So, cars gone in for the annual service this morning.
I was only aware that the brake fluid needed changing as that came in a separate email or a text a week later after booking it in over a month ago.
They also had down spark plugs and pollen filter which they hadn't advised in advance.
So searched on here for a while, i see 4 years or 40K on the plugs. I'm at 23.5K miles to date after 5 years.
They tried to high jack me on the spot with a 2 year service plan extended warranty offer saying i would save money on this service if i took it out now. Its £900 over 2 years, £37.50pm.
The plugs and pollen filter would of been included, not sure about the brake fluid change. Doesn't mention that at £78.
I'm sure i can do the pollen filter myself. As for the plugs do they really need replacing at such a low mileage even though they're 5 years old now?
I've passed on the service plan... I've already got AA cover which was also included in the service plan.
They annoyed me anyway, it was booked in at 9.30am over the phone. I get there at 8.50am and told i was late as it was booked in for 8.30am.
There has been no time mentioned on any previous messages or that booking in confirmation thing they do, well down here anyway.

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Gonzini

I would swerve the service plan, but also the Main Dealers, best have done by a garage what you can not do.  Not these fitters at Main Dealers.

Look at the Air Filter, look at the Pollen filter, get a new one, vacuum and wash the area.

?

What has been done up to now, as when was the pollen filter last looked at or replaced?

 

When do you want to do the plugs, after you get a misfire?  Or @6 years if not at 5 years, or once the fuel consumption gets higher.

3 spark plugs in a 1.0 TSI,  i would be having them replaced, but not at the Main Dealers Prices.

Same with what they take with a pollen filter.

 

Brake fluid change was due at 3 years then each 2. 

 Or at least testing the brake fluid for H20. 

 

Fixed Regime, Guidelines, not accurate. But that is how it is.  Confusion at the Dealers and the Importers Skoda UK. 

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Cheers for the reply.
I've them to change the brake fluid, thats a no brainer.
Just seen the video they post up with details.
They want £141 to do the plugs. I've not had any misfires yet Im aware off. Maybe some hesitant a few times at low revs but nothing beyond that.
£44 on the pollen filter, Im sure i can deal with that bit.
Not sure whether to get them to do the plugs or not really, I can't see why they would be worn out at 23K miles. Probably cost me the same anywhere else i guess. I used to change plugs myself over the years on older cars but rather just let someone else get their hands oily these days. And I'd probably break something off with all the plastic about these days.

ETA: I was still, as often, one-finger typing as Oootofhere and you posted

 

Up to you if you want to change the plugs, it's your car - I would as low mileage and lack of use bring their own issues.  Misfire are often from spark plugs.  If you have a scan tool you could look for records of misfires or look at live figures as the engine runs.  You have three plugs so if one plays up that's 33.3% of the set and cylinders.

 

Some people would never bother changing the brake fluid, I do, I like the brakes to be good (tyres are a very important part of the braking system, and steering and suspension systems too).

 

Personally the engine air filter I would not leave 4 years or 6 years to replace or even check to see how dirty it is.  Depending on where you park your car you could get dirt in from the car just sitting around doing nothing.  Sitting around also effects the tyres (there's more to them than just tread depth) and the state of charge (and life length) of the car's battery, If that gets too low then the computers can throw up all sorts of unexpected issues even before warning lights and messages and even if the engine starts fine and the headlights look bright enough and leads to premature (expensive) battery replacement.

 

Pollen filter should be straight forward (though often including a bit of awkwardness for "fun") let us know how you get on with that, perhaps even put a guide in the 'Skoda Fabia Guides'. - https://www.briskoda.net/forums/forum/167-skoda-fabia-guides/

Just the plugs really. If they can do it for £141 at a later date then maybe I'll put it in again.
Its not really lack of use, it does 18 miles day through the week and a few miles over the weekends. Yeah, i know that's not really far in the scheme of things.
Not sure why low mileage would be a problem with plugs unless they're getting coked up or something.
The engines running OK really, can't see the point of replacing stuff that doesn't actually need replacing at this point.
I replaced the battery some months back, cost me £104 i think, delivered. I just replaced it myself.

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Gonzini

No idea why they get away with Defrauding HMRC / Treasury / us & the customer.

 

They used to and apparently still take the same to supply and fit 3 spark plugs as they do for 4.

1 less plug, less labour and yet they get the cost including VAT to be the same.  Customer pays 20% VAT, the store has still 1 spark plug in it that was paid for. 

 

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Why not take the car to another garage/mechanic.  £141 does seem a bit steep for three plugs.

 

On my wife's 1.2 TSI it was £99 which by the time I'd bought the plugs and tools and wrested with the PITA engine air filter box to get at the plugs wasn't worth it for what might be a one-off job.

