[BNG-motorhead]

Situation:
So my Fabia TDI(~73K KMs) will be starting its 11th year, and is due for periodic maintenance.

Services 1-7: All done at the infamous Skoda ASS centers(Multiple) Average costs ~12K per service, regular stuff. Experience score: 80% Bad, 20% Good

Service 8: Tried an at-your-doorstep car service startup (No major difference, below average experience) INR ~10K

Service 9: semi DIY, with help from a workshop to lift the car n all (Everything by Liqui Moly, good experience, INR ~7K

Service 10: Need to decide b/w ASS vs FNG

Mandatory work to be done:

1. Oil Change
2. Air Filter
3. Oil Filter
4. Cabin Filter
5. Fuel Filter (Have my current one for 2 yrs now with 7K mileage, do I need to change it?)
6. Front Brake Pads Replacement (3rd time replacement)
7. Brake Oil Flush (Never done)
8. Gear Oil Flush (Never done)

ASS option: I'm in Bangalore so TAFE or PPS
FNG option: Know a good independent mechanic who would come home and do it all, I will have to procure all the parts

Is there a real benefit besides money, to opt for ASS?
Do they go beyond oil and filter replacement and consider a 360 service? Like I noticed one time that there were abt 3 guys working on the car, 1 checking all points in the bonnet, one filling up additives in the fuel tank, one greasing all moving parts...and all this was never mentioned in the service invoice.

The FNG guy would do point to point service, would lack many tools, dont think would care to do any real inspection and upkeep of car beyond the oil and filter changes. Is my assumption correct? Was thinking, how can I ensure the FNG guy does everything that the ASS guys would do, specially on the jobs that are unknown to me.

Another point:
The engine oil choice would be LiquiMoly or Meguin since i'm spoilt after using Liqui Moly+Ceratec and ASS would only put the stuff that would not be as refined.

[hridaygandhi]

Originally Posted by BNG-motorhead

The FNG guy would do point to point service, would lack many tools, dont think would care to do any real inspection and upkeep of car beyond the oil and filter changes. Is my assumption correct? Was thinking, how can I ensure the FNG guy does everything that the ASS guys would do, specially on the jobs that are unknown to me.

This is exactly my concern with FNG. Hence, for both my cars, Honda Jazz and BMW X1, I send the cars to ASS for the periodic maintenance and ask them only to inspect the car, and change the oil, etc. Ask them for a detailed report of the inspection.

After I receive the car back from them, I send it to a reliable FNG who carries out all the necessary work as pointed out by ASS. So far, this has worked for me flawlessly.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by BNG-motorhead

Mandatory work to be done:

1. Oil Change
2. Air Filter
3. Oil Filter
4. Cabin Filter
5. Fuel Filter (Have my current one for 2 yrs now with 7K mileage, do I need to change it?)
6. Front Brake Pads Replacement (3rd time replacement)
7. Brake Oil Flush (Never done)
8. Clutch Oil Flush (Never done)

ASS option: I'm in Bangalore so TAFE or PPS
FNG option: Know a good independent mechanic who would come home and do it all, I will have to procure all the parts

I'll vote for FNG option.

If you know any capable FNG, take the car there and get it serviced.

All the filter changes are easy (doesn't required any special tool, I presume). Brake pad change also is easy (you can check the guide pin health also at the same time where you can clean and grease it too).

Regarding brake fluid change, can be done easily, needs a 1L bottle, a pipe and a 8 or 10mm wrench. YouTube videos can help you (Check videos from ChrisFix!).

By clutch oil fluid do you mean 'Transmission fluid'?

[BNG-motorhead]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

By clutch oil fluid do you mean 'Transmission fluid'?

Correct, I meant gear oil, have never done it till date.

I know these are easier tasks, but my real concern are the jobs which FNGs dont do, which I dont know of.

Originally Posted by hridaygandhi

This is exactly my concern with FNG. Hence, for both my cars, Honda Jazz and BMW X1, I send the cars to ASS for the periodic maintenance and ask them only to inspect the car, and change the oil, etc. Ask them for a detailed report of the inspection.

