# $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid?



## mry2008 (Jan 28, 2009)

I had my brake fluid flushed at the dealer yesterday while in for recall service. 
I received a call after the car was dropped off for additional work: flush steering fluid, and, while in for the pollen filter recall, a new pollen filter. Comments on the following charges would be appreciated. This was done in Richmond, VA, which is a third-tier market cost-wise. It is not SF, or NY. Comments that I am a wanker for not doing it myself would not be so helpful.
The charges are as follows (please keep in mind the pollen filter recall was being done at the time) at $76/hr labor:

Parts Labor Totals
Brake System Flush: DOT 4 65.90 76.00 141.90
Power Steering System Flush: PS 2-Pack Kit 49.90 76.00 125.90
Replace Pollen Filter: Filter 22.97 24.88 47.85
HVAC Vent Mist Cleaning: Cleaning Fluid 49.95 69.88 119.83
PRE TAX TOTAL 435.48
======
These charges seem egregious. While out $450 on this already, they are recommending a $225 fuel flush system flush! That seems nuts.
Are there any VW RSMs who read this blog? If so, is this how you intend to stay in business?


----------



## mry2008 (Jan 28, 2009)

Note: I went to great pains to make a table with the charges, but my formatting was lost between the text screen and the posting. Apologies.


----------



## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (mry2008)*

it is ludricrous.
It takes about 1 liter to flush out the brakes.... that is pretty damn expensive.
Got the part number for that??? It should be listed in the invoice, then we can check the price on a couple of other sites


----------



## mry2008 (Jan 28, 2009)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (GT17V)*

The number on the invoice for the brake fluid is "06011 MOC DOT 4 BRAKE FLUID" for $65.90
for the power steering fluid it is "02161 MOC POWER STEERING 2 PACK KIT" for 49.90
for the HVAC cleaning fluid it is "560250 MOC MIST CLEANING" for 49.95.
None of the prices include labor as per my jumbled table above.
My guess is these are internal inventory numbers which will shed little light on VW part number, but one never knows. It is unlikely they are using an F1 grade brake fluid in cars such as mine.


----------



## GT17V (Aug 7, 2001)

It's not the OEM Brake Fluid.
MOC DOT 4 brake fluid is sold by the gallon container.
...so it sounds like you paid for a gallon of brake fluid when they only used 1/4 of it. Major ripoff & did not use VW-OEM brake fluid


----------



## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

*Re: (GT17V)*

VW super DOT 4 brake fluid as speced for later model VW's lists for $13.00 per 500 ml...and about 1L does the brake flush...so it sould be $26! Our local VW dealer has a "VW club" card and I just bought two 500ml cans for under $8!







Dealer here..in ripoff Silicon Valley, BTW, charges $110 total for brake fluid flush. Clearly the dealer you're goin to is minting money outa his service dept, since I'm sure labor rate he pays his techs is lower than here, where decent techs are hard to come by. Do the service advisors there wear masks? If not, you should suggest they start..all robbers wear em!







Other operations are equally outrageous! Power steering flush same labor as brakes..no way..you can do power steering in less than 1/2 the time it takes to do brakes! Power steering fluid about $20/liter and good flush takes one liter. I'm not even gonna comment on the "air conditioning duct freshening"...I'd get banned from Vortex for life if I really said what I thought about those charges!

















_Modified by spitpilot at 1:57 PM 1-28-2009_


----------



## mry2008 (Jan 28, 2009)

Thanks everyone so far. Please keep sending more information. Also, how does one get in touch with a regional sales manager?


