When should my air con have its first service?

[RichTea]

So will my warranty be void if i take my car for the 10k service to a non vw garage?

[Ima]

By law as long as the garage uses VW parts and service schedule it’s fine and warranty is maintained. In reality less simple as without explicit proof the garage followed exact VW standard VW may have wriggle room to deny a claim. Also if you are on a PCP the contact regarding GFV at PCP end may state this depends on full ( ie VW) service history so in that instance not a good idea to go outside of dealer network.

[SRGTD]

Also, if you’re leasing your car, the terms and conditions in your lease agreement should outline the any specific requirements of the leasing company with regards to servicing (i.e. if this needs to be carried out by an VW dealership or not).

Bear in mind that if you do use an independent garage, they won’t be able to apply any software updates that may apply to your car (unless they have access to VW’s systems, which is unlikely), whereas the VW dealer should check and do this as part of the service.

[Steve_2019]

If it doesn't blow very cold it needs charging. If it does but it smells a bit feisty, it needs an antibacterial treatment.

Otherwise, save your money.

If you use the aircon regularly the seals won't dry out and leak refrigerant for many years (5 or 6).

Monkeyhanger I agree with you my dad had a rover 75 from new and never had the air conditioning regassed into the car was 9 years old. If you run the air conditioning regularly it shouldn’t lose the gas.

[monkeyhanger]

If it doesn't blow very cold it needs charging. If it does but it smells a bit feisty, it needs an antibacterial treatment.

Otherwise, save your money.

If you use the aircon regularly the seals won't dry out and leak refrigerant for many years (5 or 6).

Monkeyhanger I agree with you my dad had a rover 75 from new and never had the air conditioning regassed into the car was 9 years old. If you run the air conditioning regularly it shouldn’t lose the gas.

There is a certain amount of aircon activity happening in the background all the time, most noticeably during the early part of your journey and more so when windscreen rather than cabin blowing is selected. If you look in "convenience consumers" screen within the "car" set of screens on the infotainment system, you'll see a red bar that measures in 1/4 gallon per hour. Aircon on mine (even when I don't have aircon selected).runs at about 1/3 of that bar, contributing to 1/12 of a gallon per hour.

[RUM4MO]

If it doesn't blow very cold it needs charging. If it does but it smells a bit feisty, it needs an antibacterial treatment.

Otherwise, save your money.

If you use the aircon regularly the seals won't dry out and leak refrigerant for many years (5 or 6).

Monkeyhanger I agree with you my dad had a rover 75 from new and never had the air conditioning regassed into the car was 9 years old. If you run the air conditioning regularly it shouldn’t lose the gas.

Running AC systems frequently was very relevant back in the days when the compressors were not run all the time, ie there was a clutch built into the drive pulley, for at least the past 15 years all new models of VW Group cars have been fitted with variable displacement compressors and so they get run at all times but at low displacement when no chilling is required, so all system surfaces are getting coated with system oil and so leakage is minimal regardless if the AC is used or not. Though there will always be slight, but acceptable leakage in any automobile AC chiller systems because the compressors can not be hermetically sealed and the necessary plastic flexible connecting pipes will always allow some gas to pass across their material. It does make you wonder if with less damaging gas being used, less effort is being taken to keep leakage to a minimum.