Main dealer servicing & why you may use a little fuel

[curiousgeorge]

I had my dealers, Audi Whetstone, pick up my car to do a MOT and service, a round trip which should be 4.6 miles. It came back with 8.9 miles done and 1/8 tank of fuel used. In addition, the miles remaining was showing 100 miles before and 70 when it came back. Clearly it had been driven very hard by the idiot who drove it to and from the dealers.

This is the second time this has happened. A year ago they did an extended test drive, and the engineer drove it to his home in Watford, a distance of 30 miles round trip, but it came back with more than 50 miles done.

What's wrong with these people! What's the point in washing and waxing it to keep me happy when they act like this?

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and what should I do. I was going to wirte to the manager, if there is one, and then to Audi UK.

[BillTheButcher]

It's annoying but very difficult to prove anything. :mad:

When I had new front brake pads and discs and an MOT done on my last car (a Golf R32) the garage gave it back to me running on fumes and with about 70 more miles on the clock than when it went in. :zx11: I asked the guy about it and he said that they'd had to road test it before and after the brakes had been changed which accounted for the mileage.

Didn't take it back there again.

[Issac Hunt]

I had my dealers, Audi Whetstone, pick up my car to do a MOT and service, a round trip which should be 4.6 miles. It came back with 8.9 miles done and 1/8 tank of fuel used. In addition, the miles remaining was showing 100 miles before and 70 when it came back. Clearly it had been driven very hard by the idiot who drove it to and from the dealers.
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Sounds OK to me to be honest. The car is road tested after the service, so that'll account for the extra miles. It wont be road tested by the delivery driver as he isnt a mechanic.

It might not have been driven that hard, could have been in traffic? It might have been left idling for a while as well, while it was washed and cleaned? Or maybe was idling for a while as the cooling system was tested etc etc?

Have you tried asking the dealer for an explanation?

[NickPicks]

If you've got concerns, then you should talk to the service manager at the dealers.

To be honest, doing 8.9 miles instead of 4.6 isn't that excessive. They do have to make sure that the car is properly warmed up before MOTing it, so they might have gone a couple of extra miles before the test, and then the test drive after the test would account for a couple more.

The miles left on the DIS is not exactly accurate - mine will drop from 100 to 70 if the last half mile is uphill.

As for the previous extended road test, did they fix the problem? They obviously needed to do an extended test drive to diagnose the fault. And Watford is a fairly large place, so depending on whether the engineer lives in Oxhey, or North Watford, and whether he went up the A41 or round the M25, adding an extra 20 miles to the round trip would be quite reasonable.

Mine came back from a recent MOt at audi with an extra 20 miles on the clock, but when I looked at the test certificate, it had gone to a testing station about 8 miles away (I didn't measure it exactly)

[Eshrules]

I had my dealers, Audi Whetstone, pick up my car to do a MOT and service, a round trip which should be 4.6 miles. It came back with 8.9 miles done and 1/8 tank of fuel used. In addition, the miles remaining was showing 100 miles before and 70 when it came back. Clearly it had been driven very hard by the idiot who drove it to and from the dealers.

This is the second time this has happened. A year ago they did an extended test drive, and the engineer drove it to his home in Watford, a distance of 30 miles round trip, but it came back with more than 50 miles done.

What's wrong with these people! What's the point in washing and waxing it to keep me happy when they act like this?

I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and what should I do. I was going to wirte to the manager, if there is one, and then to Audi UK.

are you forgetting the vehicle is warmed up prior to the emissions test - which uses fuel.

it also goes on rollers, for the brake test, which may or may not increase the mileage on the vehicle.

if it happened a first time, I'm confused as to why you've sent it back for a 2nd time.

Perhaps it would be worth talking to the service manager in regards to this and reporting back?

[curiousgeorge]

Thanks for the replies. The reason I've been paranoid is because of what happened last time, so I may be over reacting. I thought it may have been idling a bit, but I never knew they have to warm it up for the MOT and never heard of doing a test drive for the service. So instead of an angry accusatory e-mail I'll send an inquisitive one to the service manager as suggested.


if it happened a first time, I'm confused as to why you've sent it back for a 2nd time.

Perhaps it would be worth talking to the service manager in regards to this and reporting back?

I thought it was a one off! Sure, I'll report back.



The miles left on the DIS is not exactly accurate - mine will drop from 100 to 70 if the last half mile is uphill.

