Service n maintenance plan

[Tompoole]

Hi
When people bought a new Cali did anyone bother with the service and maintenance plan?
Cheers

 

[Loz]

Yes, and I recently used up my first as I chose time and distance over LL so at 12m and 7k miles.
But pay for the plan up front not on any pcp unless its free with plan otherwise you will be paying interest on it.

 

[Tompoole]

What’s LL?
I wasn’t offered a plan at all but thinking it maybe the way forward

 

[Sad]

What’s LL?
I wasn’t offered a plan at all but thinking it maybe the way forward

Long Life Servicing...

 

[Amarillo]

Yes, and I recently used up my first as I chose time and distance over LL so at 12m and 7k miles.

What is the advantage of TD over LL?
My first oil service was at 28,000 Km, and at the moment my second appears to be due at 56,000 Km. At that rate it will be 100,000+ Km before my pre paid services are used up.



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[Loz]

Depending on the time of year and other sales related pressures, VW Finance occasionally offer a free service plan if you take out their finance..

 

[Loz]

What is the advantage of TD over LL?
My first oil service was at 28,000 Km, and at the moment my second appears to be due at 56,000 Km. At that rate it will be 100,000+ Km before my pre paid services are used up.



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LL was really a sales incentive aimed at saving money for fleet managers but as its available to all has become a sales point for private owners as well.
But as I own mine and intend to keep it, I want it to stay at its best so yearly it is for me..

I will also likely have the transmission fluids changed more frequently than the schedule as well.

 

[Tompoole]

Yes, and I recently used up my first as I chose time and distance over LL so at 12m and 7k miles.
But pay for the plan up front not on any pcp unless its free with plan otherwise you will be paying interest on it.

That’s what I’m after , a service every 12 months but they keep trying to sell me £21 pm for 3 years and that megs service and maintenance but small print says it’s LL 12k per year average.... what ever this means.

Think I may opt for local independent to service.

 

[Borris]

Hmm, our T6 will be two years old in March and has clocked up just over 15,000 miles to date. According to the MFD it's not due for it's first oil service for another 1900 miles! I purchased a two service package when new and so far have stuck with the variable servicing regime. If the new long life oil technology is as good as it is supposed to be then these prolonged service intervals shouldn't really be an issue. After all, these oils have been formulated for just this purpose. I know it doesn't accord with what we've all done in the past but surely technology has moved on since the 5000 mile diesel oil change. I suppose it boils down to whether or not you trust long life oils.

Incidently, Bluebell Bus is now 62 days past her inspection service because I was advised by the dealer service manager that they would do it when it comes in for its oil service. I am not overly bothered by this as I have had a good poke around and every thing is as it should be. However, at this rate it won't get officially done until her first oil service in nearly three months time. BTW, I was assured that waiting until then wouldn't effect the warrantee.

 

[Tompoole]

seems odd but guess 16K between service I shouldn't complain , think I won't bother with plan just pay as I go

 

[Elmo3]

LL servicing was created to keep fleet managers happy by reducing 3 year maintenance costs and therefore the lease rates. I for one will certainly not be applying this rationale to my Cali, which I hope to keep well beyond the warranty. Every year or 10K miles max. Not worth doing anything else with modern DPF’s etc. An oil service is not exactly a fortune. I’ve got 3 services in the bank, so the first one will be next month on Elmo’s 1st birthday.

 

[Borris]

LL servicing was created to keep fleet managers happy by reducing 3 year maintenance costs and therefore the lease rates. I for one will certainly not be applying this rationale to my Cali, which I hope to keep well beyond the warranty. Every year or 10K miles max. Not worth doing anything else with modern DPF’s etc. An oil service is not exactly a fortune. I’ve got 3 services in the bank, so the first one will be next month on Elmo’s 1st birthday.

I understand your reasoning and I am still in two minds about this issue myself but is there any actual evidence that suggests that long life servicing is in some way detrimental for the engine? I certainly haven't seen any.

Both the oil and vehicle manufacturers wouldn't endorse the use of long life servicing without extensive whole life engine comparison testing. If they have to satisfy fleet managers, who are arguably their toughest customers, then if there were problems, I'm pretty certain that it would be common knowledge by now.

A Cali is basically a commercial vehicle, which would in delivery van mode be expected to cover hundreds of thousands of miles without major issue. On the other hand, the average Cali will live a pampered low mileage life.

 

[Elmo3]

I understand your reasoning and I am still in two minds about this issue myself but is there any actual evidence that suggests that long life servicing is in some way detrimental for the engine? I certainly haven't seen any.

Both the oil and vehicle manufacturers wouldn't endorse the use of long life servicing without extensive whole life engine comparison testing. If they have to satisfy fleet managers, who are arguably their toughest customers, then if there were problems, I'm pretty certain that it would be common knowledge by now.

