Volkswagen Care

rbatt2

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Location
Southeast Michigan
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium DSG
I am considering purchasing a Volkswagen Care or Volkswagen Care Plus prepaid maintenance plan for my 2015 Passat TDI. The dealer I bought my car from quoted around $350 for the Care plan (scheduled service through 30K miles) and $750 for the Care Plus plan (scheduled service through 50K miles). Can these be purchased at any authorized VW dealer and honored at other VW dealers or does the plan purchase commit you to a particular dealer? If I have the choice of servicing dealers does anyone have a reference for a dealer that sells the plans at a reasonable price? Thanks in advance.


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Steve-o

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 1999
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
No experience with the Care/Care Plus plan myself, but the answers lie in the documentation in which they offer the plan and in your own legwork. Even if some of us chose the plan a couple of years ago, things can change. Their docs will tell you who will honor the plan and what you may have to do at your "home" dealer (if anything).

As for selling the plans at a "reasonable" price, I see three components to this:
- What does the service through 30K and 50K miles cost without the plan? Call a couple of service departments you'd be willing to use and ask. Also check your maintenance schedule and make sure that the major service isn't at, say, 60K miles (in which case what is the additional $400 buying?);
- Do you want your dealer doing the service? It's not required. I'm not a huge car DIYer but there are some very good local shops not far from me that can do all but the most specialized tasks at a better price and sometimes with more knowledge than the dealer's service staff.
- This is one of those "extended warranty" things, which typically are highly negotiable. After you've read the docs, call another dealer and see if they'll better the price. If you're good at negotiating, you can tell any dealer you're interested but don't want to put that kind of money into it -- and listen to what they say. As with any negotiation, you have to be ready to walk away.

Good luck.
 

rbatt2

Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2017
Location
Southeast Michigan
TDI
2015 Passat TDI SEL Premium DSG
Thanks for the reply! My understanding is that the VW Care plans are prepaid maintenance plans rather than an extended warranty. The idea is to lock in pricing for required service. On my car the factory recommended service interval is 10K miles. The first one is complimentary and is essentially an oil change, tire rotation and various checks. Thereafter it's oil changes and tire rotation every 10K, cabin filter replacement every 20K, I believe, and DSG fluid change at 40K. So for $750 I'd be getting 4 oil changes and tire rotations, a couple of cabin filters and one DSG fluid change. I'll do the math and see how the numbers look.


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Ol'Rattler

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Location
PNA
TDI
2006 BRM Jetta
I bought I think a 100K mile extended waranty? and never had a reason to use it. If I want my car destroyed, I can do it myself rather than letting some dealer destroy it.
 

Steve-o

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 13, 1999
Location
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
TDI
2003 Jetta Wagon
Thanks for the reply! My understanding is that the VW Care plans are prepaid maintenance plans rather than an extended warranty. The idea is to lock in pricing for required service.
Hmm. $750 for what you specified sounds spendy to me, but you'll do the math and confirm that or not.

Another cost to consider is what that $750 could do for you if it were not sitting in your bank account rather than the dealer's. What interest could you get for parking $750 for a couple of years? Or could you spend $750 buying down another loan/credit balance (at a higher interest rate than savings)?

As with extended warranties, you can be sure that they're making money on this deal or they wouldn't be offering it at all. It still may work out for you, but you'll have to do the work of figuring out if it will.
 
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