Fixed or long life services?

[5678]

My car is set to the long life (19k miles) service schedule. But, the more thought I put into it, I think I may switch to the regular, annual services. Our mileage will only be around 10-12k per year, but as I intend on keeping this car for some time, I want to look after it as best as possible (I'm looking at the turbo here!)

Has anyone switched to or selected the annual service option?

[Guest 2]

If you look in your service interval display you will have 2 readings - one for oil and another for inspection.

Tell us those values but I have both cars on the 10k/yearly service but in the a3 I do 30k a year so getting it serviced regularly is top priority for me.

The a6 is doing about 8k a year as the Mrs uses it as her daily drive.

I also wouldn't want the same oil in my engine for 20k


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[5678]

Will look at those tonight Chris. Thanks.

[Guest 2]

No problem, the inspection service doesn't really matter - its just the filter inspection but you can get the oil change changed to 10k but leave the filters for 20k.

That's the way it's set up on my a3 - they reset the oil yesterday to 9900 and the filters need changed in 5500. This was set at 19000 which is fine as filters don't need changed every 10k.


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[Timothy Nathan]

A6_Chris,

Would you mind providing me the same service?

3.0 TDi New on 1st March
6860 miles
Oil 2600/243 days
Service 12300/608 days

I am on the 19k scheme.

I am expecting my ongoing mileage to be much lower as firstly I did a trip to and from the far S of Germany, which is unusual, and secondly, Son Two, who is a performer and whose performances in Birmingham we have been constantly attending, has moved back to London.

[Eshrules]

Fixed interval for me every time and to change the oil without changing the filter is both tight and foolish (IMHO), why renew the oil only to pass it through a grubby filter? For the sake of a tenner, I'd replace it.

[Guest 2]

Fixed interval for me every time and to change the oil without changing the filter is both tight and foolish (IMHO), why renew the oil only to pass it through a grubby filter? For the sake of a tenner, I'd replace it.

I was referring to the air and fuel filter in my post, not the oil filter. It would be stupid not to change it at the same time ;)

The filter is actually cheaper than you think at £5.97 for a 1.9 BLS so expect around the same for a 2.0 TDi

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[5678]

Good to hear I can have oil and other services on separate schedules.

Can I config this myself or do I need a dealer to tweak some settings?

[5678]

So,

Oil 17900 miles / 719 days
Service 18100 miles / 719 days

How can I get this changed?

[Guest 2]

So,

Oil 17900 miles / 719 days
Service 18100 miles / 719 days

How can I get this changed?

You can change it with vcds or wait and get it changed to fixed come service time or ask Audi to change the oil in 7,900 miles or there abouts.

Not ignoring you Timothy just waiting until I go on my laptop to reply :)


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[shabazmo]

I have opted for the 10k service as I intend to keep the car for 10 years. The first service at 10K was done with oil and filter being changed and I was charged £250 which seems steep, but I got a courtesy car for the day. If you want to change the service interval, just get audi to do it. I am sure they won't charge. For interest hte 2nd service cost £383 which included the pollen filter and other checks on the car. Still very steep, but then its an Audi.

[JimC64]

I was on longlife servicing at around 18k - 20k miles for the first 2 and a half years or so.........I was doing around 25k miles a year and mostly motorway so there was no real issues to speak of.
At around 60k miles I started to do a lot less miles and most of it was / is always stop / start and around town.........very short journeys and I then changed to regular oil chages at around the 10k mark.

I still use the longlife oil 05w30 Castrol Syntec III / Castrol Edge
Audi charge £100 for an oil and filter change using the correct spec of course............This can be had at National tyres also for around £35 - £40 and again using the exact same spec of oil.

Now sittiing at 94k miles and 5 years and still runs like a champ, no issues.:beerchug:

[5678]

I have opted for the 10k service as I intend to keep the car for 10 years. The first service at 10K was done with oil and filter being changed and I was charged £250 which seems steep, but I got a courtesy car for the day. If you want to change the service interval, just get audi to do it. I am sure they won't charge. For interest hte 2nd service cost £383 which included the pollen filter and other checks on the car. Still very steep, but then its an Audi.

Wow, that's simply staggering how much you've paid there!

Did you shop around or even ask about the price?

[johnsimcox]

Wow, that's simply staggering how much you've paid there!

