Car is almost 1yr old, 5k on clock, set to variable service.

I think it should have oil service at 1yr but then I am a bit "old fashioned".  I spoke to service dept. who said leave it run on till warning light indicates service is due and bring it in then.

 

My questions are: 

1.how much have others paid for such a 1st. service on their Fabia mk111?

 

2. Is the current Skoda offer of two services (one each year) for £280 the way to go instead?

 

3. Should I just ask Kwik fit/Halfords to do the job.

 

I am worried about the upfront cost of these and the fear of the oil turning to water and leading to premature engine wear. 

P

Posted in haste! Meant to say, please share your knowledge and thoughts.

Best regards

jonboy77

Keep it in the dealer network until at least the warranty runs out otherwise you will have problems with certain warranty claims and no goodwill should it be required later.

 

Unless it has a hard life (lots of starts,short runs, never or rarely warms up)AND plan to keep it a long time, I would simply run it until the service indicator says so. Why waste money?

Edited 14 August, 20187 yr by xman

Hi xman,

Yes, I see that keeping in with the dealer is the way to at least retaining a foot in the door in case of problems later and I will do as you suggest.  My thought was, with the elongated service interval perhaps I was storing up greater expense?  I might just be paranoid but when dealers recommend a course of action it is hardly ever to their detriment :-)

High powered engines like the vrs or those older engines with camchains definitely needed regular fresh oil simply to survive, but even then many didn't, they were compromised by design and quality defects. But I suspect the new generation (all cambelt) are much better and tolerant of the extended service regime. BUT if you intend to keep the car well beyond the warranty period, annual oil changes would help keep the engine wear low for many years. 

 

 

 

jonboy, your car should be on the 'fixed' service interval by default. Dealers are told to do that. If yours is on 'variable' it's wrong if you are only doing 5k miles per year. Technically, 5k miles per year comes under 'adverse' driving conditions if you read your owners manual. The manual states to keep your warranty you must have the car serviced at one yearly intervals if your mileage is low (9,400 miles or below). From the factory your car has been filled with long life oil but it degrades quickly over low miles, and especially if you do lots of town work, shorter trips, low temperature trips (where the engine oil doesn't fully warm up etc).  TBH I'd go for the service and avoid possible issues later with warranty as you won't be in full compliance with your warranty if you don't have it serviced at one year inspite of what you dealer has told you (I'm amazed they said that).  As it is, if you go by what the dealers employee has told you, you could end up waiting a very long time indeed for the service light to come on and that won't do your car or warranty any good. The first service for you car is very important and the oil change gets rid of lots of impurities, engine running in debris etc. It's up to you of course what you do, but the answers you seek are in your owners manual and are very clear. Good luck jonboy.

 

ps. I'd avoid going to kwikfit or any such places. Often they charge more than your Skoda dealer and only do half the work your dealer does.

 

 

Edited 15 August, 20187 yr by Estate Man

Cars leave the Factory on Variable / Flexible Servicing, & with Long Life Oil,

and Dealers / Skoda have no right to Fixed as a 'Default' they should ask the Customer / Owner what they want. 

'Choices'.  Not Dealership employees choice as they wish without the knowledge of the customers circumstances or finances.

 

They are chancers changing to Fixed Servicing without asking just for their profits when they are privately owned cars and not Fleet / Lease.

http://volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes 

'You can choose'.   Not 'default' or anything like default.

Edited 15 August, 20187 yr by Offski

I took out the offer on service plan when I bought my car and got 2 services for only £149. It included one short service and one long one.

 

Harry

13 minutes ago, horkin said:

I took out the offer on service plan when I bought my car and got 2 services for only £149. It included one short service and one long one.

 

Harry

 

We did a similar thing, though 3 services and an MOT when my wife bought her Polo back in August 2015 - so that worked out for us cost wise and I would always remain the dealership service loop while in warranty.

 

Back to the OP:- 

The only thing that I would change in respect of what has been suggested earlier is, change that car to fixed servicing - which will get done if you take on the "2 year service" deal, as maybe a lot of its use will be short journeys.

Oil turning into water, maybe better to find the recipe for turning oil into gold?

I had the same 2 services plan as Harry thrown in with the lease. Now had both of them. I asked for the first service at around 1 year, but before it was asking for it. The car had done around 12k IIRC. I'd been doing lots and lots of short trips in nasty city traffic, which is why I thought it was best to get it serviced then and switch onto fixed. The second year I ended up doing less driving due to different uni placements, so it got its second service a year later at around 20k miles. IMO unless you're doing high mileages on open roads I'd go for the fixed interval servicing.

