VW dealership trying to con the wife?

Castiel · 18 May 2013 at 11:12

Ace Modder said:
225 / 40 / 18s

Get Bridgestone RE050A's I got mine a few months back for £96 a corner. Great tyre in the dry and wet.

I bought online, and paid £36 for fitting at a local F1 autocentre place.

I got quoted at the same place as the Goodyears £145 for the Bridgestones.

They also said we should only replace the 2mm tyres and keep the 4mm one until it needs replacing.

thedoc46 · 18 May 2013 at 12:55

Even the most reputable of dealers try and fleece you for extra services you don't need. Always say no to anything and everything, unless its obviously faulty.

As for tyres, i always buy mine online and take them to the dealer for fitting. Works out less expensive.

Castiel · 18 May 2013 at 13:11

thedoc46 said:
Even the most reputable of dealers try and fleece you for extra services you don't need. Always say no to anything and everything, unless its obviously faulty.

As for tyres, i always buy mine online and take them to the dealer for fitting. Works out less expensive.

I'm not worried about them offering extra services, but the hiking of pricing when they stipulate a fixed price across the board.

hawker1986 · 18 May 2013 at 13:23

My experience of dealers is generally pretty rubbish, local honda tried to charge my £50 to diagnose a problem when I told them what the problem was already, ive given up with dealers now unless the car is under warranty.

Hawker

Castiel · 18 May 2013 at 14:18

The only reason I go to the main dealer is to maintain resale value on the S/H.

POB · 18 May 2013 at 14:20

I've seen some main dealers only offer fixed price servicing once the initial 3 year warranty is up.

Car might be too new still.

Castiel · 18 May 2013 at 14:39

POB said:
I've seen some main dealers only offer fixed price servicing once the initial 3 year warranty is up.

Car might be too new still.

The car is now 3 years old. It had its first MOT as mentioned in the OP.

POB · 18 May 2013 at 15:18

Castiel said:
The car is now 3 years old. It had its first MOT as mentioned in the OP.

You mention: "car is 3 years old at the end of the month"

According to that its not yet 3 years old, and you can MOT early.

Castiel · 18 May 2013 at 15:30

POB said:
You mention: "car is 3 years old at the end of the month"

According to that its not yet 3 years old, and you can MOT early.

The quote from the VW dealer was for a scheduled Brake Fluid Service..this doesn't come into effect for 11 days (the due date). If the car was under 3 years old then the service would not be necessary and the quote would not have been made.

I thought that was very obvious tbh. Besides VAG offer fixed price servicing on all vehicles over 90 days but under 8 years old.

rhysduck · 18 May 2013 at 16:04

My AC is still perfect after 12 yrs! VW dealers can be crafty buggers..

muon · 18 May 2013 at 17:24

If people do want servicing quotes from dealers, I find this a good starting point. Cheaper than dealer online prices.

http://carservicing.shell.co.uk/

Still expensive though.

Castiel · 20 May 2013 at 19:35

A quick update, the Service Manager called today, apologised and offered to do both for £80 at our convenience which we agreed.

thedoc46 · 20 May 2013 at 19:40

Castiel said:
I'm not worried about them offering extra services, but the hiking of pricing when they stipulate a fixed price across the board.

I'd say the AC service was an extra service that you did not need.

quackers · 20 May 2013 at 20:32

Bit off topic but would you say it matters if a car has full dealer history against part dealer history and then history of local garages servicing the car? Surely, as long as the car has been looked after thats the main thing?

[TW]Fox · 20 May 2013 at 20:46

quackers said:
Bit off topic but would you say it matters if a car has full dealer history against part dealer history and then history of local garages servicing the car? Surely, as long as the car has been looked after thats the main thing?

Depends on the car and price. Many people use full dealer history as part of the initial sift when choosing a used car.

How do you know if a car has 'been looked after properly'?

quackers · 20 May 2013 at 21:01

I'll always look for a full service history, but thats a good point, I suppose an indepdent local garage could be a gang of cowboys

Castiel · 20 May 2013 at 21:59

quackers said:
Bit off topic but would you say it matters if a car has full dealer history against part dealer history and then history of local garages servicing the car? Surely, as long as the car has been looked after thats the main thing?

My Range Rover without a FRRSH but a FSH from an independent can be over £3k less on resale values, especially if p/x at a dealer.

Not sure about VW Golfs, but I'd rather not take the chance, besides VW services are not that different in cost to our local Indy VW specialist.

*Moangroan* · 20 May 2013 at 22:24

The only thing a fsh history is worth is the staMP in the book.... it does not provide any evidence of the quality of the service provided....

Fr0dders · 20 May 2013 at 22:27

Castiel said:
Now, obviously I will be bringing this up with the dealership management tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone else has similar experiences with VW authorised dealers?

every dealer does this.

They will usually charge you full whack despite whatever offers they have on the website. Usually bringing the offers up will get them to honour the prices, but they will never offer you the cheapesst price without asking.

Just the way things are ...

Castiel · 20 May 2013 at 22:30

Fr0dders said:
every dealer does this.

They will usually charge you full whack despite whatever offers they have on the website. Usually bringing the offers up will get them to honour the prices, but they will never offer you the cheapesst price without asking.

Just the way things are ...

They didn't charge us full whack...they attempted to overcharge us.