Long Life Servicing

[gmw]

I had loads of car and garage problems last year which eventually led me to a return to the SEAT brand in the hope of happier motoring. I have been really delighted with my Exeo ST 170 Sport Tech since I got it in November. It's been a fantastic drive. It went in for a first service yesterday and I have one or two concerns I was hoping you guys could advise on.

I got the car in November from Arnold Clark and they offered a free two year service plan which I upgraded to 3 years. The car had 7k miles on the clock and left the factory with long life servicing. Sure enough as I drove the miles over the months the service indicator took notice and I eventually got to just under over 18k yesterday when the service indicator was telling me I had 400 miles until the service was due. I thought that was pretty good timing.

My service plan voucher covers three services but I noticed it has a limit of 42,000 miles or three years old, whichever arrives sooner. When I moaned that this didn't match the manufacturer guidelines Arnold Clark said the plan defaults to 12k per annum but they would make sure my car was serviced according to the manufacturer guidelines and if that meant longer service intervals that shouldn't be a problem. The car was serviced at the Arnold Clark SEAT franchise in Glasgow and I got it back last night. It did not feel any different, not smoother in any way, and I'm not sure yet what they did. I got the usual generic service document which says everything has been checked and topped up but I am about to check my engine oil because I don't think they have changed it. What they have done is reset and disable my service indicator and stuck a sticker on my window telling me my next service is due at 28,000 miles! When I press the "check" button I no longer get an estimate of the miles and days left before a service is due. It looks like they have taken me off long life servicing. Is this normal? Has this happened to anyone else?

As far as I can see no other work was done but they wanted £45 to replace my pollen filter. My car is only 10 months old. Is this normally chargeable or should it be replaced under warranty.

I suspect they have reverted to fixed interval servicing and may not have replaced anything yesterday. Should they have at least changed the oil and oil filter? Any suggestions why they would do this?

Any advice would be welcome before I call them.

Gerry

 

[gmw]

Just checked my oil at lunch time - it's as black as the ace of spades. It has not been changed. Have I been conned?

Regards
Gerry

 

[PeeJay]

That sounds like a nightmare, I know of so many cars that have gone into dealers on longlife and come out on standard - depends on your view on longlife servicing, but I wouldn't be happy.

I have recollection it cannot be reversed either.

As for the oil, it'll go gold to black in minutes of being run.

 

[chris_foci]

If it was your first service then according to the Seat service schedule it is an oil and filter change and the pollen filter is due at 20k miles. I would have thought they would have changed the pollen filter seeing as your so close to 20k.

On a diesel the oil will turn black very soon after the oil is changed so this isnt a sure fire way to check if it has been changed or not. It will remain a golden colour on a petrol for quite some time.

I personally dont trust dealerships, I have a bad experience with VW wherby I had bought a service plan for my Golf and on getting the car back from service I checked all the filters and none had been changed. The dealership were extremely embarrased when i pointed out I had marked the filters with a UV pen. They re-did the service in front of me and I got a refund for the cost of the plan after a lot of hassle.

 

[gmw]

Thanks guys.

I have driven the car 50 miles since the service and the engine oil is black. I thought the oil would remain cleaner for longer than that.

I phoned the garage and they say the oil was replaced. Is there any way to check?

They've asked me to come back in on Friday morning and they will check the oil and the service indicator while I wait.

Gerry

 

[chris_foci]

No way to really check, it definitely will be black after that amount of miles, it almost does it as soon as you turn the key within reason.

You could buy some oil and a filter from TPS for about £33 and drop the oil and change it all yourself, only takes 20mins or so for peace of mind. I know its not the point.

 

[julianat57]

Hi, the service indicator will show nothing until you have done about 500 miles after service. As others have said a diesel will blacken it's oil very quickly so not going to be easy to prove....Julian

 

[taffybloke]

As said before, the service indicator won't show for a few hundred miles and the oil will be black as soon as the engine is run. The long life service will show if the oil is old as it monitors the state and reduce the service time, as it does for stop start or motorway mileage.

