Add Yours: VW ID. Buzz Owner's Registry

I Bought an 8 Year Service Plan, BUT...

7096 Views 30 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Huey52, Jun 12, 2021

Nai3t

Discussion Starter · Apr 7, 2021

I mentioned in an early post describing my purchase experience that the dealer added $600 worth of junk — VIN etching decals and clear vinyl tape on the door edges — that I would normal refuse but felt "stuck wth" as I was a walk-in buyer (no res) and the vehicle was otherwise priced at sticker.

But at closing the finance guy needed to sell 12 more service contracts before end of month, so sold me 8 (years) at VW cost, $495, and removed the $350 vinyl tape from my invoice.

I don't ever buy maintenance but relented, in trade for "something" (cabin air filters and brake fluid for 8 years) rather than "nothing" (vinyl tape).

Anyhoo... studying the sticker after the fact, I noticed 2 years of maintenance is included with my 1st Edition ($45,190 MSRP version), and have seen other 1st Edition stickers ($45,425 MSRP) that include 3 years of maintenance.

VW customer service called me today with a satisfaction survey but the caller was an actual VW employee with system access and could see my vehicle options and maintenance plan, and agreed that the first two years that I purchased looked redundant. She's says she'll get beck to me tomorrow with a resolution.

Not sure what she'll offer, or what I'll ask for, but (a) curious what you all think and (b) just want to get the word out that there is a maintenance provision on the purchase, at least on 1st Edition ID.4s. If it's anything like my i3, it's not much.

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Nai3t

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 9, 2021

They looked into it.

Got a call back the today to say I was wrong, I only purchased 6 years of additional maintenance, on top of the two years included with the purchase.

I guess they're right. I swear to you the Maintenance Contract is 24 nearly identical looking pages of my purchase and finance document pack. It looks like $50 for odd years on $115 for even years, and that lines up with the $495 they charged me. Not as good a deal, but still better than paying $350 for vinyl tape.

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Nai3t

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 11, 2021

So I've been thinking...

I keep neglecting to look up the VW maintenance schedule for this car (it's not posted online). Is it only cabin filters and brake fluid changes? That's all it is in my i3, and I do it myself.

I got the impression from reading online that the package I purchased only covers inspection of the brake and suspension system, not any parts or fluids. I also note that, unlike the cockamamie vinyl tape that I mentioned up above, the VW Maintenance Plan is fully refundable. It's basically worth one month's car payment.

So I've been thinking... Just cancel it? Right?

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ExCivilian

· #4 · Apr 11, 2021

Yep

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Spin

· #5 · Apr 11, 2021

Nai3t said:
So I've been thinking... Just cancel it? Right?

I would. One thing everyone should know about most dealer service departments, the service writers and the mechanics work on commission. Will they sell you things you don't need? Absolutely!! A quick story about my experience with a Toyota dealer. I brought my 2010 Prius to the dealer for a recall. The service writer came to the waiting area and informed me that my car needed brakes. At that point the car had about 95,000 on the original brakes. I had recently rotated the tires and the brakes looked fine at that time. I asked if I could see the worn brakes and the writer walked me out to the shop. The car was on the lift with the front tires off. When I walked up to the left side I could see it had plenty of pad left. The mechanic was standing there and I said to him, "It must be the other side?". His response was to walk over to his work bench and fidget with his tools. I walked to the other side and could see the brakes were fine. I asked the writer to please put my car back together. When my car was done the writer told me the mechanic estimated I had less than 5000 miles left on the brakes. I continued to drive that car for another 50,000 before I did the brakes myself.

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gorj

· #6 · Apr 16, 2021

Spin said:
I would. One thing everyone should know about most dealer service departments, the service writers and the mechanics work on commission. Will they sell you things you don't need? Absolutely!! A quick story about my experience with a Toyota dealer. I brought my 2010 Prius to the dealer for a recall. The service writer came to the waiting area and informed me that my car needed brakes. At that point the car had about 95,000 on the original brakes. I had recently rotated the tires and the brakes looked fine at that time. I asked if I could see the worn brakes and the writer walked me out to the shop. The car was on the lift with the front tires off. When I walked up to the left side I could see it had plenty of pad left. The mechanic was standing there and I said to him, "It must be the other side?". His response was to walk over to his work bench and fidget with his tools. I walked to the other side and could see the brakes were fine. I asked the writer to please put my car back together. When my car was done the writer told me the mechanic estimated I had less than 5000 miles left on the brakes. I continued to drive that car for another 50,000 before I did the brakes myself.

Financing and extended warranties are the bread and butter of new car dealers. And the shop is the jam! I worked my way through college and grad school working in car dealerships. I saw so much needless work performed on vehicles it made me sick. Back in the 60's &70's engine additives were the thing. In each can of additive was a token that could be cashed in, so the mechanics would pour several different additives into the engines and retrieve the tokens. Of course the customer paid for it as a shop fee. Shops would pull perfectly good parts off a car for warranty and then save them to put on other customer's cars. The car companies eventually caught wind of that practice and put a kibosh on it. I personally have only had my vehicles in a dealers shop for warranty repairs. I do all my own maintenance and repairs. I even have a lift in my shop.

