So my Citigo will turn 4 years old next month. Normally by now I would have chopped it in for another new car, but due to the continuing covid carry on and economic uncertainly I've decided to hang onto it for another year or two at least.

 

Which brings me on to the cost of getting the next service done at the main dealer. Oil and service inspection £184, Pollen filter £35, Spark plugs £99, Air con service (lol) £139 and finally MOT £39. £496 all in. Seriously? That's about a sixth of the part ex value of the car that is now out of warranty anyway. I'll be getting an oil and filter change, new plugs and the MOT done elsewhere and will probably still have change from £150. I guess enough mugs must still be happy to pay whatever and allow them to charge their extrotionate sums.

I'm with you on this one, for sure.

 

Last summer, the main dealer that supplied my Citigo carried out the service and MOT and the cost was £386 for not a lot of parts or indeed labour - oil, oil filter, brake fluid and I had the rear drums 'cleaned and adjusted'. Admittedly, the brakes were transformed after the adjustment but I came away less impressed than I should have been...

 

It failed its MOT at the first look as both headlamp beams were too low... Then they obviously realised that I have them on the lowest setting as most of my commute is on narrow (slow) back roads so I have them set to illuminate the near road as much as possible. 

 

More worrying was when one of the after sales people came through and said there was a problem with my car as, because I'd smeared copper grease on the wheel bolts (winter/summer tyres so the wheels get swapped), 'the bolts won't tighten - they just keep turning'. I asked to speak to a higher authority and suggested at this point they fit the rear wheels as best they can, drive it out of the workshop and I'll pay for what they've done and tighten the bolts myself. In the end, they allowed me into the workshop to use the spare wheel brace in the boot and hand tighten the bolts.... Then I signed a disclaimer on the paperwork saying I'd tightened the rear wheel bolts myself.

 

Okay, I get HSE and 'we must adhere to what the workshop manual' says' against potential liability but it gave me no faith in the technician being able to deal with anything slightly 'outside the norm'. I've used copper grease on wheels and bolts for over 40 years without an issue. As a light aircraft engineer by trade , one gets used to having to think about the job you are doing as not everything is in the manual and you certainly can't plug a computer into 95% of them to look for error codes. Most light aircraft labour rates are around £50/hr depending on where you are in the country.

 

End result, is I won't be taking either the Citigo or my Yeti back there and in fact have spent a couple of days over the Christmas break servicing the Yeti - all in accordance with the servicing requirements from the official Skoda workshop manual. I bought the Yeti one and found the Citigo here.

 

Strangely, for the first time in years, I wasn't asked to complete a 'how well did we do' survey after the Citigo visit....

 

What is concerning is the lack of adherence to the intervals for replacing parts in accordance with the intervals specified in the workshop manuals. Even though this dealer knew that Allams had changed the diesel fuel filter on the Yeti (it was in the service record that they printed off), they changed it again after 35k miles when it is due every 56k miles. I wasn't asked if I wanted it done and I assumed that I could trust these people. 

 

The result is that the dealer has lost the business of two cars as whilst I like having a full service history on relatively new cars, I don't think it makes that much difference to the trade in value when the time comes. I'll service both cars myself and have a local garage carry out the MOTs. When the time comes to change car(s) then this dealer will not be on the list. I never had an issue with Allams, by the way.      

Edited 31 December, 20205 yr by aerofurb

Those prices are set by the brand and form part of the fixed price service scheme, some of them have actually gone up since the start of 2021.

I'm with both of you on this. £35 for a pollen filter? What a mark up on that and all of the other service items! It takes only 5 mins or so to change a pollen filter. As you probably know Evilbay and others have lots of service item's considerably cheaper for the same items as used by Skoda.

It doesn't inspire me that a technician can't tighten wheel nuts.   

Don't get me wrong, I don't have an issue with set price servicing and costs but if it can't be considered 'value for money' then it would be nice to at least feel that the person who was carrying out the servicing understood about what they are doing to my car. At my last ('last' in various meanings...) visit, I did not come away thinking the car had been serviced by knowledgeable people.

 

Prior to me booking the Citigo in for the service, the dealer contacted me (they'd sold the car when new to the first owner and maintained it since) to tell me that the cam belt was due replacement. I asked them if they'd like to think about that - a 4 year old Citigo that they knew had no more than mid 20k miles on it (not that they asked the mileage).

 

From what I can see in the proper Skoda Citigo workshop manual:

 

 

 

So, what if I wasn't in the know and took their word for it that the cambelt needed changing....?

