Service Plans

[alland]

Just wondering if any of you have any opinions on VW Service Plans. I've never really had any experience with these before, other than having a service package worked into the deal when buying a car - no luck with that recently!
With my Mk8 GTI which was an ex-demo, I just missed out on qualifying for the "New Car" service plan priced at £399. This has to be activated within 90 days of the car's registration, but unfortunately by the time I considered it, my car was over the 90 day period. Next choice is the service plan for cars under 1 year old, priced at £480; strangely, this is exactly the same price as the first two services combined (1 oil service and 1 oil and inspection service) at £220 and £260 respectively.
Apart from protecting against inflationary price rises on labour and material costs, is there any other benefit I am missing? Many would say that is a good enough reason to buy.
Also, I now realise that there is a choice between "Long Life" servicing and "Time/Distance" servicing. I understand this is set up initially by the dealer when the car is new, and depends on the oil type they put in. (I think my car is time/distance). Does this have any bearing on the Service Plan discussion?

[Exonian]

The service plans are all based on time and distance as far as I’m aware.
If your service is due after November this year keep an eye out for VW doing promotional deals periodically. If you don’t see any deals advertised beforehand then generally they do a discount for “Black Friday”

[alland]

Good advice, thanks. The first service will be in March 2025, so I will monitor pricing as you suggest. I have also emailed a local dealer to ask if they currently have any discounted deals coming up. (They had a 20% off offer which ended in April, unfortunately).
On the service type, as I said my car is on time/distance apparently, but the dealer kindly left a 1 litre bottle of oil in the car for top up purposes which I have noticed is "VW Long Life" oil. Is this OK to use should I have to?

[Exonian]

The 20% offer is a periodical one. It’ll be interesting to see what the dealer can do but the plan is serviced via VW Finance (if you pay monthly at least) so I’m guessing it’s them that call the shots.

Whether you’re on Longlife or T&D they tend to use the same (Longlife) oil, so that’s fine to use and is better quality than regular oils. It’s a very thin oil, pop the cap and see how watery it looks!

[DSGboy]

Aside from the VW Service Plans their All-In Plans work well for some owners, when the Mfr 3yr Warranty runs out, even better if you buy when 20 or 25% off.   You might want to explore further.
If you’re 2yo.it might be worth Paying for the 3yr Service /Brake Fluid/MOT then take out an All In.   
Ties you to VW dealers for the work tho, and that isn’t for everyone.

[Exonian]

Aside from the VW Service Plans their All-In Plans work well for some owners, when the Mfr 3yr Warranty runs out, even better if you buy when 20 or 25% off.   You might want to explore further.
If you’re 2yo.it might be worth Paying for the 3yr Service /Brake Fluid/MOT then take out an All In.   
Ties you to VW dealers for the work tho, and that isn’t for everyone.

alland’s car is only a few months old so the All In plan isn’t required for a good while yet.
I do agree though, when it’s on 20% off promo it’s a no brainer once the factory warranty expires.

[Hertsman]

Our next service is due in March, so waiting for the next offer, with expectation that will be a Black Friday offer,

[alland]

My car's first service is due in February, so I to will await Black Friday with interest!