Audi Dealer Service Costs - Your Experiences

A

A2Look

Member
Hi all!

I thought I would start a thread inspired by the fact our A2 needs a service soon!

Just wondering what dealers people had used and how much they have paid?
Fixed or Variable Service? What were your experiences?
Did you have the brake fluides changed? Costs etc

Lets get rolling :)
 
Had the first variable service on our 1.4 Petrol done at Swindon Audi about 3 weeks ago. Cost was £257.31. They said the brake fluid needs doing in about 6 months and that'll cost around £60. For info, the mileage was just over 16000. The service indicator is currenly reading 9700 to the next one which seems a little soon, but I'm expecting this to recalibrate as the miles go on.
 
Keep a close eye on that indicator - after my last service, the dealer reset the service indicator, but put it to the fixed interval instead.
 
40,000 Mile Variable Service

Hi Guys,

My A2 went it for its 40,000 mile veriable service. Audi (john fox) Nottingham rounded my service to a cool £500/480 English Pounds mmmmmmmm. This was around the time the BBC ran its story of "forget being a lawyer, become a mechanic" saying Audi labour rates are hitting £95 pounds an hour making the cost of changing one bulb £35 quid or something (20p of which is part probably) I rang the manager at Nottingham and quoted the story, he said "its just cause the parts for the 1.4 TDI engine are just so expensive" I proptly asked if Skodas/VW rate for a service would be different to Audi's being that they run the same engine. His response was minimal.

However your paying for the Audi service not the parts, so above is irrelevent I suppose. If you cant hack the service charge dont buy the car. Simple. Next car: Skoda Fabia VRS Diesel....?
 
i have to agree with the above post.

they are crooks and full of sh17 when it comes to explaining why they are so expensive but if your in the frame to sell an audi with a FASH you will know its worth the money in the long run...

im just very specific about what i want them to do and what i expect from the level of service and inspect everything on delivery - deal with problems on the spot and as yet ive not had any nightmares they didnt offer to sort there and then.
 
On the subject of servicing costs, are there any independant garages that specialise in A2s or Audis in general that charge cheaper labour rates?

On the smart scene there are a handful of independant dealers that specialise in smarts so have the full knowledge and diagnostic equipment needed, yet they charge a lower price compared to Merc dealers and you can trust them more.
 
2nd variable service

I used Swindon Audi as they were the lowest price in my area. £343 for the 2nd variable service which was at around 35,000 miles. Brake fluid change due later this year. Service was ok, and car was well cleaned when I picked it up.
 
My Service

Mine was £320 for the service and £85 for the brake fluid change. It was my second service on my 1.4TDI SE, which done 54000 miles and is 4 years old. Not cheap but not too bad I suppose. This was done by Listers in Coventry
 
Just booked my TDI90 in for its first long life service. £220inc for service and £70inc for brake fluid at Listers in Worcester. Other quote I had was from Amersham Audi (where I bought my A2) £319+VAT for service alone.
 
Lets get this right- essentially 400 quid for oil & filters, a look round, Plug into a more expensive VAGCOM. No faults found? Easy money. I have never heard of a car being worth more because of FASH - just easier to sell. I would recommend learning how to service your self which is essentially changing the oil these days cos there is nowt else you can or need to do- save a fortune. There must be a post on here somewhere about what needs changing and when.

What say you lot???

PS Derby Audi are £86.50 +VAT / hour Thats over 100 quid an hour!! Put it this way how long do you have to work to earn 100 quid???
 
bdub said:
are £86.50 +VAT / hour Thats over 100 quid an hour!! Put it this way how long do you have to work to earn 100 quid???
Click to expand...

That's how these garages pay for their glass-fronted premises. You can be sure the mechanics involved don't see much of that.
 
vinnyk said:
Mine was £320 for the service and £85 for the brake fluid change. It was my second service on my 1.4TDI SE, which done 54000 miles and is 4 years old. Not cheap but not too bad I suppose. This was done by Listers in Coventry
Click to expand...

Bit late for you Vinny but prior to getting my second service for my 1.4TDi SE I rang around other garages (not sure wether they were audi approved or not) for second service quotes to get a much cheeper price, then took that price to Listers in Cov (I'm cov too) and asked if they'd match it, which they did! Then I asked how much of their quote was for oil (£70 odd I think) and asked if they'd knock the cost of the oil off if I suplied my own, which they did! Got my oil from opie oils for about £30 delivered I think (try [email protected] )

Can't remember for sure but I think the service ended up costing about £220 ish, including the oil bought else where.

