VW Announces Carefree Maintenance program for 36m/36k

twigless

Veteran Member
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Jan 30, 2007
Location
Florida
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2000 Golf GLS TDI 5-speed, 2002 Jetta GLS TDI auto (wife's)
Interesting news... I heard about this a few months ago, and here it is officially. It sounds great, but my concern is that peoples' first maintenance they pay for will be the 40k service, which we all know can cost about $500. Not a good way to start things off, in my opinion.
I wonder if tire rotations will be covered (BMW maintenance does not include it; Lincoln does)? They neglect to mention the powertrain warranty--if it remains the same or if it goes down to 3y/36k.
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EDIT
We received info in the mail today from VW about the change in warranty/maintenance. Basically, they did it entirely to be directly competitive to other makes (Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Ford, etc) for duration, but to be beyond them in care and maintenance.
The powertrain warranty (5 years/60k miles) remains unchanged, as does the anti-corrosion benefit for 12 years (except the Routan, with 3 or 6 years anti-corrosion) and emissions-related warranty items.
By the way, VW does offer a maintenance agreement that you can purchase upfront if you wish. I believe it will save some off of current maintenance prices, and ensure you that you won't be subject to general labor/parts price increases over the years.

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http://www.media.vw.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10312

VOLKSWAGEN ANNOUNCES CAREFREE MAINTENANCE PROGRAM

Program designed to improve owner loyalty and brand distinction
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.
Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced today a no-charge Carefree Maintenance Program on its entire 2009 model line. With this program there are no charges for the scheduled maintenance described in each vehicle’s maintenance booklet for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty—three years or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first. The Carefree Maintenance Program will launch with the introduction of the Tiguan, Volkswagen’s all-new crossover utility vehicle.
“Volkswagen’s Carefree Maintenance Program is a great way to improve our owner loyalty for our brand, as well as increase consumer consideration” said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “This program also differentiates us from our competition by allowing us to be the only automaker among our key competitors to offer a no-charge maintenance program” added Barnes.
The maintenance intervals covered under this program and detailed in each vehicle’s maintenance booklet are 10K, 20K, and 30K miles for all 2009 model year Volkswagens. Since all current Volkswagens use synthetic oil, combined with state-of-the-art European engineering, a 5K oil change is no longer necessary. This means that Volkswagen customers can drive further between oil changes.
This program also covers the forthcoming Routan, Volkswagen’s all-new seven passenger minivan, which arrives in dealer showrooms later this year. Maintenance intervals for the Routan are 6K, 12K, 18K, 24K, 30K and 36K.
The Carefree Maintenance Program also includes a courtesy vehicle check. This allows owners to return to the dealership from which they purchased their 2009 model year Volkswagen within 90 days or 6,000 miles, whichever occurs first, for a full review of the vehicles benefits and features, and to have their vehicle checked at no charge.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen is one of the world’s largest producers of passenger cars and Europe’s largest automaker. Volkswagen sells the Rabbit, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, GLI, Passat, Passat wagon, Eos, and Touareg through approximately 600 independent U.S. dealers. Visit Volkswagen of America online at www.vw.com.
 
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supton

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Central NH (USA)
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'04 Jetta Wagon GLS
So, now instead of charging for the wrong oil, they'll give you those 3 oil (incorrect) changes for free? You can deduct that savings from whatever it'll cost when something breaks! Of course, that breakage will happen long afther the warrenty expires, but hey, it was free!
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
So, now that VW is footing the bill, will the dealers finally understand that the vast majority of their models have had 10k mile OCIs for quite some time?

Seems like this policy is useless if the service departments cannot get their act together. No way I would let them touch my car, free or not.

Of course as far as I know, the Routan will still be using out-of-the-box Chrysler engines, and those do not use synthetic oil nor is it of the same weight.
 
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supton

Top Post Dawg
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May 25, 2004
Location
Central NH (USA)
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'04 Jetta Wagon GLS
I doubt it. How many places (dealers and oil change shops) still recommend 3k? "Oh, the factory just want your motor to wear out faster, so you'll have to buy a new car! Trust us, we know what's best for your car."
 

twigless

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Location
Florida
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2000 Golf GLS TDI 5-speed, 2002 Jetta GLS TDI auto (wife's)
Based on internal literature, VW was losing 35% of people due to high maintenance costs, yet only gaining 7% of its customers due to a longer b-t-b warranty (than Japanese/American cars).
And I'd guess that for VW there's no change in costs between the +/- $400 worth of free maintenance versus the extra 12 mo/14k miles of warranty.
Are dealers still using the wrong oil? At my store, both the parts guys and the service tech seem to know exactly what oil to use, whether it's a VE or PD.
 
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