If you think they are not changing filters when due then mark them (as said).

They should not be changing from longlife to time and distance sevicing unless you request it to be changed.

Its not nice when you have little confidence in the garage and you may be better off finding another VAG or independant workshop to use.

Mike

 

[Cornishgreg]

With regard to the changing of the service intervals from Long Life, I am pretty certain that a main dealer can change it in either direction, at any time at the request of the owner/driver to suit your usage.

Mine was on Long Life with it's previous fleet owner, then changed to standard when sold as a used car by the dealer. I requested it to be returned to Long Life as I cover about 30-35K miles in a year.

The service indicator requested a service after 18K miles in my case, so 2 trips to the garage a year for me.

Out of warranty now, so will possibly try an independent VW group specialist for the next service and then compare pricing/service etc.

Good luck with Arnold Clark, heard horror stories about them back when I had my RenaultSport Megane and frequented the RenaultSport forums.

 

[GlanzaV]

Hi,

This isn't Arnold Clark SEAT/Hyundai on Alexandra Parade is it? They're my (very) local garage.

I generally do an oil service myself once a year and then get another oil service done by them for a stamp. I've never really had any issues with them, but I think they know I do most of my own work and don't tend to try and bullshit me. I do about 20k miles a year so given I do one of my own services I'm happy to stay on a 1yr/10'000mi service plan.

I did have my car serviced there about 2/3wks ago and they hadn't fitted the undertray correctly, but I dropped it in and they fixed it for me within 15min. I have heard horror stories, and I've had bad new-car sales service from them in the past.

I'll also say you can't tell whether the oil has been changed if it's been driven... goes black very quickly.

 

[gmw]

Thanks for the guidance guys. Yes it was the Alexandra Parade dealer and I may well have misjudged them but having bought the car on the basis that it had long life servicing, it's annoying when they don't follow the guidelines. I do 25k miles per annum and the longlife servicing suits. The Maintenance Programme book confirms on page 7 that the first service was supposed to be a LongLife service but Arnold Clark changed that without asking and have stamped my book as a "Service dependent on time/distance travelled". Why would they do that if not to try to get me servicing more frequently? What would they do differently for a longlife service?

I must admit I was not aware the oil could turn so black so quickly nor was I aware the service indicator would not work for 500 miles after a service. That's what's great about the forum! Thanks guys.

 

[davep10000]

Hi,
I bought my 9 month old warranted Exeo st from the SEAT garage in Alexandra parade a few months ago - don't like to worry you, but when I got it home and went through some of the basics - I found that the washer bottle was empty, the hose to the air cleaner was loose, the water header tank was well below the minimum, the tyres were all 10 psi lower than they should be - so, like you, worry that the oil was actually changed.
The service manager offered to take it back and check it out - but its a 200 mile round trip for me - so too much hassle.
Would never go to A Clark again.

Dave.

 

[gmw]

I was back at the dealer this morning and they couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. I got seen immediately at 8am, sat down with a coffee and was out of there by 8:30. I'm back on the long life cycle which was my main grump and the car is still feeling great!

They confirmed they had made a mistake with my servicing interval and apologised and adjusted it in their system, said it was updated in the Seat system. The Service Manager adjusted and signed my service book and I even got a new windscreen sticker . The service indicator came back on during the journey to the garage just as you guys predicted - 500km after the service it tells me I have 18300 miles to my next service. They tested the oil and said it had been changed but accepted it wasn't a complete flush and they could see why I thought it had not been done.

Thanks for the advice guys. Now for some new tyres and some extra grip.

 

[taffybloke]

Good news Gerry Go out and enjoy it now.


Mike

 

[DWaldie]

I think you get swapped back to "normal" servicing as it is easy to reset it. The manual even tells you how to do it. To reset the long-life clock they need to connect the computer.

Don't buy continentals unless you are happy replacing them every 6k