Did you shop around or even ask about the price?

I'm afraid that labour rates play a major part in this. In the south east hourly rates of over £100 per hour (+ VAT) are now the norm from all of the premium franchised dealers. Oil and Parts are probably £100 (18 months ago I was charged £93.38 for Oil (Helix Ultra variable - looks to be £13.70 per litre, £30.63 for the Filter Element, £5.55 for the filter seal and £1.29 for the sump plug) and then you have about one hours labour on top. This was for a Variable Service (with 1.5 hours labour) and totaled out at £337.55. If you move to fixed service intervals you could possibly save some on the cost of the oil, but fully synthetic oil is expensive whether it is VW approved or not.

I do recall reading a while back that Audi was planning to introduce flat rate service charging for all dealers across the UK but don't know if they have done that yet

[5678]

Never experienced levels of cost like that at BMW for the past few years.

I always supply my own oil for services too. Saves quite a lot on dealer costs. I'd almost be tempted to go to a good independent rather than a main dealer too.

[johnsimcox]

Never experienced levels of cost like that at BMW for the past few years.

I always supply my own oil for services too. Saves quite a lot on dealer costs. I'd almost be tempted to go to a good independent rather than a main dealer too.

The clear advantage BMW has is that they offer their pre-paid fixed priced servicing deals which is something that Audi has yet to follow, although VW do and I recently got 3 years fixed interval servicing on my wife's Golf for £99 as part of the finance deal.

[Timothy Nathan]

The clear advantage BMW has is that they offer their pre-paid fixed priced servicing deals which is something that Audi has yet to follow, although VW do and I recently got 3 years fixed interval servicing on my wife's Golf for £99 as part of the finance deal.
That's a worry.

I thought I had bought that very thing on my A6.

I certainly pay out £50 per month to them, on my understanding that they will do everything the car needs except tyres and brake pads for the next 3 years, and everything except servicing for the following 2 years.

Have I got something wrong?

[Guest 2]

That's a worry.

I thought I had bought that very thing on my A6.

I certainly pay out £50 per month to them, on my understanding that they will do everything the car needs except tyres and brake pads for the next 3 years, and everything except servicing for the following 2 years.

Have I got something wrong?

Audi Complete < Owners area < Audi UK (http://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/audi-complete.html) ?

I think this is what you're paying for Timothy :)

[johnsimcox]

That's a worry.

I thought I had bought that very thing on my A6.

I certainly pay out £50 per month to them, on my understanding that they will do everything the car needs except tyres and brake pads for the next 3 years, and everything except servicing for the following 2 years.

Have I got something wrong?

Big difference between £400 for 5 years/60000 miles on a 5 series and £1800 (36x£50) on an A6, although the A6 plan does also extend the warranty to 5 years/90000 miles, but limits servicing to 3/30000. The Audi offer is much more along the lines of a budget plan rather than BMW's single up front deal. On the A1 you can buy 5 years variable servicing for £250 (5 years fixed is £450) and on the A8 you can get 3 years/60000 variable servicing for a one off payment of £300 which are much more in keeping with BMW and presumably are needed to compete with the Mini TLC package and the 7 series which includes 3 years servicing in the price.

[Timothy Nathan]

Yes. I looked at the cost of the extended warranty and subtracted that from the cost of the plan, and it came out to figures similar to BMW.

I don't think that it's quite right to say that it's not available from Audi, it's just a different deal, one with which I am quite happy because it is an insurance against anything going wrong for an extended period.

[johnsimcox]

Yes. I looked at the cost of the extended warranty and subtracted that from the cost of the plan, and it came out to figures similar to BMW.

I don't think that it's quite right to say that it's not available from Audi, it's just a different deal, one with which I am quite happy because it is an insurance against anything going wrong for an extended period.

Fine if you are planning to keep the car for more than 3 years or sell it privately after 3 years and transfer the warranty to the new owner, doubt the dealer would give you c£1300 extra on a trade in because you have the extended warranty. Also going back to the original topic of this thread it requires you to have the variable service plan and by Audi's own admission if you are only doing 10k miles per annum then you probably should be on the fixed service plan

[krupatel]

I'm afraid that labour rates play a major part in this. In the south east hourly rates of over £100 per hour (+ VAT) are now the norm from all of the premium franchised dealers. Oil and Parts are probably £100 (18 months ago I was charged £93.38 for Oil (Helix Ultra variable - looks to be £13.70 per litre, £30.63 for the Filter Element, £5.55 for the filter seal and £1.29 for the sump plug) and then you have about one hours labour on top. This was for a Variable Service (with 1.5 hours labour) and totaled out at £337.55. If you move to fixed service intervals you could possibly save some on the cost of the oil, but fully synthetic oil is expensive whether it is VW approved or not.

I do recall reading a while back that Audi was planning to introduce flat rate service charging for all dealers across the UK but don't know if they have done that yet

Hey guys seems like the 3 yr service plan below from my local dealer is good value when compared to the £250 for first service and £383 for second. I average 10,000 miles pa.

First Service includes: engine oil, oil filter, environmental charge, audi makeover (that's a valet to you and me), 1 litre top-up oil
Second service includes: as above plus pollen filter
Third service includes: as above plus brake fluid change.

@10,000 miles pa, £19.95 pm. total £718.20
@15,000 miles pa £24.95pm, total £898.20

So, what do you think?

[BigAid]

I'm on the long-life.

I have an April 11 plate which I got in Dec 11 at 1,700 - it was serviced at 19.8k miles last week.

£405 - £411 ringing around 4 garages in London / Oxford - Bolton quoted £364 and after negotiating one of the London ones did it for £375 - filter & oil - standard 1st service pack inc 1ltr top up - Shell Helix - no more Castrol....they've obviously switched & FOC warranty precautionary rectification on a wiring loom - for type A6 tdi Quattro not particular to mine.

What surprised me was previously my C6 was fairly similar for both.

My C7 was reset & 1 week later 1.7k more On 21.5k it's showing

Oil - 7,300 / 359 days
Service - 17,300 / 724 days

I queried it with the dealer when it was reset and was told it adapts to driving conditions and oil quality which is why the oil time is so different to the service schedule.

Expensive month with 4 new shoes as well - got a front puncture & dealer fitted pirellis only lasted to 16.5k on back -fronts would have gone to 18k but changed them both too due to puncture.

Giving a pair of Michelin super sports a try on the rear to see if they get further.

[skibuddy]

I'm on the long-life.

I have an April 11 plate which I got in Dec 11 at 1,700 - it was serviced at 19.8k miles last week.

£405 - £411 ringing around 4 garages in London / Oxford - Bolton quoted £364 and after negotiating one of the London ones did it for £375 - filter & oil & FOC warranty rectification on a wiring loom - for type not particular to mine.

What surprised me was previously my C6 was fairly similar for both.

My C7 was reset & 1 week later 1.7k more On 21.5k it's showing

Oil - 7,300 / 359 days
Service - 17,300 / 724 days

I queried it with the dealer when it was reset and was told it adapts to driving conditions and oil quality which is why the oil time is so different to the service schedule.



Might they not have set it to fixed interval servicing? The displayed schedule you have quoted is consistent with mine when i collected my new car from dealer when it was supposed to be on variable length servicing. When I challenged them on it, it had been incorrectly set to fixed interval not variable. The dealer changed it to variable and it now displays the next oil change and next service in roughly the same number of miles. Have done 3820 miles and next service is due in another 16000 miles.

[BigAid]

Yep - exactly that.Had 3 service consultants suggest it was normal and it would adjust with time - pushed them to check again as escalate if needed - then got it back corrected - oil was set to fixed whilst car was set to variable.

Now just have to book it in for a warranty repair on reversing camera - I was tempted to leave it as I've never seen the issue - but it's coding so might as well get it sorted.

[krupatel]

Hey guys seems like the 3 yr service plan below from my local dealer is good value when compared to the £250 for first service and £383 for second. I average 10,000 miles pa.

First Service includes: engine oil, oil filter, environmental charge, audi makeover (that's a valet to you and me), 1 litre top-up oil
Second service includes: as above plus pollen filter
Third service includes: as above plus brake fluid change.

@10,000 miles pa, £19.95 pm. total £718.20
@15,000 miles pa £24.95pm, total £898.20

So, what do you think?

Sorry to nudge but any views on the value of this offer for a low to average mileage driver like myself?

[5678]

I'd say the value is terrible and would look for a good, reputable independent garage.

