Hi, just had my 2nd Citigo service done by my local Skoda Dealership. 

It was rather expensive and not carried out very well, so I'm not pleased. 

But, the most annoying thing is Skoda UK are quite happy to rip their loyal customers off on the cost of services. 

I found out by trawling the net that I could have got the service done at less than HALF the price that Skoda Dealerships are charging & with using genuine Skoda parts. 

I only went through the Delership for my service because I was concerned about maintaining the 3 year guarantee. 

To add insult to injury, when I complained that the service hadn't been carried out in a brilliant manner & that it was expensive, the Skoda Dealership customer liason guy said that 'if I'd haggled, I would have got it a CHEAPER price. 

So be warned, Skoda DO NOT offer their loyal customers the best price for Servicing of your vehicle, you have to haggle with them to get the price of their services down to the same price as independent garages charge. 

 

That's a fine way to reward loyalty & hang onto their customers isn't it. 

I won't be using them ever again to Service my Car. 

Would this be any different with main dealers for any other brand of car?

As I understand it, there is no compulsion to use a dealer and your warranty is not at risk so long as you have documentation, but don't dealers usually have fixed-price services these days, and call you if there are additional problems before charging you?

That’s why I paid £99 for 2 services when. Bought our new 75 sel green tech. When our qashqai needed a new wiper blade at service I checked and saw their web price was cheaper than Halfords however they charged me the “local rate” ie more and when I complained to Nissan uk they basically said tough bananas each dealer can charge what they want ( can get away with). Couldn’t be bothered to involve trading standards for £8 but they have probably lost a customer which is a shame as we love the car, it’s reliable , reasonably economical and has lots of kit

Sound like the outlet is part of the Trust Group.Not too apt  a name if you need to haggle on price.My  cars service is due next year-I was thinking of using them,just to avoid the old warranty cop -out.Seems fine in practice to use a non franchise garage for servicing,but another when a problem rears its head-they can't deal with it foc,and a dealer needs to be involved. I wouldn't dream of using dealers to fit a wiper blade,which takes  7-8 secs to fit.If you don't know how to fit,you can learn and save money.

Edited 6 September, 20196 yr by Blackcountryman

Trust Group - my God, are can't think of a more unsuitable name for them! 

Why not ask the price beforehand? And for cheap price you could ask what they do for a car. Probably nothing more than oil change. 

Whilst all this is true, you will not get very far with a claim against perforating corrosion if it does not have a full dealer service record. Even cars serviced at Skoda are having issues when the servicing dealer has not ticked the box to say the bodywork check has been done on other models, if the issue arises.

 

We have only had my wifes Citigo a few months, but reading older posts on here there have been some cars having issues with rust perforation in the filler cap area; apparently on the VW Up version this area is protected by a lining which is not put on the Citigo?

We have inner linings at rear on our up! yes. Our Citigo does not have those. 

This is the kind of stuff a dealer service will never take care of, and why jobs sometimes take a lot longer than planned. When you have the wheels off its a good opportunity to do a clean up and spray a bit of protection on, a dealer would never bother. 

 

If you can get access to the fuel filler up under the arch on any car in decent condition I'd be tempted to lash a coat of underseal paint or hammerite all around it, failing that a good spray with some thick spray grease, I have used Auto extreme Rust Proofer which is a spray grease that claims to kill existing rust. I am a fan of the white lithium grease too, I've found that stuff very resilient. Once it gets a hold round the fuel filler rust is very difficult to repair neatly, it's the reason you see so many older cars with the metal ring thing stuck on around the filler cap. 

 

I might have a look at the Octavia at some point, I'm intending keeping it for years and the best time to do this stuff is before any rust takes hold. 

Edited 8 September, 20196 yr by VRS_White_Hatch
afterthoughts ...

As far as I know, recent Citigos do have all 4 plastic wheel arch liners, factory fitted as standard - mine certainly does.

 

I wonder what year this was introduced, and whether it was only on some models (SE-L?) or only for some markets?

 

Anyway - let's hope it helps reduce corrosion!