UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

My car is a Polo GTi DSG that is 3 years old and has covered 6,400 miles. My VW main dealer has just completed the MOT and a complimentary health check. They said that despite the low mileage, an aircon service is due and the brake fluid should be changed. Of course they had plenty of technical reasons why I should let them carry out this work for £148.00 which I assume does not include parts. I declined but do you think that I should have let them do it?

I would be in favour. These fluids age and do not particularly depend on mileage.

I tend to agree with iichel, although I'd suggest that the aircon service is less important. I'm not sure exactly what the aircon service includes, but will almost certainly provide some form of system cleanse to kill potentially harmful spores/bacteria than can build up. It may also include a re gas if necessary however I doubt this would be required on a 3 year old car. As an alternative to the aircon service you can buy a cannister that you open inside you car, shut the doors and run the aircon at full for 10 mins - this sanitises the aircon system and costs around £10.

As for the brake fluid this really should be replaced as it's hygroscopic ie attracts and absorbs water over a period of time there by reducing the boiling point of the brake fluid ( essentially you lose the brakes if the fluid boils) so is important on any car - particularly so on a 146 mph car

I agree with Gee40, I certainly would not be paying for any gas top up until the chiller performance dropped.

Brake fluid absolutely and then buying yourself an AC Cleaner "bomb" and setting it off in the car - though I'd leave that task until late spring when the ambient temperature is a bit higher.

Brake fluid should be change every 3 years stated by the new MOT regulations so would fail and MOT just on the brake fluid so better too change it as for the aircon there full of bulls@#t. Can't stand the dealers wouldn't send my too them at all f#@k the main dealers. Con Artists

It sounds a little strange is they claim that an aircon service "is due". As far as I know there is no scheduled maintenance for the AC system. It shouldn't be needed unless the AC performance have dropped already (it should still be good on a 3 year old car).

Brake fluid on the other hand is included in the scheduled maintenance program. First change after 3 years, then every 2 years. Brake fluid absorbs moisture over time which lowers its boiling point. This can cause the brake fluid to boil during hard braking from high speed which causes loss of braking power. This is why people who do track days change their brake fluid often. Still, cars that only run on the road should also have their brake fluid changed at regular intervals. Not only to make sure that the fluid itself is fresh and able to withstand hard brakings from high speed without any risk of boiling, but also so that air bubbles are purged out of the brake lines.

Over a long time, neglecting to change the brake fluid can also cause corrosion on components in the brake system due to the moisture accumulated in the fluid.

Thank you all for your advice. I will have the brake fluid changed next week but I think that I will switch back to my pre VW local garage rather than the main dealer.

By the way, it passed the MOT so they obviously didn't think that the brake fluid issue was serious enough to fail it.