1st Service GTI

[gti]

Hi, just wondering if anyone here has had their car serviced at Ballarat Autohaus for any of their oil changes. I'm coming up to 7.5 and considering taking it here. I have also considered taking it to Essendon or Moorabbin.
Any thoughts, experiences or suggestions much appreciated.

[blutopless2]

have not taken any of my cars to these places so dont know what they are like personally... having said that a freind had some bad experiences with essendon. she no longer goes there.

[CatonaPC©]

Hi, just wondering if anyone here has had their car serviced at Ballarat Autohaus for any of their oil changes. I'm coming up to 7.5 and considering taking it here. I have also considered taking it to Essendon or Moorabbin.
Any thoughts, experiences or suggestions much appreciated.

Why would you want to service it at 7500? Have you had the car for a year?

[gerhard]

Why would you want to service it at 7500? Have you had the car for a year?

I'm going to give mine an oil change at 6 months at the end of January.

It's getting Penrite Enviro+ 5W-30 and a genuine filter.

Because I can :)

[CatonaPC©]

have not taken any of my cars to these places so dont know what they are like personally... having said that a freind had some bad experiences with essendon. she no longer goes there.

So far every dealership in the known universe has received a negative comment in this forum. :rolleyes:

Do some research. Visit each establishment, ask them questions. Above all don't rely in hearsay on forums.

[blutopless2]

So far every dealership in the known universe has received a negative comment in this forum. :rolleyes:

Do some research. Visit each establishment, ask them questions. Above all don't rely in hearsay on forums.

well they asked the question so i gave some information that i had relating to their question which is definitely not hearsay. what they do with that information is then up to them.
they may find nothing wrong with any of these dealers.

[CatonaPC©]

. . .they may find nothing wrong with any of these dealers.

Precisely.

[gerhard]

have not taken any of my cars to these places so dont know what they are like personally... having said that a freind had some bad experiences with essendon. she no longer goes there.

Sorry Bluetopless, but I couldn't have defined heresay any better if I'd spent a month on it :)

[blutopless2]

so it becomes hearsay because it didn't happen to me?
will just zip my lip then.
good luck finding a dealer gti.

[VW Convert]

so it becomes hearsay because it didn't happen to me?
.

Sorry to have to say this, but as Gerhard says, that is precisely what hearsay is.....hear say...... something that was told by someone else rather than experienced by yourself.

I have no love for VW (or any other) dealers and have had both good and bad experiences with them. No business ever has 100% customer satisfaction so one can't take hearsay comments as being gospel or as being a reflection of the experience of every customer at a particular dealer. The dealer that services my car was involved with a major dispute with a member of this forum but their work on my car has (mostly) been 100%, I would say they are OK but the other member would disagree wholeheartedly so who do you believe? I think each person has to make their own judgements about dealers, repairers or parts suppliers.


At the risk of restarting an argument that rears it's head from time to time, gti, why change oil at 7,500 anyway?

Cheers

George

[Transporter]

why change oil at 7,500 anyway?

Cheers

George

Maybe he drives very short trips, nothing wrong with changing oil at 7,500km anyway. :)

[Russ59]

I'm having my first service done soon as well @ 7,500 k's, I know they say 15,000 k intervals but I just feel it's a bit too long for the first change, in the past I always changed oil on my cars at around 5,000 k intervals and oil and filter @ 10,000 k intervals. Even though the oil will more than likely be OK for 15,000 k's, I think the first service is pretty important and even though these engines are supposed to be partly run in and are given an oil change before delivery (that's what I was told when I took delivery anyway), I can still see there being some muck in the oil due to everything being new and would rather change it a bit earlier, just a personal preference.

Russ

[gti]

I'm going to give mine an oil change at 6 months at the end of January.

It's getting Penrite Enviro+ 5W-30 and a genuine filter.

Because I can :)

No it's less than 4mths young. I was thinking of waiting until Feb but not sure what the whole 1st service/oil change involves. Does every dealership use the same 'standard' VW oil for each service unless specified otherwise by the owner?

[gti]

I'm having my first service done soon as well @ 7,500 k's, I know they say 15,000 k intervals but I just feel it's a bit too long for the first change, in the past I always changed oil on my cars at around 5,000 k intervals and oil and filter @ 10,000 k intervals. Even though the oil will more than likely be OK for 15,000 k's, I think the first service is pretty important and even though these engines are supposed to be partly run in and are given an oil change before delivery (that's what I was told when I took delivery anyway), I can still see there being some muck in the oil due to everything being new and would rather change it a bit earlier, just a personal preference.

Russ

Totally agree with you Russ....plus I thought it was the standard thing to do to get the oil change at 7.5km. I also think the 1st service is very important too and that the earlier "bad" oil is removed the better?!?

