Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Chat about your 6R/6C model Polos here!
Post Reply
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

My 6C GTI is now just 5 years old and has done just over 6000 miles from new. It has always been serviced at the local VW dealership.

The last service was a Major one at ~5000 miles in May 2019 at which all sorts of things were done - I suspect some unnecessarily like changing the Spark Plugs and regassing the Aircon. It was booked in for an Oil Change Service + Brake Fluid Change and MOT for this May.

But understandably the garage had to cancel as the Covid crisis had just hit. Since then they have offered two alternative appointments and promised with both of them to collect and deliver the car - however they have let me down on the collect/delivery almost at the last minute each time so I had to cancel. I explained that at nearly 73 years old I wasn't going to risk travelling by bus or taxi between them and my home and it is far too far to walk. The receptionist didn't seem to get it when I said that I valued my life above a chunk of metal and glass!

Anyway my MOT was extended until the end of November automatically so there is no immediate pressure on that front. There is a good local garage just a short walk away. They do MOTs and specialise in quite exotic classic cars but are happy to work on any make of vehicle. I've not used them because I've preferred to use the franchised dealer especially as I had the 5 year warranty but that is up (or very nearly if one counts the 3 month automatic extension). My neighbour has a VW Up and is very happy with this particular garage.

My plan is to wait it out over the summer and see how the Covid 19 situation develops and whether perhaps the VW dealership can manage to collect and deliver again. But if I can't use the VW garage I might just get the MOT done locally and leave the service a bit longer. I'm doing even fewer miles than normal with the situation but of course a lot of the trips are short.

I'd be very interested to hear any comments on whether just leaving the service for some time is likely to be harmful. I believe high mileage vehicles can go for two years/20,000 miles between services but that is based on long journeys when the oil gets fully up to temperature. But quite possibly 20,000 miles of long trips is just as many cold starts as 2,000 miles of mainly short trips.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

My mileage is almost as "bad" as your car, my Audi S4 is a February 2011 car with just over 26,000 miles - we use my wife's 2015 Polo 1,2TSI for local journeys.

It did seem to be the original plan for most main dealer's to only have "collect and drop off" for the period after they opened back up for business, that was certainly the way it was for my older daughter's SEAT main dealer, or maybe even SEAT, but for her that quickly changed to "book, drop off and we contact you when to collect" - or you can book a loan car for the price of insurance and fuel, which for her was £15 I think - that first service happens on Tuesday with the proviso that she accepts the car will not get the usual wash and vac - brilliant so no extra swirls on the paintwork.

So, would you consider requesting a loan car to solve your problem, I'd probably rather that I just collected and dropped my daughter as her boyfriend's only car is currently in long term storage due to the garage being rebuilt - if the weather could be trusted and if her dealer was booking cars in in a way that meant that the job would start soon after it was dropped off, she would happily go for a walk and return an hour later - I don't think that she explored that at all, although I'd think that they would want that loan car back ASAP after her car had been sanitised ready for handing back.

Edit:- just because I'm like that, I'd be ignoring any MOT "extension" and get it MOT'd at service time as needing to take it back in with your current concerns will just be another annoyance in winter f/when things get a bit worse.

Another edit:- I'd be sticking with annual services regardless of how few miles you run it in a year, ie stick to the manufacturer's recommendations - that is what I do with my cars even although I service them myself.
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

Thanks RUMM4MO - I suppose I could request a loan car but I have this feeling that there might be issues with insurance waivers and such like. I do have a 100% clean licence - not a single black mark in 55 years perhaps due to a bit of luck along the way I will freely admit. So in theory no problem with insurance but once you are over 70 they can get very funny no matter how solid your driving record.

And yes there's a lot of good sense in keeping the service and MOT aligned.

