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Dealership inspection

notanerd1411

notanerd1411

Ready to race!
Location
Bay Area, CA
Hey guys, I just have a quick question. So I have only had my GTI for about a month or so and I bought it from a non-vw dealer which didnt have any of the service records. So I called a VW dealership and they said that they have done work on it and so they have some service records. But cant give it over the phone so I am going down to get the info.

So at the same time they have a special for oil changes, tire rotation, and 49 point inspection for like 50 bucks. So I set an appointment for that.

My question is what are they looking for when they do the inspection? Also when the do the oil change and inspection will they take a look at my cam follower and things that have the extended warranty?

The car has 65k on it and like i said I dont have a clue what had been done to it so I figured this would be a good start.
 
M

mrbikle

Go Kart Champion
Location
Hagerstown MD
they will not pull your fuel pump... they will check stuff like bushings, brakes...exc
 
avenali312

avenali312

Autocross Champion
Location
Mableton, GA
Car(s)
2015 GTI
From what I understand, the inspection is mostly a visual check of normal wear and tear items. Last time I was in, they notified me of a tear in my CV boot and my brake pad %. They will most likely also top off your washer fluid.
 
Nitro605

Nitro605

605 AA/FC
Location
Snohomish, Wa
they will have a tech drive your car for a bout 5 min, check hoses, brakes like mentioned above. When i had this done i asked to go and look at it when it was on the lift. I managed to get my rear pads replaced at no charge.

I honestly think the inspection is BS, but for 50 it couldn't hurt
 
Elwood

Elwood

3-7-77
Location
Long Beach, CA
They will put your VIN in the system and see if you have any outstanding recalls pending. They will pull any stored fault codes to see if you need anything. That alone may get you a bunch of stuff - or nothing. Hard to say.
 
C

chunkisagoonie

VW Lifer
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Car(s)
'97 Golf Jazz
They will inspect your car for only one reason - to find something to make money on.
Click to expand...

This.

The 49-point inspection is something that is ALWAYS performed by a VW dealer whenever a car is in for service. They check common things like hose condition, brake wear, etc. They like to call this a "complimentary service", but in reality, it's just a quick and easy way for a tech to gauge whether they can up-sell you on additional services.

But even still, $50 for the oil change alone is a steal. You can barely buy 5 quarts of approved synthetic oil and a replacement filter for that. My dealer charges me $60 with an Internet coupon.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
chunkisagoonie said:
This.

The 49-point inspection is something that is ALWAYS performed by a VW dealer whenever a car is in for service. They check common things like hose condition, brake wear, etc. They like to call this a "complimentary service", but in reality, it's just a quick and easy way for a tech to gauge whether they can up-sell you on additional services.

But even still, $50 for the oil change alone is a steal. You can barely buy 5 quarts of approved synthetic oil and a replacement filter for that. My dealer charges me $60 with an Internet coupon.
Click to expand...

Don't fall for any extras. If they say you need, for example, a new CV joint boot thank them and say you will take it to a local mechanic. One thing I believe you can count on - dealer service writers will lie to you to make money. They work on commission only, so how do you think they make their money? And mechanics make money on hours, so they want as many hours as possible. The bad part is they make more money by cutting corners. To them you baby is just another paycheck.
 
lightningjack

lightningjack

Go Kart Champion
Location
Westchester, NY
Car(s)
09 GTI
The Fed said:
Don't fall for any extras. If they say you need, for example, a new CV joint boot thank them and say you will take it to a local mechanic. One thing I believe you can count on - dealer service writers will lie to you to make money. They work on commission only, so how do you think they make their money? And mechanics make money on hours, so they want as many hours as possible. The bad part is they make more money by cutting corners. To them you baby is just another paycheck.
Click to expand...

^This...sadly. $50 for an oil change is a good deal. By me it's closer to $80, but as has been mentioned they'll tell you, for example, "your rear brake pads are below spec and need to be replaced."

1st, dealer spec probably means you still have 40% of your pad left.
2nd, they rip you off. I was at a local dealer last week asking about their cost for the DSG service. Overheard a service writer tell some guy the majority of his bill was to replace the rear brake pads and rotors for $500+!!!
 
kayubassist

kayubassist

なんとなく
Location
Vancouver
Car(s)
Audi A3
it's like a type a service for 50 bucks eh
i'd take it.
you can always decline their offer to work on your car and go to a private shop.
 
The Fed

The Fed

Old Guys Rule
Location
Florida
Price for the oil change is good. It's easy to tell when a service adviser is lying - their lips are moving. I've owned a lot of cars and never found one dealer I could trust to tell me the truth every time.
 
sethdude

sethdude

Pobody's Nerfect.
Location
St Louis
Funny, of all the cars I've ever owned, when they were in the complimentary service period or I was too busy to change the oil myself, the complimentary inspection has yielded exactly ZERO up-sells by the dealership. Because I keep my own cars in tip-top condition and spend hours every year inspecting everything on weekends when it's too damn nice not to be in the garage. Also, the dealership I worked for after college did not pay their service writers on commission at all, yet alone "only". They were paid hourly, and were Union guys, like the rest of the shop.

Honestly Fed, reading your freak-outs about dealerships is troubling. Where have you been going, and what did they do to you?
 
xREVERENDx

xREVERENDx

.......
Location
NLR
Our advisors aren't paid soley on commision but it is a big part of it, that being said as a tech I hate the inspection bc 99% of the time people think i'm full of $h1t when I bring a estimate list up. But I felt the same way before I got this job so I can't really blame them. And i'm just an hourly lube tech so me upselling doesnt affect me in the least
 
bigbadvoodooguru

bigbadvoodooguru

GO LAKERS
Location
Trabuco Canyon, CA
Car(s)
VW Rabbit
What is worse is when you go to the dealership with your girlfriend and browse around looking at cars and then come back and the service guy is explaining how she needs $2000+ in service or her car will break down on the freeway and potentially she'll get hit by a semi truck and die... not knowing I'm like 10 feet away and know her car is 100% fine. This has happened multiple times and the discrepancy between what they tell me and what they tell her or any other female (like my mom) is disturbing. Fortunately all the females I know are not gullible.
 
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