so we could leave them as they are and book you in for a free brake check in ... months and go from there?

We've also noticed that your tyres appear to be wearing slightly unevenly on the front, we have checked and corrected the pressures and have rotated them from the front to the rear. At the same time as the brake check we could also check the tyre wear for you?

A final note - about your air conditioning: with the vehicle being a certain age we recommend that the system is serviced to keep it working at its most efficient and prevent any future problems. Our technician has noted that the efficiency seems low - a regas would be our recommendation and this conforms with the manufacturers maintenance suggestion of a regas every 2 years to compensate for natural leakage of gas from the system.

How would you like to proceed?

That might have been understood, gone down a little better and not just looked like a cash grab.

I always bring my own oil for the service and even allowing for the oil I have never paid the service price I have always negotiated.

My local Skoda Dealer/Service refused to accept my oil and filters:

I am responding to your query regarding the use of your own oil and filter in the service work on your Skoda. I understand you have been told we will not use your own engine oil and oil filter whilst completing the service on your car. The reason for this is that we do not know that the oil you have is of the correct grade, nor do we know if the oil filter you have is of the same specification as the Skoda one. If they do not match Skoda requirements then they are not suitable for the engine and could cause damage.

They never asked what oil or filters I would like to use - Valvoline XTreme SynPower XL-III 5w30 C3 - I'm pretty sure it's much better than what they would use ...

Edited 22 December, 20169 yr by jafo

Correct grade. I suppose reading a label has become difficult! My dealers charge for engine oil is relatively reasonable but I still save £36 on the oil.

I do use the dealers filters though.

Edited 23 December, 20169 yr by Danny 57

Get a good Indy in your area to look after car from now on.

I am amazed they never hit you with "the Buckled wheel" as well :notme:

I got my Merc regassed locally for £19 through a Groupon deal check locally on it they have deals in the winter time

 

I have found a good deal using the link you provided, thank you :)

 

They do state on their advert that  "All cars must be compatible with R134a gas for air conditioning. "

 

Is this gas the right one for the car?

Skoda cars have R134a gas in up until MY17 then it changes to R1234yf

Interesting, I'd wondered what they were going to move to. Got to do this for some much larger system soon.