Are Main Dealers Trying It on?

[Banksy_74]

Evening all,

Took the van in to VW for it’s test today (passed no issues ) but several things were brought up on a complimentary vehicle health check that just didn’t seem right when I questioned them on the service desk! Are the dealers trying it on with me and looking for easy money?

List below of things they raised:

1: EGR valve seized up in closed position. No warning lights on the dash, no excessive oil/coolant usage, idles/drives fine with no lack of power. I asked how they could know this by just looking at it and just got a response that they could just tell! I asked if they had scanned for faults, taken any soot readings etc and they said they hadn’t. They then began to tell me having it fail in the closed position wasn’t a bad thing and that I should just leave it and not replace it.

2: My air box is supposedly missing! I challenged this one as I’d only just changed the air filter myself. It turns out they meant that the air delivery hose to the box was missing. I’ve not looked but this could be the case as the belt was replaced when I bought the van and could potentially have been left off but this wasn’t brought up in the checks done by the same dealer last year.

3: Rear discs & pads. I know these are getting ready to be replaced soon but when I had the DSG boxed serviced in July last year both front & rear brakes were noted to be 70% worn. Fast forward 6000 miles to today and the fronts are 70% worn and the rears are 90% worn! I know this could be open to the testers interpretation but I was under the impression that front brakes are doing most of the braking so will wear quicker.

Then they asked if I’d like the timing belt/water pump replacing as it’s due every 40k or 5 years. It’s was replaced last year so I declined but then asked them about the latest recommendation from VW about changing it every 100k (if I remember rightly), at that point he conveniently remembered that the schedule had been changed!

I’m pretty handy when it comes to fixing anything car/van related but I can’t help but think that the dealer was hoping that I knew nothing and could get some easy work out of me.

Anyway, rant over, any advice welcomed.

Cheers
Banksy

 

[Johny]

Evening all,

Took the van in to VW for it’s test today (passed no issues ) but several things were brought up on a complimentary vehicle health check that just didn’t seem right when I questioned them on the service desk! Are the dealers trying it on with me and looking for easy money?

List below of things they raised:

1: EGR valve seized up in closed position. No warning lights on the dash, no excessive oil/coolant usage, idles/drives fine with no lack of power. I asked how they could know this by just looking at it and just got a response that they could just tell! I asked if they had scanned for faults, taken any soot readings etc and they said they hadn’t. They then began to tell me having it fail in the closed position wasn’t a bad thing and that I should just leave it and not replace it.

2: My air box is supposedly missing! I challenged this one as I’d only just changed the air filter myself. It turns out they meant that the air delivery hose to the box was missing. I’ve not looked but this could be the case as the belt was replaced when I bought the van and could potentially have been left off but this wasn’t brought up in the checks done by the same dealer last year.

3: Rear discs & pads. I know these are getting ready to be replaced soon but when I had the DSG boxed serviced in July last year both front & rear brakes were noted to be 70% worn. Fast forward 6000 miles to today and the fronts are 70% worn and the rears are 90% worn! I know this could be open to the testers interpretation but I was under the impression that front brakes are doing most of the braking so will wear quicker.

Then they asked if I’d like the timing belt/water pump replacing as it’s due every 40k or 5 years. It’s was replaced last year so I declined but then asked them about the latest recommendation from VW about changing it every 100k (if I remember rightly), at that point he conveniently remembered that the schedule had been changed!

I’m pretty handy when it comes to fixing anything car/van related but I can’t help but think that the dealer was hoping that I knew nothing and could get some easy work out of me.

Anyway, rant over, any advice welcomed.

Cheers
Banksy

Typical stealerships

 

[DaveD]

Then they asked if I’d like the timing belt/water pump replacing as it’s due every 40k or 5 years. It’s was replaced last year so I declined but then asked them about the latest recommendation from VW about changing it every 100k (if I remember rightly), at that point he conveniently remembered that the schedule had been changed!

At that point I guess any remnants of trust you might have had disappeared!

