New car and a servicing question

[Shahzaib]

Hi All,

i've purchased a used 2011 A3 2.0 TFSI quattro with the s-tronic gearbox and need some advice on servicing. Its on 16,100 ish miles right now and its had an engine oil change at 8k an inspection and pollen filter at 13k and an oil, air and pollen filter change at 15k.

Spoke to my local Audi dealer in Solihull just to check there weren't any outstanding recalls and to book the brake fluid service and I was also informed that the haldex fluid needs changing however in the service book it states "All Audi Models 38k or 4 years", which would mean another year before its needs doing as I won't reach that mileage anytime soon. Has the service interval changed and is it recommended to do this earlier and also what should I expect to pay?

I was quoted £59.00 for a brake fluid service which I know can be had for cheaper and £80.66 for the Haldex fluid is this a fair price?

Thanks

[JayA3sline]

Haldex same price as my local audi dealer. And again it's only 40k when it's required but they'll push you to do to gain extra dosh from you. Hold out and wait for the right period


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[Fexo]

I was charged the £59 for the brake fluid service recently (even though they had to replace the whole system!). They certainly try and get you to spend more; they could have added another £1K to the bill if I did all the things that they checked with their "free inspection". Turns out that most of these were covered by the 3 year's warantee anyway!

[Shahzaib]

I suppose £59 is not too bad for a brake fluid service given that I'll get a courtesy car and the convenience of it being on my route to work but I am still going to get a quote and take them up on their price promise offer. I won't be doing the Haldex service yet given the mileage and age, really doesn't make sense.

Fexo just out of curiosity what was wrong that they needed to replace the whole system?

[Fexo]

You can see the post below.... a 3-4 week saga and now they seem to have not connected a cable and so it's another 3-4 weeks to get an appointment.

Question Intermittent Brake Problems (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?160265-Intermittent-Brake-Problems)

[Shahzaib]

wow that really does scare me. The idea of leaving my car with them and letting them get on with it does make me nervous with any mechanic. I've always stood over my local mechanic or done most things myself, I'm only doing it for the stamp. Maybe I should take the day of work and watch over.

Fexo hope it gets sorted for you.

[Fexo]

Yes, I think that the word "technician" which they use for their mechanics is a bit of a joke. I will, in the future, be using the friendly, local VW/Audi specialists. I only went to Audi as my 3 years were coning to an end and I wanted anything problematic to be sorted by them. The brake problem was, fortunately, use before my time was up or it would have cost a fortune.

Having said that, I had to brake hard the other evening and everything was fine until after the car stopped and the pedal went to the floor- nothing since though, so I hope it was just a bit of air in the system moving out of the way....

[Shahzaib]

I'm sure someone will correct me but to the best of my knowledge when I've bleed brakes in the past I've used a pressure bleeder (this exact one Sealey VS820 Brake and Clutch Bleeding System: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000ROARTI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00)) and it doesn't allow for any air to be left in the system if the system is sealed and the process is done properly.

My previous A3 was an older 2.0 TDi and a manual so when i bleed the brakes I would also do the clutch release bearing too as the system shared fluid from the same master cyclinder and I like all the fluid to be new and clean, assuming yours is a manual and based on that could there be an issue with the clutch bearing on yours thats loosing fluid/pressure?

If its the servo which I believe uses vacuum (I could be wrong) this was controlled by a block of electronic solenoid valves on my car which also controlled some other vacuum actuated components and this did also fail once causing all sorts of issues including a hard pedal and EGR errors. Yours could be getting stuck open and offering too much servo assist possibly, thats just a guess but the systems are linked so worth questioning.

[Fexo]

I really don't know much about cars (well, modern ones anyway!) so I have to trust that the "technicians" know what they are doing. The servo was, eventually (having changed everything else), diagnosed as the problem once they obtained a "special tool" to check it even though the brakes were soft, not hard. I had it for about 20 mins before the same problem arose. They took it back and bled the system twice but there was this one incident recently. I really want my wing mirror heaters back working though but no appointments until 20/11......

PS It's a 2011/12 2 litre TDI sport.

[desmondman58]

Get onto to Audi Uk customer service and complain...I am ex Audi Centre Warranty Manager...I can assure you Audi Customer service will straighten out dealer concerned...dealer just doing forced upsell...check your service schedule as it should be 40k interval

[Shahzaib]

I have and they still insist on it. At the moment their service manger is on holiday till Monday after speaking to him I will be contacting Audi UK.


Thanks

[desmondman58]

You can always speak to another centre to obtain second opinion ?