Unfortunately I think my next service is due soon, plus cambelt change, mot and tax :eek:(

I've always found Listers in Cov to be pretty good so will give them a chance to er quote me happy when I ask about getting that lot done - just need to do some more research before hand so I have some figures to quote when they give me their standard charges.
 
From the manager of a Volvo dealer when I was interviewed for a job there about 12 years ago:
Margin on new cars - zero
Margin on used cars - 10%
Margin on servicing - 100%

How many businesses would sell a product at zero margin? They have to sell new cars to get the franchise for servicing which is where they make all the money! And with longer warranties they get more of the servicing as well.

If you think an A2 is expensive with 2 services at around £650 in 40-45k miles the same milage in a Renault Clio would set you back four services at least one of them a major service at a cost of around £800.

I now service my son's Corsa because I objected to paying £120 for a few checks, an oil filter and some oil.
 
I was concerned to see the change re freqency of cam belt change. I am reluctant to go to my local Audi, ludicrous prices (see previous posts) I could use the main VW agent, good and moderately expensive, or entrust it to my Volvo specialist, who after looking at the "Cambelt Change" book, said it's only 2 hours and looks straightforward. Anyone got any views on this especially our very own star of Ebay and forums the Technical Director, whose knowledge I respect.
 
First Post Alert!

Hello one and all, I've had my A2 (1.6 FSI Sport, 54 plate, 17k on the clock) for just over a week and I think it is great. It went in for it's first long life service yesterday at Smith Knight Fay Audi Stockport. £264 which I gather is pretty standard for your typical Audi Stealer. Here's hoping for another 17k before the next one.
 
I could drive to Stockport, stay in a reasonable hotel, have a nice meal, return home, and it would still be cheaper than my stealer for a service.
 
Just had my 3rd variable service at 37000 (2001 pertrol 1.4). Finchley Road Audi in North London. 430 quid, including break fluid change (73.5), adjust head lamp (21). Car was very clean afterwards, no problem.

But HR Owen Audi at Colindale carried also out report at last service telling me anti-freeze weak (quoted how much it would cost, 130), tyre depth, names of all persons carried out the service and also warned me of high biting point. It was 370 including a break fluid service, no wonder their booking time is almost 1 month! Shame I heard they're moving to Watford
 
Humps, we could share a room in Stockport ands save even more!. My Audi independant charged £140 (or 145, bad memory) for the same job, using all Audi parts.
 
And if you came to Stockport, we could meet up for a beverage Dick - I'm only up the road from Smith Knight Fay (they're who I bought the Tank from actually).

Thanks for your comments re cam belt change. My thoughts on the matter are probably as pragmatic as ever - if you want the ultimate peace of mind, get it done by a main dealer. If however you want it done at a reduced rate, but still want comeback should anything happen, then get a VW/Audi independant specialist to do the work. On no account (if you value your car) should you attempt to do the job yourself, or ignore the need for a new belt.

There was an interesting article in last months Audi Driver in which Stafford Audi stated that they have variable labour rates depending on the age of the car. Basically, they admit that it's not as tricky to work on say a 10 year old A4 as it is to work on a 2 year old A8 and so their labour rates drop accordingly. They also say that it is to encourage owners to stay with them for servicing, as opposed to going to independants and it does (for once with Audi) make sense.

There is very little point in going to a main dealer if you have, say a 6 year old A2 with 60k+ miles on the clock - you're not going to see the benefits come re-sale time in terms of increased value due to having a full set of dealer stamps.

Where the benefit does come is in knowing that the job has been done properly and done well. If you biuld up a rapport with your service department, you will probably never get ripped off (although it is still a possibility) and you will get preferential treatment when you have to darken their door (I do)!

So, in conclusion, be loyal to your dealer, after all, you are expecting the same from them towards you. But be a savvy shopper and if you know another main dealer is offering a cheaper price for the work you're having done (phone around first), then tell them and ask them to match the price. You wouldn't buy any other service without comparing prices first, so do the same when it comes to your car.

Cheers,

Mike

Oh and if they've dropped the interval for timing belts, they've done it for a reason, other than to make money. I'd stick to it.
 
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