Servicing & Service Plan

rcopus

Active Member
Jun 6, 2012
270
8
Midlands
Hi Guys,

When picking up my new 1.4 Leon I queried whether the car was on 'fixed time and distance' or Long Life servicing. I was told it was on T&D, so I took up the service plan at £14 odd per month based on 3 years at 15,000 miles per year, seemed good value.

Today I was messing with the menus on the car and it seems its on Long Life, i.e. its currently saying 700+ days and 19900 miles to go!
Now correct me if I'm wrong, this means the service plan is no longer good value, I'll be worse off if anything.

Does anyone have any opinions they could share with me on this.
Should I stick with the Service Plan and just insist its serviced every year OR should I cancel the Service Plan altogether and possibly save a few quid?

The reason I questioned what type of servicing the car was on in the first place was so I could make a decision on whether to take the service plan or not, so I'm kinda miffed that the dealer doesn't even know what servicing the cars they sell need.
 

J400uk

Active Member
Jan 7, 2010
1,978
3
London, UK
It should still call for an oil change service after 10k/ 12-months but it won't need a full service until 20k/ 2-years
 

roger7248

Active Member
Sep 28, 2013
102
2
Bicester, Oxon
Based on a previous post, and my experience, it seems the system is set to long life as standard. Then if you take a service plan it will/should then be changed to 10K/12mths.

I was a bit miffed this wasn't pointed out, but decided to ignore the point to avoid getting overheated about it all. I'm a bit laid back about this sort of thing, just have to make sure I don't get steam rollered. Just hoping something goes wrong ! :whistle:
 

rcopus

Active Member
Jun 6, 2012
270
8
Midlands
If your on pcp its in terms must be serviced every 10k or annually
I've just read the T&C's of my PCP and it does not make any mention of servicing let alone any requirements of what type of servicing and when etc.
Could you tell me where you got this information (it wasn't straight from the mouth of a salesman was it!?) it may help me get to the bottom of this. I don't see why a PCP customer would have to have it serviced every 10k when a HP/Loan/Cash-buyer can have long-life servicing.

Roger, you're correct, the build sticker (or whatever its called!) indicates long-life servicing, as does in the in-car DIS/Touchscreen. Based on my mileage, 15k, long-life would probably make more sense than every 10k. I read somewhere thats how dealers do/did decide whether to set the car to long-life or every 10k. If it was <10k you got fixed time and distance, if >10k you got long-life.

What I'm trying to understand is whether I've been mis-sold the service plan when;
a) the car doesn't warrant a service every 10k miles
b) the plan costs me considerably more money than paying for services as I go
 

rcopus

Active Member
Jun 6, 2012
270
8
Midlands
It should still call for an oil change service after 10k/ 12-months but it won't need a full service until 20k/ 2-years
I think this is ticked in the maintenance/service book come to think of it.

Does this mean I have to book it in myself at 10k for purely an oil change and then take it back for a 'proper' service when the car decides it needs one?
I'd imagine when they change the oil the first time around, they'll reset the service reminder in the car meaning it will be yet another 20k miles before it wants seeing again.

It's so smoke and mirrors with this servicing and long-life stuff. I'm sure its quite simple, but every dealer/person seems to have a different (and presumably wrong) understanding on it.
I often wonder how your average Joe thats not on SCN knows when to take their car in for a service as they'll have a sticker on the windscreen saying one thing, a booklet saying another, and the in-car display saying another!
I've always been on the sceptical side but I'm sure dealers will just give the answer that is likely to make them the most money...
 

J400uk

Active Member
Jan 7, 2010
1,978
3
London, UK
The problem is there is a mismatch between what SEAT HQ in Spain say and what SEAT UK in Milton Keynes say. The service interval details always seem to get lost in translation somehow. Oh and Longlife doesn't really work on low mileages. Our Audi called for its first service at around 18-months/ 8k miles then again for a full service at 2-years/ 10k miles. Confusing!
 

Ckpearce91

Active Member
Feb 20, 2013
1,287
15
Milton Keynes
I would also like to know the answer to this as again my car seems to think its on long life but then I'm paying monthly for servicing. I have the car on a 3 year PCP so I don't want to be paying all this money if I only get 1 service out of it.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

rcopus

Active Member
Jun 6, 2012
270
8
Midlands
Update on this guys.

