Service

[Joss1733]

Before I start it I will warn you it is a bit long winded.i have a vrs 4x4 diesel octatvia estate july 2022.like past cars I phoned up last week to book a service 1st service less than 12 months old

which was straight forward or I thought it was.on talking to my son who has a skoda he said no my car was  no where near a first service due.so I phoned them up and was told yes my car was due for service 10000 miles or 12 months. So my son phoned them up and he was told the same the car was due 10000 or 12 months. then the plot deepings on checking my  dashboard service screen states oil change is due in another 8700 miles or 364 days and inspection due in 10500 miles or 397 days.so I contacted skoda customer care and they got back a today and said no my car not due for service unless car has flagged up due for service in which it had not

So this morning took it in for service and raised it with the service department to clarify which was right and they said car is 10000 miles or 12 months.i even showed him the e mail off them and he was confused about it and my on screen service information.to me it looks like I just paid 215 pounds for a oil service that was not needed.any advice out there please

 

[Ootohere]

Looks exactly like you paid to have and oil and filter and inspection service as per a fixed regime when not needed when your car had a flexible / variable regime available.   It is long life oil in the car so good for 18,000 -20,000 miles.  Shame really you were mislead by idiots. 

[UrgyMcKnispel]

I had the same issue, thanks to low milege/year I got a service message after one year and just 8000km in the meter. One could tell that the Message was triggered totally static after one year.

 

I just wanted it checked out but the dealer replaced the oil instead of adjusting the service Interval parameters. 

 

I complained (in behalf of my company since it's a company car) since I read about these premature messages in online forums and suddendly the dealer invited me to adjust some service Interval related settings.

[SurreyJohn]

Skoda UK gives the following information in additional information section towards the end of the brochure (brochure is available online, as per link)

 

Service intervals When you order your OCTAVIA, you can choose whether your car is on a fixed or a flexible service regime. Your ŠKODA retailer will help you decide which regime suits how your car will be driven, enabling your car to stay in the best possible shape. Fixed regime: service every 10,000 miles or one year (whichever comes first). This is recommended if the vehicle is likely to be used in the following way:

> Driven fewer than 10,000 miles per annum.

> Mainly short journeys, driven mostly in towns or cities.

> High vehicle loading/towing and frequent hill climbs.

> Heavy accelerating and braking, using high revs.

Flexible regime: Sensors in the engine detect when a service is needed. A service light will show between 9,000 and 20,000 miles or up to 24 months (whichever comes first). The flexible service regime is recommended for vehicles with a daily mileage of more than 25 miles where the vehicle is driven regularly and mainly at a constant speed with minimum vehicle and engine loading, minimal towing and driven in an economical manner

 

https://www.skoda.co.uk/_doc/0bcfc2d5-654f-49b2-a524-91e141293e36

 

 

Note the first bit, the customer gets to choose, not some technician doing the PDI makes a random decision and sets car up that way.  So if that is what what happened, complain to supplying dealer, pointing out what they did caused false advertising, and you want remedy.  (its always good to use legal term remedy as it implies you are expecting something to compensate you).  The reality is only when enough people complain and hit their profit will they improve and do what brochure says.

 

If you do mainly town driving, or under 10,000 miles a year and they told you only needs a service when car says so, they are also incompetant and wrong.

 

Edited 11 July, 2023 by SurreyJohn

[UrgyMcKnispel]

Quote

If you do mainly town driving, or under 10,000 miles a year and they told you only needs a service when car says so, they are also incompetant and wrong.

 

I don't think these "criterias" are only set from a technical perspective but also as a "business decision" to lure more customers into service measures  🙄

 

Even the math doesn't add up - 365x25,1miles = 9161,5miles/year ....LOL

Edited 11 July, 2023 by UrgyMcKnispel

[Ootohere]

As it has been for years the VW group can not decide what 15,000 km should be on the different brands when showing as miles with fixed services in the UK.  It can be 9,300 or 9,400, 9,600 even or just show those on the car but 10,000 miles sounds ok at the dealerships or on websites. 

[matrix2020]

I have had Skoda dealers trying to book my car in for its 10000/ 1 year service for the last year. After getting fed up with emails and phone calls I rang my local dealer and explained the car is happy and it does not need a service for another year (time and mileage around 2 years after last service). They said it should be 1 year so i got them to check when the last service was. Long story short they came back and appologised and said yes the car is right it is on the variable service schedule so book when the car says so. 

I still get emails telling me I am late for a service but ignore them. I think its more about touting for more work than the car needing anything (apart from software updates 😒) .