Dealers are pretty keen to push these plans, because it guarantees that owners will stay within the official network, but are there any thoughts on whether they're worthwhile?

 

They cover, at least in my case, two services (an oil service and an interim service - or a major service and an interim service, depending on the contradictory terms shown below which both appear on the online 'quote').  I'm assuming the oil service is the same as the interim service because it doesn't seem to appear on dealers' web pages.

 

The interim is £179, and the major £289 - so a total of £468 as against the £405 for the service plan.  Looks reasonable enough, given that the price is fixed, but you are tied to the services at a Skoda garage.  Not such good value if in reality the 'Oil Service' isn't the same thing as an Interim Service.

 

How do people feel about these - and do they include both a major and an interim service?  Or is the 'Oil  Service' something that's been dreamed up to make more money out of these contracts?

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Available Service Plan for your vehicle:

1 Major & 1 Interim Service

This ŠKODA Service Plan provides the next 2 consecutive services (limited to 1x interim service & 1x major service) in line with your ŠKODA manufacturer's recommended service schedule.

 

 

What's covered in each service
You receive cover for your next two services with a fixed price throughout the plan's duration.

 

Oil service
Oil service and oil and filter

Interim Service
Oil and filter change, replace pollen filter (if required)
Vehicle inspection: inspection of all lights, instruments, bodywork, glass, locks, battery, drive belts, suspension, steering, fuel lines, brake pads/shoes/discs, hoses, wash/wipe system, exhaust system, engine components, fluid levels and tyres
Full vehicle road test
Diagnostic check including report
Re-set service interval display
Vehicle software updates
Wash and vacuum
ŠKODA service record

 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Participating dealers do a Oil / Filter Service and Health Check for £119.

The Mot for £39 & Brake Fluid Change for £60 during a service.

 

It is not a Major Service every 2 years on fixed if they are not changing spark plugs, or fuel filter or air filter which might be every 2nd Major Service, 

so £279 to have just an Interim Service and the Pollen filter changed is a rip off.

Do not pay for parts not being changed or even looked at.

 

 

EDIT.

The Oil / Filter service for £119 has gone from the 3-10 year old cars of Fixed Servicing offer.

Edited 28 October, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

Yup I don't tend to bother with these service plans as once you get in to the detail of what they are and more importantly are not doing for the money you then usually see that you'd just as well have been paying as you go. 

Only genuinely good service plan I have been offered (and took up) was 100 quid for 3 years fixed servicing upto 60k on my Mini (bmw had some really good special offers on at the time) back in 2004.

Edited 28 October, 20196 yr by Gmac983

Theoretically, given that these plans do apparently include one Major and one Interim service (after checking) totalling £468, the £405 cost (inflation proofed) seems reasonable.

 

What am I missing?  Is it the fact, if that's the case, that spark plugs etc aren't changed at every major service?

If car is on Fixed Servicing then the service is each year or 9,400 miles.

 

What was called Minor / Inspection & Major time about.

 

Minor now called Interim, and Major called Major.

 

But spark plugs are at 40,000 miles / 4 years, as is Air Filter, or it should be checked each service.

 

So only 2 years and nothing much for £279

and 2 years later maybe Plugs and Air Filter.  Maybe if a tech decides to. 

 

Brake fluid every 2 years after the first 3 years and pollen filter every 2 years or sooner.   A Service plan can end up costing money for a couple of Oil & Filter changes.

14 minutes ago, Roottootemoot said:

If car is on Fixed Servicing then the service is each year or 9,400 miles.

 

What was called Minor / Inspection & Major time about.

 

Minor now called Interim, and Major called Major.

 

But spark plugs are at 40,000 miles / 4 years, as is Air Filter, or it should be checked each service.

 

So only 2 years and nothing much for £279

and 2 years later maybe Plugs and Air Filter.  Maybe if a tech decides to. 

 

Brake fluid every 2 years after the first 3 years and pollen filter every 2 years or sooner.   A Service plan can end up costing money for a couple of Oil & Filter changes.

And all the more so, presumably, for a very low mileage vehicle like mine doing only around 2500 miles a year?  Never, ever, sure what sort of servicing it needs with that sort of ludicrously small mileage!

