429.99 for an oil change!?!?!

heya - I went into the dealership to get my oil changes today. Actually, its the 20,000 mile maintenance, and they want 430 bucks for the service. I think thats ridiculous considering its basically an oil change. The other things mentioned in the service are lubrication of front suspension, drain water separator, rotate tires, replace pollen filter, service battery, replace fuel filter, replace air filter, and then some other random crap like adjusting tire pressure. My question is, can I do the 20,000 mile service myself? I have changed oil on several gasoline engine cars, as well as air filters. But I have never changed a fuel filter. I have never drained a water seperator. I have never changed a pollen filter.

What do you think? Also, what ramifications will this have on my warrentee if I do it myself. The TDI has this huge platic cover over the engine, and I don't really know how to take it off, if I do take it off, will that void the warentee? Does Chiltons have a book out on a TDI rebuild? Where can I find some instructions on how to service my car? Do I need to put in Mobile1 Synthetic oil? What oil can I use with a TDI?

Sorry for the load of questions, but you can see I need some advice. I can't really afford the $430 service so I am hoping I can do this myself. I am somewhat mechanically inclined. I used to work at a quick lube garage.

While I'm on that subject, does anyone get their TDI oil changes at Grease Monkey/Jiffy lube/generic quick lube places. I figure they would not know where to begin with a TDI.

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silverdiesel said:
My question is, can I do the 20,000 mile service myself?


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Yes, I did my 20K service....not a problem.

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silverdiesel said:
What do you think? Also, what ramifications will this have on my warrentee if I do it myself. The TDI has this huge platic cover over the engine, and I don't really know how to take it off, if I do take it off, will that void the warentee?


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As long as you do the work correctly, no warranty problems.


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silverdiesel said:
Does Chiltons have a book out on a TDI rebuild?
Where can I find some instructions on how to service my car?


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You'll find alot of the information here, search around.
Here's a link for a manual on CD, might want to think about getting a VAG-COM if you're planning to do work yourself.
ross tech

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silverdiesel said:
Do I need to put in Mobile1 Synthetic oil? What oil can I use with a TDI?


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For a Denver winter, try either Rotella T synthetic 5w40 (Walmart) in the blue jug or (more expensive) Mobil Delvac 1 5w40.

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silverdiesel said:
Sorry for the load of questions, but you can see I need some advice. I can't really afford the $430 service so I am hoping I can do this myself. I am somewhat mechanically inclined. I used to work at a quick lube garage.

While I'm on that subject, does anyone get their TDI oil changes at Grease Monkey/Jiffy lube/generic quick lube places. I figure they would not know where to begin with a TDI.

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I'd do the oil change myself.

Steve

Welcome to the 'club'. I allowed my dealer to do my servicing up to my 20k service because it was free. After that, I went solo. I figure I'll take my chances w/the 100k drivetrain warrantee. Keep good records of your maintenance, follow the owners manual guidelines and keep your fingers crossed. What you describe is absolutely larcenous. VW dealers should be ashamed of themselves. Too bad we VW consumers couldn't muster the evidence and do a class action suit against overcharging in general. Imagine the millions that would be worth and the example it would send to the auto industry... *evil grin*

And to think my opinion was called ridiculous when I said that VW wanted to make as much money as possible on oil changes and such for the 7% of TDI owners. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

VW wants 100% of all there customers to come to them for sevice not lust the TDIs. Just look at one of the Dealer Maintaince sheets and the pricing.

Well you can drive to Saint Cloud MN and I will replace your fuel filter, pollen filter, oil filter and change your oil too. Parts will be $80.00, beer $15.00, labor free.

Or you can do it yourself!!!

You can get all the maintenance parts at www.vwparts.com and you should buy yourself a Bentley manual for your car. The routine maintenance stuff is pretty easy. Like remove the engine noise cover by removing the little covers with a screwdriver then a deep 10mm socket to remove the nuts, remove the dipstick, and le voila off comes the engine cover and there is the engine. Then a 76mm-14 flute oil filter socket will help you remove the oil filter cartridge...Get the Bentley!!! The fuel filter is pretty easy. The pollen filter is a pain in the whatever, but only requires a phillips head screwdriver.

The club will help you get through it for sure.

Guess how many of those little covers are still on my engine cover?

Chris, if you need a heated garage.....


Sam '02 Wagon

What engine cover?

Please dont lump all dealerships together... I have to drive 80 miles to mine and they are MARVOLUS! Very efficent, friendly and the cost is comparible to any other place I might choose to get oil changes. (Around $52 USD) out the door. (includes SYNTHETIC oil)

The bonus is that I have sent several folks their way (one bought a Toureg) and I get a kickback of $100 for every person that I refer to them.