----------



## vdubtech14 (Jan 22, 2009)

ok let me clear something up with the brake system flush. we had a company come in at one time selling all there fluids for all service. i forget the name but it didnt last. they did everything from brake fluid to tranny fluid, and guarantee it for life. and they actually did, we had some of there fuel system flush get stuck in a pocket in the manifold and when we test drove the car it all went into cyl 4 and bent the rod. they paid every cent, even though i think the tech didnt run the system slow enough. well anyway back to the point, when we did a flush, they would send out enough product to replace all the fluid for the system, so trans was two gallons, coolant was two gallons and brake fluid was a gallon. which we bleed the entire thing through and ran the abs pump to clean out all fluid and replace with aftermarket fluid. a bunch of snake oil if you ask me. but thats what it sounds like to me, they did some aftermarket kit, which they make more money off and charge you more. it is a buch of snake oil products, everybody thinks there product is better, i dont think they put more research time into there stuff then the dealer does. vw mercedes-benz spen a whole lot of money perfecting there stuff and designing it, i doubt you can make it better, unless you are going for race. now im not saying they build it to last, which is what they might spend some extra time designing it to fail when you are right out of warranty. somebody got fired over brake light switches let me tell you, they designed those a little too crappy wouldnt even make it 10k miles. anyway back to the point it, you got snaked. probally nothing you can do after the fact, but i have seen mb reimburse customer a lot of money for dissatisfaction. up to 10k dollars even, granted they spent about ten time what you boght you passat for, but call the service manager and complain, you might get a free oil change out of it, if you want to take your car back there. dont get the fuel system cleaner done, replace your filter, go by a bottle of techron and some carb cleaner, and you are in the same boat with about 150 dollars more left in your pocket. gl.


----------



## tjl (Mar 24, 2001)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (mry2008)*

DOT 4 brake fluid is normally about $7 per quart at your favorite auto parts store.
A quart is about what you need to flush the brake fluid in a VW.
So $65.90 is a really huge markup for the brake fluid used in your car.


----------



## greatmac27 (Jan 25, 2009)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (mry2008)*

I got the run around today at the VW dealer here in OKC. Telliing me the reason the markup is so high is to help offset thier disposal fee service, and all this other EPA mumbo jumbo.
2 rear rotors new pads and flush was gonna be 425. 
110 for the rotors, 65 for the pads. 2 hr labor at 85. that leaves 80 bucks for fluid. I argued till I was blue in the face with them, when I go pick it up and pay for it probably on Thursday, I recv'd a coupon in the mail for $20 off $150. See how they like that, probably gonna have to raise all kinds of hell to even get them to honor it. 
Wait till you have to buy tranny fliud for it. $$$


----------



## spitpilot (Feb 14, 2000)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (greatmac27)*

VW dealers are "independent businessmen..or some say "independent robbers"....they can..and do charge anything they want for authorized VW parts! We have one dealer locally who has his parts dept computers set to ADD 27% to VW's published list prices (which already have huge profit margins built in)!







But, lucky for me, another dealer has a "VW Club" discount and counts Vortex membership as a "club" and they give substantial discounts to card holders!





















Of course if you take your car into the dealer for all your repairs..you're at their mercy(?) on pricing!







I DIY for anything I can't get warranty covered, so I shop around for my parts..both local and on line (1st VW parts and Bud @ checkered flag are good dealer online parts sources who discount off VW list prices!







)


----------



## subiefan1 (Feb 6, 2009)

Here's the deal with MOC and the reason for the high prices. MOC sells additives and fluids for vehicles along with equipment to flush the fluid. When a shop sells a brake flush service, like yours, the shop uses MOC fluid to service your vehicle. The deal with the MOC brake fluid service machine is that the bottle used for your car is a one time use bottle. The bottles are 64 ounces and the machine barely uses half of that to service a small car. You pay for the entire bottle because once the machine is finished with your car, it dumps the remaining fluid into the waste fluid tank on the machine, essentially throwing away enough fluid to service another Passat. The real kicker is that the machine locks out and can only be used when a code is typed in from a bottle of genuine MOC fluid, so you can't go buy a bottle off the shelf and use it with their machine. MOC runs an entire program and the service facilities that use them basically use them only. Only allow them to flush your vehicle with a flush machine if they are not part of a "fluid program." If they use the fluid program of a company like MOC or Wynns, you will always pay way too much for fluid services.


----------



## [email protected] (Feb 8, 2009)

*Re: $65.90 for 2003 Passat 1.8T Brake Fluid? (mry2008)*

I would recommend finding a good VW/Audi independent repair shop in your area. Get some comparative quotes. Even here in California we do not charge as much as you seem to be paying at your local dealership. Go to the ASC (Associated Service Counsel )website or call Neuspeed and ask them who is a reseller of their products in your area and if they have a recommendation of a garage for you. Dot 4 Pentosin brake fluid should sell for around 12.00 approx. and CHF 11s power steering fluid should be in the 22.00 range. A good independent VW/Audi garage should be between 20 and 40 % less on their labor rate per hour than the local dealer. Good luck.


----------

