What should 45,000KM service on 2009 WV Polo Trendline cost?

[SilverNodashi]

Hi,

Does anyone know what the current VW garage service on a 2009 VW Polo Trendline should cost?

My mom needs to take her cars in for a service soon and I want to know if they'e gonna rip her off. The guy estimated R1500, which I think is ludicrous.
She has a garage guarantee, so I can't service the car myself otherwise they won't fix / replace anything if it brakes.

I have always serviced all my own cars, new or 2nd hand so I don't really know what garage prices cost anymore.

[rfnel]

I haven't got the invoice nearby, but if memory serves me right, that's more or less what I paid for a 30 000 km service on a 2008 model Chevrolet Spark. R1500 for a 45 000 km service on a Polo doesn't sound unreasonable.

[Dave A]

It pains me to say it, but that's the sort of money that is being charged by authorised dealers for a "minor" service nowadays.

[nixs]

Well if you take it any dealer is going to rip you off, the cost consists of parts and labour which of 40% is parts and 60% is labour R1500 for a service on a 2009 VW Polo Trendline isn't too bad, it is maybe your best price

[smitty]

Last year I paid under a 1K for a minor service on a 1.9 TDI at McCarthy. Try phoning around for quotes from McCarthy Volkswagen and the various other Volkswagen dealers.

[flaker]

u lose your warranty if serviced by anybody other than a VW dealer. there appears to be a fixed labour time for a particular service,same by all vw dealers for the same service. i think you achieve best if u are able to negotiate a discount on spares and a reduction in that dreaded word "consummables". best of luck.

[AndyD]

When it comes to servicing under warranty the dealers have you by the short and curlies, they can charge what they want and you have no choice but to use them without forfeiting the warranty. It doesn't seem to matter what make of car you have you're going to get nailed unfortunately. It's sharp practice and this was one area I kinda hoped the CPA might address but time will only tell.

[rfnel]

When it comes to servicing under warranty the dealers have you by the short and curlies, they can charge what they want and you have no choice but to use them without forfeiting the warranty. It doesn't seem to matter what make of car you have you're going to get nailed unfortunately. It's sharp practice and this was one area I kinda hoped the CPA might address but time will only tell.

CAR Magazine had a recent article referring to the exorbitant amounts charged for services at authorized dealerships. If new car sales go down, they need money from another source to pay their rent, and sadly, it looks like that source is usually the service department.

[murdock]

i had my van servced...when i got the bill i nearly fell on my back...R900 for an oil change

so i tried to find where the spark plug price etc was...when i spoke to the workshop manager i was told that they didnt do a plug change nor check anything on the vehicle...only and oil change

cost at VW agent

R500 per/hr to drop the sum plug into the tray...put a new sum plug @ R35...remove the cap and fill with oil R300 worth...sub total R835 + vat total R951.90...this was a 15000 km basic service and that was 2 years ago...i would hate to know what it cost now.

if brakes etc need to be replaced....you in for over R3000

[smitty]

According to vw.co.za McCarthy VW is still a Volkswagen dealer so your warranty should be just fine.

As I wrote in my earlier post, phone around the various VW dealers and get quotes. The dealerships do compete with each other if you let them. E.g. VW Claremont had a special in services last month.

[wynn]

Isn't there a law that says if you buy something (a vehicle) it must be guaranteed that it will work for the purpose it was purchased for for a certain period of time, usually a year?

All these warranties are is a way of screwing with your rights.

I am sure the dealer has to guarantee the vehicle for the first year by law, no in house services necessary.

Thereafter you can take out an extended warranty for a number of years or Km's from other organisations (Motorite?)where you can have your vehicle serviced by any qualified (registered) person, you don't have to use the dealer.

The problem is that the finance companies also insist on the dealer warranty.

Noseweek have run an interesting article on Mercedes dealerships lately, but I am sure all dealerships are pretty much the same.

I remember a few years ago when my wife had a Mazda 323 and the petrol cap was stolen (simple galvanised pressed item) the dealer price for a replacement was R40.oo at the same time from Midas I could get a locking cap with two spare keys for
R12.oo, makes you mad

[Dave A]

Isn't there a law that says if you buy something (a vehicle) it must be guaranteed that it will work for the purpose it was purchased for for a certain period of time, usually a year?

I think you're thinking of common law warranties/guarantees - which only apply in the absence of a contract or statutory law.

Just try taking delivery of a car from a motordealership without signing off on their warranty contract... I've only ever heard of a person managing to pull it off once, and that was a long time ago.

[SilverNodashi]

Just try taking delivery of a car from a motordealership without signing off on their warranty contract... I've only ever heard of a person managing to pull it off once, and that was a long time ago.

I kinda did just that on one of my previous cars. Brought a brand new car from VW and simply told the sales rep that I refuse to take the warranty. He was kind shocked and kept on insisting that master cars won't cover any damages if I don't take it. So I "politely" told him that he doesn't have a say in this. The bank already approved the loan and I don't actually care what Master Cars say about my car. I then continued that if he insists I take the warranty, he give me a discount equal to it (which I think was something like R8K then) or I'll take my business elsewhere. He ended up giving me the discount and I got the warranty, which I then left on the table when I left. I serviced the car myself on the first and every other service after that.




Anyway, back to the post, my mom ended up paying R1200 for the service after some negotiation with VW. I just wanted to know if this is normal though

[tec0]

This is why I will never drive a new car. Firstly the bank is the owner of the car but secondly and more importantly the dealers services department cannot provide you with engine rebuilds, gearbox replacements and rewiring because they are simply too expensive?!?

So who is the better mechanic? Well at Opel I took my brothers 1.7 diesel engine. So they charged me R7000 for the service “there was a few things wrong like breaks, rear and front and some little thing had to be replaced like filters and the norm. Who do you think did the work?

Not the qualified person sitting on his but! NO!!!! The intern worked on my brother’s car!!! ALONE!!! No super vision at ALL and I have the complaint and the records to show as proof. Now you paid for labour more then what you do for parts and they used an intern so did you get what you paid for?

Nope you didn’t, you got the knowhow and experience of an unsupervised intern… I say get a little car that you yourself can maintain get a proper tracking device for it and get proper insurance for it.

Buying a nice big new car sounds good, it looks good but as we all know when that new car must go in for a service they will simply cut-out and you cannot get them to start or anything!!!

So why in the world would you buy a car that is programmed to leave stranded?