 

7 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

Maybe some hesitant a few times at low revs but nothing beyond that.

That could be other things including perhaps the computer programs doing their bits but that to me is more encouragement to at least look at the plugs and if paying someone else to do that you might as well fit new plugs.  Also if the 1.0 engine air filter box is the same PITA to deal with as the 1.2 then change the engine air filter too or at least take the air filter out and clean it and the airbox, again if paying someone be best to change the filter.

 

The plugs might not be worn out but be past their optimum and fully reliable use, age and the environment of the engine effect them not just milage lack of mileage and use effects the engine with it not being at at reasonable running temperature proportionately for longer periods and more heat cycles, same for the engine oil (so perhaps needs changing more often and not less often.

   

35 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

No idea why they get away with Defrauding HMRC / Treasury / us & the customer.

 

They used to and apparently still take the same to supply and fit 3 spark plugs as they do for 4.

1 less plug, less labour and yet they get the cost including VAT to be the same.  Customer pays 20% VAT, the store has still 1 spark plug in it that was paid for. 

 

Large over heads, wages to pay etc. Can't be cheap running a dealership with servicing facilities. I get that, just don't want to be over paying...
I think l'll shop about, there's a VAG 'specialist' round the corner. Its not something i want to get involved in these days. 
All this extra stuff would of put another £200 on the bill today.
 

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Gonzini

13 minutes ago, nta16 said:

Why not take the car to another garage/mechanic.  £141 does seem a bit steep for three plugs.

 

On my wife's 1.2 TSI it was £99 which by the time I'd bought the plugs and tools and wrested with the PITA engine air filter box to get at the plugs wasn't worth it for what might be a one-off job.

   

Yeah, i think I'll have a look about locally. There's a few places about.
I'm sure it will be a pain in the arse to do and my back will most likely give out bending over the engine...
Probably not got the correct socket to get the plugs out anyway and read about one to remove the coil packs. Would probably work out the same money after buying all that. I'll probably break something anyway...

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Gonzini

18 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

Yeah, i think I'll have a look about locally. There's a few places about.
I'm sure it will be a pain in the arse to do and my back will most likely give out bending over the engine...
Probably not got the correct socket to get the plugs out anyway and read about one to remove the coil packs. Would probably work out the same money after buying all that. I'll probably break something anyway...

I've seen videos for the 1.0 MPI and the air box just pulls off on that but I've not idea with the 1.0 TSI, not difficult on the 1.2 TSI just a PITA awkward.  You do need the deep thin (and best magnetic) long socket about IIRC £20 for a Laser one, perhaps you can get away with not buying a coil puller and grease to ease future removal, you could put in the standard plugs or more expensive longer lasting ones, plus you only need three of them and not four.  Even with the more expensive plugs, plug socket, coil puller and grease I doubt it'd be £141.

 

A couple of years back for a service I took my wife's car to an independent garage that a neighbour had used and if anything it might have been a few pounds more for the work than the Dealership.  I have been recommended a chap that uses the end lift at a local tyre place his prices seem low but I don't want cheap work but reasonably good work which seems so hard to find in the motor trade.

 

I know what you mean about a bad back and not wanting to get your hands dirty, I loathe working on our cars not that I know much or are any good at mechanics (but I don't mind simple jobs on my neighbours' cars) but this year I think I might do the engine oil & filter change as I know I will do a better job of that because I care about doing it properly and I can use better quality oil as my wife's car frequently does very short journeys and the annual mileage is low at 8,000 miles a year.

  

Large overheads, but the VAT is collected and not theirs.

 

Small cc Skoda VW Engines have had, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6, 3.9, 4.2, 4.6 and 4.8 litres capacity and the same charge was made with the old Fixed Servicing.

As were the spark plugs be it 3 or 4 cylinder.

There was a while where the Fixed Price excluded 1.0 cc engines, but that did not mean all got the serving cheaper.

 

The Old Minor / Major, then Minor or Interim & Major took the same money as a 2 year major as a @4 year major which was a nonsense as a Air Filter, Fuel Filter or spark plugs were not done at 2 years old.

But then it really was 'Fixed Price' on cars 3-10 years old, but places were taking the pith. 

 

............

It was not Customers responsible for Defeat Devices and VW cheating, or the number of recalls & TPI,s and still them having poorly built  or prepped cars back in making workshops bust doing warranty work.

 

Pre 2020.    This system was flawed as far as what customers paid. 

A technician or fitter could decide not to fit consumables, or even check if a air filter was needed, or spark plugs yet people paid the same not to get them.

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Ootohere

I've never seen a diagnostics report other than tick sheets, perhaps the tick sheets are/were the diagnostics reports.  I'm not sure a scan tool gets plugged in unless you pay extra(?).

 

@nta16  I have. 

