is green coolant bad? why?

[hienous]

Hi all,
Don't know why but I seem to be very paranoid these days- I get the feeling people I deal with to fix things for me are not honest/competent enough for my liking. Sorry for the long post- esp for my first post but I have to get this off my chest. any comments would be appreciated. Moderators if you feel the need- move this to the appropriate section if it is in the incorrect place.

I recently bought a second-hand 2005 golf comfortline 2.0FSI with leather in Feb from a lady who apparently didnt drive it very much and so only had 30k on the clock. I got it for 20k with a suprisingly easy haggle down from 22k. I had a feeling in the back of my mind that she is relieved to have offloaded it to me- she is probably laughing at me now.

I expected that I'd have to spend a bit of money on it to bring it up to speed so- new front tyres, new battery (after a scare where it almost left me stranded), and also to do the service that was overdue (service indicator flashing).

So, went down to Mc Grath's Liverpool got the new oil filter, rear brake pads (not discs), some brake fluid, and some g12++ (I was using up coolant so much that every few days I needed to top up). Booked my local mechanic. I knew I had a coolant leak somewhere -but couldn't see it, I thought since it's going in for service anyway I'll get the mechanic to check it out. BTW I got shell ultra extra oil at repco (504.00 spec)- and provided it to the mechanic.

so, today I got the car back finally- and I'm not very pleased. $920 bill incl GST.

break down:

oil/ oil filter: nil (supplied)
oil change labour incl flush: $89
rear brake replacement labour: $160
rear rotors: $158- apparrently needed new rotors (?)
pads: nil (supplied)
housing for thermostat (leaking): $164
labour: $240
coolant: $34
gst: $$

My niggles:

1. he didn't reset the service indicator and reckons I have to see an autoelectrician or the dealer with the computer to do it- I finally looked up the manual and did it myself in less than 3 steps using the instructions- makes me wonder if they just bull****ted me.
2. being charged so much for labour - does it take that much time to do all those things? is this reasonable?
3. I now notice that my coolant is GREEN in colour. This really made my blood boil, why couldn't they look up a book and get the recommended coolant for the car? my ultimate question is should I go back and demand a flush and replacement for the correct coolant- or should I just suck it in and get some g12+ and do it myself?

I know that owning a VW is not going to be cheap- and from what I have read I'm not looking forward to other things breaking down/failing during the time that I will own this car. So far- I know the air-con compressor has been replaced- under warranty a year into the ownership by the last owner. Still the aircon suck ass compared to my 9-year old maxima. This car is now out of warranty so every thing will have to be from my pocket if things go wrong. sigh..somebody cheer me up...

[hienous]

also if anyone in western sydney knows of a good vw specialist who won't rape my wallet I'd appreciate it because I don't think I'll be going back to that guy again. (I should've known better...)

[brad]

There are several decent independants in the west - look in the recommended repairers thread. Camden GTI & Sebastian at Girraween (?) spring to mind.

Labour is probably about right considering he was probably learning as he did the job What can you do after the event?

Coolant? AFAIK, the only proper coolant is VW genuine. look up the castrol/nulon/mobil/valvoline websites & your answer will be there.

[hienous]

If I do decide to do the coolant change myself (the mechanic would problably fob me off and refuse to change it- or prob charge me to do it)- are there any things I should be wary of, like little tricky things. I'm reasonably competent with doing simple things like oil changes and coolant changes- I'v done it im my other cars previously. I just don't know if there is any special procedures I should be wary of like filling/flushing procedure to eliminate airlocks etc... Or if someone can link me to a diy page that shows you how to do it that would be even better.

[NickZ]

As mentioned before, not sure whether your mechanic specialises, but there are quite a few people on here who are VW/Audi specialists, know your car back to front and are fair in price. Look up Golf Loon (Matt, based in Camden) or Bug Racer (Seb, based in Girraween).

[RedMk2Gti]

According to what you described, that guy definitely doesn't know VW cars, and he put green coolant in even though you supplied the G12++
Depend on your location there are several VW specialist in this forum that you can talk to.

[dainese]

Ok.

Here it is:

This guys seems to be charging dealership labour rates.

no one flushes out engine oil. it is drained and replaced.

Euro cars tend to have soft discs and harder pads. not sure why. but discs wear quicker than pads almost always.

i think labour for rear disc replacement is too much.

the housing for thermostat, if genuine is ok price i think. but not sure on the design. gaskets tend to fail. not the whole housing.
Maybe you can't replace JUST the gasket, or he didn't bother to try because;

it was really hard to get to.

I am not sure where it is located. but 3 hours labour is a lot of money.

and last but not least, the coolant change is a BIG NO NO.

mixing coolant is BAD. over long term, it can corrode, leak, cause dramas.
Maybe VW is more resistant to this, but TOYOTA (MR REliable) suffers in the long term when coolant is mixed.

Get it flushed ASAP.

Any other questions let me know