[johnsimcox]

Sorry to nudge but any views on the value of this offer for a low to average mileage driver like myself?
I would agree this is bad value. My previous A6, on the variable service regime, had one service in the 34000 miles I owned it and that cost c£400. I replaced the pollen filters myself and had I kept it I would have got the brake fluid changed at an independent. If you are going down the fixed interval route then you might just save a little money on the dealer quoted prices but it will depend how long you plan to keep the car and how you plan to dispose of it. If you expect to trade it in after 3 years/30000 miles then are you really going to have the car serviced immediately prior to selling it? If not then you will only have 2 services to pay for during your ownership. If you plan to sell it privately then the "just serviced" tag in the ad will enable you to get a better price, but that will in effect pay for the service so the prepayment deal is unlikely to work out cheaper, although paying just £20 per month will avoid wallet shock when the servicing comes due. Might be cheaper thought to simply save the money in an account (use a cash ISA if you haven't used your annual allowance) and you'll have most of the required cash to pay for the service when it comes due, especially if you use an independent, and probably money in the bank when you change the car after 3 years.

[Timothy Nathan]

But this should be offset by the value of the 5 year warranty, which costs very little less than 5 year warranty plus full servicing for 3 years.

So if you are planning to keep it, it seems pretty good value.

Horses for courses.

[5678]

Timothy, what was the cost of the 5 years 'all inclusive service & warranty' package? Did you get prices for a separate Audi warranty extension for years 4 & 5 exclusive of servicing?

[Timothy Nathan]

The 5 year warranty alone was £1335.

The 5 year warranty including servicing for £20k miles pa was £54.32 pcm for 3 years = £1955.52

Had my mileage been lower, the price would have been £43pcm = £1548

That covers everything they need to do to the car except accident damage and tyres.

I consider the peace of mind that everything is a known for the next five years very reassuring.

[5678]

That's not too bad at all when you see the prices people are listing for services. With 20kpa that will be a 100k mile car too.

Approx £700pa for a warranty on a 60k/80k is about par too (based on my BMW experiences.) I'd have guessed around £4-500 for a car on 10kpa.

[shabazmo]

Sorry to nudge but any views on the value of this offer for a low to average mileage driver like myself?
http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/images/styles/GamerRed/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by krupatelhttp://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/images/styles/GamerRed/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=731285#post731285)Hey guys seems like the 3 yr service plan below from my local dealer is good value when compared to the £250 for first service and £383 for second. I average 10,000 miles pa.

First Service includes: engine oil, oil filter (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_nkw=oil+filter), environmental charge, audi makeover (that's a valet to you and me), 1 litre top-up oil
Second service includes: as above plus pollen filter
Third service includes: as above plus brake fluid change.

@10,000 miles pa, £19.95 pm. total £718.20
@15,000 miles pa £24.95pm, total £898.20

So, what do you think?

It depends whether you are on fixed intervals or variable. If variable, then poor value as you will only get one service in 3 years. If fixed then, you might just get 3 services if you achieve 30,000 miles, and therefore you will be better off. If you can't predict the future then pay as you go.

[krupatel]

I would agree this is bad value. My previous A6, on the variable service regime, had one service in the 34000 miles I owned it and that cost c£400. I replaced the pollen filters myself and had I kept it I would have got the brake fluid changed at an independent. If you are going down the fixed interval route then you might just save a little money on the dealer quoted prices but it will depend how long you plan to keep the car and how you plan to dispose of it. If you expect to trade it in after 3 years/30000 miles then are you really going to have the car serviced immediately prior to selling it? If not then you will only have 2 services to pay for during your ownership. If you plan to sell it privately then the "just serviced" tag in the ad will enable you to get a better price, but that will in effect pay for the service so the prepayment deal is unlikely to work out cheaper, although paying just £20 per month will avoid wallet shock when the servicing comes due. Might be cheaper thought to simply save the money in an account (use a cash ISA if you haven't used your annual allowance) and you'll have most of the required cash to pay for the service when it comes due, especially if you use an independent, and probably money in the bank when you change the car after 3 years.

Some good points there. I own the car outright and intend to keep it for at least 5 years. I like the idea of using an independent that adhers to the manufacturers schedule and OEM parts to keep the warranty valid. Thanks for all opinions on this.