My little 1.2Tsi is just about 3.5 years old now, so far I've had all the servicing done by VW as the car was still in warranty. ( I actually had the 3 years servicing package as part of the deal) Now that that's expired I'm considering looking for alternatives to VW. Locally we have a couple of Independent specialist VW garages (Votex & PSi Tuning) so am considering using them instead. Alternatively I was thinking of servicing the car myself, I'm reasonably competent with a spanner and have done my own servicing on vehicles I've owned in the past.
Question is does anyone have any experience of using independents? Are they a viable alternative and should I decide to service it myself where might I get hold of a proper servicing schedule so I do it right. Would in investing in a fault code reader be worthwhile (anyone recommend one?) and are any special tools required?
Servicing?
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Tooks
- Bronze Member
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:59 am
- Drives: 2011 Polo GTI
- Location: Leics/Lincs
Re: Servicing?
The service schedule is in your vehicle service book.
What are your longer term plans for the car? If you're going to sell it in the next couple of years to a private buyer, then they may be more reassured by seeing some service stamps in a book, especially VW ones.
If you're going to trade it in at some point, garages are less fussy it seems over service history. My last trade in they didn't even look at the service book.
A good independent garage is a good option for vehicles out of warranty, the VW specialists will have the knowledge to fix most things.
If your plan is to keep the car, then servicing it yourself is a viable option if you're in anyway competent. Oil and filter services are easy, as is changing things like air and pollen filters. Brake pads and discs etc are straightforward too, but it depends on your level of ability/confidence with tools. How to guides in forums and YouTube are certainly helpful, and should give you an idea whether you'd be able to tackle them yourself.
I'm not sure if the 1.2TSI has a cam belt, but clearly jobs like changing a cambelt are more complex and require more knowledge and sometimes specialist tools etc.
For normal servicing though (ie brakes/oil and filters/general maintenance) then you should only need a trolley jack, axle stands, socket set, brake piston tool, oil filter wrench, oil catch pan, screwdrivers and torx driver set, along with pliers and general tools. I'd recommend only buying more specialist tools as and when you have a job that needs them.
Parts are cheaply available from ECP/GSF etc.
Re code readers, it's worth investing in VCDS if you're in it for the long haul, but a cherish code reader from Gendan or similar will read most codes on. It's cars and give you a pointer to what's going wrong.
What are your longer term plans for the car? If you're going to sell it in the next couple of years to a private buyer, then they may be more reassured by seeing some service stamps in a book, especially VW ones.
If you're going to trade it in at some point, garages are less fussy it seems over service history. My last trade in they didn't even look at the service book.
A good independent garage is a good option for vehicles out of warranty, the VW specialists will have the knowledge to fix most things.
If your plan is to keep the car, then servicing it yourself is a viable option if you're in anyway competent. Oil and filter services are easy, as is changing things like air and pollen filters. Brake pads and discs etc are straightforward too, but it depends on your level of ability/confidence with tools. How to guides in forums and YouTube are certainly helpful, and should give you an idea whether you'd be able to tackle them yourself.
I'm not sure if the 1.2TSI has a cam belt, but clearly jobs like changing a cambelt are more complex and require more knowledge and sometimes specialist tools etc.
For normal servicing though (ie brakes/oil and filters/general maintenance) then you should only need a trolley jack, axle stands, socket set, brake piston tool, oil filter wrench, oil catch pan, screwdrivers and torx driver set, along with pliers and general tools. I'd recommend only buying more specialist tools as and when you have a job that needs them.
Parts are cheaply available from ECP/GSF etc.
Re code readers, it's worth investing in VCDS if you're in it for the long haul, but a cherish code reader from Gendan or similar will read most codes on. It's cars and give you a pointer to what's going wrong.
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wolfie
- Gold Member
- Posts: 578
- Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:56 am
- Drives: 6R1-1.2 TSI (2011, CBZB, 77Kw)
- Location: Staffordshire (UK)
Re: Servicing?
