45k Service Quote

[MWG]

My 05 plate Altea 2.0TDI Sport is due its first major service and cambelt change along with the MOT in a couple of weeks. Rung up Letchworth Seat (where i bought the car from) for a quote and i thought he was joking when he told me the costs

Major service £320
Cam-belt change £407
MOT £54

Also asked for a quote for doing the water pump, that'd be an extra £105.69

I got a 15% discount card off them when i got the last service done but even with that the prices are ridiculous. My other options would be Cheshunt, W M Couper in St Albans or M1 Autos, all of which i'm expecting to be just as extortionate.

Anyone got any recommendations as to where i should take it that's a bit more reasonable with their prices?

 

[Viking]

Try VW dealers. My local one (far better than my local Seat dealer could ever be) was doing cambelts for £295 late last year. Water pump would be an extra cost for the part at about £35 and a bit of labour for changing maybe, and service prices are dunno. Also try Skoda dealers.

 

[cadman2k]

45K service

You need to shop around a few main dealers (if that is where you want the work doing).
Target Price for Cambelt & tensioner & the service (the 40K or 60K one) should be £500
As previous post VW Dealers were charging fixed fee of £299 for Camblet Change, 40K / 60K service at a Seat Dealer should be certainly be no more than £200 if your putting the Cambelt business in its direction as well.
I know when I got mine done, my first line of approach with the service department is ' Do you price match on servicing etc'.

Good Luck...

 

[MWG]

Rung the other dealers i mentioned and they wanted roughly the same, They did drop their prices slightly but not enough to tempt me to go there instead. Got a couple more dealers and specialists to get quotes from but i'm not expecting much

I got a copy of the service schedule that was posted on here, can't remember who by but its been quite useful. Looking on eurocarparts i can get all the filters, engine and brake oil for under £100. With that in mind i'm thinking of doing the service myself and get the MOT done down the road which is more convenient.

I found the procedure of how to do the Cam-belt, the locking tools are cheap enough but i don't like the sound of having to remove the engine mounts and support the engine to change the belt so i'll probably take it to one of the garages and get it done by them

One last thing, Jochen (vwgroups) has posted a few times regarding servicing etc Does anyone know if he still does it in his spare time?

 

[MWG]

Spoke to this Jochen fella via his website and he's given what i feel is a more realistic quote for the work, its essentially half of what Seat quoted me even with genuine parts.

One thing i have noticed though is that he has been banned from the forums.... Is that a bad sign??

I have found another independent garage that i'm going to call on Monday before i decide where to take it.

 

[Viking]

Regarding the cambelt. If you get it done at a VAG dealer then they give 2 years warranty on the job. You'll only get a year at any other place.

 

[cherryone]

I can recommend Jochen at vwgroups he's based in Welwyn gdn city, he's done my last 3 services aswell as my cambelt/waterpump change as you say already all for a fraction of what you've been quoted, I don't know why he's
banned from the forums though !?

Cheers
Mark

 

[MWG]

With regard to the warranty, Seat give 12 months on the work and 24 months on the parts. If the cam belt lets go i'm not entirely sure that Seat would be willing to cough up for a new engine.....?

Hi Cherryone,

Good to hear that someone has used him before and can recommend him and his work. Its looking more likely that i'll use him, the fact he'll come to me is good, plus it'll give me a chance to see what he does and have a chat with someone that knows what they're doing.

 

[cherryone]

I live in Middlesex and come up to his to have my car serviced at his, I've watched him carry out the service too and would rather that than go to a dealer a have a trainee replace the wrong part (don't ask!!) The guy has vast VAG experience too !!

 

[IbizaAlex]

Pop me an email to [email protected] and I can give you a quote. I have an Altea 2.0tdi sport so know them inside out. We are only in MK too.

 

[Gooner_Mike]

I use an independent garage called JKM Performance in Portsmouth. I know its a bit far for you to drive but here is their service page to have a look at what they do and how much they charge.... http://www.jkmperformance.co.uk/performance/service.htm

 

[MWG]

Went through all the links in the sponsors forum earlier and narrowed it down to the places that are somewhat local, i did have a look at Backdraft and AmD. JKM might be bit of a drive but i do have a mate in southampton that could put me up for the night, will get onto them tomorrow

I was looking at a 30 mile trip to Letchworth so travelling isn't a major concern. I just want a place that knows what they are doing and i can chat to the people that are doing the work, F*****g dealers won't even let you near the guys that do the work

There is a list of things i want looking at or to talk to someone that knows about these cars about, only reason i've been putting that off is because i know its gonna cost a fortune if i'm right and i don't want to get another car

BTW IbizaAlex,

Nice car, looks mental but great fun at the same time