Hi All

 

I've got a service query for my Kodiaq Edition Tdi Scr 4x which I hope someone might be able to help me with.

 

I bought the vehicle in Oct 2018 and as per my service plan, I have paid for a minor and a major service. The bear had a 1st variable service at 9.5k miles in June 2019 (Filterelem, cleaner, screw, Dust filter and 5l of long life oil) and a free visual health check. As per the paperwork, at this point, the local Skoda garage reset it to a fixed service plan due to 'service plan'. When I booked it in for the subsequent service in June 2020 at 13k miles, the Skoda garage has carried out a 3rd Fixed Service (oil, oil filter replacement + Inspection) and a free visual health check. Based on the materials listed on both invoices, I cannot see a major difference between these 2 services apart from a Dust filter on the 1st one.

 

When I queried this with the garage, they have said a major service cannot be carried out until 60k miles or 6y whichever is earlier. As a result, they could not carry out the major service earlier as it would mess up the service schedule. And now, both my service plan services are complete with no major service undertaken as far as I understand it.

 

So, 

1. Is the garage correct to undertake this 3rd Fixed Service? On booking and while leaving the car with them I specifically mentioned 2nd service under the service plan

2. Have a missed out on a major service despite paying for one upfront?

3. Would it have been better to remain on a variable service plan back in 2019?

 

I typically do 5-6k miles per year and less so given the last few months. Any advice on the above would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

NMZ

Something isn't quite right.

 

The car was new in October 2018? They leave the factory set to variable service intervals. Customers who are eligible for a service plan, whether FOC or paid for should be advised to change from variable to fixed. The reason for this (and it has been debated on here before) is that the service plans are (apparently) 2 year service plans, not 2 services, a distinct and important difference.

 

You say the car had it's first service at 8 months old and having covered 9,500 miles? This is not variable servicing, this is fixed...

 

Fixed = 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever is reached first.

Variable = up to 20,000 miles and 24 months, the car decides for itself based on usage patterns.

 

So your first service was a minor (fixed) service i.e. oil, oil filter (sometimes a pollen filter) and nothing else.

 

You then say the dealer reset the service computer to fixed. From what you've said it was already on fixed and they've simply reset it again, to fixed.

 

Roll on 12 months, the car flags itself as needing a service, you've hit the 12 month 'fixed' prompt, despite only covering 3,500 miles since the last service the previous year.

 

But you mention this is the cars third service? Are you suggesting you bought the car used, if so then this is an important omission.

 

So, as per your first service, again this second service is indeed a minor (fixed) service and should only involve oil, and oil filter. The reason you can't see much difference on the invoice is that there isn't any, other than the pollen filter.

 

A major service isn't due until at least 3 years old or 60,000 miles on any current Skoda model, so your dealer might be right (on my 1.4 TSI Kodiaq the first major service isn't due until the fourth year), the issue is with Skoda UK who keep referring in their literature to only minor and major services, it's valid but not in isolation, it only makes sense if they mention both minor, major, fixed, variable and add clarity around the length of time the service plan is valid for.

 

Either way, until you're able to clarify whether the latest service was the cars 2nd or 3rd then it isn't possible to say whether the dealer is right or wrong.

 

Edited 26 June, 20205 yr by silver1011

If you bought the car new in October 2018 then it would have come from the factory as Silver1011 points out on variable. These paid for 2 service plans which I have done myself in the past always work out more expensive rather than getting 2 free services which I now have on both our cars. My wife's Karoq registered in Jan 2018 had it's first free variable service in Oct 2019 and the second free service is due sometime in 2021. The first service I pay for will be in 2023 when it is more than 5 years old and will have done 50,000 miles at least. Similar story with my March 2019 Superb Sportline which will need its first free service around Dec 2020 then second free service around Sept 2022. The first service I pay for on that car will be in 2024 again when it is 5 years old which about 50,000 miles on the clock. This is the pay to run a Skoda with FDSH cheaply.

Thank you silver1011 and shyVRS245 for your responses. 

 

Apologies, I should have mentioned it earlier - the car wasn't new when I bought it in 2018. It was about 9 months old, an ex-demonstrator that I bought from a different main dealer. It had done about 6.5k miles at the time.

 

I didn't realise that the service plans are 2 year service plans, not 2 services - it wasn't pointed out at the time and I didn't think of asking. However, it's something I have learnt so will remember in the future.