Cheers for the quick reply.
I intend to keep the car for at least another 2-3 years maybe longer. I tend to agree that when it come time to sell the car a fully stamped service book is something I've always looked for. Though as long as the stamps were from reputable garages/independents I wouldn't be too worried. To be honest, I'd forgotten the schedules were in the service book, but I was thinking of something with a little more detail more akin to a workshop manual, workshop notes.
No cambelt on the 1.2Tsi, but I have done them in the past so within my scope (just). I have a reasonable selection of tools to hand so that's not a problem. I hear what you're saying about VCDS. It's on my wish list, but I'm not sure whether the cheap Ebay cable sets are up to the job and investing a couple of hundred pounds for occasional use is worth it. I'm not familiar with the cherish code reader from Gendan. I'll have to look into that. (Do you have a link to the Gendan?)
Re parts, I'd stick with VW anyway. Last time I did a set of disks and pads, originals were within a few quid of GSF so I stuck with them.
Cheers for the pointers, it's not due a service until the new year anyway so I've got plenty of time to have a ring around and get some prices for comparison. Gut feeling is if independents are only £10-20 cheaper I'll stick with VW.
I intend to keep the car for at least another 2-3 years maybe longer. I tend to agree that when it come time to sell the car a fully stamped service book is something I've always looked for. Though as long as the stamps were from reputable garages/independents I wouldn't be too worried. To be honest, I'd forgotten the schedules were in the service book, but I was thinking of something with a little more detail more akin to a workshop manual, workshop notes.
No cambelt on the 1.2Tsi, but I have done them in the past so within my scope (just). I have a reasonable selection of tools to hand so that's not a problem. I hear what you're saying about VCDS. It's on my wish list, but I'm not sure whether the cheap Ebay cable sets are up to the job and investing a couple of hundred pounds for occasional use is worth it. I'm not familiar with the cherish code reader from Gendan. I'll have to look into that. (Do you have a link to the Gendan?)
Re parts, I'd stick with VW anyway. Last time I did a set of disks and pads, originals were within a few quid of GSF so I stuck with them.
Cheers for the pointers, it's not due a service until the new year anyway so I've got plenty of time to have a ring around and get some prices for comparison. Gut feeling is if independents are only £10-20 cheaper I'll stick with VW.
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Tooks
- Bronze Member
- Posts: 186
- Joined: Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:59 am
- Drives: 2011 Polo GTI
- Location: Leics/Lincs
Re: Servicing?
Apologies, cherish should have read generic!!
Sausage fingers on my iPad I'm afraid.
This is the one I've got, although I do have VCDS too, this covers friends and families cars, it's been borrowed a heck of a lot most recently to diagnose a cam shaft sensor fault on a Nissan!
http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GDEOBD.html
It shouldn't be long before a Haynes manual is out for the 6R, if it isn't already?
Edit: coming soon according to this
http://uk.haynes.com/products/productID/247
Sausage fingers on my iPad I'm afraid.
This is the one I've got, although I do have VCDS too, this covers friends and families cars, it's been borrowed a heck of a lot most recently to diagnose a cam shaft sensor fault on a Nissan!
http://www.gendan.co.uk/product_GDEOBD.html
It shouldn't be long before a Haynes manual is out for the 6R, if it isn't already?
Edit: coming soon according to this
http://uk.haynes.com/products/productID/247
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wolfie
- Gold Member
- Posts: 578
- Joined: Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:56 am
- Drives: 6R1-1.2 TSI (2011, CBZB, 77Kw)
- Location: Staffordshire (UK)
Re: Servicing?
Nice one, fault code reader is definitely worth having at that money, thanks for the link. I'd love to have a play with a VCDS, but just can't justify the spend. I'll keep my eyes open for the Haynes, I'm happy enough with general servicing but do like to have something to check against.
Cheers
DD
Cheers
DD