I used to do all my own servicing when I was young. I got to know the BMC A series engine quite well. My first car in 1966 was a 1954 Morris Minor with the 803cc A series engine. I also had two Minis and an MG Midget with the same A series engine. Then I had an MGB with the B series engine. Spent lots of time underneath with the car on ramps and a grease gun in hand with a very nice AF socket set at my side.

However in later times I left it up to the professionals.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

Ha, I'm in the same age bracket as you, maybe that is why my older daughter either wants me to drive her Leon Cupra now and again - or she will drop me off her insurance policy, the age thing rings a bell as I've just drifted over it! I'm up for trying out a car with DSG as no doubt I'll end up getting one soon enough, but she seems to have a very busy social life so that has not happened yet.

I'm very lucky as I did not encounter BMC products in my younger days, as well as AF sockets my old Bedford big socket set I inherited from my father ,has a full range of Whitworth/BSW sockets and my addition of a full range of Metric sockets, I did relieve myself of all the open ended and ring spanners that were not Metric though - so I could adopt a classic, but I don't like rust!

Finally, have you ever considered using a local VW Group Independent Specialist for your servicing as they have lower labour rates and normally take better care of your car - main dealerships are good for within the warranty period and a bit more as there is nothing to argue about wrt VW Group trying to wriggle out of sorting things out that have gone wrong, but they are forced to operate like an assembly line and no one is given enough time to actually look over every car properly.
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

There is a very good independent VW specialist in my town - I understand the boss is ex VW trained. A friend of mine with a Golf GTI says they are excellent although it seems not massively less expensive. A perhaps apocryphal tale is that when the VW dealer hits a particularly tricky problem which they can't resolve, they take the car to this Independent who fixes it.

I was sticking with the dealer this time because the 5 year factory warranty wasn't quite expired and then I was thinking of changing to the Independent.

Logistically the Independent is nearer but still on the edge of walkability especially on a wet day.

I'll sit tight a little longer. When I called the dealer one time I got put through to their Head Office (in another town) automatically and spoke to an incredibly helpful person who said my appointment was clearly marked for collection/delivery. But the local dealer let me down - twice. I might see if I can ring the Head Office and explain the situation and perhaps they can help.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

Ah, the nuisance with, by default, ending up dealing with a large dealership's head office for bookings!

That just happened to me once, the head office was in Tyneside area but I'm near Edinburgh and they just used my home address to work out or decide where to book me in to - and they were wrong, it didn't help that I had not picked up on that I was not talking to my usual dealer's service area!

Mind you that motor group that moved in and scooped up that Edinburgh based dealership did I think dispose of them after that which improved things it was said.
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

The Independent VW Specialist I'm thinking of going to for my overdue service mentions on their website :-

... we are connected directly to Volkswagen UK, using ODIS, and we can now update your digital service record online with, VW, ......... meaning that if any dealer needs to search for your cars history, its all digitally logged.

Does anyone know if a 6C Polo GTI (May 2015) has ODIS support built in? I did see a statement that VW cars since 2014 have it but I'd like to be sure.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

That sounds okay, most "proper" VW Group Indies buy licenses for official VW Group business software, so can find any updates, update the digital service record and remove component protection - ie exactly the same as your official VW dealership would.

As far as you and your car are concerned, they will operate in exactly the same way as your local VW dealership, maybe just more customer focussed and a lower hourly rate - and happier loyal customers!
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

Thanks again RUM4MO - it's becoming a "no brainer" decision I think. I found a bit more on another page on their web site :-

We are now online with Volkswagen UK. Which means we have FULL dealer level facilities, so we can provide EVERY service that dealer workshop does, but at up to half the price.

The Independent offers a Collect/Deliver service on their website although I haven't checked on that yet - could be that like the VW dealership they have suspended it for the time being. Still their premises are just about walkable from my home - a pleasant traffic-free riverside walk most of the way - unlike the unacceptably long hike along a noisy main road to the VW dealer.

Another point in its favour is that my friend with a Golf GTI is very satisfied with the service he has received.