 

Obviously annual oil changes are critical, but how much more than that it needs, and how often, is arguable.  I still allow it the luxury of a major service every year and an interim every other year, but that's probably overkill.  It's spoiled, it knows it, but it's got to last until it's at least 10 - ideally longer!  😁

It makes sense to know the car is checked and serviced annually.

Service plans are no guarantee of that though.

A good trusted independent can remove wheels and rotate them and ensure they come off when required if there is apuncture.

A good independent can get 'TPI and Service Campaign info and do updates when they have the licenced equipment.

I prefer to know the full service schedule for my vehicles so that I can ensure that everything that needs to be done each year is actually done and not what service techs following one these service plans can wriggle out of doing. 

42 minutes ago, Gmac983 said:

I prefer to know the full service schedule for my vehicles so that I can ensure that everything that needs to be done each year is actually done and not what service techs following one these service plans can wriggle out of doing. 

Not so sure about that.  The Service Plan I already have in place just involves going to the local Skoda dealer and having it serviced there in exactly the same way as I always did.  Same service schedule, same services - just no bill to pay at the end because the Service Plan covers the cost.

 

The only difference seems to be the way that payment's made and taken.

As Roottootemoot basically said though. It's how the dealer/service team interprets what the car needs within the terms of your prepaid service plan. A garage only needs to inform you of work to be done over and above what was agreed, not when they are doing less than was agreed. 

If you have a copy of the vehicles actual service schedule (please note: not the prepaid service plan) you can check up on, or particularly specify what you wish to be done using the correct schedule as your guide. 

A work colleague of mine fell foul of this on his prepaid plan (which was almost £400 worth) as AC chopped and changed him between fixed and longlife/variable servicing and generally bamboozled him with bs to they point when his car was three years old all it'd had was one oil change (no filters!) + 2 "inspections" and nothing much else. 

Edited 28 October, 20196 yr by Gmac983

Skoda need taking to task on this, for years and years they continually get it wrong, it is bordering on farcical.

 

How they have the nerve to tell you that the plan includes 1x interim and 1x major service, and then detail the content of a major service being oil and oil filter only astounds me.

 

An oil and oil filter service is a 'minor service' (£179), or another term Skoda use an 'oil service' (which used to be £119). Confused? Rightly so!

 

A major service (£289) is oil, oil filter, pollen filter, fuel filter (diesel), spark plugs (petrol) and the air filter.

 

The even more infuriating part is their use of the infamous asterix... ^if required.

 

Any skoda franchised dealer will happily charge you £289 for a major service whilst only performing a minor service, that's because the recommended intervals for all the components over and above the oil and oil filter are quite high (at least 3 years / 60,000 miles). Skoda are charging their customers £289 for a £119 oil service!

 

Interestingly their £119 oil service has disappeared from their website, yet another change in direction, just like the wind, so it's now back up to £179...

 

 

Tell them to stick their service plan where the sun doesn't shine, the only one to benefit is Skoda UK, certainly not you.

 

The service plan they are proposing costs £405.

 

You don't provide any detail on the engine, age, service history and mileage of your Yeti, or if it's DSG or 4x4, but let's assume it has recently had its third year service and is a 2WD manual. At 2,500 miles annually you definitely need to be set to the fixed interval (12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever is reached first), to ensure fresh oil once a year.

 

Without the plan you'd be looking at:

 

Year 1 - Interim service - £179

Year 2 - Interim service - £179

TOTAL - £358

 

A saving of £47.

 

The brake fluid @ £60 is required at year 2, but unhelpfully this isn't included in your "comprehensive" service plan, so not so comprehensive then.

 

Assuming the year 2 service is costed at £289 is a common mistake, you won't be getting the spark plugs, air filter or fuel filter. It's a con...

 

 

Edited 3 November, 20196 yr by silver1011

That's very interesting,  and thanks. There's a lot of confusion marketing going on here clearly, though Skoda have specifically confirmed that it includes both a major and an interim service. 

 

I'm on fixed interval servicing and currently paying the dealer the usual prices for those two services in alternate years so on the surface it looks like a saving. 

 

It may still actually produce a saving though  because even paying what I do to the garage I doubt they actually change anything more than is actually required!

 

Who knows!

That's my point, you're currently paying...

 

Year 1 - Interim @ £179

Year 2  - Major @ £289

Year 3 - Interim @ £179

Year 4 - Major @ £289

 

... and so on.