Have you seen the Body Check report for the Corrosion warranty?

(That used to be a page in the service book after the Service page up to 2012)

 

The Workshop work sheet / tick list has not even got stuff that the Website shows as part of the Servicing.

They used to have Inspect & Service rear drums, and yet wheels never came off the cars, so the drums were not removed. 

Inspection from through the back plate!

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

I've seen videos for the 1.0 MPI and the air box just pulls off on that but I've not idea with the 1.0 TSI, not difficult on the 1.2 TSI just a PITA awkward.  You do need the deep thin (and best magnetic) long socket about IIRC £20 for a Laser one, perhaps you can get away with not buying a coil puller and grease to ease future removal, you could put in the standard plugs or more expensive longer lasting ones, plus you only need three of them and not four.  Even with the more expensive plugs, plug socket, coil puller and grease I doubt it'd be £141.

 

A couple of years back for a service I took my wife's car to an independent garage that a neighbour had used and if anything it might have been a few pounds more for the work than the Dealership.  I have been recommended a chap that uses the end lift at a local tyre place his prices seem low but I don't want cheap work but reasonably good work which seems so hard to find in the motor trade.

 

I know what you mean about a bad back and not wanting to get your hands dirty, I loathe working on our cars not that I know much or are any good at mechanics (but I don't mind simple jobs on my neighbours' cars) but this year I think I might do the engine oil & filter change as I know I will do a better job of that because I care about doing it properly and I can use better quality oil as my wife's car frequently does very short journeys and the annual mileage is low at 8,000 miles a year.

  

Cars back now, i did ask about doing the plugs but it was too late. No worries, i can shop about and if there's not much in it they can do it which will keep the service history up together. I really don't think they need doing at the moment. Maybe at 30K would be more realistic time, but what do i know! I would be interested to see what condition they're in.  I guess the other thing is getting them out easily. Might get a bit harder once they've been in there 5 plus years which is where mine are at.
My mileage is around 5.6K a year it seems.
I think I'll need to find a video on how to change the pollen filter. I think its up under the passenger foot well, but maybe that was another car.
 
 

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

Large overheads, but the VAT is collected and not theirs.

 

Small cc Skoda VW Engines have had, 2.8, 3.2, 3.6, 3.9, 4.2, 4.6 and 4.8 litres capacity and the same charge was made with the old Fixed Servicing.

As were the spark plugs be it 3 or 4 cylinder.

There was a while where the Fixed Price excluded 1.0 cc engines, but that did not mean all got the serving cheaper.

 

The Old Minor / Major, then Minor or Interim & Major took the same money as a 2 year major as a @4 year major which was a nonsense as a Air Filter, Fuel Filter or spark plugs were not done at 2 years old.

But then it really was 'Fixed Price' on cars 3-10 years old, but places were taking the pith. 

 

............

It was not Customers responsible for Defeat Devices and VW cheating, or the number of recalls & TPI,s and still them having poorly built  or prepped cars back in making workshops bust doing warranty work.

 

Pre 2020.    This system was flawed as far as what customers paid. 

A technician or fitter could decide not to fit consumables, or even check if a air filter was needed, or spark plugs yet people paid the same not to get them.

I remember those prices. Been getting dealer servicing done for a while, with a VW Bora and then a Fabia mk2 which is what i had before this one.
Always wondered if everything they said they would change did get changed.
 

53 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I've never seen a diagnostics report other than tick sheets, perhaps the tick sheets are/were the diagnostics reports.  I'm not sure a scan tool gets plugged in unless you pay extra(?).

 

I think they used to plug the scan tool in to check on the codes. I guess that way if they found anything amiss they could try and get more money out of you.

Actually one other thing i didn't mention was when i first booked it in i was also offered an oil flush for £30. Said it was recommended by Skoda.
I said just the normal oil change would be fine, thanks.
So is this Skoda thinking they might have an oil sludging problem brewing they're not admitting too?

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by Gonzini

8 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

Actually one other thing i didn't mention was when i first booked it in i was also offered an oil flush for £30. Said it was recommended by Skoda.
I said just the normal oil change would be fine, thanks.
So is this Skoda thinking they might have an oil sludging problem brewing they're not admitting too?

No, just your stealer trying it on with an upsell.

In fact I'm pretty sure I've seen VAG advice to not do engine flushes when carrying out oil changes unless change periods have been neglected.

5 minutes ago, Warrior193 said:

No, just your stealer trying it on with an upsell.

In fact I'm pretty sure I've seen VAG advice to not do engine flushes when carrying out oil changes unless change periods have been neglected.

That's what i figured! Bit like the extended warranty / service plan i got hit with this morning.
Never had that mentioned in the past. The last car i did an oil flush on was an Vauxhall Chevette about 35 years ago, which was probably a complete was of time anyway being a £160 jalopy  😆 

47 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

I guess the other thing is getting them out easily.

