VW inspection
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macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

213 months

Wednesday 17th October 2018
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Evening all

We are getting an advisory message on the MFD "inspection in 12 days". Car (Polo GT) has done 29,000mls
Can anybody explain what this inspection involves ?

Dr G

15,985 posts

272 months

Thursday 18th October 2018
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VAG servicing is generally split into two bits that depending on timing can be combined:

Oil service: change oil, basic safety check.
Inspection service: More thorough vehicle inspection. No oil when done on its own.

Oil & Inspection service: Both of the above.

Depending on how you use the car and when the oil is due it may be worth booking both. If your oil was done reasonably recently just do the inspection solo.

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

213 months

Thursday 18th October 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for the very informative response. So looking closer at the service book the car is on time & distance plan and had an oil change service 30/07/18 @ 28,600mls so actually only about 500mls ago. The last extended inspection was @ 25,000mls in Oct 2017. The service book also says the next inspection service is due October 2018 @ 35,000mls and oil service @ 39,000mls in July 2019

We expect to cover 12 to 14,000mls per year

Edited by macp on Thursday 18th October 22:52

Dr G

15,985 posts

272 months

Friday 19th October 2018
quotequote all
Slightly odd. If it had an inspection 10.17 the next would be scheduled 10.19. Wouldn't be the first time someone had either mucked up resetting the counter or simply forgotten to do it, however.

As the oil was fairly recent it sounds like you can do a solo inspection.

VW recommendation if you're doing over 10k miles annualy and more motorway than town use Longlife/variable servicing.

Sheepshanks

41,205 posts

149 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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How old is the car and is it covered by any kind of warranty?

macp

Original Poster:

4,823 posts

213 months

Friday 19th October 2018
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
How old is the car and is it covered by any kind of warranty?
63 plate so I guess out of warranty

Sheepshanks

41,205 posts

149 months

Friday 19th October 2018
quotequote all
If it's on time / distance (12mths / 10K miles) then I'd have thought the oil change and inspection counters should be in sync - or even just have only one?

Our Tiguan was left on longlife servicing (dealer is supposed to change to to fixed interval for retail customers unless asked not to) and the two service counters are completely out of sync, but it only does 6K/yr and the dealer cheerfully services it on the annual regime, which is:

First service: Oil change and basic checks
Second service: Inspection (this is supposedly like a major service in terms of its checks). Oil and pollen filter change.
Third service: Oil change, basic checks plus brake fluid change.

Then VW switch people on to alternating minor and major service, so the fourth service should be a major one. It gets confusing from then on as not all major service work is done at every major service! Things like spark plugs or diesel fuel filter are only changed every other major service. Also the brake fluid change recommendation changes to every 2yrs, rather than 3 as it is from new.


On longlife servicing it can end up having oil changes separately to inspection services as the oil change will often come up before the maximum possible mileage if the car is doing short trips etc, whereas the inspection service should run to maxium mileage and time - 2yrs and around 18,500miles.

Once out of warranty you can do whatever you like - we used to have a Golf that did around 12K/yr and I just got that serviced with MOT every year by an indie and left him to do whatever he thought necessary.

va1o

16,117 posts

237 months

Sunday 21st October 2018
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Seems a bit weird it didn't have the Inspection done as part of the oil change service on 30/07/18 @ 28,600mls.

When the two intervals are very close they converge into one, so the MFD would've been saying Oil change and Inspection due. If you recently bought it from a dealer or approved used I'd suggest taking it back and asking them to sort free of charge.