After I receive the car back from them, I send it to a reliable FNG who carries out all the necessary work as pointed out by ASS. So far, this has worked for me flawlessly.

Good approach, just edited my original post to include that Oils I prefer my own.. what do you recommend?

[V.Narayan]

ASS or FNG all depends on a few factors - (i) our budget; (ii) our understanding at ground level of what needs to be done and ability to check or guide the FNG if needed; and (iii) the time on our hands and the other demands on that time.

I do not know if an FNG is a better bet or not as the quality and competence would vary widely and it also depends on how long have you known the FNG to have an effective view of his reliability and ability.

Given that for me at least the service is a once in 8 or 9 months event I prefer to go to the ASS centre and rely on them doing their job well. Given that the cars have run smoothly for tens of thousands of kms indicates that by and large the ASS are doing their job. Also the complexity of todays cars is a factor to be kept in mind.

[scorpian]

A.S.S is usually expensive as compared to FNG, and by that i mean quite a lot of monetary difference.

Advantages of doing at FNG is at much lesser cost to ASS i can use better quality oil compared to what the ass would use.For regular routine work FNG works better.For complex jobs i would prefer ASS.
For example when i had a issue with one bolt in the suspension at the ASS the mechanic refused to use a hammer and chisel and break it apart. They took over two hours to meticulously remove it .

The next time i had a similar issue the other side, the FNG mechanic took the hammer and broke it with a couple of strikes.But what i admired in the ASS is they took time but did the work properly as per laid guidelines and tools.

For transmission oil etc i prefer going to ASS,in short any difficult intricate jobs i go to expensive ass as they know what they are doing.However if you know your FNG well and he has good tools they use the FNG.Will save you quite a bit of money.

[ajmat]

If the car is up to 5 years when the car requires routine service, I would use an ASS. This would help to claim for any goodwill. Beyond that an ASS, will only do very routine stuff or might overcharge. I might use FNG's for straight replacements of components

Beyond that I would use an FNG.


However, if you are changing cars early, use an ASS to help improve saleability

[S15]

TBH, depends on the FNG.

I would prefer a specialist like World of Service to even an authorized service centre, but handing over my skoda to a roadside mechanic? No.

[gopikb]

From my experience, you just need to tap in the right FNG for your service, develop rapport with the team there and you can have peace of mind. My Punto MJD which is running its 12th year now was serviced at Vecto Motors until 2017. It was one incident that changed my perspective and moved to FNG. Over a long drive to Gokarna from Bangalore, I started getting a "tak tak" sound whenever I went over a hump or in bad roads. It started during the return journey and I had serviced my car at Vecto only a week earlier. I took the car to Vecto and the immediate advice from the service advisor was I had run 90K kms on stock suspension and it has given up.

I had a doubt if it is really the cause and decided to take a second opinion with another service center. KHT was too far away from my home and looked for good FNG at team bhp. Many people recommended Pride Cars in Uttarahalli road and was just 5 mins away from my home. Hence took the car there and the mechanic Harish took just 2 mins to find out that the tie rod has become loose and all he had was to tighten it. Costed Rs.100. From then on, both my Punto MJD and Linea Tjet are being maintained there. For replacement parts whenever needed, 99rpm has been the savior. It has been 4 years and both my FIATs are driving better than ever before.

I have never seen the people pushing you to change parts unnecessarily and the work done by them has been very satisfying. My routine service every year is averaging for both cars around Rs.7000 each including the fully synthetic engine oil which they flush and replace during annual service. I am a very satisfied customer of FNG.

[Kosfactor]

A fixed routine service schedule has many things that needs to be Inspected, adjusted, replaced , repaired etc. It is impossible for an FNG to know these things for all brands, some are covered in the user manual but many are not and then the revisions through service bulletins as well.

OEMs on their part has given their SAs revenue target making that an expensive option to service vehicles post warranty, especially if you are not 'into' cars.

Now if you own a euro brand and if that FNG is a specialist, watch out for any brand affiliations - many are into up-selling useless things rather than actually doing the car any good.

[Turbohead]

I personally take my VW to a VAG group specialist. The primary advantage I've noticed is that they take our feedback or complaints very seriously compared to any ASS. They test drive the car with us until they can replicate any sounds or issues we face.

