Atlanta warranty maintenance?

[qformaggio]

Greetings. I recently acquired a Jetta TDI with 40k still on the warranty and in need of the 20k tuneup, so I need to use someone who is certified for warranty maintenance. I'm guessing I'm stuck with a dealer. I've called Heritage, Dwight Harrison and Jim Ellis for prices ($270, $205, $315 respectively). The cost is not a sticking point as long as I hear from someone who has used them and is happy with them.

I adore the car, and I'd like to take better care of it than my old Mitsu truck.

 

[ymz]

Welcome, and congratulations on the car !!

No, you're definitely not "stuck with a dealer" !!!

In fact, you'd probably do a lot better to not go to a dealer !!!

First of all, you MUST use engine oil with a VW 505.01 rating on it!!!!! Many dealers are still ignorant of this fact, so no matter what else you do, make sure that this is followed !!! (Why don't you call up all those dealers you phoned earlier and ask the parts persons what type of oil they sell for your car... then read the "Dealer used wrong oil" thread here in the PD section...)

You could always buy the correct oil (either at a dealer, or via mailorder: www.worldimpex.com will deliver) and filters, and have any garage (or even your nephew/cousin/brother-in-law/whatever) do the work... all you need for the warranty is to show that you purchased the correct maintenance items at approximately the correct time. If you're at all handy, you'd be strongly advised to do this yourself!!! Read up on all these things... lots of material on this website...

Good luck,

Yuri.

 

[qformaggio]

Keen, thanks for the info!

The good news is that, of the three dealers I called, all say they use VW 505-rated oil. Now, I dunno if that goes into the car, but at least the service dept. people sound a bit more competent. And, I have a reliable local shop that I've used and trusted for 10 years. They work on a number of diesel trucks (the owner has one). It's not a one-to-one comparison, but I trust their work.

Thanks again for the input!

 

[ymz]

At least you found this site!!! A veritable goldmine...

I forgot to mention that www.worldimpex.com or www.tdiparts.com also supply filter kits, so you could order the needed filters for the 20,000 mile service and have it done at your shop for much less than the dealer will charge for this "major" service... most of it is just visual inspection... (You could also do it yourself, if you're so inclined: go to the top of the page and click on the "support the TDI-Club" link... there are a coupe of how-to videos...)

BTW: be careful of that "VW 505-rated" stuff... the _wrong_ oil is also "505-rated"... must be 505.01

Yuri.

 

[Curious Chris]

Well you buy oil filter, airfilter, pollen filter, 5 quarts of 505.01 oil (I do have 2 gallons of Delvac if you cannot find it) + 2 12 packs of Flydog mixed litter ale and drive to Augusta on May 14th (only open weekend day in May) and I will do it for you and you can learn all about how easy it is. Parts + oil will come to just about $100 and your knowledge of your car priceless!

I have the paper Bentley, Factory Service CD, Pella 6000 and VagCom available.

Mapquest says it is about 2.25 hours to me. Email/PM me if you are interested

 

[slojoe]

I was recently in Atlanta with my NB TDI. I visited the dealer in the Alpharetta/Roswell area. I don't remember the name but it was a big dealership just west of the GA 400, on the north side of a secondary E/W artery (Jones Bridge Rd.?? Haynes Bridge Rd.??), located on a slight hill. I don't know much about TDI's (yet) but I do know about general car mechanics. I felt that they quoted me way too high a price, the service rep didn't know mechanics very well (although a nice enough guy), and the mechanic seemed to have a bad attitude about my car. So I wouldn't recommend that place, although the free juice was cold, as was the air-conditioned lounge. Nice place to chill out with a free drink, but I wouldn't let them work on my car!

 

[mparker326]

I used to live in Atlanta and had good service at a reasonable price with Dwight Harrison. Jim Ellis is where I bought my car, but they were all about the money as far as service was concerned.

 

[burnsms]

I had my 1.8T golf serviced at dwight harrison, had no problems with them. I would stay away from Jim Ellis (do a search at vwvortex). Gosset is the name of the one in Alpharetta, I don't know anything about them.

 

[qformaggio]

Well, I tried Heritage in Union City. It took two trips, but they did nice work replacing the rear passenger door trim. I thought I had a failing MAF (here). The service people said it was the ECM, but I'm not sure that's correct since the hesitation remains (or, they didn't swap the ECM, which is always a possibility).

They did get me a rental, which was nice. But, I'd prefer a loaner/courtesy car. There seems to be a lot of vitriol against Jim Ellis (and from people I trust, too). But, they're the closest to work. Are they really that awful? Is it a competence thing, or do they just work the upsell really hard?

 

[qformaggio]

I answered my own question. After the vwvortex.com read and discussions with two co-workers, I ain't going to Jim Ellis even if they're right around the corner!

 

[qformaggio]

I went to Dwight Harrison instead. It was altogehter a good experience. I know I'd rather be doing my own work, but they're fine in a pinch.