A Cali is basically a commercial vehicle, which would in delivery van mode be expected to cover hundreds of thousands of miles without major issue. On the other hand, the average Cali will live a pampered low mileage life.

I guess you pay your money and take your choice. Just remember that fleet managers and manufacturers don’t really care what happens post warranty. Of course the oil will last 20K miles but it is degrading all the tIme. Maybe less of a problem with high mileage transporters going up and down the motorway all day and serviced every 6 months, which is better for the engine (particularly diesel) than the usage of the average Cali owner. The only recent car I’ve had which does not sign up for LL servicing is my Subaru Forester, which is not generally a fleet car and is 12 months or 12K miles. It just makes sense to me but as ever, horses for courses!

 

[WelshGas]

LL servicing was created to keep fleet managers happy by reducing 3 year maintenance costs and therefore the lease rates. I for one will certainly not be applying this rationale to my Cali, which I hope to keep well beyond the warranty. Every year or 10K miles max. Not worth doing anything else with modern DPF’s etc. An oil service is not exactly a fortune. I’ve got 3 services in the bank, so the first one will be next month on Elmo’s 1st birthday.

But must Disagree. Many other vehicle types, non-commercial and non-fleet also use Long Life Services. What is more important is what the mileage and type of mileage done between oil changes is. Low and slow being the worst type of use.

 

[Jay586]

www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes

I think I'm going to go time and distance, as my vehicle is low mileage.

 

[Billywizz]

Time and distance everytime with all mine, Passat, Caddy and Cali (my wife pays for the Passat) it makes me cringe when I see a vehicle with 60k and only two services

 

[WelshGas]

Cringe away then. 3 yrs old, 3 services, now on 63,000 miles. Including 5 megatours of over 5,000 miles each. A youngster compared to some of its commercial counterparts.

 

[andyinluton]

I seem to remember similar discussions in the motoring magazines (we didn't have internet back then) when service intervals were suggested as 12,000 miles on a new car quite a few years back. The norm at the time was more like 3,000

I think the shortest interval I've ever had was for a landrover defender - I think if used off road in wet conditions it was something like 250 miles between services.

 

[cbdubs]

I'm old school, every year or 10k for everything, even long life vehicles. The oil costs a fortune though. My 1958 beetle probably averages a service every 100 miles or so as it doesn't go out much!

 

[Amarillo]

I'm old school, every year or 10k for everything, even long life vehicles. The oil costs a fortune though. My 1958 beetle probably averages a service every 100 miles or so as it doesn't go out much!

At a service every 10,000 miles, I'd be nearing my third service in under a year!


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[Borris]

Lots of opinion but still no actual evidence indicating that a long life service regime is in any way detrimental.

Leaving aside dustier regions and off road use, it's mainly the oil and filter change we are talking about here on vehicles that are driven on the roads. On modern vehicles mostly every thing else either self adjusts e.g Hydraulic tappets, brakes etc or is sealed for life in the case of bearings, track rod ends, suspension/steering trunnions etc. The days of the grease nipple have long gone. So the question remains, What's wrong with long life servicing? I'm not defending it, I would just like to see some evidence that it is worse for the vehicle than the a time/distance regime.

To clarify, I am not saying that we shouldn't bother with an annual inspection/safety check. That's an entirely different matter. That is always a good idea even for cars under three years old. With the way some people drive and the poor state of the roads today, an annual vehicle safety inspection is essential. The MOT system is there to annually check the road worthiness of cars over three years old so even if their owners have let things slide the car should get checked over thoroughly at least once a year.

 

[cbdubs]

When I was a fleet manager in a former life, we did have fleet cars on LL service intervals and never had any issues to be fair. They always went to the main dealer to ensure correct grade of oils etc was used. The vehicles never seemed to suffer for it. They were all VW group cars too.

 

[treecity]

Depending on the time of year and other sales related pressures, VW Finance occasionally offer a free service plan if you take out their finance..

Yes, this is what happened to us, we got a 2 year service plan, thrown in just before we collected the van (it wasn't available at the time we done the deal).

 

[vmaxkiddy]

My Skoda Octavia (same base engine as a Cali) was on LL services from new, no problems at all. 160,000 miles on clock when I sold it, and according to MOT history check it's since covered another 30,000 miles.

 

[RoB5urf]

I was going to stick with the long-life service schedule, but if I do I won't use up my 4 services before my service plan expires in March 2021.

My Beach is coming up to 1-year old, has covered 8500 miles of mostly long journeys and, according to the MFD, the next inspection / oil service is not required for another 11000 miles.

The service plan doesn't seem like such a good deal now