 

[Hilly64]

due to ongoing emission light fault my T6 has had more than it's fair share of trips to the stealerships over the last few months each time being subjected to a "complimentary" vehicle health check

I have had:

• tyres perishing (they all have plenty of tread and less than 10k old)
• crank case oil leak ....don't get me started on that one
• rubber cups on rear springs ... they all curl to some extent
• broken engine mount (paid but should have been covered under warranty and got a refund)
• comment on letter spacing on plate ?
• as above some tech's mention disk and pad wear others don't and when they do they have different opinions on % wear
• and the latest ..... window wipers smearing and need replacing ..... they are two month old bosch

can I decline the complimentary check I wonder

 

[Ali-G]

I avoid main dealers at all costs, I use local independent VW specialists.

 

[Dundee_Kev]

All dealerships appear to have the same health check reports, and every time we get a customer in for us to check the list we struggle to find what and why things have been reported.

Usually most things don't need any attention straight away. I have vowed never to work in a main dealer again as I don't like bonus driven targets etc and have seen how people just report things just to get some bonus.

I can't and never have been able to justify telling someone they need to get something done that isn't needed. It's nice to go to bed at night with a clear conscience every night.

 

[Pauly]

Unfortunately it seems more and more common these days
The only point i will make is its not uncommon for rear pads to wear equally or even more than the fronts, from new i changed the rear pads before the fronts on my T6

 

[Banksy_74]

At that point I guess any remnants of trust you might have had disappeared!

I think the penny dropped with the guy on the service counter when I asked about the latest service bulletin! I think it’s time to take it to an Indy for any future work.

 

[Banksy_74]

Unfortunately it seems more and more common these days
The only point i will make is its not uncommon for rear pads to wear equally or even more than the fronts, from new i changed the rear pads before the fronts on my T6

That’s good to know. I knew the discs/pads were getting ready to be replaced when I bought it but after all the talk of other work that needed doing I just didn’t believe them at this is point

 

[Dave Mac]

At my last service the main dealer was put out when I had no mobile number or email contact, they didn't print off the complimentary inspection results when I refused the FREE mot as I stated they weren't to be trusted.

 

[Pedro20001]

At my last service by motus in Derby they told me that all my brakes were worn down to 45%, 38 k miles, would have been fair enough but I upgraded to 340mm brakes less than 6k miles ago, all brand new bits and virtually no wear at all. Indy next time .

 

[Captain Quick]

All of this feedback about VW Commercial franchises is confirming my suspicions. Anyone know of a competent indy in the Oxfordshire area?

 

[Paynewright]

I DIY service mine and keep receipts / checklist.

MOT - I use a local test centre and have done for years. They’ve only recently started doing servicing and repairs but still not found anything wrong on any vehicle in the household (4). I always service / check over the cars before MOT, get the engines hot and present clean inside and out. The MOT tester likes McVities milk choc digestives.

 

[Sackmycook]

You bribe the tester with biscuits or you've found identifiable crumbs of said biscuit inside your impeccable van ?

 

[Paynewright]

The latter obviously

 

[FerrisBFW]

My last Mits L200 was costing an absolute fortune before I got shot and bought my old van. I bought it with 9k miles and did ave 4500 pa and the cheapest yearly service was 850 and the most expensive was just shy of £2k. I am doing all the work on my Caravelle, baring big engine work, and this is being taken care of by Retro Resus.

 

[Banksy_74]

I DIY service mine and keep receipts / checklist.

MOT - I use a local test centre and have done for years. They’ve only recently started doing servicing and repairs but still not found anything wrong on any vehicle in the household (4). I always service / check over the cars before MOT, get the engines hot and present clean inside and out. The MOT tester likes McVities milk choc digestives.

I intend to do all the service myself on this is one. I only took it to the dealership because my local garage couldn’t mot it but that’s a story for another day Safe to say I won’t be using them again!

 

[Hilly64]

I avoid main dealers at all costs, I use local independent VW specialists.

Would do but tied with warranty

 

[JOG]

Would do but tied with warranty

Same here

 

[Dundee_Kev]

Would do but tied with warranty

Why you tied in?? Just because it's under warranty you don't need to use the main dealers.