Oil Service at VW Dealer or Reputable Local Garage

[tsi12Auto2017]

Hi,

I have a Sep 2017, which I bought from VW Dealer 1 year ago. I've done 16,000 miles (from 10,000 last year).

Is it worthwhile taking it to main VW dealer for oil service and MoT which will cost a bit more.

Thanks

[Bepis]

I personally only use the dealers for warranty work or buying parts I can't get from a reputable aftermarket manufacturer or OEM.

Personally not had the best of experiences but to give them credit they did rectify the issues without any hassle but that's only one dealership.

Benefits:
Genuine VW parts
Customer support and a route for potential recourse through VWUK in some cases.
If you're not too concerned about the paint you'll have a clean car afterward.
A VW service history in the book and a digital one if they fill it out which may be looked upon favorably when it comes to sell the car.
They will typically call you before carrying out any further work if needed. But I'd personally still specify this beforehand.
Work carried out typically has a warranty of 2 years but they should tell you at the time of any warranty you may recieve. Just make sure you get some sort of proof of work that you can keep yourself like an invoice.

Cons:
Can be on the expensive end for parts and labor.
Experiences aren't consistent from dealership to dealership but the same can be said about any garage.
Techs/Mechanics can be rushed due to them only being paid for a pre-determined amount of time for a job rather than hourly (I think VW quote 42 minutes for an oil and filter change?).
You generally don't see or speak to the one carrying out the work on your car typically a service advisor or receptionist. Probably for the best though .

If it's your first experience with them give it a go and see unless the cost is extortionate . Read the reviews of that dealership but don't always take them as gospel.

Hope that helps

[tsi12Auto2017]

Hello

Thank you for your detailed reply and time.

I agree with you on all of your points. My local is reputable (they just do tyres and exhausts, but they maintained my Mk 3 Polo well
over the years, weren't that cheap but they didn't do shoddy work, and all the mechanics there were experienced only 3-4 in there
40/50s). I'm using dealer cause car is still fairly new (for my budget) 4-5 yrs and I'm thinking a VW service history would get a slightly
better price if I were to sell in a couple of yrs time. And this particular dealership facilities looked big and well equipped. Let's see . . .

Best

[amer6R]

Dont the newer (2014>) Cars have an option where you can fil the oil service datasheel online via Erwin for some small fee. I know that golf mk7 has this

[Bepis]

I know businesses can access and add to it for free but I think we can only access it without being able to add to it with our €7 for an hours access. It can also only be done either on or a few days after the oil change so you can't fill it out retrospectively.

For reference at 6:12
https://youtu.be/Uqrxu-TQObk?t=372

[wolfie]

Count yourself lucky it's not a BMW dealer oil change...

https://youtu.be/9hsjJqgwas8