Pleasant Service suprise

[1oldaudi]

Hello
Just went for my first Oil change service at an Audi Dealer, 9400 miles in 7 months. I was told by the supplying dealer that its on the short oil service and at the time of the first service they can change it to Long Service interval for the oil to last 20K.

Booked in for that to happen today, Technician just came out and reset the Oil service indicator and said see you in another 10K... I said its on short service but want long so can you do the Oil Service and then change it to 20K. He said its exactly the same Oil (despite what Ive read online) and because Im doing 99% motorway driving the oil will be fine for another 10K or 6 months......... saved myself £246.

Is that normal?

 

[Daggerit]

I'm a bit confused, so is your car setup for the fixed servicing or not?

Mine says 19k miles before the next one is due (although comes down faster than the miles I actually do because it's a lot of short trips) so if it's still saying 10k miles until the next service you haven't saved anything? When I was commuting much longer distances it stayed at the 19k between services so if you're doing motorway miles then that's about what you should be seeing I'd say.

Also, £250 for an oil change is ridiculous which is why I went to an independent and got it for £175. If your dealership will honour price match then it's worth doing that to save yourself some money as it's not an insignificant amount of money.

 

[1oldaudi]

I guess I didnt explain it very well.
Car was brand new and was counting down from 10K to its first service because it arrived on the short service interval. It reached 9440 miles before it said Change Oil Service. I took it in for the service today.
Technician said that given the number and type of miles I do in 6 months it didnt really need the service so just came out to the car park and reset the oil service indicator and Ive now got another 10K to do with the same oil.
In 10K miles ill go for the first oil service and then it will change the indicator to long service and it will count down from 20K/19K before needing another oil service.
I was just surprised at this but happy I saved the money too.
As for the price, I admit that its expensive. But the dealer it right next to work and its just easier for me than using an Indy and either having to take a morning off work or sorting out getting back home to get my other car etc. But yes, £250 for oil and a filter is daft,

 

[Daggerit]

Ah, that makes far more sense! Some common sense being applied, doesn't happen that much (provided he's right about the oil).

 

[Paul Golding]

Ah, that makes far more sense! Some common sense being applied, doesn't happen that much (provided he's right about the oil).

Lets face it, they all have the same oil in when new. That's why it should be changed after fewer miles if the driving is more stop start. A bit like tyres; Conti's on the motorway last a good while longer than when town driving.

Nice to hear about a considerate dealer.

 

[cuke2u]

I guess I didnt explain it very well.
Car was brand new and was counting down from 10K to its first service because it arrived on the short service interval. It reached 9440 miles before it said Change Oil Service. I took it in for the service today.
Technician said that given the number and type of miles I do in 6 months it didnt really need the service so just came out to the car park and reset the oil service indicator and Ive now got another 10K to do with the same oil.
In 10K miles ill go for the first oil service and then it will change the indicator to long service and it will count down from 20K/19K before needing another oil service.
I was just surprised at this but happy I saved the money too.
As for the price, I admit that its expensive. But the dealer it right next to work and its just easier for me than using an Indy and either having to take a morning off work or sorting out getting back home to get my other car etc. But yes, £250 for oil and a filter is daft,

Yes £250 is, mine is having its second service at the school half term, but as I pay only £9.56 per month for my service plan I doubt if the dealership will be paid by Audi Finance anywhere near that amount...

 

[vibeup]

I'm a bit confused, so is your car setup for the fixed servicing or not?

Mine says 19k miles before the next one is due (although comes down faster than the miles I actually do because it's a lot of short trips) so if it's still saying 10k miles until the next service you haven't saved anything? When I was commuting much longer distances it stayed at the 19k between services so if you're doing motorway miles then that's about what you should be seeing I'd say.

Also, £250 for an oil change is ridiculous which is why I went to an independent and got it for £175. If your dealership will honour price match then it's worth doing that to save yourself some money as it's not an insignificant amount of money.