Did your reply imply that a 2015 Polo GTI will be ODIS compatible?
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

Yes, and I'd think that ODIS has just replaced the previous VAS equipment and I would have thought, from a workshop point of view, ODIS would be usable on all older VW Group vehicles that come into their workshop, it would be a bit annoying to have to keep paying for 2 lots of support from VW Group.
TrebleTA
Bronze Member
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:03 am
Drives: 2016 GTI (6r)
Location: South East (UK) Haywards Heath.

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by TrebleTA »

Just wanted to point out and not to sure if it has been said, but air con service is NOT part of a full or major service. And they charge £139 for a air con service.
fleagal
New
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 12:54 pm
Drives: Polo GTi 2015 6C
Location: solihull

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by fleagal »

I recently used this site https://bookmygarage.com/secret-service/

...which allowed me to book a major service and MOT for my 6C for around £200. There was an additional £8 for collecting and delivering my car but they didn't charge it in the end.

The service was actually carried out by my local VW dealer, Johnsons of Solihull. They tried to up-sell (air con, new tyres, tracking) as you might imagine but there was no pressure. The one thing I opted for was replacement spark plugs at a cost of £35 (the car is 2015 with low mileage) but when they called to collect payment they had not charged this as they had none in stock!

Pretty pleased with the service and cost and takes the effort out of taking/collecting whilst wearing a hazmat suit.
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

Thanks RUMM4MO, TrebleTA and fleagal - some interesting posts there.

I had my air con regassed at two years (May 2017 - mileage 3183). That part of the bill was itemised as £5 for the gas and £60.83 labour - both VAT exclusive so £79 in all.

At four years (May 2019 - mileage 5114) the dealer pointed out that I needed to have it regassed again. They said the price had gone up considerably due to the gas being much more expensive and would now be £139 - almost double. When I hesitated, the old line about invalidating warranty came out (I had bought the 5 year factory warranty) so I agreed to having the air con done.

When I got the bill I could see that it was certainly true that the cost of the gas had gone up - fivefold to £25. But the labour cost had gone up by almost 50% to £90.84 making £115.84 in total and adding VAT at 20% gave the quoted £139 exactly.

Now a 50% jump in labour costs in two years is pretty steep and I did feel that they had been economical with the truth in blaming it all on the cost of the gas.

My entire bill came to £538 inc VAT. That was for the aircon regas, major service, and MOT. I'd argued against having the spark plugs changed after only 5,000 miles but again the "warranty in jeopardy" caused me to cave in.

Incidentally the Independent I am thinking of trying does an aircon regas for £59 inc VAT although they recommend doing it every year rather than every two years.

I owned my previous car (Vauxhall Corsa 1.8 SRi - nicer than you might think) for 14 years from new and never regassed the aircon once. It still worked fine. I did once have a treatment to get rid of the smell when reverting to not using aircon. That cost £25 and the car smelled lovely for about a fortnight but then before long it was back to the previous state.

I wonder if the need for frequent aircon regassing might be greater if one does a high mileage and uses the aircon a lot.
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by RUM4MO »

AC maybe needing regassed more often if annual mileage was higher, maybe if/as the gas could be running at a higher pressure for more of the time, and with a fault free AC car system, the leakage is across the plastics in the system so the weight of refrigerant crossing through these materials will be more with higher "pressure-hours" over a year.
Personally, I'd wait until the AC seemed to have lost a bit of its effectiveness or maybe monitor it every summer by measuring the minimum temperature of the air coming out of the centre vents with the fan on MAX speed and cooling set on LO on a day that has high temperatures.
My old 2000 VW Passat 4Motion was one of these cars that still had a compressor with a clutch which keep "better" if the AC is used frequently, I hardly ever used the AC on that car as it drank petrol quickly enough with the AC off, I noticed it had a system leak at a pipe join, I asked my local VW dealer to service the AC as they were running a "good seasonal deal", but to halt the servicing after the gas had been removed and replace the seals at that join point. They laughed at me for saying that I knew that there was a leak there "you can't see leaks" - bad news for these professional muppets, you normally can, the escaping refrigerant is accompanied by some of the system lubricating oil, so it is normally easy to spot a leak as there will be a slightly oily mess which with time will collect dust/dirt. So what they did do, was investigate that system and found no faults and then recharged it and charged me a lot of money, so it continued to leak there as long as I owned that car, and yes I did check that area using a pumped refrigerant leak tester before and after it was worked on, but most garage refrigeration operators only know how to operate the mainly automatic gas charging kit - and it tells them if a system is okay to recharge or not, so just BLACK or WHITE response from it.

