Hi all
has anyone ever had their Seat digital service record updated after having the car serviced at an Independant?
has anyone ever had their Seat digital service record updated after having the car serviced at an Independant?
Digital Service Record
- Thread starter GordonMcC
- Start date
shame, Mazda allowed it with my MX-5. Ill keep the invoice then. Arval, the lease company, dont require the car to be serviced at a dealer
Cartel rules stop them being "approved", there was a local VW/Audi place that was an approved service/repair centre - ie a service place independent of any sales unit, they were even in the VAG website, they seem to have closed down or downsized maybe due to pressure from local main dealerships.
For the purposes of this discussion "approved" should be replaced with "licensed" I'd say.
If you get your car serviced anywhere using genuine parts and proof then its "approved" but if your engine blows the first thing they will say is its due to outside interference. Exactly the same as any other manufacturer.
Its amazing because I would trust a well know indie better than most dealers.
my wifes Audi went in for a service at Audi in March and in the health check video they send out they say they re do all tyres pressures etc etc. the pressures were set to 33psi....the pressures should have been 38psi according to the sticker on the door. cant even get basics right.
My brother's wife took her Mazda to the dealer last week and they advised changing her front tyres which are on 4mil. £136 a tyre as well for a 16" Dunlop. Thankfully she had the sense to say no.
Interesting all these variances. Audi role us to run the tyres to 1.6mm (legal limit) as that's what the tyres are designed to. I did read a statement from Michelin saying that don't fear about running tyres to the legal limit
Service advisors are pushed to sell everything! Its horrible. I have worked in aftersales in the main dealers across the vag brands and they are all the same. Managers push you to upsell everything that is highlighted on the visual health checks done by the technicians. So a tyre on 4m will be an amber item. Doesnt mean it needs doing/replacement straight away but to keep an eye on and to make customers aware. As more and more service advisors are paid on upsell they will try to sell you a tyre or 2. Last place i worked at every premium tyre you sold got you a tenner! Doesnt sound a lot but a service advisor can see 10-15 customers a day or more depending on dealership size. Over the month u could easily make £300+ just in tyre bonus nevermind the rest of the upsell like ac service, bfc etc etc. Its all scandalous imo, but as a business they want to maximise everything.
Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk
I know a guy who was a Master Technician for Vauxhall. He says exactly the same thing. Dealer mechanics don't even get the time to do the job thoroughly, it's all about getting it done quickly so you make more money. His advice was that a good independent will do much better job.
The first time I encountered a digital service record was on a Mazda. There was no service book to get stamped, it was all in the Big Brother Mazda computer. I asked if it was possible to get work done by independent garages added to that record and they said no.
I started just keeping receipts and made up my own service log. I included not just servicing but a record of faults, repairs, MPG and included a list of consumables like bulbs and wipers so that it's a one-stop document for looking after your car. It worked so well I've done it ever since and buyers are totally happy with it. They can see that the car is carefully maintained and are not at all phased by the absence of the digital record.
I can send a copy of a record to anyone who wants to see what I mean or use it as a template? It's pretty simple.
I remember being in my local Vauxhall dealership collecting some parts, when I overheard the workshop chargehand giving a young mech/tech an earful about including tidying up within the time charged for a job - he made it clear that his next job would need to be charged for that time.
Keeping your own records, yes I know a bit about that, I have yet to attack the box file for my daughter’s previous car and it was sold back in August - I need to reclaim that folder for or her current one!
Service, repair and MOTs along with any faults logged and winter/summer tyre changing, then a list of all non service/repair parts bought, then records of summer and winter tyre positions and accumulated mileage, then finally any tricky/nasty investigation and repair events - her previous car had a battery draining issue (BCM duff S/W) and individual upgrades performed on that car.
When she signed up for her Leon Cupra, she immediately put her late 2009 Ibiza SC up for sale, a small dealer bought it but requested its full service record, so all I needed to do was to sanitise my rolling service/repair record and email it to her - that car was sold on by that garage as described as having “full service history” !!
Keeping your own records, yes I know a bit about that, I have yet to attack the box file for my daughter’s previous car and it was sold back in August - I need to reclaim that folder for or her current one!
Service, repair and MOTs along with any faults logged and winter/summer tyre changing, then a list of all non service/repair parts bought, then records of summer and winter tyre positions and accumulated mileage, then finally any tricky/nasty investigation and repair events - her previous car had a battery draining issue (BCM duff S/W) and individual upgrades performed on that car.
When she signed up for her Leon Cupra, she immediately put her late 2009 Ibiza SC up for sale, a small dealer bought it but requested its full service record, so all I needed to do was to sanitise my rolling service/repair record and email it to her - that car was sold on by that garage as described as having “full service history” !!
It happened to me recently; not with a VW group car but one of the other "upmarket" German brands. Took it in for a recall ( or "technical enhancement" as the service bod insisted on calling it ). On collection he told me that they had also carried out a free multi-point safety check and that , rather worryingly, I would need new rear brake pads "soon". When asked to define "soon", he grudgingly admitted that it was probably within the next 8-10,000 miles. That being the case, I asked him if they would care to remind me again in 12-14 months time.
This is why my cars always go to my friendly local indy and never go to the franchise dealers if I can get away with it.
Exactly the same thing happened to me. Woman phoned me while the car was in for a service saying the pads needed changing. I just said 'No they don't, just do the service thanks'. I check all these things myself an it was a ridiculous thing to say. Car had done about 20K at the time and the pads were not that worn. I think they were changed about 50K and they were not down to 2mm then. And they wonder why people don't trust them.
It wasn't even as if they were smart about it in my case: had they checked the digital service record, they'd had seen the car had been serviced 2 weeks previously; albeit at my friendly local indy who is able to log services through the manufacturer portal.
I think they were just narked because I'd asked the receptionist why they had gone to the trouble and expense of having customer parking bays painted when they were full of their demo cars.
Tact and diplomacy was never my strong point.
I think they were just narked because I'd asked the receptionist why they had gone to the trouble and expense of having customer parking bays painted when they were full of their demo cars.
Tact and diplomacy was never my strong point.
In my case they were just at it. No way the pads would have needed changed before the next service, or for years in fact. They just assume that most customers will have no idea how much life is left on their pads so can take the chance. You expect sharp practice like this from the likes of Quick Fit but it's disappointing when it's a dealer.
this wasnt an Audi Q3 was it? my wifes was in for a recall 2 weeks agoIt happened to me recently; not with a VW group car but one of the other "upmarket" German brands. Took it in for a recall ( or "technical enhancement" as the service bod insisted on calling it ). On collection he told me that they had also carried out a free multi-point safety check and that , rather worryingly, I would need new rear brake pads "soon". When asked to define "soon", he grudgingly admitted that it was probably within the next 8-10,000 miles. That being the case, I asked him if they would care to remind me again in 12-14 months time.
This is why my cars always go to my friendly local indy and never go to the franchise dealers if I can get away with it.
Similar threads