Huh for £100 less you just lost your warranty and any goodwill repair...


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[cuke2u]

Not necessarily, if audi approved parts are used its fine. You may also find audi will price match that anyway...

 

[rum4mo]

I've always taken the view that if you stay in the dealership service circuit for the warranty period then if things turned bad you would be in the best position for getting things sorted out as painlessly as possible. I know that EU anti competition rules will say otherwise, but sometimes reality is another thing. Also in this case working roughly next door is a big time/holiday saver.

Edit: strangely my 2011 S4 was sold on long servicing, I bought it at 2.5 years with 12.5K miles, kept it on long servicing while under extended warranty but replaced the oil and filter at the "in between" years, now it is 7.5 years old and is up to 24K miles!

 

[Maco]

If you think £250 from Audi is bad you want to try Mercedes, had my E class serviced twice while I owned it. First was the normal Oil & filter which cost £395, the second was a B2 service if I remember rightly which was a major service. That included oil & filter, cabin filter, brake fluid change & key fob battery change. Price for everything was £700, roughly I think it was £550 without cabin filter & brake fluid change.

Managed to get it done from an Indy for £295. That used genuine parts.

 

[Daggerit]

Not necessarily, if audi approved parts are used its fine. You may also find audi will price match that anyway...

Correct, the independent I’ve used is able to update the Audi online service book and uses approved parts so maintains the warranty. And saves me £100 a year. So you’d be stupid to pay full prices given the alternative.


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[Maco]

Correct, the independent I’ve used is able to update the Audi online service book and uses approved parts so maintains the warranty. And saves me £100 a year. So you’d be stupid to pay full prices given the alternative.


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That’s the same as me when I had the Mercedes, both local main dealers where called MB of Teesside or MB of Newcastle. The garage I used was MB of Darlington, but was a completely independent garage. Only services/repairs Mercedes, uses the exact same parts & updates the online service book. Actually went into Mercedes when I sold the car & they thought MB of Darlington was a main dealer. They couldn’t tell the difference

 

[Daggerit]

That’s the same as me when I had the Mercedes, both local main dealers where called MB of Teesside or MB of Newcastle. The garage I used was MB of Darlington, but was a completely independent garage. Only services/repairs Mercedes, uses the exact same parts & updates the online service book. Actually went into Mercedes when I sold the car & they thought MB of Darlington was a main dealer. They couldn’t tell the difference

Exactly! And I actually trust my independent more than my local dealer because they’re more interested for the most part.


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[Maco]

Exactly! And I actually trust my independent more than my local dealer because they’re more interested for the most part.


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If you think about it, your local independent should always be better than the main dealer. Main dealer technicians are getting paid for doing a job, yes you come across some guys who love what they do & do it right but not always like the run in I’ve just had with Evans Halshaw. The tech there couldn’t give a monkeys. Most of the independent garages I go to are family run, they need your business to make a living so the service is better. Fair enough its not fancy & posh, you probably won’t get a free coffee and posh waiting area. You could probably guarantee you won’t get a video sent to your phone explaining what’s right & wrong with your car, but on the most part the work is carried out better.

 

[cuke2u]

If you think £250 from Audi is bad you want to try Mercedes, had my E class serviced twice while I owned it. First was the normal Oil & filter which cost £395, the second was a B2 service if I remember rightly which was a major service. That included oil & filter, cabin filter, brake fluid change & key fob battery change. Price for everything was £700, roughly I think it was £550 without cabin filter & brake fluid change.

Managed to get it done from an Indy for £295. That used genuine parts.

I was looking on the Mercedes site yesterday at the A class saloon and the service plan for that was £28 per month for two years, or two services. That works out at a total of £672.
Just to put things into perspective, and perhaps demonstrating Audi aren't the bad guys, our fiesta is costing my partner £24 per month. This is for the 1.0l ecoboost engine...