My car is set to variable (Longlife) servicing.
SEAT UK confirm my car is set to variable servicing. Furthermore they state all cars leave the factory this way.

I contacted VWFS to tell them I believed I had been mis-sold the monthly servicing plan, especially as I had specifically asked the dealer what type of servicing the vehicle required to allow me to make the decision to take the plan or not.
There was also a discrepancy on the amount I was being charged per month and the amount stated on the paperwork I signed.
I instructed them to cancel the plan and provide a full refund.

VMFS responding by agreeing to cancel the plan and provide a full refund.
They also stated 'any vehicle doing over 10k miles per year should be on variable servicing, therefore your vehicle is getting the correct servicing for milage that you do'.

I hope this clears up some of the myths around the service plan, variable servicing and servicing with PCP's.
 
Last edited:

weirdkerr

Active Member
Nov 24, 2013
252
8
Morayshire
My car (bought2 months ago 2nd hand with 15,000 on the clock) is on Longlife and is calling for a service in 300 miles (im at 18,400miles), so today I booked it in to the dealer for the 14th feb... I might see if I can be switched to t and d but as I do approx. 17,000miles a year it may be better staying on long life
 

AJ

Active Member
Oct 16, 2013
250
3
My car is on variable servicing too and at the handover I was introduced to a member of the service department who confirmed it. So it seems that the cars do come out of the factory like this and the dealers should switch to fixed servicing at customer's requests or for customer's who have bought a service plan.

Also with regards to the service plans and whether they are worth it we need to work out whether fixed servicing is cheaper than variable servicing. For the calculations I'm assuming the car does 10k miles per year and using current prices from SEAT's 'It's Fixed Servicing' prices:

Fixed Servicing Costs over 3 years:
Year 1 @10k miles = Minor Service £129
Year 2 @ 20k miles = Major Service £249
Year 3 @ 30k miles = Minor Service £129
After 3years with 30k miles you have spent a total of £509

Variable Servicing Costs over 3 years:
Let's assume the service light comes on after 18,000 miles each time:
1st Variable Service @ 18k miles = Major Service £249
After 3years with 30k miles you have only spent a total of £249

But you will have to bear in mind that the 2nd Variable Service @ 36k miles would be due in 6k miles and as it will be a Major Service the cost will be a further £249. So after approx 3.5 years you will have spent £498.

From the above I guess Variable Servicing works out better value unless of course you can get the dealer to discount their service plan. I saw in the Oct 2013 brochure that The RRP for 3 yr Service Plan was £489 (~£13.53 per month over 36 months) which is only a saving of £20 from the above individual fixed servicing prices!!
 

rcopus

Active Member
Jun 6, 2012
270
8
Midlands
Good info AJ.

I've read other posts on the forum though and it seems even more money could be saved:
As my 1.2TSi is coming up for it's first long-life service, I phoned around to get quotes - here is what I was given:

Independent Garage A £205

Independent Garage B £175

SEAT Main Dealer £169

I realise that the SEAT quote may be a special offer, but whatever happened to the idea that the independent garages are cheaper?
Okay that was for an Ibiza in May 2012, but the prices will no doubt be the same. It's my understanding that there's little (or no) difference in whats done in the fixed servicing vs. variable servicing, so it makes sense that prices are around the same. £249 is probably just profiteering on the garages part.

Also don't forget there's also EU laws preventing a cars manufacturer warranty from bring voided purely because you didn't use SEAT for servicing.
Only time will tell whether I personally save money or not by ditching the plan and using variable servicing.

One things for sure though, this is my first car on a PCP and although I'll treat it the same as any other car, do I really need to be that bothered about dealer servicing on something thats effectively a rental that will be gone in 3 years?
 

dephead2004

Active Member
Aug 3, 2013
918
12
Best arrangement for those on 10,000 miles servicing is a prepaid VWFS 4 year service plan as the 4th year is quite steep. It's cheaper even without the effect of inflation in servicing costs.
I posted some numbers elsewhere on the forum.