On 15/08/2018 at 08:51, Estate Man said:

jonboy, your car should be on the 'fixed' service interval by default. Dealers are told to do that. If yours is on 'variable' it's wrong if you are only doing 5k miles per year. Technically, 5k miles per year comes under 'adverse' driving conditions if you read your owners manual. The manual states to keep your warranty you must have the car serviced at one yearly intervals if your mileage is low (9,400 miles or below). From the factory your car has been filled with long life oil but it degrades quickly over low miles, and especially if you do lots of town work, shorter trips, low temperature trips (where the engine oil doesn't fully warm up etc).  TBH I'd go for the service and avoid possible issues later with warranty as you won't be in full compliance with your warranty if you don't have it serviced at one year inspite of what you dealer has told you (I'm amazed they said that).  As it is, if you go by what the dealers employee has told you, you could end up waiting a very long time indeed for the service light to come on and that won't do your car or warranty any good. The first service for you car is very important and the oil change gets rid of lots of impurities, engine running in debris etc. It's up to you of course what you do, but the answers you seek are in your owners manual and are very clear. Good luck jonboy.

 

Whoops. Time to get my Fabia serviced. It's done 4,000 in 17 months but no service indicator has come on and the dealer hasn't called me.

Crassus, oh dear! But never mind, get it to your dealer right away.  As you have no current problems it should be ok with the warranty. But it could give them a 'way out' in the unlikely event a problem with the engine occurs. Ask them to change the service schedule to 'fixed' annual service as that is what you car should be on. Actually, it's their fault it's on the wrong schedule so you have no need to worry. 

In my experience of VW Group products, that car will not get much past 18 months before it warns you to arrange for a service, have you tried viewing the service pages to see where it thinks "it is" wrt needing serviced?

sorry about the bold!

Thank you to all who contributed.  I eventually decided that I should go with the annual service and purchased a pre-paid Service plan for under 1 year old cars = £279.  They do muddy the water by saying it is a “1 x oil service and a 1 x oil and inspection service”. Whereas they show an “interim” and major “service” on a different page on their website priced at £159 and £279 respectively.  They appear to be trying to not impart information.

Should the car in its third year be without problem then I will source servicing outside of the Skoda group as it appears it is money for old rope.  I guess that the dealers feel that the initial car sale price is not enough for them and that the added bonus of a longer guarantee allows them to tie in their ramped up service charges.

 

Once again thank you all for imparting your knowledge

Jonboy77

The £159 & £279 is for cars between 3 years and 10 year old on Fixed Servicing if you look at the T&C's.

But most will match that or actually beat that as a 24 month service on a 24 month old car is not the same as a 48 month service where parts should be supplied.

Spark Plugs & Air Filter as an example.

http://skoda.co.uk/finance-and-offers/service-and-maintenance/simply-fixed 

I've done 9k in 1 year, a mix of short trips and very long runs - 2k in one case.  Even the short runs have a section of dual carriage way and the oil gets to 100c.  So... I was planning to wait for the light.  It's a lease vehicle so beyond keeping VWFS happy.....   

My mileage has gone up massively as of this week so I'll hit the service indicator light by Christmas.  I'm inclined to wait now - it could either be viewed as 9k in 1 year or 18k in 16 months, the later would be fine I guess.

 

Anyone see any holes in my logic?

So you are going to have the car serviced at the Variable service interval when the Service Indicator says the Oil Service is due, 

that is why there is Variable / Flexible servicing.

http://volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes 

I was wondering where I had seen reference to "aggravated operating conditions". It is in the online owners manual accessed through the myskoda app, in the section "overview of service intervals".  Things such as

 

"predominantly stop-and-go traffic as is e.g. often the case in city driving."

Also

"frequent short trips."

 

Allied to the advice of less than 9,000 miles per year and regular servicing is recommended, it seems that going for variable services in those conditions may give Skoda a way to reduce their liabilities under the warranty, then again I may just be a paranoid old git

Yeah that is my concern.

On the other hand, I'm a hair under and by the time the indicator comes on, it will have been "corrected' by my new increased mileage...

I'll risk it. If they get funny, I'll claim ignorance and remind them that they should have set it to fixed servicing as it's an 8k PA lease.  I'll be doing 20k and paying the over mileage fee from now on...  they gave me a new quote which was them charging me the 8p a mile on a monthly basis.  Absolutely no concessions or negotiation.  I'll pay at the end and use the amount I pay as a bargaining chip on my next lease with the broker...

jonboy, yes the fixed is right for you. 

 

In fact, Skoda customer services told me last year all cars should be on 'fixed' service interval unless the customer tells them it's going to be a high mileage car, and then it will be left on a 'variable' setting. The reason for this is the average mileage that a private motorist in the UK cover is just 7,900 miles per year (2015 figures) and it's not changed much since then. This means a fixed service interval works best for most folks and means their cars will be looked after correctly. Be warned that if you take your car to an aftermarket service agent you may well pay more for your servicing and may miss out on important ECU updates unless you pay for them. A survey of over 6 specialist in my area showed they did unnecessary work and charged much more for the service on a Fabia. They also failed to quote for genuine parts, using aftermarket parts instead. The service charges varied by as much as £120 between service agents and all were much more expensive than a Skoda dealer. I was quoted £180 for my first 'oil change' service, yet my Skoda dealer charged just £90. When I enquired as to why I was being charged £180 at the specialist dealer and his explanation was that lots of work needed to be carried out and this apparently included removing the wheels to do a load of stuff. He didn't know I was a technician myself but I was able to tell him he was talking rubbish. It's just oil, filter and inspection of various items, that's all. 