 

Twice on the Yeti servicing at the same establishment, the front dash cam has had the power lead pulled out. Now if they really don't want to be filmed when servicing the car (won't see much with the bonnet up...), or perhaps they don't want me to download the data and see how they drove it, that's one thing. The first time I didn't realise in the dark they'd pulled the lead (it's behind the interior mirror) until halfway home. They could have plugged it back in after they did whatever they did that they didn't want filmed or told me they'd done it so I could plug the power lead back in. It's on my insurance (I get discount on the premium) as being fitted.

 

'Value for money' from a main dealer is something beyond the total invoice price, in my humble opinion.... 

 

 

 

PS I always felt I got value for money from Allams - just so you don't think my complaint is with all dealers!

 

What has the dealer got to hide when servicing a car? My last car a Citroen C1 was on a main dealer service plan and they sent me video of anything that needed doing before going ahead (not them actually servicing the car). I suppose the word technician is used very loosely in this instance.

If I was cleaning my windows would I be a glazing technician? I think not.

I know there are reputable dealers/stealers' out there, the hard part is finding them.

Places that film the service could easily also film the road test that they should be doing when they are charging for it to be.

 

I see no (edit) reason why a car owner should be allowed to film from their vehicle the establishment and people that are in and around their car and that have nothing to do with their cars servicing and maintenance.

Edited 8 January, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

My point re the dashcam is the fact that the car should have been returned to me in the condition I gave it to them - if they disconnect the dashcam for whatever reason, they should reconnect it or inform me that they disconnected it and left it so.

 

I have no idea why they latest idea is to send me a video of one small section of my tyres....

Regarding dash cams - great idea, i have 2 in my car, they've paid for themselves 10 times over and we fit lots of them at work. However, when I'm presented with a vehicle that has one fitted I disconnect it. We live in a society where some folk like to pick faults in people and the way they do things under the most innocent of circumstances so they have some form of upper hand or ammo to lodge a complaint.

 

We (the stealers) are continuously scrutinised by folk who, in actual fact have very little knowledge of the day to day running of said business and usually no experience other than that they can perform some basic tasks on their car. 

 

I fix cars, I can also fix my boiler, plumbing, electrics, brickwork, roofing etc but on the very rare occasion I have to pay someone to carry out a task that I'm incapable of doing I don't approach them with contempt, that's sadly the position that I'm in on a daily basis, on the other hand I've met some really nice people and it's been a genuine pleasure to help them out.

 

GDPR is the main reason you'll be told you can't record whilst your vehicle is in a workshop. I'm sure that you also have to have permission from the land owner to film on private property. 

 

Regarding videos of your car sent by the dealer. A Citnow video is standard practice in most dealerships now. It was born off the back of AudiCam and basically involves a technician/yard ape/grease monkey/mechanic taking you through the condition of the mechanical components on your car. It creates transparency and helps remove the element of doubt that many folks have when they're told they need work doing on their car. Dealers have signed up to a duty of care agreement that means we have to carry out a brief inspection on every vehicle we have in our workshop, the video ties in nicely with that. 

 

The bare bones of it are that it's a selling tool and for the most part - it works.

But when you disconnect a customer's dashcam, do you leave it disconnected, inform the customer it is disconnected or reconnect it? If you want to quote GDPR laws and not filming on private property, I'll counter that with potentially invalidating someone's insurance in which it has been declared that the car is fitted with a dashcam (and both my cars have front and rear dashcams seeing as we're counting...) and a discount on the premium given in respect of this. I don't think the discount is for having an inoperative dashcam installed. Duty of care to the customer?

 

Does your customer service staff cold call customers and try and sell cambelt replacements to due to car's age for a known vehicle that does not require periodic cambelt changes?

 

Believe me, I am well aware of customer service and servicing customers 'vehicles' - try dealing with light aircraft owners that have mandatory annual inspections carried out on their aircraft, their 'hobby' aircraft that they don't want to spend money on having it inspected but the law says they must. It doesn't make them happy bunnies when they get £2k+ invoices for an inspection they know they don't need but they have to have done!  

 

If I still lived close enough to use Allams (or even near Rochdale.... ) then perhaps my current viewpoint might be different.....

It seems if I've touched a raw nerve on this matter. Interesting to note the previous post admits to being a stealer and that a yard ape/grease monkey/technician/mechanic takes me through the condition of my car.

As an owner of a Skoda Citigo I will want value for money. The cost of servicing from a main dealer would seem somewhat disproportionate as indicated by aerofurbs previous post not to mention the cam belt change!