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ixlr08

· #7 · Apr 16, 2021

gorj said:
Financing and extended warranties are the bread and butter of new car dealers. And the shop is the jam! I worked my way through college and grad school working in car dealerships. I saw so much needless work performed on vehicles it made me sick. Back in the 60's &70's engine additives were the thing. In each can of additive was a token that could be cashed in, so the mechanics would pour several different additives into the engines and retrieve the tokens. Of course the customer paid for it as a shop fee. Shops would pull perfectly good parts off a car for warranty and then save them to put on other customer's cars. The car companies eventually caught wind of that practice and put a kibosh on it. I personally have only had my vehicles in a dealers shop for warranty repairs. I do all my own maintenance and repairs. I even have a lift in my shop.

Took my newly purchased used JSW TDI into the shop for an ABS fault. Dealer wanted 3 hrs and $600 to fix the problem, which I already knew was a sensor at the left front wheel. I told them no. $38 for the sensor and 30 minutes of my time.. fixed. Dealer only sees my car for warranty work, the rest I do on my lift at home.

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gorj

· #8 · Apr 16, 2021

ixlr08 said:
Took my newly purchased used JSW TDI into the shop for an ABS fault. Dealer wanted 3 hrs and $600 to fix the problem, which I already knew was a sensor at the left front wheel. I told them no. $38 for the sensor and 30 minutes of my time.. fixed. Dealer only sees my car for warranty work, the rest I do on my lift at home.

Most would have paid the big bucks because they are clue less when it comes to vehicle repairs. If folks would Google the vehicle issue, often they can see how simple a fix is. By the way those sensors work on a principle called the Hall Effect.

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TT97

· #9 · Apr 16, 2021

Yes, the Hal effect...

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gorj

· #10 · Apr 16, 2021

VERY FUNNY!

Nai3t

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 16, 2021

Does anybody know offhand how to cancel before I start calling around? The contract says to notify of cancelation "in writing" but doesn't give further instructions. I'll have to start poking around the web.

This is actually a rather convenient clause, being able to cancel for a full refund. As I mentioned, I felt stuck accepting the zero value dealer add-ons, so being able to trade that garbage markup for a maintenance plan with tangible value made me feel better at signing.

But being able to now pull that cost out and put it back in my pocket makes me feel like I got the upper hand, unintentionally, and got one over on the finance guy. It's not a ton of money, but it's one full payment!

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Nai3t

Discussion Starter · #12 · Apr 16, 2021

4

I finally bothered to pull out the ID.4 maintenance booklet. Everything is an inspection item except for a suggested cabin air filter change at 40,000 miles. I don't see a brake fluid flush. I also don't see the "gearbox oil change" that the finance guy mentioned when pushing the VW prepaid maintenance plan. Buy comparison, my i3 has a recommended brake system flush and cabin air filter change every two years, the suggested service interval.

I wouldn't be surprised if the cost of the filter isn't included in the price of the maintenance plan. 🤔

Here is the list of the minor (annual) and standard (biannual) maintenance items listed in the handbook:

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ExCivilian

· #13 · Apr 16, 2021

There's value there for someone who doesn't know or doesn't care to know how to check those things but it's not something I would pay for. I bought a Quick Jack so I can do all my services in my garage.

The one good thing I learned from Sandy was the air filter is under the hood!

Regarding the brakes--VW always has the interval as: initial flush at 3 years of ownership and every 2 years thereafter.

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Nai3t

Discussion Starter · #14 · Apr 16, 2021

ExCivilian said:
Regarding the brakes--VW always has the interval as: initial flush at 3 years of ownership and every 2 years thereafter.

Yeah it's weird they left brake fluid out because that's one legitimate thing they can justify bringing owners in for.

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raadsel

· #15 · Apr 16, 2021

ExCivilian said:
There's value there for someone who doesn't know or doesn't care to know how to check those things but it's not something I would pay for. I bought a Quick Jack so I can do all my services in my garage.

The one good thing I learned from Sandy was the air filter is under the hood!

Regarding the brakes--VW always has the interval as: initial flush at 3 years of ownership and every 2 years thereafter.

The other good thing, to go along with it being under the hood, was the amount of space -- it hopefully means some type of "advanced" air filter may be made, maybe some type of HEPA filter or one similar to Tesla's "Biodefense" filter.

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ExCivilian

· #16 · Apr 16, 2021

I see "check" brake fluid is on there. Assuming "flush" is a separate charge

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Andy at Ross-Tech.com

· #17 · Apr 16, 2021

Brake fluid is in there on the top of page 36 under Time Dependent Service Items.

ExCivilian

· #18 · Apr 16, 2021

Andy at Ross-Tech.com said:
Brake fluid is in there on the top of page 36 under Time Dependent Service Items.

I think they're referring to the service contract that was bought, which only seems to list "check fluid" rather than "flush fluid."

Which page 36 are you referring to? I can't find that mentioned in the manual on p. 36. Maintenance starts on p. 339 but it doesn't have a handy chart like I'm used to.

Andy at Ross-Tech.com

· #19 · Apr 16, 2021

Oh, this is page 36 of the ID.4 Maintenance book that Nai3t posted.

ExCivilian

· #20 · Apr 16, 2021

Oh thanks for pointing that out! I was confused by what he posted then. I thought it was the service contract and everything that was included for the price.

Only thing I have is the manual...I need to go dig around in the car :O

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