Volkswagen joins capped-priced servicing set

VOLKSWAGEN has become the latest mainstream car brand in Australia to give buyers the transparency of capped-price servicing.

The company placed a toe in the water with the recently released Up and Beetle – both of which launched with fixed dealer service costs – but has now rolled the program out across its entire passenger fleet.

The deal covers all new passenger vehicles sold since January 1, 2013, not just those sold from this week.

All future models will be covered from launch as well, starting with the eagerly awaited new Golf Mk7 that goes on sale April 27.

Volkswagen’s commercial vehicles – the Caddy, Transporter, Crafter and Amarok – will miss out for now, although general manager of communications Karl Gehling told GoAuto today it was being considered for them as well.

The scheme sets a consistent, standard dealer service cost for the first six years or 90,000km of ownership. Considering Volkswagen’s service intervals are 12 months apart, this means six scheduled dealer visits are covered.

Volkswagen’s program includes the regular replacement of oil filters, engine oil and sump plug washer at each service interval, as well as the standard replacement of the air filter (at 45,000km and 90,000 km) and spark plugs (every 60,000km).

Many of Australia’s top-selling automotive brands – including Toyota, Holden, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan and Mitsubishi – now offer capped-price servicing. Volkswagen’s six-year coverage matches Ford and Nissan, although the latter pair are covered for more kilometres.

The company has previously said such a plan would help change the perception that its cars were too expensive to service.

With this in mind, the company also recently established a new in-house customer care centre overseen by senior company management (see separate story linked below).

Volkswagen was Australia's fastest-growing full-line vehicle brand in 2012 with sales growth of 22 per cent, while sales are up a further 7.0 per cent this year. Such growth has stretched its resources, both in dealerships and at company headquarters.

The German company could manage only 12th place in last year's JD Power customer service index rankings – down seven points year-on-year and 34 points behind the industry average.

Pricing over the full six years ranges from $1874.50 for the Up (with each service costing between $280 and $369.50) to $4091 for the top-spec Touareg SUV (with each service costing between $477 and $1153 – the latter for the 60,000km job).

Full costings for all models can be found here: