Aircon Service

[alltorque]

2nd year service last week, no drama and coppers under £200 at main dealer. Back for aircon service to-day...didn't have time last week and that was £45. Also had front/rear wheels rotated at same time FOC. Not fully convinced that aircon needs 'service' at 2 years but may stop any warranty hiccups later in the 5 year period.  Good service as always from local dealer. Also bought new rear wiper from Euro car parts...proper Bosch part, so will fit that ere long.

 

Happy bunny. But do like the Superb 4x4 they have in the showroom. Couldn't seem to convince anyone to do me a straight swap.

Edited 23 August, 2017 by alltorque
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[rum4mo]

I suppose that the AC service does make some sense as these systems still seem to lose some refrigerant across many of their seals as can be seen if you check them for dampish or oily and dirty areas at these connections. I've just let off a cleaning bomb in my wife's August 2015 Polo, though how much of that spray got drawn through the air box/evaporator zones I can't same, though lots ended up on the rubber mat on the passenger side. I'm F-Gas certified and stuffed gauges on that car and have recorded running pressures and centre vent air temperature, so that will do me for now.  I fitted a Mann Frecious pollen filter in place of the basic one VW fitted at its 2nd service!

[RickW]

Major service (2nd year) £279 at my local dealer!!

I think I'll be shopping around come next March.

Edited 23 August, 2017 by RickW

[rum4mo]

My wife's August 2015 Polo was bought complete with a 3 year prepaid service plan, which turned out to be the local VW main dealer's only service plan, which suited us as that would be where that car would be taken for service and warranty work. The limit of liability for that major service was £220 as outlined in the service plan booklet, but, for some reason, after being given paperwork ie a zero value to pay bill, the total including all parts and labour etc came to £125.90 with zero VAT being applied, (self to self charging) so that would end up as being £151.08 after applying VAT, which looks very cheap, but why did they let me see these prices as you might think that its makes the £220 limit of liability look like a joke and maybe even make the all up price for the 2 minor + 1 major services look like not so good a deal?

[AGFalco]

It might be to late for some of you but if your car is less than one year old/less than 9400 miles

you can get both the first and second service for £279.00 inclusive.

See this link:- http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/default/

 

Sometimes the fixed servicing costs on the Skoda website are worth looking at.

 

Alltorque did they rotate your tyres/wheels front to back, side to side or diagonally?

 

Thanks AG Falco.

[alltorque]

22 hours ago, AGFalco said:

It might be to late for some of you but if your car is less than one year old/less than 9400 miles

you can get both the first and second service for £279.00 inclusive.

See this link:- http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/default/

 

Sometimes the fixed servicing costs on the Skoda website are worth looking at.

 

Alltorque did they rotate your tyres/wheels front to back, side to side or diagonally?

 

Thanks AG Falco.

Er...just back to front, I think, but I'll ask next time I'm in.  Is one better than t'other?

 

Just had a look at the Black Circles site and they recommend fronts to back on same sides, backs to fron diagonally, for FWD cars without directional tyres. 

 

http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-rotation

 

Kwik-Fit don't recommend rotation. This could be the start of an interesting debate.

Edited 24 August, 2017 by alltorque
Additional comment

[AGFalco]

This is my plan on tyres.

 

On the average FWD car the following happens:-

 

Front tyres wear quicker than the rear tyres.

The nearside tyres ( passenger or kerbside ) wears quicker than the offside tyres ( drivers or roadside ).

This is because we do more turns to the right ( in the uk ) eg. Roundabouts, one way systems, car parks and three point turns.

 

On the front tyres the inside edge wears quickest especially the offside front.

On the front tyres the outside edge wears quicker on the nearside front.

 

On the rear tyres the outside edge wears quickest especially the near side rear.

On some cars this is not the case, especially if you have wide low profile tyres and or adjustable REAR tracking.

 

If you only want to buy two tyres at a time then try fitting the new tyres to the rear and the best worn tyre to the nearside front.

Then when the fronts are worn out move the rear tyres diagonally to the front and fit two new tyres to the rear, and keep repeating this method.

If you want the best out of new front tyres then swap them from side to side when half worn.

WARNING This only works if you have symmetrical or asymmetrical tread patterns.

DO NOT swap directional tyres from side to side without swapping the tyres over on the wheel rims at the same time.

I would not buy directional for this reason, and they can also get noisy when worn especially the rears.

 

If you want to buy four tyres at a time then:-

If you want the best out of four tyres then swap them diagonally when the fronts are 2/3rds worn and the rears are a 1/3rd worn.

WARNING This only works if you have symmetrical or asymmetrical tread patterns.

DO NOT swap directional tyres from side to side without swapping the tyres over on the wheel rims at the same time

 

If you run summer and winter tyres then it is best to wear them down as a set then:-

When you fit/refit the tyres fit them as follows:-

Most tread to nearside front.

Second best tread to offside front.

Third best tread to nearside rear.

Most worn tread to offside rear.

 

Always check for feathering on the tyres for possible tracking/alignment problems.

This is less noticeable if you are doing summer/winter tyres as they will only be on for about half a year.

 

The higher the tyre pressures, ( check on the tyre pressure label inside the fuel filler cap  ) the lower the rolling resistance,

the better the fuel economy, the longer the tyres last, the less likely to aquaplane and the less likely to wear the edges out first.

In some conditions lower pressure is better, freshly fallen snow, muddy terrain etc.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks AG Falco.

Edited 24 August, 2017 by AGFalco

[alltorque]

On 23/08/2017 at 20:33, AGFalco said:

It might be to late for some of you but if your car is less than one year old/less than 9400 miles

you can get both the first and second service for £279.00 inclusive.

See this link:- http://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/service-and-maintenance/default/

 

Sometimes the fixed servicing costs on the Skoda website are worth looking at.

 

Alltorque did they rotate your tyres/wheels front to back, side to side or diagonally?

 

Thanks AG Falco.

Just front-to-back etc, no diagonals.

[alltorque]

On 23/08/2017 at 16:49, alltorque said:

2nd year service last week, no drama and coppers under £200 at main dealer. Back for aircon service to-day...didn't have time last week and that was £45. Also had front/rear wheels rotated at same time FOC. Not fully convinced that aircon needs 'service' at 2 years but may stop any warranty hiccups later in the 5 year period.  Good service as always from local dealer. Also bought new rear wiper from Euro car parts...proper Bosch part, so will fit that ere long.

 

Happy bunny. But do like the Superb 4x4 they have in the showroom. Couldn't seem to convince anyone to do me a straight swap.

Now fitted the new Bosch rear wiper and what a difference. No more scraping, skipping or trying to drag the glass out. It is now quieter than a tip-toeing kitten wearing slippers.  Think the factory-fit rear wipers are, or were, another victim of cost-cutting.  New main wipers next...following my 2-year rule.

[JoePeddos]

On 23/08/2017 at 16:49, alltorque said:

2nd year service last week, no drama and coppers under £200 at main dealer. Back for aircon service to-day...didn't have time last week and that was £45. Also had front/rear wheels rotated at same time FOC. Not fully convinced that aircon needs 'service' at 2 years but may stop any warranty hiccups later in the 5 year period.  

I was quoted £75 for an a/c service plus bugg clean when I took my car in for its second service in April. After speaking to the service manager it is only an advisory service since it was running ok I declined I will have it done before the car has its 3rd birthday next April. I previously had a Mk1 Fabia estate for 10 yrs and only had the a/c serviced once at about the 6 year mark not even sure if it needed it done Joe PS a nice little earner for the garage.

[alltorque]

16 minutes ago, JoePeddos said:

I was quoted £75 for an a/c service plus bugg clean when I took my car in for its second service in April. After speaking to the service manager it is only an advisory service since it was running ok I declined I will have it done before the car has its 3rd birthday next April. I previously had a Mk1 Fabia estate for 10 yrs and only had the a/c serviced once at about the 6 year mark not even sure if it needed it done Joe PS a nice little earner for the garage.

You're correct, the aircon service is probably a nice little earner but at least it was a nice relatively little earner. prices do seem to be whatever they feel they can getaway with. Happy with my local people, and the coffee is good.