UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hello experienced Polo owners (and generally people that care about their cars, which I have not been until this car!),

I bought an approved used '64 plate (September 2014) (6C) Polo from VW nearly a year ago, and it's now time for its service and MOT.

VW are trying to convince me it's due a major service, but by my best guess, it should have had minor service in 2015, major 2016, minor 2017, major 2018 and therefore this year should be minor.

I have the service booklet and it's showing a tick in the "with extended scope of inspection" box in the last service entry, just before I bought it June 2018. Is that the checkbox that denotes whether it was major/minor?

If so, I'm super confused, because going back through the service history shows extended scope of inspection in '15, separate a/c service in '16, extended scope of inspection again later in '16, normal in '17 and extended in '18.

Can anyone help me figure this out?

Thanks in advance from someone who doesn't want to shell out £350 for a major service that isn't required, especially considering as I've only clocked less than 3000 miles since last June.

It’s possible the dealer you bought the car from only did an oil change service (minor service) last year, in which case if you’re on the time and distance service regime (recommended if you’re doing lots of short journeys and / or less than 10k miles per year), it’d be due a major service this year. However, if your service book shows it was an inspection service, with oil change and extended scope of inspection carried out, then it sounds as if it did have a major service last year.

Is the dealer able to show you on VW’s system what work was carried out at the last service, or if you’re planning on getting it serviced at the dealer you bought the car from, provide you with a copy of the invoice / job card for the work that was carried out?

SRGTD wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:20 pm It’s possible the dealer you bought the car from only did an oil change service (minor service) last year, in which case if you’re on the time and distance service regime (recommended if you’re doing lots of short journeys and / or less than 10k miles per year), it’d be due a major service this year. However, if your service book shows it was an inspection service, with oil change and extended scope of inspection carried out, then it sounds as if it did have a major service last year.

Is the dealer able to show you on VW’s system what work was carried out at the last service, or if you’re planning on getting it serviced at the dealer you bought the car from, provide you with a copy of the invoice / job card for the work that was carried out?

Thanks for the reply! It is the same dealer that a) the car was originally bought from/I went on to buy from 2nd hand and b) has had all its previous services at, so they should indeed have a record. In fact, I was on hold for about 5 minutes whilst the receptionist talked to the mechanics to check, and major service is what they've come up with, but it doesn't seem to match with the service log.

I've attached the last two entries from the service book. Both show an oil change service, but only last year's shows the extended scope.

I think I'll see if I can pop to the garage rather than try over the phone. I'm very confused.

Looking at your pictures, Proof of Service 4 was a minor service - described by VW in the service booklet as an oil change service, and this is what’s been ticked by the dealer as having been carried out. Proof of Service 5 is a major service - described by VW in the service booklet as an Inspection Service, and this is what’s been ticked by the dealer as having been carried out, including an oil change and the extended scope of inspection. The dealer has also ticked that they did an Oil Change Service under Proof os Service 5 - presumably because an oil and filter change forms part of the Inspection Service.

Based on the information completed in your service book by the dealer, I’d say your car’s next service should be a minor one - an Oil Change service - current price £179 at a VW dealer, or if you find an independent who’ll carry out the same service using genuine VW parts / approved VW parts for less, within a 5 mile radius of the dealer, the VW dealer should price match the competitor price;
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/ser ... rice-match

I have a VW service plan for my car and under the plan, services alternate between minor and major - the minor being essentially an oil change service and the major, an inspection service. Details of what should be carried out under each (taken from VW’s website) below. I’m assuming that if you don’t have a service plan, pretty the same work would be undertaken;

Minor
- Oil & filter changes
- Replace pollen filter (if required)
- Vehicle inspection and report to include all lights, instruments, bodywork, glass, locks, battery, coolant levels, drive belts, braking system, steering, hoses, drive shafts and exhaust system
- Full vehicle road test
- Diagnostic check including report
- Re-set service interval display
- Stamp service book

Major
- Oil & oil filter changes,
- Replace pollen filter, replace air filter, Spark plugs (petrol engine) or fuel filter (diesel engine) - if required
- Remove wheels and check brakes
- Check/adjust tension of all drive belts
- Check gearbox and final drive oil level
- Full vehicle inspection and report to include all lights, instruments, bodywork, glass, locks, battery coolant levels, drive belts, braking system, steering, hoses, drive shafts suspension and exhaust system
- Full vehicle road test
- Diagnostic check including report
- Re-set service interval display
- Stamp service book

Something funny has being going on, unless that car had exceeded the 10K in 12 months on one occasion, that car was first reg'd in Sept 2014, so if the annual mileage was always less than 10K, service 1 was due in/by Sep 2015, service 2 was due in/by Sep 2016, service 3 was due in/by Sep 2017, service 4 was due in/by Sep 2018 and its next and minor service 5 due in/by Sep 2019 - so any other explanation for it being the 6th and so claimed to be a major service?

Edit:- I think that what has happened here is that the selling VW dealer has carried out a "point of resale" service as required if it is an approved used VW, and that has messed things up as that next service should have taken place in Sep 2018 - but that would still have been service 4, so find out why that was.

Depending on the number of owners prior to the OP, the car could have had more than one point of sale services, in addition to the scheduled annual services.

However many services it’s had, with the last one being an inspection service (assuming the service book was completed correctly by the dealer), then the forthcoming one should be a minor (oil) service.