 

I have only had 2 services done since I have owned it, both with the same local Skoda dealer so not sure how it can jump from 1st variable service in June 2019 (as stated on the service paperwork) to a 3rd fixed service in June 2020 (again, mentioned on their paperwork). Their previous reply felt like a fob-off to be honest so will ask again.

 

Thanks again

 

So, in that case the car was indeed set to variable from new.

 

First registered in January 2018, 6,5000 miles covered by the original owner plus 3,000 miles by you. First serviced in June 2019, so the service was flagged due to time (18 months) not mileage (9,500 miles). The first service whether variable or fixed is a basic oil and oil filter change, the pollen filter being the only extra from the extended variable interval.

 

The next (and therefore second) service was carried out 12 months later (so yes the service computer was changed from variable to fixed during the first service) in June 2020 at 13,000 miles, so again it was time not distance that prompted the service. As expected another basic oil and oil filter change.

 

All good so far, apart from your suggestion that the second service was somehow the third service, not sure if I'm still misreading you here.

 

Either way, even if the dealer has mistakenly performed a third service then it is unlikely it'd have had anything more than an oil and oil filter, perhaps another pollen filter, so it's unlikely you've missed out or the car under-serviced.

 

The fourth service is the biggie, so you've another minor fixed service to go (third service) before the air and fuel filter are required.

 

As mentioned the letter Skoda send out detailing the two services is poor, all their referencing to minor and major does is confuse. 

On 26/06/2020 at 10:47, silver1011 said:

A major service isn't due until at least 3 years old or 60,000 miles on any current Skoda model,

 

 

In the murky world of servicing VW have to agree with everything Silver1011 writes in both his postings. ( I too am confused about the mention of a 3rd service ).

 

Silver1011 - just to clarify what you said:   A major service isn't due until at least 3yr or 60k. Is that right?  Hope I'm not opening a can of worms with VAG's various names for what amounts to the same service but I was under the impression Skoda dealers offered a major service at 2yr? 

 

if you're on fixed then isn't it year 1: oil  year 2: oil and inspection or major  year 3: interim or minor ( I've never been able to work out exactly what they call it but it amounts to the same thing ). year 4: major

 

The reason I say major in year 2 is you'll find some dealers quoting two prices for a major service - example: £279 for cars up to 3yr and £313 (petrol) or £318 (diesel) for cars over 3yr.

 

I've always put the difference in prices for a major service on cars older than 3yr down to the requirement of spark plugs or fuel filter.

 

 

Edited 28 June, 20205 yr by Guest

Indeed, Skoda like to make life complicated, completely unnecessarily, but it's a skill they've successfully mastered over the years.

 

Cutting through their terminology there are essentially two types of service...

 

1) Oil and oil filter and a pollen filter if you're lucky.

2) Oil and oil filter, a pollen filter, air filter, fuel filter (diesel) and spark plugs (petrol).

 

There is no difference in the grade of oil used between the two. Both service get the same visual inspections.

 

Sometimes no.1 is called a 'minor' or 'fixed' service whilst no.2 is sometimes called a 'major' or 'variable'.

 

However, as we've seen here a variable service consisted of no.1.

 

My Kodiaq was in for service last week and the guy on reception was (quite unusually) quite clued up. Set to fixed service my intervals go:

 

Year 1 - No.1

Year 2 - No.1

Year 3 - No.1 plus brake fluid

Year 4 - No.2

Year 5 - No.1 plus brake fluid and cambelt

Year 6 - back to the beginning

 

So my comment about there being nothing more than oil, oil filter and pollen filter changes prior to 3 years or 60,000 miles has been mostly applicable across all Skoda models for as long as I've known. No doubt there will be some exceptions.

 

When being quoted the higher price for a major service on a Skoda 3 years old or older it is always worthwhile asking to ensure you're actually getting the air filter and/or fuel filter and spark plugs.

 

This is why Skoda's service plan letters that boast both a minor and major service are misleading, you're only ever going to get two oil and oil filter changes.

Hasn't the terms 'fixed' or 'variable' always refered to the service regime that the car is following rather than the actual service itself?    For variable ( the service regime I adhere to ) the sequence goes 1st variable ( year2 or 20k WCF ) then 2nd variable ( year 4 or 40K WCF). The 2nd variable consists of spark plugs because I drive a petrol.