You can take your vehicle to Independent Specialists with all the gear and more than an idea.

There will be all sort, honest and not so honest, just as at Official Repairers and Main Dealership workshops.

 

Licensed Diagnostics, and the TPI's, Recall Information from the Manufacturers. Trained and Qualified Technicians that may well be ex Master Techs from the Main Dealerships.

 

People that if the Service Guidelines says remove wheels do remove wheels, remove rear drums, clean and do preventative servicing and maintenance.

Will test drive the vehicle, will plug into the OBD and do a check, will do more than just look so for what is over £80 Plus VAT at Main Dealers because they charge even if not spending the time or replacing parts.

The 'Free Wash & Vacuum' sometimes taking longer than the Oil & Filter service and top ups and visual inspection and report takes.

http://skoda.co.uk/finance-and-offers/service-and-maintenance/simply-fixed 

Money for old rope.  The Brake Fluid Change is extra, about £54, those needing DSG Oil Changes, £179, Haldex £69, A/C service what ever they choose to quote.

(It would be good if the Service Desk staff could tell all what is important, needs doing is a good idea to have if your car is privately owned and a keeper, 

and not just try 'upselling',  how often can they say brakes are 80% worn when measured they are 20% worn...)

 

They have overheads obviously, but there is the odd thing of £279 even if the labour time is less & no Air Filter, Spark Plugs or Fuel Filter are supplied and fitted yet the VAT comes out the same,

is the customer and HMRC/ Tax Payers being ripped off?

Edited 20 August, 20187 yr by Offski

I agree, "wheels off > brakes looked at closely/cleaned up" is not part of the usual VW Group service plan, all you will get is, once things have started to seize up is the advise to book the car back in for some intensive brake work.

We used my car for the survey and it has disc brakes all round, so rear wheels don't need removing for years. It's just not needed. Drum brakes, it's a good idea to remove at two years or maybe three depending on miles covered.  All the aftermarket garages were sizeably more expensive than my local Skoda dealer and all but two used aftermarket service items, with one wanting to put the wrong oil in the engine. All of them charged between £47 and £60 for software updates that are free from Skoda dealers especially during warranty. 

 

The main issue is that you have a much greater likelyhood of being ripped off at a private aftermarket service agent because they are not accountable to anyone. A Skoda dealer has his franchise to think about and has to stick to the rules, which in fact, mostly they all do. Over my lifetime in the trade I've rarely ever found 'specialist garages to be good value or cheaper than a main dealer for routine work. Sometimes of course they can be and there are some good ones out there. But in the main if you are taking your car to a specialist and it's cheaper, you should be suspicious and actually check the labour rate, parts being fitted and the actual work that they are planning on doing as in my experience, it rarely matches up with what should actually be done. 

Yes, but the need to service brakes can be a bit subject to location and annual mileage, I live in an area where lots of rock salt is used in winter months, that takes it toll on exposed stuff, if you live and drive in the relatively balmy South it might be a different story. As a minimum starting with a new car, every 2 years is a good period to carry out a "wheels off" bit of work. As the years by maybe even every year as corrosion has taken a hold.

Re Skoda Main Dealers / Official Repairers having a franchise to think about. 

 

Customers that do not regular checks the vehicle they drive, or do any maintenance,  might leven eave tyre pressures unchecked or until warning lights show, washer fluid, coolant or oil until a warning light shows really need Truth, Honesty, Knowledge and the services of trained and qualified technicians or fitters at Main Dealerships, 

and knowledgeable Desk / Reception staff, sadly that is where the Main Dealership system can fall down.

Sadly it is a Motor Trade problem, shiny showrooms and booted and suited sales executives and Workshop / Garage managers do not mean that 

the service offered is as bright and shiny, just that the employees drive nice cars for a few thousand miles before they are sold as Ex Management / Ex Demonstrators, and ex Fleet cars / lease cars are sold with Full Main Dealer Service Histories that means not much done in 3 years.

 

As to

Franchises to think about,

That is about as funny as VW having a reputation to protect.

There is a Dealership Review section in BRISKODA, worth a look, there are some Dealership Groups that are too big to fail.

 

Maybe look at Simpson Skoda reviews.

 

http://briskoda.net/forums/forum/289-skoda-dealer-reviews 

 

Edited 20 August, 20187 yr by Offski