Astronomical Servicing Costs

[SuperCharger28]

Just rang audi as my 2.7 le mans is due for a 60,000 service. Audi told me it would cost me £417.50 for a service and all they are going to do is change the oil, pollen filter, oil filter etc and inspect the car. Seeing as though my car has just gone 3 years old is it worth it or not? I got a quote from an independant for just £147. What should I do? Is it worth £300 more for an audi stamp in the logbook?

[Issac Hunt]

Not in my opinion.

Depends how long you intend to keep the car, A full Audi history will help if you are selling/trading it in soon but by the time its 5/6+ years old then Audi history isnt worth anything over an independent service history IMHO.

[Blackavant]

What it is worth though is the possibility of partial funding if something major goes wrong outside of warranty. If you go indi then you wont have a leg to stand on, search the forum there's plenty of horror stories.

Normally if you show dealership (Not main, Franchise) loyalty a 10% discount applies.

[Guest 2]

I dont mind paying the big costs as I know by getting it serviced by Audi, its done 100% correctly and theres 100% comeback if anything goes wrong and I have built up a good customer/business relationship with Audi which means getting things cheaper (or even for free).

What year is your A6? If its over 3 years old, its only £299 is which what I paid for my 60k service.

My 48k service was expensive @ £749 but this included 2 discs and pads.

Once my car turned 3 years old, I immediately ourchased an Audi Extended warranty which has proved useful as my intake manifold runners became faulty and the price was near touching £3k if I were paying out of my own pocket.

With everything, its your own choice what you do with your car. I just like knowing everything is done and if anything goes wrong, I'm covered.

[ruggedscot]

This is one that always causes issues - do you go to an audi garage and get fleeced by a set up thats geared for company drivers ? all very well having coffee and cookies and plenty of eye candy walking about (or teetering lol) when an independent specialist could the job. As long as they are using audi parts and proper procedures. Remember those garages usually employ dealer trained techs.

I think on it as paying £13k for the car two years ago and Ive done 40k so if I parked it up and walked away then its not really cost me a huge amount of money has it? Ill not skimp on tyres or brakes and it will be servicedas required to keep it going. But Ill not pay those inflated prices that dealers charge.

[SuperCharger28]

I think I may try to go down the official dealer route for a bit of peace of mind. Would you mind telling me which dealer you used Chris as my dealer (Audi Huddersfield - Sytner) is wanting £417. Also how much is your extended warranty?

Thanks

And yes it is over 3 years old. So I think they are just trying to rob me with silly prices.

[quattrodlo]

Good decision i feel. If you can afford it. Look after your car and it will look after you.
I do however agree with Isaac that after 5 or 6 years you run the risk of spending more on maintenance than you will get back on re-sale.

[SuperCharger28]

Yes. I'm hoping to keep this for atleast 2-3 more years but who knows with the current economy I could be losing my job whenever which will mean I will have to get rid of my Audi. So I think I will just go with a proper service and try and get them down on price.

[EssexGonzo]

Take a look at this page - for my A2 and A6 (both over 3 years old) the costs at the Audi garage are normally within £25 of our local independent. For that difference I'll go down the Audi route.

http://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-with-audi/affordable-servicing.html

And I think they are moving with the economic times - the threshold for the cheaper servicing used to be 4 years and they will negotiate a little bit. The free MOT helps too!

[Guest 2]

I think I may try to go down the official dealer route for a bit of peace of mind. Would you mind telling me which dealer you used Chris as my dealer (Audi Huddersfield - Sytner) is wanting £417. Also how much is your extended warranty?

Thanks

And yes it is over 3 years old. So I think they are just trying to rob me with silly prices.

Because my car is a quattro, the price rises to ~£700 which includes everything the original factory warranty does and with no excess, I pay nothing after the £700 and the claims are unlimited as I have a Comprehensive cover level.

Its paid for itself already this year as I said above with the intake maniflold runners and various other bits.

The website is if you wanna have a look is www.audiextendedwarranty.co.uk

I think you have to ring them if you didnt receive a renewal letter.

There are of course, other warranty companies out there :)