 

I've owned Audi, VW, SEAT and now run two Skodas and I thought I was pretty clued up on servicing. I'm wanting so much to disagree with your Kodiaq's service pattern and I've spent the last 45mins checking what I think it should be and you know what,  I can't disagree.  But I not going to admit defeat just yet.  

 

I so much want to say it should be:

Year 1 - No.1

Year 2 - Oil + inspection / major ( less the spark plugs )

Year 3 - minor

Year 4 - major

Year 5 - minor

Year 6 - major

Year 7 - minor

Year 8 - major

 

It's those bl00dy spark plugs / fuel filter that's causing the problem. For arguments sake lets agree all VAG brands recommend a major service every 2yr ( or 20k miles WCF). We read spark plug/fuel filter should be changed every 40k miles but then all the VAG brands say that after 3yr the service regime should alternate between minor / major.  And given that all the major services include plug/fuel filter + air filter, that means they should be changed every 2yr.   It's a bloody mess.

 

I subscribe to variable servicing which I guess now has an additional benefit - they can only confuse me half of the time.

 

WCF - which ever comes First.

Edited 29 June, 20205 yr by Guest

And then when I sit down with my cuppa for 5mins and have a look on Skoda's website, they've updated it again ( must be very recent, never seen that before ) Which means we're both wrong

 

NationalPriceServicing according to Skoda UK website

 

By the time you've read this it'll probably have changed again !

 

Note how they just say Plugs year 4 and fuel filter year 6.  I'm assuming they actually mean plugs or fuel filter in year 4 and year 6.  Jeeso, what a plucking useless outfit they are.   

Edited 29 June, 20205 yr by Guest

There’s plenty that doesn’t make sense. Skoda tell me that the Haldex oil only needs changing every 3 years, irrespective of mileage or usage. For me, that would be potentially 90k miles on the same oil. Needless to say I’m not waiting 3 years. 

just to add something to this. My Kodiaq came with a service plan, 2 services to be exact. Last year I started getting text messages from the dealer reminding me the service was due. I thought this was in error as the car told me I had a few 1000 miles left before it needed to go in. 

 

after discussing with the dealer it transpired that all "service plan cars" should have been put into fixed servicing mode where as mine and a couple of others were "accidentally" left if variable servicing mode. Due to this error my car was 1,100 miles over the 10,000 mile fixed service point. I was told that this could be a problem but when I pushed them they told me they has some lee-way with Skoda. Given that it was them, not me, who did not configure the car correctly, and indeed did not inform me at the time of pickup which servicing setting the car was on I would have had an interesting conversation with Skoda Customer Service if the dealer played up. Suffice to say it was set to fixed serving at that point and went in today for its second service, 9,500 miles later. 

 

 

45 minutes ago, robdav said:

just to add something to this. My Kodiaq came with a service plan, 2 services to be exact. Last year I started getting text messages from the dealer reminding me the service was due. I thought this was in error as the car told me I had a few 1000 miles left before it needed to go in. 

 

after discussing with the dealer it transpired that all "service plan cars" should have been put into fixed servicing mode where as mine and a couple of others were "accidentally" left if variable servicing mode. Due to this error my car was 1,100 miles over the 10,000 mile fixed service point. I was told that this could be a problem but when I pushed them they told me they has some lee-way with Skoda. Given that it was them, not me, who did not configure the car correctly, and indeed did not inform me at the time of pickup which servicing setting the car was on I would have had an interesting conversation with Skoda Customer Service if the dealer played up. Suffice to say it was set to fixed serving at that point and went in today for its second service, 9,500 miles later. 

 

 

With respect that is dealer bull**it because my wife's Karoq had its first free service at 18,700 miles when the computer said it was ready and they sent me a text the other day to say the second free service is now due just 9 months after the first service last October. Her car is now 30 months old and on 26,000 miles and the computer says it's not due a service for another 10,000 miles. My Superb also came with 2 free services and is 16 months old and done 11,000 miles and the first service according to the onboard computer is due in around 5 months at 16,000 miles or 21 months after registration. They just want you to get the car serviced more often to extract maximum cash from your wallet. I have been using Skoda dealers for the last 15 years and this tactic never changes.

Edited 21 July, 20205 yr by shyVRS245
wrong word

@shyVRS245 - that is a fair assumption of dealerships as a whole. this is why I'll be going to my local indy for servicing now that the free ones are all used up.