 

But, the year 2 'major' at £289 consisted of fresh oil, oil filter and a kick of the tyres. Nothing else. So you were charged £289 for a £179 service.

 

Only when your car hits three years old does it need the extra items that make up the requirements of the 'major' service. But the three year service is only an interim. So were the additional items that were needed also replaced and charged for accordingly? Or did they wait until the fourth year 'major' service and actually do £289 worth of work?

 

This is why those that don't care, aren't bothered or as Skoda prefer are utterly confused pay over the odds for their servicing.

 

Those that arm themselves with a little prior knowledge before booking it in can save hundreds of pounds.

 

Edited 3 November, 20196 yr by silver1011

OK - had the chance to check what's going on now.  Again, thanks for the useful help on this.

 

March 2018  Major service cost £279 (not on a plan at that point) and included oil filter, air filter, pollen filter and spark plugs

March 2019  Interim service done under Plan and included the dust and pollen filter.

 

So under the Plan, the next service is Major - but the plugs don't get changed at that point?  I'd always assumed that was just a standard part of the £279 service - and it is unless it's a service plan it seems?

 

That seems crazy to me, but doubtless good business for Skoda not to bother.
 

You do not need to have a 'Major Service' that is not a 'Major service' in anything but name.

 

Have an Oil & Filter change and a pollen filter if you want it changed.

If you want a New Air Filter put that in yourself. 

Do not pay for Parts and Labour you are not getting and pay VAT on that labour. 

 

Service to Manufacturers Recomendations or Guidelines if that is what you want, 

 and that is not the Major Service Schedule Main Dealerships show.

They are at it.

 

They charge those prices on a CitiGo with only 3 plugs and less oil, or on a Superb / Octavia / Kodiaq which might well need more oil.

On 05/11/2019 at 16:02, docc said:

OK - had the chance to check what's going on now.  Again, thanks for the useful help on this.

 

March 2018  Major service cost £279 (not on a plan at that point) and included oil filter, air filter, pollen filter and spark plugs

March 2019  Interim service done under Plan and included the dust and pollen filter.

 

So under the Plan, the next service is Major - but the plugs don't get changed at that point?  I'd always assumed that was just a standard part of the £279 service - and it is unless it's a service plan it seems?

 

That seems crazy to me, but doubtless good business for Skoda not to bother.
 

 

As crazy as it sounds, the only way to know for sure is to go into your chosen dealer, and ask to speak to the service manager, face-to-face. Not the receptionist.

 

Only then will you get relatively accurate information on what they'll replace and when.

 

The key here is to understand the exact time and mileage intervals for the spark plugs on your particular car - VIN specific.

 

Only then will you be able to determine whether the 'Major' £289 service is value for money or not.

 

Personally I have almost always found it cheaper to ask for a price for the basics:

 

Oil and oil filter. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

Then, from their menu pricing ask for the extra cost for the following:

 

- Air Filter

- Spark Plugs

- Pollen Filter

 

All other prices are already listed on Skoda's website linked earlier.

 

I'm not a betting man, and this very much depends on where you're located and the attitude of your dealer, but you'll struggle to get to £289.

 

And remember, the £289 service rarely, if ever, includes everything listed above.

 

Be savvy, play the game, put the effort in and save money. I quite enjoy this.

 

However, plenty of others don't. If it's too much hassle, you're too busy or there are simply more important things in life to deal with, just throw the dealer your keys when the car tells you it needs a service and pay the bill.

Thanks. Sound advice. I do rely on the garage to pick up and deal with any problems, so the additional checks included in the £279 are probably worthwhile to me, but I entirely take your point.

 

VW have always been experts at confusion marketing, so I suppose it was inevitable that they’d infect Skoda with it.

I've also found, that irrespective of the service type, the same visual checks are performed i.e. tyre tread depths, suspension, brake pads and discs, lights, wipers etc.

 

To reset the service interval the car needs plugging into the diagnostics machine anyway, so they'll also be able to check for fault codes, software updates and service actions / recalls etc.

 

It is in the dealers interest to find items that need attention, or as we all know, items that don't necessarily need our attention, as they often generate extra revenue, either directly out of your wallet or under a warranty reimbursement from Skoda UK.