Long Life Service differences.....

[Kpowell911]

Hi, Ive booked my car in for a service @ VW Main Dealer. Mines on the long service plan so requires the £279 major service. My mate then said, "why are you going to a main dealer for a service, your car is out of warranty, just go to a specialist...."

The car is a 2012 2.0 TDI Bluemotion 140, with 55k on the clock.

That makes perfect sense. So I dug out the service booklet, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what the difference is between a "long life service" and a normal one?. From what I can see, the long life service is:0

Oil
Oil Filter
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
Pollen Filter
Brake Fluid (potentially, doesnt appear to have been done on the last service @ 38k)

Isn't that just a normal serice? Am I missing something? PErhaps they use longer wearing products on the Long Life? Theres the "interim" checks, which are rather basic and would be done at any service. Am I missing something?

Thanks

[Roy_01]

Long life is another interval span than the regular intervals.
Long life is around 30.000 km / 18750 miles and longlife oil.
Fixed intervals is 15.000 km / 9375 miles and regular oil.
If you drive a lot of mileage then long life is a cheaper option.
When driving short mileage it's better to stay with fixed interval because otherwise the time between service take to long for my opinion.
When your car is on longlife interval it measures your driving style, heat cycles of your oil and other data.
With that data it depends when your service have to take place. But it's never higher then 18750 miles since your last service only earlier.
I don't know the interval of the other components but it's written down in your service manual.

[Kpowell911]

I'm just going off the sticker in my door that says long life service plan, and the prompt on the MFD, which said "next service in 11k" When I bought it, and now says "Next service in 1900miles". I guess my question is, why is the long life service £299 and the 12 month one £149? (Im not moaning at the prices, thats fine, Im wondering about what extra is done on the 24 month one)

[Cuprabob]

Personally, I stick to Longlife Oil but keep the car on fixed intervals.

In addition to the mileage limits for each regime there are time limits too, 12 months max for fixed and 24 months for longlife regime.

Brake fluid is 3 years and then every 2 years.

[Kpowell911]

Personally, I stick to Longlife Oil but keep the car on fixed intervals.

In addition to the mileage limits for each regime there are time limits too, 12 months max for fixed and 24 months for longlife regime.

Brake fluid is 3 years and then every 2 years.

Thanks, so If I go with genuine
Air Filter
Fuel Filter
Pollen Filter
Oil Filter

Then the recomended long life oil, and perhaps get the brake fluid done too, Ill be all set?

I dont mind if the car goes back to the 12 month servicing, I may not even have the car in the next 3/6 months, I just want to make sure everything that needs changing is done on this service.

[Roy_01]

How much mileage do you drive a year?

[Kpowell911]

How much mileage do you drive a year?

Well I bought it in May, and Ive done about 11k. So Id say 15k a year

[Roy_01]

Then it's a right call i think to put it on fixed services. So your services are performed nicely within one year maximum.
You can ask the vw dealer to put it on fixed interval, maybe they will do it without any extra costs.
When you are on long life services it also returns to fixed services when you use service reset in your instrument cluster but i haven't tried that myself yet.
I always use vcds to reset the longlife services.

[Kpowell911]

Waiting on a price from an independant. They've worked on my cars before, and did the warranty work for when my Dual Mass Flywheel went. They recomended the same, putting long life oil in it this time round, carrying out the rest of the service and then Ill get it serviced every 10k or so.

Why is the major service and extra £150 if its only the oil (That Ive saw is £46 for 5l, no idea how much you need for a full change on this) thats different is what Im confused by?

[Cuprabob]

As I understand it the major service also includes a wheels off brake infection plus all the checks covered in the 2 year inspection.

Personally, I just get them to do a minor service and ask them to add additional items that I specify such as Pollen Filter, Fuel Filter etc....

Works out cheaper than the major plus U'm sure the MOT covers nearly all the inspection items.

[Kpowell911]

That makes sense. I must say Cuprabob, you are one of the most helpful forum members, on any forum I've ever known. Thanks

[blower]

Let me give people a little heads up about the absolute rip off that is a 'major' service.

Now for a petrol and diesel car that's 2009 onwards, here is what's changed on a minor (£149)

-Oil
-Oil filter
-Pollen filter (only if over 2 years old)

Yep that's it.

On a major, here is what they also change (£329)

-Fuel filter (diesel cars only)
-Spark plugs (petrol car only)
-Air filter

so for a £10 air filter and £40 spark plugs or £10 fuel filter...they are charging an additional £170.
To change an air filter and fuel filter on all VW's is a 10-15 minute job at most. Sparks maybe a bit longer depending on vehicle but 30 mins max.

Everything else is additional cost - Brake fluid change, DSG gearbox oil etc

Yes they do this multi-point inspection, but that's what an MOT is for!

This is why I now take my car to a DIY garage ( http://ramp-it-up.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) and do it myself, buy the same VW 5 litre quantum longlife 5w-30 oil for £27 delivered and a mann oil filter for £10, sump bolt £1.
The garage is vat registered and will stamp your service book, charge £15 an hour for a ramp so the whole service costs me £53 and an hour of my time.
The air filter is rated for 50k miles according to my service book so I just clean it out if needs be and change it every 2-3 years (£10), same for pollen filter.

[Roy_01]

This is also a nice tool if you do your own maintenance.
" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And buy your oil in large quanties 20 L or more will save you also a lot of money.
2 years with a pollen filter is a bit long on mine. I change it every Year but will depend how much mileage you make.

[Kpowell911]

Booked in with a specialist using genuine VW parts for £145 inc labour and Vat.

£175 if I want the Brake Fluid doing, but think Ill need discs and pads soon so Ill do all that then.

[daves2369]

This is why I now take my car to a DIY garage ( http://ramp-it-up.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) and do it myself, buy the same VW 5 litre quantum longlife 5w-30 oil for £27 delivered and a mann oil filter for £10, sump bolt £1.
The garage is vat registered and will stamp your service book, charge £15 an hour for a ramp so the whole service costs me £53 and an hour of my time.
The air filter is rated for 50k miles according to my service book so I just clean it out if needs be and change it every 2-3 years (£10), same for pollen filter.

I wen't to ramp it up yesterday to do some odd jobs!

Great idea and great prices! Just off the M5 at Bristol