I guess there's no pleasing some people particularly when one is misinformed by supposed qualified staff. I use qualified in the looses sense of the word.

Perhaps I'm being over critical but when main dealers try impose their knowledge on those who don't know, again as aerofurb has implied in his post, for additional profit its  time to find a dealer one can trust. 

The unfortunate thing with the motor trade is that people have a very low opinion of those that work in it. 

 

The unfortunate thing with the above is the motor trade is full of people who are mongs, snakes, morons etc so it's quite an apt opinion for the most point, that applies to both dealer and independents.

 

It's a trade that schools point the stupid kids in the direction of. 

 

Just to clear the air though guys it takes a lot more than some comments on the Internet to rattle my cage. I'm a sarcastic arse hole at the best of times but sarcasm rarely travels well without tone of voice. 

 

Dash cams again. I always plug them back in when I'm done, usually as I park the car up in the car park. Whilst a vehicle is under our care it's insured by our insurance. 

 

Sadly GDPR has become a big concern these days and a breach can result in a hefty fine and or job loss for the guilty party. It's a legal concern that isn't going away, if your dash cam captures someone else's personal information then that's a breach, we could end up in hot water. 

 

One could argue that your dash cam is your responsibility to check and make sure it's functioning correctly regardless of outside influences just like drivers should (but rarely do) check their tyres, oil, screenwash etc. If that's part of an agreement with your insurance then maybe notifying them of the dealer visit might be the answer should an issue occur? I've known people do just that when they have trackers/black boxes fitted.

 

Our contact centre will generally contact people to advise them that their timing belt is due when it's approaching that time, it's their job. The calibre of those people might not be that great, they might not know all the ins and outs, more often than not the person that calls you has probably never had their head under the bonnet of a car. All skodas (and the rest of VWG) are due at 5 years or the appropriate mileage. Those staff members do the same for any other pending work.

James - I've liked your post and appreciate your willingness to post from the 'other side of the fence' - been there, done that many times with my work related forums where engineers are well out numbered!

 

But a serious point re the cambelt. I cannot find anywhere in the Skoda workshop manual for the Citigo that says the cambelt is replaced at a set time - be that mileage or calendar based, yet above you say that all Skoda are due at 5 years? 

Main dealer prices are very strong, but in the early years of a car, it will help with reducing the punishing depreciation come resale.

 

@James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale I presented my Citigo to my local Skoda dealer with working dashcam, and post service was interested to see footage had been recorded. After a minute, it was turned off. Fair play. I had no problem with that at all. They didn't plug it back in, but hey ho. No worries.

 

Not that relevant, but Bentley now offer fixed prices. £1515.00 for front discs and pads. Blimey! I fitted my own discs and pads for <£45

https://www.bentleymotors.com/uk/en/bentley-servicing-and-repairs.html#eaa40957f61f7f2c2fe27b7535e0590e

 

Recent findings have shown that what skoda uk and what skoda central publish don't correlate very well. There was another post where myself and @e-Roottoot had conflicting info all from the same brand 🤣🤷🏼‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

 

Just to give an example - the fixed servicing menu mentions only a time based timing belt replacement and not mileage 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

 

 

Edited 9 January, 20215 yr by James@RRG_Skoda_Rochdale

Thanks, James.

 

So the engine manufacturer says inspect the cambelt (initially) at 150k miles with no calendar based interval (replacement dependent on condition) and the UK importer ignores that applies no mileage based inspection (or replacement), just a calendar based replacement.

 

Furthermore, from your screenshot, it would appear that the water pump drive belt is ignored whereas the manufacturer gives it the same inspection periods as the cambelt. 

 

A cynic might say that VAG UK (the same conflicting information is out there for the Up! and the Mii)  sussed that most of the Citigos will be low mileage so let's tell everyone the same replacement period as for all the other VAG UK engines and no one will notice. Nice little earner. I don't subscribe to the UK being that climatically different - the UK is classed in the same area by VAG as all of the European land mass, Ireland, Iceland, USA etc. We're not that special.

 

Out of interest, I had a look at my Citigo's cambelt today. Five minutes to whip the cover off (cambelt is fine) - makes sense to make the inspection easy as that's what is called up in the workshop manual. Changing the belt does look pretty involved hence the cost (a fair few hours wok) but then the manufacturer isn't expecting the belt to be changed periodically.

 

If Skoda UK (and the other VAG marques) had the customer's best interests at heart based on experience gained in the field, that would be great. Trouble is, if you Google Citigo/Up!/Mii 'cambelt failure' you don't get any instances of failures, only talk of confusion as to the replacement/inspection periods thereof.

