first, and poor, experience with online service booking

[grazuncle2]

I had the service notice pop up in the past few days..

I tried to phone a local VW outlet and after waiting a very long time for pick up gave up and tried to book it online via VW. There were only two slots (last day of Sept or 1st of Oct and then nothing till Nov. I booked this Thursday.

Got a confirmation and a message saying the hosen garage would email me...

around 2 pm i got a call from the local garage saying I can't have my chosen slot.. Not a kind or even apologetic tone for the inconvenience.. Then gave me what seemed to be an open ended calendar... a week ahead of my choice.

I'm not upset at all with the alternative slot.. but the customer service was poor and worse the online booking seems to be a farce...

So is it my beginners bad luck or does this happen a lot? What is your experience of it?

[lancslad1985]

Very dealer dependent. Lookers were awful and I experienced similar things as you have experienced, with no politeness. Since I switched to Inchcape in Bolton the service has been outstanding.

[grazuncle2]

Thanks for the reply.. i guess you can't tar all garages (even in the same chain) with the same brush.

I px'd my last 15yr old Polo for this Polo (used and a little over 2 yrs old) in May this year from Lookers (Stratford upon Avon) At the time it was the only Polo in my price range that had the featured i wanted.. it is 35 minutes away from my location in Birmingham.

My last Polo was from a local company only 10 minutes away that is now under Johnson's VW group; they are the ones i booked the service with. I stopped using that garage a few years after the MOT's test were required. They would fail it every time on some minor stuff like headlamp alignment (£35 a time)

I started going to a local council run Testing only station, instead. Never failed the same car on headlamp alignment in all of the 10 years that followed.

I'm hoping with the new management things might have changed. I have a local independent guy who does sterling work and will eventually go back to him for servicing after this warranty is up. He will still get the brakes, cam belts and other work in the mean time though.

[SRGTD]

I use a dealership that has a number of branches. The nearest to me is around 8-9 miles from my home but I don’t use them. Whenever I’ve gone to that branch they always seem quite patronising and speak to you as if they’re reciting from a scrip (maybe they are?). I use a branch of the same dealership group that’s 30-35 miles from where I live but I’m happy to travel the extra distance as the staff seem much more genuine, helpful and down to earth and I’ve never had a problem getting my car booked in at a date and time that suits me. They have three of the four VAG brands on one site, which means you sometimes get some interesting courtesy cars (I got an Audi TT a few years ago).

I noticed when I was there recently when my car was serviced that there were quite a few new faces, so I’m hoping that’s not a sign of a change for the worse, and that the service I’ve grown accustomed to over the years continues.

[grazuncle2]

Yes I hope you are right there..!

This seems to be a theme with any garage or group. Golden or poor. I don't want an unsafe car by any means.. if the brakes need doing they need doing...

What I don't want is 'your front pads are low' when only half way through. With my mileage (esp now) I'd probably get another two years out of them and still performing safe.

I'm anticipating a 'do you want AC refresh'. Never had that done at all on the previous 15 years with the Polo 9N3.

I'm sure there must be a Latin sounding name for 'fear of garages ripping you off'

Phobious Garagundus?

[grazuncle2]

one annoyance replaced by another today

Got the car serviced this morning before work(8:30) got away by 10:00 ish.. Stopped to get some fuel and after paying switched on ignition and got a message.. please arrange to get you car serviced within the next 16 days!

Phoned service dept and they said 'oh.. the computer hasn't picked that up' Pop by and we'll sort it out. I said I'm at work now... "Oh any time in the next few days'

It's knocked the shine off the experience; driving in with the message and driving away with it still on! You can't help wondering what they actually did.

Well it isn't convenient to pop by.. I hardly ever pass that side of the area.. special journey.

{Ps the only thing I am pleased about is that they didn't try an upsell anything. They mentioned tyre wear (4.5mm or more left on all tyres) but did not really push it... However if someone read the other page of the report they'd see what replacing 3 (with budget tyres!) would cost them £239.04! They might panic and get it done needlessly. Ouch!

I don't even know what they did for a 20,000 mile service?

[SRGTD]

You can reset the service reminder yourself - this is from the Owner’s Manual;

Resetting the service interval display
If the service or the inspection was not performed by a Volkswagen dealership, the display can be reset as follows:

​Vehicles with analogue instrument cluster:
Switch off the ignition.
Press and hold the 0.0 button in the instrument cluster.
Switch on the ignition again.
Release the 0.0 button when one of the following messages appears on the display in the instrument cluster: Reset oil service? or Reset inspection?.
Press the 0.0 button in the instrument cluster to confirm.

​Vehicles with digital instrument cluster:
The service interval display can only be reset via the Service menu Service menu.

Do not reset the service interval display between service intervals otherwise incorrect data may be shown.
If the oil change service was manually reset, the service interval display then also changes to a fixed service interval in vehicles with flexible oil change service.

The service message disappears after a few seconds when the engine is running or when the message is confirmed in the instrument cluster.

On my last car when I had it serviced and the tyre tread depth was similar to yours, the dealer I use also provided prices for new tyres (I didn’t ask them to). They provided prices for budget, mid range and premium tyres. I wouldn’t buy tyres from the VW dealer unless they were the cheapest (unlikely) or would match the price that I could buy them at cheaper elsewhere.