As the car was sold as a VW approved used car, it presumably had a 12 month Das Welt Auto warranty that’s about to expire. That being the case, the OP could consider getting the car serviced at a reputable independent VW specialist who’ll carry out the service in accordance with VW’s service schedule using genuine parts, but it’ll probably be cheaper than using the VW dealer.

RUM4MO wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 8:32 pm Something funny has being going on, unless that car had exceeded the 10K in 12 months on one occasion, that car was first reg'd in Sept 2014, so if the annual mileage was always less than 10K, service 1 was due in/by Sep 2015, service 2 was due in/by Sep 2016, service 3 was due in/by Sep 2017, service 4 was due in/by Sep 2018 and its next and minor service 5 due in/by Sep 2019 - so any other explanation for it being the 6th and so claimed to be a major service?

Edit:- I think that what has happened here is that the selling VW dealer has carried out a "point of resale" service as required if it is an approved used VW, and that has messed things up as that next service should have taken place in Sep 2018 - but that would still have been service 4, so find out why that was.

SRGTD wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 10:46 pm Depending on the number of owners prior to the OP, the car could have had more than one point of sale services, in addition to the scheduled annual services.

However many services it’s had, with the last one being an inspection service (assuming the service book was completed correctly by the dealer), then the forthcoming one should be a minor (oil) service.

As the car was sold as a VW approved used car, it presumably had a 12 month Das Welt Auto warranty that’s about to expire. That being the case, the OP could consider getting the car serviced at a reputable independent VW specialist who’ll carry out the service in accordance with VW’s service schedule using genuine parts, but it’ll probably be cheaper than using the VW dealer.

Only one previous owner, but you're correct - I bought the car in June, so they had serviced and MOT'd it prior to sale. There's also one additional service logged in the book, with no ticks in any of the boxes, just a note of "A/C", presumably meaning they just had an A/C service, which is why we're up to entry five instead of four. See below about the independent VW specialist garage.

SRGTD wrote: Tue Apr 30, 2019 5:49 pm Looking at your pictures, Proof of Service 4 was a minor service - described by VW in the service booklet as an oil change service, and this is what’s been ticked by the dealer as having been carried out. Proof of Service 5 is a major service - described by VW in the service booklet as an Inspection Service, and this is what’s been ticked by the dealer as having been carried out, including an oil change and the extended scope of inspection. The dealer has also ticked that they did an Oil Change Service under Proof os Service 5 - presumably because an oil and filter change forms part of the Inspection Service.

Based on the information completed in your service book by the dealer, I’d say your car’s next service should be a minor one - an Oil Change service - current price £179 at a VW dealer, or if you find an independent who’ll carry out the same service using genuine VW parts / approved VW parts for less, within a 5 mile radius of the dealer, the VW dealer should price match the competitor price;
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/ser ... rice-match

Thanks for this! I'm new-ish to the area, so not really sure which garages locally are trustworthy. I only know one definitely untrustworthy one who failed my old KA because of severe corrosion somewhere, charged me to weld it back together, and then on the next MOT at a different MOT-only garage they brought me under the car to show me that the guy had just squirted some silicone in there, and I'd been driving around with a car held together with sealant!! So... I'm OK to go in to the VW garage this time whilst I ask around for recommendations for next time.

Thank you ALL for helping me figure out if I was going mad or not. I'm really glad it's not major service time! They also tried to tell me it was time for an A/C service, even though one is noted in the service log from June when I bought it, so I wonder if they've just not added the pre-sale work on to their system, or if they're confused as well because it's coming up as Service 6 not 5.

Typically, VW and probably other dealers, will alert you to the fact that wipers are near the end of their life at the 2 or 3 year point in the car's life, also the same for the AC, this will be based on no one but them ever replacing/servicing the car, in fact the AC comment often comes back to service reception from the service fitter - which might you think that he has checked something and knows best - wrong, it is just the way these workshops operate to induce you into rebooking the car in for extra work.
AC, gas load wise, if it seems to be running and cooling the car down well enough, then it must have an adequate R134A gas charge left in it, depending on how you use the AC ie how often you leave the car just after the AC has been running will depend on how much nasty bug growth there will be in the area around the evaporator - if you use the car like this a "lot" then an annual use of a detergent "bomb" should kill off all accumulated bugs in the air passages.

Recently with VW, I've found that service reception do not push for you to get that sort of work carried out, they only give out the advice each time at service time, if you don't bite then that is that.

AC gas charge etc, that is best done by an independent mobile AC person and at a time of the year when discounts are offered to promote new business, getting that done every 4 or 5 years should be often enough as all these systems, even the ones without stone damage do lose a small amount of gas each year across sealing material and flexible pipes basically due to the atomic structure of the R134A and the materials used in seals and flexible piping - basically like ground up sugar passes through a sieve etc, no magic just fact.

Thanks Rum. In fact, the A/C isn't operating correctly I don't think, so I've told them they need to look at it whilst it's under warranty. It was regassed just before I bought it (as I test drove it during a heatwave and it was bloody useless and hissing), but during our last hot spell a few weekends ago I thought I was having a "hot flush" as I couldn't seem to cool down. Turns out that when I got out of the car, the air outside was significantly cooler than inside, and I'd have been better off cracking the windows

I've had the other half sit in the car and turn the A/C on whilst I've been listening for something to start making a noise to judge whether something is actually broken, but I can't hear anything. Although maybe I'm not listening for the right thing I'm disinclined to make a fool of myself at the garage over something that isn't broken as I've done that once with the reverse light that didn't work. Turns out there's only one....