As for the previous extended road test, did they fix the problem? They obviously needed to do an extended test drive to diagnose the fault. And Watford is a fairly large place, so depending on whether the engineer lives in Oxhey, or North Watford, and whether he went up the A41 or round the M25, adding an extra 20 miles to the round trip would be quite reasonable.

I doubt it, if that was the case the mileage should have gone back up a bit once I resumed my normal driving pattern, but it continued to fall.

Yes, there was a noise coming from the wheels and they diagnosed it as wheel bearings. But I would have thought 30 miles (with a lot of it on the motorway) would be sufficient. An extra 10 miles each way seemed excessive.

[Issac Hunt]

I thought it may have been idling a bit, but I never knew they have to warm it up for the MOT and never heard of doing a test drive for the service.



Engine needs to warmed up for the MOT emmisions test. I'd be asking questions if they didn't test drive it after a service, How are they supposed to test to the clutch/drivetrain/brakes etc etc?

[NickPicks]

Yes, there was a noise coming from the wheels and they diagnosed it as wheel bearings. But I would have thought 30 miles (with a lot of it on the motorway) would be sufficient. An extra 10 miles each way seemed excessive.

I was questioning how you had come to the conclusion that there was an extra 10 miles each way. From your profile location, you live in London, so presumably the dealer was in London. I guess the engineer said he'd test drive it back to Watford overnight to give it a long test. I used to work in Watford, and it's quite a big place. It's quite easy to do 7 miles from one side to the other (I'd expect most people living in Leavesden or South Oxhey would say "Watford" if you asked them where they lived). Some of the villages a bit further out would also be included.

The other question is: I don't know what car you have - I think it's an A3 2.0T. The question is really whether an Audi technician / delivery driver would consider your car as a joyride. I expect most of these guys get to work on and drive things like RS4s and TTs, so an A3 is probably just a normal car to them. They probably do drive harder than your gran though.

I haven't checked the service schedule for my Audi, but every other car I've owned has under the list of service items "Test drive and report"

[zollaf]

isnt it a good idea for a car to be hammered after a service ? i think it is. an emergency stop from 60 will test the brakes to their limit and make sure the car pulls up straight, taking the engine to the red line makes sure there are no flat spots or turbo problems. a mechanic needs to give the car a good shakedown to make sure its safe to be given back to you with no unknown faults. this obviously uses a bit of fuel. i wouldnt be worried about it, i would be thankful for it. and that other problem with the extra 20 mile. the guy might have taken a friend in the trade for a spin to get a second opinion, or, since he had your car and left his at work, he may have had to go see his mother or someone, what else could he have done, walked ?

[curiousgeorge]

I expect most of these guys get to work on and drive things like RS4s and TTs, so an A3 is probably just a normal car to them. They probably do drive harder than your gran though.
I'm not saying my car is a high performance supercar. A "joyride" can be with any car, my point was treating a car without respect because it isn't yours.


isnt it a good idea for a car to be hammered after a service ? i think it is. an emergency stop from 60 will test the brakes to their limit and make sure the car pulls up straight, taking the engine to the red line makes sure there are no flat spots or turbo problems. a mechanic needs to give the car a good shakedown to make sure its safe to be given back to you with no unknown faults. this obviously uses a bit of fuel. i wouldnt be worried about it, i would be thankful for it. and that other problem with the extra 20 mile. the guy might have taken a friend in the trade for a spin to get a second opinion, or, since he had your car and left his at work, he may have had to go see his mother or someone, what else could he have done, walked ?
I agree with you (apart from your last point, as the work was done in one day).

The service manager called me today and kindly explained to me in great detail what they do.

As has been said here, they do a test drive of between 5-10 miles and tend to rev it quite hard to remove any carbon deposits and to allow the diagnostics to pick up any problems, like misfiring. There was no mention of warming the car for the MOT though.

I still think the amount of fuel burnt was excessive (knowing my car's fuel consumption better than anyone), but I'm not going to worry about it.

On another note, he explained the difference between different types of service. The regular AVG service is the full price (about £400) one which uses long life oil. The special offer one, which I had done for £249 uses the non-long life oil and includes and full inspection. The £99 one is just an oil change.

[Eshrules]

seems to have been much ado about nothing ;)

I've edited the thread title to be less inflammatory, kudos to Audi Whetstone for taking the time out to explain things to you.

[curiousgeorge]

seems to have been much ado about nothing ;)

I've edited the thread title to be less inflammatory, kudos to Audi Whetstone for taking the time out to explain things to you.
Fair enough!

I was going to update the title myself but I couldn't see a way to do it.