Given that I’ve got a biggish road trip in the offing after a few weeks (Goa beckons, baby), I felt it was prudent to send the car in for its 45,000 kilometer service a month or so ahead of schedule.
I had a simple list of must-do’s for the service guys at VW.
The must-do’s - Change of all necessary filters
- Change of all necessary fluids
- Anything else mandated by VW as part of the 45k KM service
Over and above this, I had a few other requirements
- One of the headlight washers had broken, so that nozzle had to be replaced
- 2 of the reverse sensors had come loose (1 through my mistake, the other through unknown circumstances), so I wanted them fitted back to factory spec
- The beading on one of the doors had got ripped, so I wanted to know how much this would cost to replace
- The unit housing the service buttons in the roof of the cabin had come loose (haven’t a clue how), so I needed this to be fixed.
The customer is king...or not, apparently
I clearly instructed the service advisor not to do anything unnecessary that would drive the bill up (such as engine decarbonization, washer fluid, et al), and so I was livid when I saw that he added wheel alignment+balancing and AC disinfectant to the bill. The former I don’t mind so much, except for the fact they won’t do anywhere near as good a job as I’d expect. The latter is an eyewash that added a wholly unnecessary Rs. 1500 to the bill.
Suffice to say I chewed out the advisor over this somewhat viciously and as a sweetener he promised to get the interior cleaning done gratis when the car comes in for a checkup in 6 months.
A breakdown of the damages, plus other bugbears
So the bill itself came to Rs. 15xxx+taxes for the essentials + Rs. 5xxx for the headlight washer nozzle + Rs. 4xxx for the pair of sensors to be fixed with fresh brackets. I passed on the chance to get the beading changed since it would cost Rs. 5000 + taxes, which is ridiculously expensive for a pure play rubber part. People buy smartphones for far less!
The rear right taillight also has a hairline crack that can’t be felt after I introduced it to a wayward pole that evaded my sight, and I passed up on the generous offer to replace it for the paltry sum of Rs. 9000+taxes. Perhaps later, but not right now when we’re all living in a virtually cashless economy of the wrong kind.
Annnoyingly, despite keeping the car for 5-6 days, they didn’t fix the service button unit in the cabin as requested. They took the unilateral call of not calling for the bracket and so asked them to get the part and I’ll fix it next weekend by taking the car in. What an unnecessary waste of time..
The other major matter over which the service guys and I had a bit of a pow wow were the fact that they advocated a change of brake discs as well, all at the young-ish age of 40000 kilometers. I believed there was no way the discs would need replacement at this point in its life and wouldn’t have more than the usual ridges that develop over time. After much heated debate (and my asking the service to give me advice in good conscience, which I don’t believe they did), friendly Team BHPian Tanveer popped in and concurred with my view that the discs showed wear and tear, but could still do duty until next year’s service. Let the photo below speak for itself.
How mucho peso?
The total tab for this service came to 27,979, of which I estimate the mandated essentials account for approximately Rs. 17000 in as much as it doesn’t matter. Make of that what you will, but I believe the base service charge is reasonable for a car of this quality and class. Below is the invoice itself, for your viewing pleasure.
My verdict on the service
With some things done as per mandate (the bare essentials), some things foisted on me as per their wishes (the AC disinfectant and wheel alignment/balancing), and other things not done even after me giving them a mandate (the service button unit in the cabin), it is safe to say that the entire experience was quite a mixed bag.
The cost itself doesn’t make me balk as much as the lengthy timelines these guys play with and the laxity that creeps into their approach unless you loom large over their head. The thing is they’re not far off making the experience a really good one, it’s just a question of ironing the kinks out.
The thing is, I’m not sure if there is an intent from the top down to make that happen in the way that Toyota or Maruti are committed to complete customer satisfaction. Just as VW’s cars are built around the passenger, so too must their service standards. As long as that isn’t addressed, they will continue to fall short of fulfilling their true potential in India.
The update-sized elephant in the room
The service guys got the much debated software update (a recall by any other name) done on the car, claiming that it was mandatory and that it was flashing on the screen before the diagnostics were even run on the car, meaning that it had to be processed in order to conduct the service at all.
I don’t buy that argument in the slightest, but it is what it is. Coincidentally, at the same time as I was getting the car serviced, Tanveer told of the woes he faced with his Jetta post the update. Gone was the delicious wave of torque that you could ride all the way forward from 1800-2000 RPM onwards.
Without it, the car drove like a dog, and not an enthusiastic one yapping away playfully either. Think of a lazy dog that could barely be bothered moving to please the whims of its humans and you get an idea of the new nature of the updated Jetta.
To be honest, I wished to drive the car first and then take a call on how it drove, but circumstances conspired to ensure that Tanveer and I sent in our Jetta’s to Pete’s on the same day it was delivered to me to get it remapped. They are, after all, running a special Christmas offer where the remap will cost approximately Rs. 15,500 for the Jetta. That’s a steal by any stretch of the imagination, and one we had to make the most.
And so, I’ll be without the car for a few more days as Pete’s works their magic, but it’s going to be a painful wait. They were unable to unlock the ECU here and so had to ship it off to Kochi for the motherlode to work their magic. They expect it back by Tuesday/Wednesday and for it to be back with me by Thursday at most. As such, I await the return of the Black Mamba with bated breath and can’t wait to see it spew venom anew in its 180-190 BHP avatar.
What next?
In a nutshell, succinct details and pics on how the remapped Jetta feels, with a tire change imminent in the near future. Perhaps Bilsteins and some performance mods too, who knows. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I do. Until then, drive safe. Ciao.