Maintenance Schedule

[RonDawg]

My 2014 passat has a 130k timing belt and water pump job at the same time.

You're willing to wait until 130k for a timing belt change? You're a braver man than me.

The 2.0 TFSI on my '06 A3 has a recommended timing belt change at I think 110k. However there have been reports of the belt breaking well before that.

 

[JoulesThief]

My 2014 passat has a 130k timing belt and water pump job at the same time.

You're willing to wait until 130k for a timing belt change? You're a braver man than me.

The 2.0 TFSI on my '06 A3 has a recommended timing belt change at I think 110k. However there have been reports of the belt breaking well before that.

4 valves per head, and a HPFP that puts lower spike pressures on the timing belt allow the extension of MTBF on the timing belts. Plenty of folks with the Gen 1 TDI motor in 2009 on are going the 120k miles between timing belt and water pump changes. I've a long ways to go to reach 130k miles, I'll be noting if others have early failure before the 130k mile suggested interval. My passat sees easy highway miles, for 90% on the miles it accrues.

 

[GadgetGav]

Well, I can confirm that the first year / 10,000 mile service is complimentary (for 2015 vehicles at least)
It was busy in my dealership this morning so I didn't get time to ask their price for the 20K & 30K services, but the service guy did say that the 10K service takes about 20 min.
In fact they just called me to say that it's ready having done the 10K service and a state inspection sticker. They had it two hours max and as I said it was busy in there today, so there really is nothing to these services.

 

[JoulesThief]

Well, I can confirm that the first year / 10,000 mile service is complimentary (for 2015 vehicles at least)
It was busy in my dealership this morning so I didn't get time to ask their price for the 20K & 30K services, but the service guy did say that the 10K service takes about 20 min.
In fact they just called me to say that it's ready having done the 10K service and a state inspection sticker. They had it two hours max and as I said it was busy in there today, so there really is nothing to these services.

It's $199 for looking around and pretty much saying everything is OK. I'm of the opinion that these cars are more run them until something fails, if you use it in city, and when it fails, tow it in if necessary.

 

[GadgetGav]

It's $199 for looking around and pretty much saying everything is OK. I'm of the opinion that these cars are more run them until something fails, if you use it in city, and when it fails, tow it in if necessary.

Are you quoting actual prices from a dealer? Previously you'd said $106 a visit... It would be good to know what the 2nd & 3rd are going to cost to know if the package is a good deal or not (it doesn't seem to be).

 

[JoulesThief]

It's $199 for looking around and pretty much saying everything is OK. I'm of the opinion that these cars are more run them until something fails, if you use it in city, and when it fails, tow it in if necessary.

Are you quoting actual prices from a dealer? Previously you'd said $106 a visit... It would be good to know what the 2nd & 3rd are going to cost to know if the package is a good deal or not (it doesn't seem to be).

You buy a service contract .... out to 50k miles of service.... for a set price, guaranteed with a lower price per service visit. If you don't understand it, call up the dealership and ask them to explain it, as if you were buying a new car.

 

[GadgetGav]

It's $199 for looking around and pretty much saying everything is OK. I'm of the opinion that these cars are more run them until something fails, if you use it in city, and when it fails, tow it in if necessary.

Are you quoting actual prices from a dealer? Previously you'd said $106 a visit... It would be good to know what the 2nd & 3rd are going to cost to know if the package is a good deal or not (it doesn't seem to be).

You buy a service contract .... out to 50k miles of service.... for a set price, guaranteed with a lower price per service visit. If you don't understand it, call up the dealership and ask them to explain it, as if you were buying a new car.

I understand the service plans just fine. There's one that covers 3 years and one that goes out to 5. What I don't understand is the prices for individual service visits that you've quoted. In one post you said it was $106 per visit and in another you said $199. I was just asking if those were real-world prices that you'd got from a dealer.

 

[GadgetGav]

One bit of follow up from my 10K service. I asked them to check that the TSB 87-15-04 had been applied to my car because I'd previously had the AC failure and while they were there, if they could apply the TSB 87-15-02 to remove the return-to-default behavior of the Climatronic system.

They refused to do either.

Their reasoning was that they'd applied a fix for the AC previously and unless and until it fails again they leave that fix in place instead of the one in the TSB. They were never able to clearly explain what was wrong before or how they fixed it, so this policy of not installing a known good fix seems short sighted to me.

 

[JoulesThief]

One bit of follow up from my 10K service. I asked them to check that the TSB 87-15-04 had been applied to my car because I'd previously had the AC failure and while they were there, if they could apply the TSB 87-15-02 to remove the return-to-default behavior of the Climatronic system.

They refused to do either.

Their reasoning was that they'd applied a fix for the AC previously and unless and until it fails again they leave that fix in place instead of the one in the TSB. They were never able to clearly explain what was wrong before or how they fixed it, so this policy of not installing a known good fix seems short sighted to me.

Welcome to VW "service" LOL. :lol: Find a good independent to work on it, once out of warranty.

If you come in off the street, a 10k service is $199. If you buy the service contract for $540, you pay $540 up front, and bring your car in at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50k services. So, with $540, what is your average cost of service on a 2016?

 

[GadgetGav]

Welcome to VW "service" LOL. :lol: Find a good independent to work on it, once out of warranty.

If you come in off the street, a 10k service is $199. If you buy the service contract for $540, you pay $540 up front, and bring your car in at 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50k services. So, with $540, what is your average cost of service on a 2016?

Well firstly, I'm leasing, so I don't need to worry about finding an independent shop that deals with EVs (though I could do the tasks in the 10K service in my driveway).

Secondly, it's good to know that the "rack rate" for a service is $199

But I'm still confused by your calculations. The 3 year plan for a 2016 car is $509 or $169.67 per service. The 5 year plan for a 2016 is $529 (not $540) which does work out to be almost $106 per visit. ($540 would be $108 to answer your question)
For 2015 cars though, the first service is free, so a 3 year plan at $456 works out to $228 per visit for the remaining two services :shock: and the 5 year at $501 works out to $125.25

For people with a 2015 on a three year lease, the rack rate seems the best option, even if it is daylight robbery for the amount of work involved.

 

[REM]

I believe that all service options listed above constitute highway robbery, but I guess that this is VW's response to the lower maintenance cost of EVs. Don't have oil to change or a transmission? Okay, we'll look at some stuff and charge you $$$$. No thanks.