60K mile report

[VehiGAZ]

I just did my 60k service last week. I bought the VX with 48k on it, and I had no info on the maintenance history of the car, so I had the dealer do the full 60k service, plus a full alignment. They estimated it would run about $610, plus another $90 for the alignment (if there's interest, I can post exactly what was done, but I think everything on the list above was done).

In the end, they didn't change the plugs because they said they looked fine and were "100,000 mile plugs" so they should be OK until 80k at least. They also said my serpentine belt was fairly new (probably replaced by the dealer I bought it from) so there was no need to replace that (although I'm not sure if that was supposed to be part of the 60k service or not). In the end, they discounted the $610 estimate, added in the alignment, and I was out the door for $643.64.

Not too bad, all things considered, but future service items will be ordered a la carte, as Raque suggests.

[ScottinMA]

Just completed 60K service. Included drain and refill of diffs, trans and transfer with tranny filter replacement (using mobil 1 ATF and royal purple), clean the K&N, oil change, drain and flush power steering, replace rear brake pads and rotors, replace fuel filter, lube. I'll need to drive it about 20K more and then replace front pads at which time I'll repack the bearings again. Cost for labor total was $480. I supplied all the parts.

[thedutchguy]

Running cars these days is only affordable if you do al the labour yourself.
For example if I drove my VX to a 4x4 specilized garage here in the Netherlands, I would probably end up paying hundreds just for the time these guys spend "taking a look"on it.
So if you're not a mechanic or don't have mechanical skills or a cash surplus , don't buy a VX.

[Chopper]

Ahhhhh, Mr. Dutchguy. That is one of the underappreciated aspects of this car, one need not be a GREAT mechanic to work on it. A "pretty o.k." one will be sufficient 90% of the time. The mechanicals are all pretty much straight forward, enthusiasm and patience will go a long way. No cutting edge technology here...I think it's an excellent choice for a novice wrench. The body on frame arrangement makes major mods much easier as well, pull off the shell and have at it.

[thedutchguy]

The mechanicals are all pretty much straight forward

I agree, but there are a lot of electrics/electronics as well, and I have had a problem with the lighting, that took me 4 weeks to fix!