I wonder about that with the longer life plugs.

 

47 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

I think I'll need to find a video on how to change the pollen filter. I think its up under the passenger foot well, but maybe that was another car.

Have a look here for 'Mounting instructions' (assuming they're correct) and the choice of filters if you do the job yourself. - https://www.mann-filter.com/au-en/catalog.html

 

41 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

I think they used to plug the scan tool in to check on the codes. I guess that way if they found anything amiss they could try and get more money out of you.

I got the idea that they only had one scan tool and not all were allowed to use it even if it was available.  🙃  I know there would be error codes to see in my wife's car as I caused them but unable to delete them as my neighbour had moved away taking his scan tool with him (so selfish!).

 

39 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

So is this Skoda thinking they might have an oil sludging problem brewing they're not admitting too?

Possibly or just a way of getting extra revenue.  This is why I prefer to do the oil change myself, I drain when the oil is hot, when down to dregs drips I pour some fresh new warmed oil in the engine and let that drain through as a sort of mini flush.  Some garages/mechanics will do a cold quick drain or even perhaps a suck out, who knows, anything to save time.  As I put at 5.6k-miles per annum you are more like to need at least annual engine oil and filter changes.

 

A good practice is to ignore a dial and needle coolant gauge for when the engine is fully warmed as it's biased to show 90c even when it is somewhere above or below this and moving around, better is to set to display your engine oil temperature, it wants to be around 90c for the oil to be warm enough not to cause additional problems.  My wife's car on most days would not get to 90c by the time the engine is switched off when she parks at her workplace and sometimes in winter might not get to the minimum display figure of 50c. 

 

In the USA where, oil is king, they do 3k-mile and 5k-mile oil changes and show videos of  sludge in the engines from supposed build up from supposed 10k-mile oil changes but who knows just as you get good and bad in the motor trade you get good and bad customers who flat out lie about lots of things.

 

Edited 12 August, 20241 yr by nta16
missing words

4 minutes ago, nta16 said:

ignore a dial and needle coolant gauge for when the engine is fully warmed as it's biased to show 90c even when it is somewhere above or below this

Also @Gonzini The 90 display temperature shows more or less anywhere between 50C and 110C WATER temperature.

I thought it was tighter than that but I've not seen or tested for any actual confirmed figures.  I can remember learning about it in 1999 (last century and millennium and just about when German car quality was worth noting) when I noticed how steady and good the dial reading was on my then brand new Japanese car.  All my Japanese cars were always very good, boringly so for me being used to old and brand new British (English) made cars.

 

14 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I wonder about that with the longer life plugs.

 

Have a look here for 'Mounting instructions' (assuming they're correct) and the choice of filters if you do the job yourself. - https://www.mann-filter.com/au-en/catalog.html

 

I got the idea that they only had one scan tool and not all were allowed to use it even if it was available.  🙃  I know there would be error codes to see in my wife's car as I caused them but unable to delete them as my neighbour had moved away taking his scan tool with him (so selfish!).

 

 

A good practice is to ignore a dial and needle coolant gauge for when the engine is fully warmed as it's biased to show 90c even when it is somewhere above or below this and moving around, better is to set to display your engine oil temperature, it wants to be around 90c for the oil to be warm engine not to cause additional problems.  My wife's car on most days would not get to 90c by the time the engine is switched off when she parks at her workplace and sometimes in winter might not get to the minimum display figure of 50c. 

 

 

I remember it being mentioned when i asked it a few services back. But i guess policy changes weekly...
Notice there's a few different filter types mentioned to choose from.

Particulate, Activated carbon, Biofunctional

With the oil temp i do check that on the dash, its usually up around 70 / 80 after about 7 miles on the morning work run. It will be at 90 by the time I've got to work. I don't rag it anyway, but i do get the rev's up a few times to clear the tubes out.

15 minutes ago, Paws4Thot said:

Also @Gonzini The 90 display temperature shows more or less anywhere between 50C and 110C WATER temperature.

Yep, thats cool. I always get the oil temp up on the dash display

2 minutes ago, Gonzini said:

With the oil temp i do check that on the dash, its usually up around 70 / 80 after about 7 miles on the morning work run. It will be at 90 by the time I've got to work. I don't rag it anyway, but i do get the rev's up a few times to clear the tubes out.

I checked my wife's car for another thread this spring(?) and it would be 90+c in 7-8 miles, I think (but can't remember for sure) this would be the same in winter, can't think why not.

 

Not that I have to much faith in the sensors/programs/dash read outs given the outdoor temperature reading on the dash, they seem to suffer with solar radiation gain, at various times we play "guess what temperature the lying VW car says it is", who needs all this infotainment stuff.