I realize I am very lucky to have found such a dealership. The 2 closer ones are not even worth calling for service.

I got a ride in my co-workers Toureg... it is a DREAM. The first thing I asked him was "Is it running?" I could not even tell the engine was idling. He tells me that he gets a LOT of "lookers" when he is out driving around.

BRING ON THE 5CYLINDER TDI TOUREG!

I just got back from my 60k TB change. The TB, serpentine, tensioner, oil, filter, air filter, pollen filter, bolts, water pump, MAF, special security torx, 109 relay, seal, vacuum hose, etc, etc, cost me $340, labor was $200, total under $550. I read these forums, followed the advice given, connected up with a knowledgeable member, and spent about 6 hours of quality time with my car. It runs like a very expensive Swiss stop-watch now. For $100 more than you would spend I had the whole enchilada, and then some. Hook up with someone, you won't regret it at all.

To that end I would like to give a huge thank you to Dog Breath. Brian, you are one rockin' dude. I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for services rendered. It was well worth the price of admission. I would also like to state for the record, that my wife will now hate Josh and Bruce. Josh and Bruce came down from PHX for some minor work by Dog Breath and allowed me to drive Josh's Golf with injectors, chip, and the shift kit. That is one fine running and smooth Golf! After I handle a few items of the normal maintenance issues, I will be getting some injectors.....you b@st@rds! Brian really knows his stuff and is a great and patient teacher. There were a few items that didn't go quite as planned, but he very carefully and methodically back-tracks until the issue is corrected. You can trust your pride and joy to this man. Thank you Brian! (Well met too, I might add.)

I would like to also thank Harv! Harv suggested getting a water pump and replace it as a preventative measure. We pulled the old pump and it looked okay from the outside, but as soon as we tried to turn it we knew there was a huge problem. It is very, very hard to turn by hand and makes a ratcheting sound. I dodged one very large bullet due to advice given by members of these very same forums. This is something a dealer service probably would never have caught. It also would have cost about $500 for parts and labor at the dealership, I paid $47 for the new water pump. It was great advice, and money well spent. By the way, you could do worse than to buy your parts from Harv. He is knowledgeable, honest, fair, and a man of his word. I will surely order more parts from him in the future, and recommend others do the same. Thanks Harv.

All in all, it was an awesome day. Hook up with the guy in St. Cloud and get your 20k service done. It shouldn't cost more than about $75. It will also be a great chance to get to know your car a bit better, then the minor services will not seem so daunting.

Mike /images/graemlins/cool.gif

hey, now thats what I call efficient. I am one a few other forums and I usually have to wait at least a day before anyone responds. It looks like the TDI club is going to be a great resource. Thanks for all the feedback!

I have to admit, I am feeling overwhelmed. I have been reading past posts looking for information on 20k service and I have found a lot that I am unfamiliar with. Like the snow screen? And I guess I have to get one of these bentleys. It would be cool if there were any TDI members in the Denver area that would be willing to guide me through the process of getting to know my car.

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brucep said:
Please dont lump all dealerships together... I have to drive 80 miles to mine and they are MARVOLUS! Very efficent, friendly and the cost is comparible to any other place I might choose to get oil changes. (Around $52 USD) out the door. (includes SYNTHETIC oil)

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You are lucky. My dealer charged over $100 for the 5000m service. /images/graemlins/eek.gif

Jason

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silverdiesel said:
lubrication of front suspension

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Lube the front suspension? Is this for real? /images/graemlins/confused.gif

BTW........The odds are pretty good that they won't bother to change the fuel filter.

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spoilsport said:
Lube the front suspension? Is this for real? /images/graemlins/confused.gif


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/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif No kidding..lubricate what? I wasnt aware we had any grease fittings. I know the 20k calls for a sunroof rail and door hinge lubrication.

Packrat:

VW service departments overcharge on all Volkswagens. For example they wanted $160 for the 10k service on the Passat which was basically an oil change with dino oil, tire rotation and basic inspection. I did it myself with synthetic (Delvac 1) and OEM VW filter for around $30 and 25 minutes of my time.

This is a common trend among all service departments though due to high labor rates. Whenever I had my Neon or our Integra dealership serviced it was always a shock to our bank account. Or the time I had the front brakes done my Toyota Pickup, new front rotors, pads and cleaning/repacking front bearings set me back $480. Yeah yeah call me dumb....I was quite naive back then.

BruceP

Who do you use in VT for VW service. I've used Lewis a couple of times but find it is a tremendous effort to get it done right /images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif and is very expensive /images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

I've heard Walker is good.