The 20,000 mile service probably consisted of oil and oil filter change, new pollen filter, check and top up other fluid levels if necessary, check / inspect tyres (condition and tread depth) and a visual check of underbody, suspension and exhaust, check the operation of wipers / washers and lights. Some dealers will video the ‘health check’ inspection (mine does) and send it to your phone as a link in a text message while they’re servicing the car.

[grazuncle2]

That's useful information, thanks.

I'll check the service option in the menu on the display.. hopefully it will save a trip. I have three A4 sheets of paper given me and most of it details tyres and replacement but very little on what they actually did. Looking at the Johnsons Health Check sheet under Technician's Report I have

• Internal Ticked
  External ticked
  Under Bonnet not inspected
  Brakes and Suspension Ticked
  Underbody Ticked

So I'm non the wiser

I'll check the colour of the oil on the stick.. although it was not really dirty beforehand.. certainly not black

[grazuncle2]

I tried to get the service message reset but could not get past just the notice.

I got into it from the cluster (via steering wheel controls and also the info display panel in the middle of the console as well but I don't get option to reset anything..

Perhaps I'm not doing it properly.. may make the trip back VW tomorrow..

Thanks for your help regardless.

[Andy Beats]

Yes I hope you are right there..!

This seems to be a theme with any garage or group. Golden or poor. I don't want an unsafe car by any means.. if the brakes need doing they need doing...

What I don't want is 'your front pads are low' when only half way through. With my mileage (esp now) I'd probably get another two years out of them and still performing safe.

I'm anticipating a 'do you want AC refresh'. Never had that done at all on the previous 15 years with the Polo 9N3.

I'm sure there must be a Latin sounding name for 'fear of garages ripping you off'

Phobious Garagundus?

Dealers are growing increasingly desperate, it would appear.
Brakes are a favourite, do they really need done?
A colleague here had a dealer phone him about saying tyre with well over 3mm of tread needed replaced.
He'd have gone for it if it I hadn't pointed out the legal limit 1.6mm and he was nowhere near that.

With regard to the AC, with all due respect there's no way your 9N3 aircon was still working properly at 15 years without a regas.
Even a perfect system loses round 10% per year through permeation.
Our Mii would suggest that's about right, as it was 8 years old without a gas and I got it done when it just became unbearably hot in it a few months ago.
Even if you think 10% is excessive and half it to 5%, your car will have been devoid of gas.

[grazuncle2]

after watching 7 or 8 YT videos.....

found this.. https://youtu.be/qUfSLluWc_Q?t=11

I got it down to ..

ignition off
hold down the button to the left of the trip reset button (below the instrument cluster)
up pops the oil change option
press the left button again and it changes to Service
the press the left button again
then it resets to 365 days
ignition off.

I checked the service section on the infotainment display and it was 365 days left.

might help someone..

[grazuncle2]

Yes I hope you are right there..!

This seems to be a theme with any garage or group. Golden or poor. I don't want an unsafe car by any means.. if the brakes need doing they need doing...

What I don't want is 'your front pads are low' when only half way through. With my mileage (esp now) I'd probably get another two years out of them and still performing safe.

I'm anticipating a 'do you want AC refresh'. Never had that done at all on the previous 15 years with the Polo 9N3.

I'm sure there must be a Latin sounding name for 'fear of garages ripping you off'

Phobious Garagundus?

Dealers are growing increasingly desperate, it would appear.
Brakes are a favourite, do they really need done?
A colleague here had a dealer phone him about saying tyre with well over 3mm of tread needed replaced.
He'd have gone for it if it I hadn't pointed out the legal limit 1.6mm and he was nowhere near that.

With regard to the AC, with all due respect there's no way your 9N3 aircon was still working properly at 15 years without a regas.
Even a perfect system loses round 10% per year through permeation.
Our Mii would suggest that's about right, as it was 8 years old without a gas and I got it done when it just became unbearably hot in it a few months ago.
Even if you think 10% is excessive and half it to 5%, your car will have been devoid of gas.

subtle ... what can I say : I'm a liar? AC worked no differently than when i purchased it and the dealer i PX'd it with tested it before purchase. I told him everything (all advisories) that that needed doing for the next MOT (stabiliser bar links (rubber seals))

[monkeyhanger]

It's lack of use that allows the seals to dry out, leading to refrigerant gas loss. If you use AC regularly, you can go many years without a regas.

I always try to avoid saying "with all due respect" or "No offence, but..." because what comes after is someone saying you're wrong or you're lying, no matter how polite they think they're being.

[grazuncle2]

That's what the salesman said when i took charge of my, then new, 9N3.. He told us to use the AC at least weekly to keeps seals in good condition.. Didn't understand what he meant at the time though..

Just discovered that the refrigerant in my old 9N3 is now banned a banned substance! R11 or R12.. a CFC. and yes the replacement apparently is a thinner gas and more likely to escape seals/hoses.

[Andy Beats]

subtle ... what can I say : I'm a liar? AC worked no differently than when i purchased it and the dealer i PX'd it with tested it before purchase. I told him everything (all advisories) that that needed doing for the next MOT (stabiliser bar links (rubber seals))

Well, all I can say is congratulations on having the only AC system that doesn't lose gas through a natural process.