Thanks for all the comments/suggestions etc.

[gti]

Maybe he drives very short trips, nothing wrong with changing oil at 7,500km anyway. :)

:rolleyes:: *she*

The car has done quite a few good long runs every now and then.

[gti]

Sorry to have to say this, but as Gerhard says, that is precisely what hearsay is.....hear say...... something that was told by someone else rather than experienced by yourself.

I have no love for VW (or any other) dealers and have had both good and bad experiences with them. No business ever has 100% customer satisfaction so one can't take hearsay comments as being gospel or as being a reflection of the experience of every customer at a particular dealer. The dealer that services my car was involved with a major dispute with a member of this forum but their work on my car has (mostly) been 100%, I would say they are OK but the other member would disagree wholeheartedly so who do you believe? I think each person has to make their own judgements about dealers, repairers or parts suppliers.


At the risk of restarting an argument that rears it's head from time to time, gti, why change oil at 7,500 anyway?

Cheers

George

Thanks George, there should be no arguements :) and yes it is totally up to each individual to decide what to do with the info provided.....I thought that was pretty obvious and that's why there is a forum for people to help each other and then decide what to do/not to do.
I have a very close VW dealership but have decided never to go there for any of their help. I didn't make the final purchase with them and I especially won't be letting them touch my car.

Thanks for the help.

[blutopless2]

something that was told by someone else rather than experienced by yourself.

so you have assumed it was something i was not involved in then.

[VW Convert]

so you have assumed it was something i was not involved in then.

Reading your entire post,


have not taken any of my cars to these places so dont know what they are like personally... having said that a freind had some bad experiences with essendon. she no longer goes there.

Perhaps your post lead me to an incorrect conclusion but based on the information supplied it seems to be a logical conclusion.

Cheers

George

[Whubbsie]

I got my car serviced at Werribee, only the first service but they were quick and relatively cheap, replaced my front discs under warranty without even saying a word (thought I'd have to fight them for them and then eventually lose and have to pay on a consumable that was busted in 4 month more likely out of my bad driving than a defect)

[gti]

I got my car serviced at Werribee, only the first service but they were quick and relatively cheap, replaced my front discs under warranty without even saying a word (thought I'd have to fight them for them and then eventually lose and have to pay on a consumable that was busted in 4 month more likely out of my bad driving than a defect)

I was thinking of taking it to Werribee and go to the zoo whilst waiting :biggrin: They have been heaps of help over the phone.

[gerhard]

No it's less than 4mths young. I was thinking of waiting until Feb but not sure what the whole 1st service/oil change involves. Does every dealership use the same 'standard' VW oil for each service unless specified otherwise by the owner?

Yes, your's is younger than mine but you young people get around a bit more than us oldies :)

Mine will be probably only 6,500ks at 6 months, which means the first scheduled service will most likely fall at 13,000ks. The oil I will use is an approved longlife oil too, so in theory it will be good for maybe 20-30,000ks, but I don't mind a bit of overkill where my oils are concerned.

In your case the 15000 will most likely come up before the 12 months, so changing at 7500 and then 15000 would be my approach in your situation.

It's an ongoing debate whether you need to do a change at 6mths/7,500 (you don't need to) but I've never seen engine damage occur from changing oil of suitable spec more often than required.

But I have seen people putting 0W-40 into an old Falcon ute, and it's a symphony of rattles when it cold starts - that will probably end up an example of an oil that's far too good causing damage.

How's the Latte going - I'm still loving mine :biggrin:

[NickZ]

My belief for changing oils at 7500km is that (IMO) the recommended interval is a compromise between reducing the service costs (in comparison with other cars) and changing the oil at a suitable time. By changing the oil at 7500km and using a VW approved oil (Mobil 1 0w-40 for me), I am confident that I always have oil in top notch condition protecting my engine.

If I left it for 15000km (I do about 18000km a year), I would feel around that 12-13000 mark that the oil is just not as good as it was when it was 2-3000km old.

Like I said, this is my belief and opinion, it makes me feel better and to be honest that's all that matters :)

[gti]

Hey Gerhard, absolutely no regrets on the latte. Love it and thanks for the help in making that 'huge' decision.

My thoughts are, the cleaner the oil, the better. Changing it at around 7.5.

[gti]

Service is booked for tomorrow. It'll be around the 8,000 mark.......and also getting the window mirror knob replaced after it fell off last week!

[gti]

Car has been serviced and highly recommend who I went through. (Ballarat Autohaus). They gave me the rest of the oil left over from the new supply. Their service also comes with drop-off transport and free car wash (which I of course declined politely)......