The one I'm going to hasn't taken me for a ride yet in terms of doing unnecessary things but he charges about 90% of what the ASS would charge. Not complaining- I get to choose LiquiMoly oils and also am very happy with the experience at the end compared to the fights we have in the ASS because they just don't bother to rectify any complaints we have, despite keeping the car overnight.

I'm pleased with this FNG and will continue to go there despite traveling further than the usual ASS.

Nothing like a competent and professional FNG.

[octane1002]

A lot has been discussed on the FNG vs ASS perspectives.Having experienced both sides of the coin, I would add certain things that are generally overlooked while emphatically vouching for the FNG side of things.

The major assumptions of cost savings for the same/better level of competence compared to ASS being the tipping points in favour of FNG, below are major considerations (for me) which most first time adapters to FNGs overlook blinded by the benefits of cost savings and all the hoo-ha over Independent service:

How knowledgeable is the FNG in question? -just a bunch of Germans parked in various states of (dis)repair is no indicator of FNGs knowledge.

How trustworthy/honest is the FNG - esp with respect to genuineness of consumables used/honesty with respect to works actually done, rather than just listing tasks on jobcards and not actually doing them (similar to what ASS do)?

Is there a goodwill on the tasks carried out ? (should they fail or the work carried out is not upto satisfaction later on)

What is the FNGs infrastructure setup to carry out major works (timing belt, suspension,gerabox overhaul)?

I am stating these out, having experienced FNG side of things with respect to my previously owned 1st gen Octavia vRS and Skoda Superb 3.6 V6 - both Germans and fairly expensive to maintain at ASS.In today's day and age of fancy Instagram pages detailing pics of failed parts/repair procedures at FNGs, one is naturally inclined to move to FNGs for what is advertised on the web/social media.Youtube vlogs add another level to eyewash to the whole equation - lets face it a layman will almost certainly find it harder to receive the same level of service, a vlogger/influencer is going to receive.

What I am trying to say is that while a knowledgeable FNG (few and far in between) is definitely a boon, anything lesser is sure to screw up the car a lot more in the long run - offsetting initial cheaper to service cost savings against the points listed above.So find that FNG that covers the points listed above, else just stick to the basic oils/filters change as far as FNGs are concerned!

[Raghu M]

To move to FNG, you need a really trusted guy. And beyond trust is the knowledge of the person. You need to be more than 100% sure about his knowledge on cars beyond MSIL and TATA. Cars like Skoda, VW and other European brands need careful maintenance to bring out the best performance. The FNG should have already dealt in multiple of these cars before you give it to them. You should ask them all the questions and be present while major maintenance works are being carried out. I had a very trusted FNG but his work was limited to MSIL and basic diesel cab cars. When I asked him if he can handle my XUV300 once my free services were over, he said bring it to me, I will see what I can do. He has great knowledge on simple engines but I don't trust him with the complex turbos. He might not cheat or inflate bills but it is simply not his forte. So my suggestion would be, go to a very trusted guy through reference and take a quotation while the job card is being prepared and most important of all, be present while the car is being worked on.

[JoshMachine]

When talking about German and/or cars with advanced electronic sensors & infrastructure, I would always prefer Authorized Service Stations over FNG.

The 2 most important reasons for me:-

• You have a formal audit trail of all the services, transactions, etc which you can use with other dealers also, as applicable. Say while selling your car or changing cities as an example, you can simply ask the local authorized service centre to dig into records and help you out.

• ASS would have the most appropriate equipment to service your car. No questions asked.

[yd_gli]

The category "German cars" is too broad to discuss on. A 11 year old Fabia is probably not a whole lot more difficult/complex to service than a Swift for a decent FNG. But any of the modern >30L German vehicles are a different ball game altogether. Most FNGs in my neighborhood refuse to touch a modern VAG product. Not because they aren't capable but because they don't have the requisite tools/software to diagnose and repair issues.

Also, during sale most individual buyers will ask for a detailed service history from the ASS and will not accept an FNG record. You will lose money in that case on the deal.