Car Servicing

[Nemo]

I was recently contacted by Audi about my first service on my car. They started contacting me after 10 months despite the car telling me that an oil change wasn't due until after 12 months.

They confirmed that the price was over £260! I questioned what was involved and they said that it was basically an oil change plus a filter.

Had the job done at a local independant garage that I have dealt with for a number of years. They followed the Audi service schedule (to comply with the warranty terms) and did the service all for the grand total of £110!

I suspect that most here will already be aware of the above, but I'm posting this just in case someone hasn't come across this before

[MonsterMork]

Welcome to the world of main dealer labour rates and parts prices, and brand engineering.

Main dealers can, and do, charge up to £150 quid an hour for labour. whereas your independants will be anything from 40 to 75 in general.

Parts prices are main dealer manufacturer packaged parts, at manufacturer packaged prices (eg: 35 quid for a filter). Independants will be buying from motor factors, or even sometimes the main dealers themselves, but at trade rates which can be passed on to the customer (eg: 15 quid a filter). Same filter, same quality, from the same factory, but with an aftermarket stamp rather than a manufacturer. Ditto oil. Main dealer will try to tell you the cheaper one is inferior and will invalidate your warrranty - tell them to get stuffed! It is scare mongering at the very least, and potentially libelous.

Prime example of all this is Rolls Royce air suspension accumulators. Buy from RR, in a RR box, five hundred of your finest british pounds please. Or go to Citroen and have a pair for a hundred notes. Yes folks, Rollers use Citroen parts for suspension! The genuine parts, in a genuine parts box, from a genuine main dealer, have Citroen stamped on them

[MonsterMork]

contacting me after 10 months despite the car telling me that an oil change wasn't due until after 12 months.

Service is due on mileage, not date.

Two owners, identical cars. Bert does 8 thousand miles a year. Fred does 30 thousand. Both service by date. Bert's car lasts twenty years. Fred has a boat anchor in two. Be like Bert.

[jackdaww]

for a small service ( basically oil and filter change) and MOT (car out of warranty).

local nissan dealer quoted £270.

local ATS quoted £112. (using nissan approved oil)

so i saved £150+

no brainer .

[Nemo]

Hi MonsterMork

Service is due on mileage, not date.

My Audi works on dates. Before the service it showed two dates - first for oil change and the second twelve months after this.

I'll keep to these while I'm within the warranty period but wonder if I can change this. I do a very low mileage amd would be interested in a service schedule that reflects this. Pointless changing filters, etc when they don't need it.

[redsturgeon]

What model is it? I guess there is a difference between an A1 and an R8.

John

[Nemo]

What model is it? I guess there is a difference between an A1 and an R8.

Q5 - petrol version

[staffordian]

One thing to bear in mind.

Many main dealers offer 12 months free breakdown cover with a service.

Factor this is, if it's something you buy anyway, and the cost difference between a main dealer service and an indy one can often then be negligible.

And don't forget the free coffee too

[Mike88]

I was recently contacted by Audi about my first service on my car. They started contacting me after 10 months despite the car telling me that an oil change wasn't due until after 12 months.

They confirmed that the price was over £260! I questioned what was involved and they said that it was basically an oil change plus a filter.

Had the job done at a local independent garage that I have dealt with for a number of years. They followed the Audi service schedule (to comply with the warranty terms) and did the service all for the grand total of £110!

I suspect that most here will already be aware of the above, but I'm posting this just in case someone hasn't come across this before

I am doubtful whether Audi parts were used as the fully synthetic oil alone would cost close to the £110. My Audi main dealer charges £200 for an oil and filter change falling to £170 when the car is 3 years old which they call an interim service. The car systems can be modified to require a service every 2 years but that is dependent on the type of mileage travelled.

[Peltiq]

And don't forget the free coffee too

VW will offer to wash and vac the car as well!

[staffordian]

And don't forget the free coffee too

VW will offer to wash and vac the car as well!

Complete with free scratches and swirls, no doubt

[Howard]

Mrs H and I have leased petrol engine cars. Servicing and tyres are included in the monthly cost. Both cars are on low mileage terms - around 10k miles a year. The leasing companies for both our VW and BMW state that the cars won't need a service for two years from new. And Mrs H's previous BMW went two years without needing a service.

Maybe the leasing companies aren't worried about how long the cars will last after the lease has expired but both suppliers said that modern synthetic oils will easily last for 20k miles or two years.

As an aside, it's nice not to have to visit those nice car dealers more frequently than every two years!

regards

Howard

[Itsallaguess]

both suppliers said that modern synthetic oils will easily last for 20k miles or two years.

That's both interesting and encouraging, so thanks for that info.

As someone who habitually gets their filter and oil replaced whilst the car is in for it's MOT, is there any view here regarding the life of a modern oil-filter , which might also have no issues being swapped out every two years as well?

If the oil filter would be better to be replaced every year, then I'd probably get the oil done at the same time, but if there's any sort of consensus here that an oil and filter change very two years would be fine for someone regularly doing less than 8000 miles each year, then I may rethink my approach and go for a two-year swap-out instead...

Not sure if it's at all relevant, but I've got a petrol car...

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Breelander]

contacting me after 10 months despite the car telling me that an oil change wasn't due until after 12 months.

Service is due on mileage, not date.

Two owners, identical cars. Bert does 8 thousand miles a year. Fred does 30 thousand. Both service by date. Bert's car lasts twenty years. Fred has a boat anchor in two. Be like Bert.

My VW Polo (so part of the same VAG as Nemo's) has two service plans available from the main dealer and the service interval counter can be set to use either. The standard plan is 10,000 miles or 1 year, whichever is the sooner (semi-synthetic oil and filter change service, spark plugs every other service). The long life service plan is 20,000 mile or 2 years (fully synthetic oil + filter + spark plugs). Both service intervals also work from sensors and will say a service is due sooner if they detect the oil has deteriorated due to a 'heavy right foot'.

[Sobraon]

This is not general evidence but my experience. While I was working full time I generally purchased 18 month old DERV cars and ran them for 5 years. My last two Saabs were the same model but one I serviced by the book and the second I added an additional oil service between visits to the main agent. My conclusion is that the first one was 'coked/chocked' at 100K but the second one benefited a lot from the extra oil change and ran much better at the same age and mileage.

So now I have an oil and filter change every time my cars go into the really good independent I use in Lincoln, oil and filter are changed at about twice as often as the manufacturers recommendation.

[tsr2]

If the oil filter would be better to be replaced every year, then I'd probably get the oil done at the same time, but if there's any sort of consensus here that an oil and filter change very two years would be fine for someone regularly doing less than 8000 miles each year, then I may rethink my approach and go for a two-year swap-out instead...

My experience with a petrol Skoda Octavia vRS was that I bought it with 45K on the clock. I did about 12K p.a. on long life service intervals. Initially it did ~17K between services, after 8 years it was down to ~16K. There seemed to be no issues related to servicing. 4 years after I traded it in with 145K on the clock someone still has it taxed and MOTed.