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03GolfTDI said:
[ QUOTE ]
spoilsport said:
Lube the front suspension? Is this for real? /images/graemlins/confused.gif


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/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif No kidding..lubricate what? I wasnt aware we had any grease fittings. I know the 20k calls for a sunroof rail and door hinge lubrication.

Packrat:

VW service departments overcharge on all Volkswagens. For example they wanted $160 for the 10k service on the Passat which was basically an oil change with dino oil, tire rotation and basic inspection. I did it myself with synthetic (Delvac 1) and OEM VW filter for around $30 and 25 minutes of my time.

This is a common trend among all service departments though due to high labor rates. Whenever I had my Neon or our Integra dealership serviced it was always a shock to our bank account. Or the time I had the front brakes done my Toyota Pickup, new front rotors, pads and cleaning/repacking front bearings set me back $480. Yeah yeah call me dumb....I was quite naive back then.


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I know that VW overcharges for all owners. But they seem to screw TDI owners a bit more. They ought to provide a bit of that expensive Castrol oil for lube before they mount you.

silverdiesel,
who did you go to here in Denver?

[ QUOTE ]
silverdiesel said:
heya - I went into the dealership to get my oil changes today. Actually, its the 20,000 mile maintenance, and they want 430 bucks for the service. I think thats ridiculous considering its basically an oil change....
While I'm on that subject, does anyone get their TDI oil changes at Grease Monkey/Jiffy lube/generic quick lube places. I figure they would not know where to begin with a TDI.

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First off, avoid Jiffy Lube like the plague. They will not know how to do a proper service, and will not have the proper motor oil.

Secondly, I vaguely recall a recent discussion about good mechanics in Denver, and somebody recommended an independent shop that did good work. Try doing a search of this forum, going back at least 3 months. Include Denver as a search keyword.

This is not what I was looking for, but you might use it as a starting point:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthreaded.p...amp;o=&vc=1

This might be even better:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthreaded.p...amp;o=&vc=1

And this one:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthreaded.p...amp;o=&vc=1

My suggestion- buy the oil and filter and find a small shop with a hoist that will let you walk them through the oil change. Change the fuel and pollen filters yourself and only have the dealer interrogate the airbag, rotate tires, check breaks, lubricate doors and sunroof and check fluid levels and leaks (all the little stuff). Have them list all the little things on the work order and document what you do and put most of the money in your pocket

They quoted me over 300 bucks and and after I did most of it, I only paid 90 bucks.

Toureg...it's a dream
The last time I had my Audi serviced the dealership gave me a V8 Toureg as a loaner. I dove it about 100 miles and had to put 20 buck of gas in it. Yes, it's a great SUV but not a 11-18 mpg. I dove it all highway and the trip computer never got over 16 mpg
moldman

Silverdiesel,

here is one link I found about several TDI mechanics here in Denver:
list of mechanics
I haven't done much research on any of them, but oughta be a start for us!

Joe Golf... Doesn't EVERYONE know that Kinney Motors in Rutland Vermont is <font color="red">the</font> place to go? I have been very impressd with them from the get-go.

LONG STORY...(shortend)
Knowing I wanted the Jetta and having selected EXACTLY the options and color I desired I went to Walker... They cut a good deal and told me there were 2 Jettas on the ship headed twards port. Later, they told me the Jettas were on the docks and led me to beleive that one would be arriving any day now..... wait...call Walker .... wait...call Walker...wait...call Walker...

Finally I find FROM A TDICLUB MEMBER that the shipping # Walker had given me <font color="red">WAS ALLREADY SOLD</font> by another dealer. /images/graemlins/frown.gif /images/graemlins/shocked.gif /images/graemlins/confused.gif I asked Walker to get on the computer and find me another Jetta... they did NOTHING. I was very patient with them for about a month.

On a whim, I telephoned Kinney in Rutland and told them the vehicle and price I was looking to pay... and 20 minutes later, they called me back and said they found a Jetta in RhodeIsland and can have it on the lot in 4 days. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

NONE THE LESS>... I have been dealing with Kinney ever since. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

If you have ever changed oil before, you can do it on your TDI. I did all the 20K changes myself, with parts from www.dieselgeek.com, and Delvac 1 from www.avlube.com; and loads of free advice here. I had not changed a fuel filter or cabin (pollen) filter before either, and I did not then have the Bentley manual.

Snowscreen cleaning instructions here:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showflat.php?C...;o=&fpart=1

Fuel filter instructions in the FAQs:

http://www.tdiclub.com/TDIFAQ/TDiFAQ-7.html#b

Pollen filter advice here:

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showflat.php?C...true#Post495060

and here:

http://www.mann-hummel.com/mf_prodkata_all/einbau/HBAGWyte4Ub.pdf

Learn to use the search: the FAQs and Search are your friends!

Good Luck!