 

On the other hand, the Haldex V pump filter used in many of the VAG all wheel drive vehicles (including my Yeti) is well-known to block up (it's supposed to stay clean for life) and cause Haldex pump failures. The internet (and Briskoda) is full of examples of this yet Skoda only ever change the fluid - in accordance with the workshop manual. I cleaned my Yetis filter a month or so ago - and it was almost totally blocked. If Skoda UK (VAG UK) were customer focused, you would expect them to offer to clean the pump filter when changing the fluid. But then again, perhaps it isn't enough of an earner....

 

   

It is rather like ink-jet printers and cartridge replacement costs. You buy the car and then the servicing costs are high enough to pay for the showroom, technician, service manager, service representative and receptionist. I have left the main dealer network and a very good independent garage does my servicing now at less cost. The dealer charging £99 for spark plugs proves that Skoda believe that customers are a bunch of idiots.

It will be interesting to see how the service costs are calculated with the EVs....

12 hours ago, aerofurb said:

It will be interesting to see how the service costs are calculated with the EVs....

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/483719-any-citigo-e-iv-user/

 

Not cheap. £240 for not a lot according the info on the bottom of this thread.

As this seems to have sparked some debate I'd thought I'd give a little update.

 

Up to now I've had all the previous services done at the main dealer, so I decided to contact them and see if they could do any sort of discount. Managed to get them down to £249 all in (less the air con service which I don't care about). Still about £100 more than I would pay at an idependent but for the sake of that amount I've decided to go with them in the hope it will give me some good will if I have any out of warranty problems in the next year.

 

One thing is certain though, I won't be stumping up the thick end of £500 for a cam belt replacement next year!

Edited 10 January, 20215 yr by Miller73

Here's a naïve thought, it would be great if the dealer itemised each component showing the cost to them and the profit/mark up also a breakdown of of time/labour and cost's spent. I'm never going to see this.

 

As James@rcc said in his previous post

"The unfortunate thing with the motor trade is that people have a very low opinion of those that work in it. 

 

The unfortunate thing with the above is the motor trade is full of people who are mongs, snakes, morons etc so it's quite an apt opinion for the most point, that applies to both dealer and independents.

 

It's a trade that schools point the stupid kids in the direction of. "

 

The Invoice should have the price you are being charged per part supplied.

As to the profit, when the Minor / Interim Service was £179 & the Major £289. you still got charged £289 even if no Air Filter, Spark Plugs or Fuel Fitted was replaced.

Still got charged the same if the car had 3 or 4 spark plugs, and 2.8 litres engine oil or 4.6 litres.

 

The Free Car Wash & Vacuum was bl00dy expensive if you put in a 2 year old car and were charged for a Major Service and only had Oil/ Filter / Sump Plug and a Pollen Filter replaced, or maybe not even the pollen filter.

 

Then seeing the list of things Skoda say will be done compared to the work sheets is an interesting one.

Edited 10 January, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

3 hours ago, e-Roottoot said:

Still got charged the same if the car had 3 or 4 spark plugs, and 2.8 litres engine oil or 4.6 litres.

 

Yeah, that's the kind of thing that is just plain greedy. Taking the pee in my opinion.

I've just had a swift look on eBay and found 4l Castrol edge professional  5w-30w long life for less than £30 delivered plus an o.e.m.  sump plug and washer and Mann oil filter for less than a tenner. Pollen filters £10 all in all £50 that's if you do it your self. On Ebay there is also service kit's of dubious quality.

Which can be great if you don't fancy paying main dealer prices. Even better if  you have the right tools and some where safe to do it in.

So looking at the above post £185 oil and inspection service plus £35 pollen filter £220. So £220-50 = £170 saved.

I know there are service plans that can good and independent garages can be cheaper but the more I look at the escalating main dealer prices the more I despair.

I found the Castrol oil at a very good price at Amazon. Having read about some people having issues with oil filters on Citigos, I bought genuine Skoda filters (for the Citigo and Yeti) through  The ŠKODA Shop | Horton ŠKODA (theskodashop.co.uk) - the Lincoln Skoda dealer. I've had excellent mail order service from them over the years, everything from filters to wheels.

 

I did buy a couple of new oil sump drain plugs through Amazon. Interestingly, the captive washer on the plugs is steel so it shouldn't be an issue re-using a drain plug.

 

As for the pollen filter, the Yeti one took 30 seconds to remove. A gently shake and vacuum and refitted - it was like new.