keep going with VW dealer services on 5yr old car?

3t3P

3t3P

3t3P

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Joined
20 Dec 2006
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Got a 2010 VW Scirocco R that will be five this summer.

So far it has FDSH (full dealer service history)

I've been quoted by Manchester VW £439 for a major and minor service and one MOT.

Going to a local independent VAG specialist (VAG Technik in Eccles, Manc) I can save £100 on the above.

I will keep the car until 2017 (eyeing up a used M4 by then: D) so will likely be doing a private sale.

Am I going to suffer with resale without full dealer history in my service book? I read conflicting things online.

My theory is someone has to be somewhat of a driver to set out to buy any 'R' car or Audi 'S' car and may not care so much as long as the car has been serviced properly.

I know some people slate dealers but I have yet to have any major issues and the Manchester folk are pretty friendly.
I also know some people reckon Indies do better/more thorough work.

General thoughts/experiences?
 
The age of the car is not really very relevant, what matters is the value of the car.

So although its 5 years old it's probably still worth a considerably large amount of money - circa £16,000. As a result I wouldn't even consider breaking the history just to save a paltry hundred quid.
 
the likelyhood is that the indy will have a stamp - book will look the same. Doubt anyone will bother - the car will be 7 years old by the time you sell. So long as it's service is up to date - can't see it being an issue.

Saving seems poor. my BMW was indy serviced for about 4 years and was at least half the price of the dealers.

edit posted at the same time as Fox - 2 different answers for you! It's a poor saving is the main point I am making!
 
To be honest it has been a long time since I've found specialists competitive of routine servicing. Even on my 207,000 mile 13 year old 530i I still had it main dealer serviced because the saving of not bothering just didn't seem worth the bother.
 
Service is Service. Just buy the parts and oil from the dealer and get it serviced somewhere else with stamps of course and keep the receipts. Average Joe won't care where it has been done.
 
I've been finding more and more that dealers are the same or within £50 of an independent anyway. Hell even cheaper at time.



Indy Minor £237.32
Indy Major £361.37

Dealer Minor £199
Dealer Major £329
 
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Car has just done 40k miles.

I've seen people say if a car is worth over £7000 it can be worth maintaining FDSH?
 
Don't see any reason why you can't ask the Main Dealer if they can get anywhere close to the Indy price? Most dealers are happy to haggle a little.
 
How many miles are you planning on putting on the car? A 7 year old .:R with full VW history on it, with relatively low miles is bound to give you back more than the what? £200 you will save from servicing it twice in that time? Even if it doesn't give you the extra money, it will make it more desirable, so will likely sell quicker.
 
8-9000 miles a year so might be on 60k or over when I come to sell.

Yeh I'm gonna see if I can haggle and also check another VW branch quote as a control.
 
Well, looking back at the original post, I see no reason why you would want 2 services? Surely you either go for the major service or the minor service, depending on which one is due. Everything in the minor service should be included in the major service.

Unless what your being offered is a "service pack", in which case your saving the cost of the MOT basically. And if you are only saving £100 in servicing costs over the whole time you have the car, then is it really worth the bother of loosing what could be critical to some peoples impression of the vehicle come selling time?

VW do fixed price servicing, so you should be only £299 for the major service, regardless of where you go. The MOT should be £54.85, but since it's just an MOT, you could get that done anywhere for less, my local guy does them for £35. It's not like the VW one seems to give you the MOT insurance or anything.
 
For £100 more I’d stick with the main dealer, my car has ended up at a trusted specialist simply due to the fact the wanted £400 less for a major service.
 
if the Specialist is well known with the "crowd" that are into those cars then thats better then a dealers stamp.

I say this based on my car for example.
If i was to try and sell it with a belts service done at a main dealer i would get questions like is it timed right.
Whereas if i had a stamp from BTM performance who is very well known with these cars then there would be zero questions and prob worth more.

Btw Dealer major service on my car is around £1000.
BTM charge around £550-600 with extras done

I would just get it done at a place that Knows what they are doing, if you know the dealer is very good with that car then so be it.
 
Yes its a service pack. Individually £499 with VWs pricing or £439 when bundled together.
So yes it saves just the cost of a VW MOT.

Well if I get a major done this year at the five year mark as well as cambelt I'll also need a minor next year 2016 when I've covered another 9-10k
 
The part chop value of a 7 year old car "normal" between a main dealer and indi is nothing.

So why waste the money as most main dealer mechanics are rubbish at best.
 
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