 

On 21/07/2020 at 20:06, shyVRS245 said:

With respect that is dealer bull**it

 

You have to be careful here. What @robdav's dealer is saying has been repeated by numerous members over the years.

 

Skoda's two year service plan was exactly that, two years. If you hadn't used your two services within those two years then tough. This is why the vehicles that are sold with service plans are supposed to be set to fixed service intervals during the PDI. Unsurprisingly a lot of dealers don't, the car leaves them set to variable and the customer potentially misses out on their second free service.

 

However, at some point Skoda changed the wording of the letter they send out to customers detailing their service plan, changing it from '2 years servicing' to 'two services'.

 

Understandably some dealers aren't aware of this and still follow the two year model.

 

It seems some members have successfully managed two variable services out of their service plans, so as with a lot of these things it appears to vary by dealer.

 

Unsurprisingly Skoda UK have done nothing to add clarity to the situation, only further confusion. They are indeed hopeless.

On 29/06/2020 at 01:34, Scot5 said:

Hasn't the terms 'fixed' or 'variable' always refered to the service regime that the car is following rather than the actual service itself?    For variable ( the service regime I adhere to ) the sequence goes 1st variable ( year2 or 20k WCF ) then 2nd variable ( year 4 or 40K WCF). The 2nd variable consists of spark plugs because I drive a petrol.

 

I've owned Audi, VW, SEAT and now run two Skodas and I thought I was pretty clued up on servicing. I'm wanting so much to disagree with your Kodiaq's service pattern and I've spent the last 45mins checking what I think it should be and you know what,  I can't disagree.  But I not going to admit defeat just yet.  

 

I so much want to say it should be:

Year 1 - No.1

Year 2 - Oil + inspection / major ( less the spark plugs )

Year 3 - minor

Year 4 - major

Year 5 - minor

Year 6 - major

Year 7 - minor

Year 8 - major

 

Skoda's tactics are working, ignore minor and major, it means nothing.

 

Skoda UK only offer two services, number 1 and number 2 from my earlier post.

 

Number one is an oil and filter change, number two is a number one plus the extra filters.

 

Ignore 'inspection' too, all vehicles are put through the same visual inspections irrespective of which service you're in for.

 

Your six year service order above is the same as mine, all you've done is replace No.1 with the term minor and No.2 with major?

On 29/06/2020 at 14:30, MrTrilby said:

There’s plenty that doesn’t make sense. Skoda tell me that the Haldex oil only needs changing every 3 years, irrespective of mileage or usage. For me, that would be potentially 90k miles on the same oil. Needless to say I’m not waiting 3 years. 

 

This is relatively new, but accurate.

 

The Haldex service interval used to consider both time and distance, now it's just time.

 

Make of that what you will but I think we're all sensible enough to know that more frequent lubrication and filter changes prolong component life.

 

Your biggest concern should be that Skoda main dealers (at least in the UK) are not instructed or required to clean the filter gauze on the current generation of Haldex. The oil can be as fresh and as clean as you like, but if the filter is clogged the pump runs dry and it's game over.

 

On earlier versions of Haldex that had a removable / replaceable oil filter, Skoda UK denied it's existence and refused to include it's replacement in their Haldex service regime. Some of the photos online of the condition of the Gen3/4 Haldex filters and the Gen5 (Kodiaq) gauze after only a few years / several thousand miles is alarming.

 

My advice, and I'll be doing this on our 4x4 Kodiaq will be to have the Haldex service done at a trusted and knowledgeable VAG independent specialist who is well versed on the benefits of cleaning the gauze on the pump.

Quote

we're all sensible enough to know that more frequent lubrication and filter changes prolong component life.

 

Mmm, I'm too cynical to believe that. That's like Boris saying that the great British public have the common sense to social distance and wear masks 🙃.

I like your comments about the getting the gauze cleaned though. Who amongst us would know about that if you hadn't mentioned it. 

The cynicism in me says that manufacturers don't care too much if their products don't last much past the guarantee period, as ultimately that means continued sales of both parts and cars.

Skoda UK and Skoda Dealership really seem to be getting 'Lost in Space' and the Advice on matters like DSG & Haldex servicing & brake fluid changes has pretty much gone to be replaced by upselling A/C servicing and duff advisories on Disc / Pad wear usually saying 80% worn.