Edit:- after the initial 3 year warranty was finished, I always service my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS, and I follow VW's recommendations which means that I replaced the spark plugs at 4 years along with air filter, using either same as VW supply or VW supplied parts.

Vauxhalls, yes very much a Marmite brand in UK, I had always dismissed them and stuck with Ford (Fix Or Replace Daily), until in 1991 Ford brought out their next Escort, I had been running new Orion Ghia Injections one after the other, this next Escort seemed to me to be a pile of poo and the dealers were just talking far too much nonsense like "16V engines are a passing fad" this was a change to an earlier bit of nonsense at car shopping time in 1984 which was "5 speed gearboxes are a passing fad" - so I accidentally walked passed a Vauxhall dealership which had a very nice slightly used Cavalier GSI 2000 16V 4X4, I grabbed that, okay not your typical Vauxhall or even same underneath to a Cavalier (underneath was Calibra), but the best car that I had ever owned, only equalled when I changed my 2000 VW Passat 4Motion for a slightly used 2011 Audi S4! Vauxhall should really try to appeal to more of the UK's car buying public, but maybe too late now that PSA owns them, Opel seemed to always do a better job in Europe both when supplying their own stuff and same as Vauxhall were offering.
Guy
Bronze Member
Posts: 115
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2015 10:51 am
Drives: GTI
Location: South East Midlands

Re: Delaying Servicing due to Covid19

Post by Guy »

Getting a bit off topic here but I recall the Orion Ghia very well. In the 1980s I was working for a large company and we were all rather company car conscious as the company kept raising the level of car which employees were entitled to have. And of course the car manufacturers were improving the specs - I remember a younger colleague getting an Orion GL a few years after my Ghia and it was almost equal in spec. Company Cars became a hotly discussed topic.

I'd been a bit lucky that my previous company Escort 1.6 GL was due for retirement and just before that happened I became eligible for a shiny new Orion 1.6 Ghia. Another colleague on the same grade as me was rather envious as his car wasn't due for renewal. But eventually he also acquired an Orion 1.6 Ghia.

It so happened that we both needed to attend a meeting in Manchester and as it went on late we were entitled to an evening meal. He was returning to Leicester and I lived almost another 50 miles further south but it wasn't out of my way to take his route. So we decided to stop in Buxton for a rather nice dinner on the firm and then proceed cross country on A roads to Derby where we could pick up the M1. My friend was leading and pushing on a bit but traffic was light. Every time he overtook slower traffic there was room for me to safely follow. However despite running to the red line in the gears (company cars prefer that treatment) I couldn't quite stick with him.

Some years later we recalled this occasion and he laughingly told me the secret. Just before he'd finally acquired his Ghia the company had again upped the spec level and he'd gone for the 1.6 injection version. The trip had been in darkness and I simply hadn't realised! It certainly had a lot more oomph at the top end compared to mine. On mine 5th gear was very tall - around 25mph/1000 rpm - and gave a relaxed motorway cruise but on any adverse gradient or to accelerate one would need to drop to 4th.

Not so many years after that trip I left that company and had to buy my own car. I chose a Fiesta XR2 - the one with the XR3 engine before that received injection. Remarkably nippy.
Post Reply