Coulsdon Audi

wngl

Member
Just got our A2 serviced at Coulsdon Audi in Surrey this week. This is our frist service on the A2 since acquiring it last year, and also our first experience with an Audi dealer. We opted for a 'while you wait' service on this occassion.

Car came back all clear with two recommendations, the 1st was a brake fluid change (special offer at £49) and 2nd was a report that the tip of the engine oil dipstick had broken off. They proivded a fixed price quote of £74.85 to replace the broken dipstick including 'a may also need to retrieve broken part from tube'. Total price of service came to £98.99.

As we were really pushed for time, we rebooked the car to go back in today for brake fluid change and dipstick replacement. Coulsdon Audi offered to collect the car from our home to save us a trip down to them and hanging around for an estimated 2 hour wait while they work on the car. Having researched the broken dipstick on A2OC we were abit concerned about being taken for a ride with the £75 offer to replace the dipstick including a 'maybe retrieval service'. We queried this and we were told that this labor charge will only be charged if the bit is actually stuck in the tube thus requiring the tube to be removed from the engine to allow the broken part to be retreived manually.

Car was collected from us promptly this morning around 8.30am and was returned after lunch including a FOC car wash. Total charge for brake fluid change (4 litres) and new dipstick came to £56.28. Much less then what we had budgeted for or expected! Apparently the broken bit had dropped into the engine sump so there was no need to remove the tube to retreive the broken bit. Also apparently one of the bleed nipple was blocked requiring the nipple to be removed foc. We were godsmacked that they never charged us extra labour for replacing the dipstick or removing the blocked bleed nipple.

All in all very pleased with our experience with Coulsdon Audi - they were very professional, pleasant and explained all our queries to our satisfaction (including referring one query to the workshop technician for clarification). We were also very supprised that they did the additional work FOC. The Audi brake fluid looks good value at £2.30 a unit (litre?). Being acustomed to Mercedes dealerships where they charge for every extra bit regardless how small, this is very good value not to mention a very good experience. Well done to Coulsdon Audi, 10 out of 10, and we will certainly be using them again for the next service.
 
They would be hard pushed to charge labour for changing the dipstick! how long does it take to take the dipstick out and put a new one in. Also, the bleed nipple was changed FOC as they would have to remove / loosen the blocked one anyway to bleed the brakes, so to change it is no extra work.

Well done for querying them though. You really have to watch them. My local Audi dealer quoted me £250 to change one rear shock and bumpstops, £200 of that being labour. I bought the parts from them and did it on the drive in less than an hour, and not a mechanic, and don't have the full set of equipment.

They also wanted around £300 to change the front disks and pads. Again I bought superior Mintex disks and pads, for £50 and fitted them on the drive 1/2 hour per side.

On another occasion the dealer said the convenience unit was faulty as the petrol flap was not operating, and wanted to replace it at around £300, I declined and paid £50 they charged for diagnosing the fault.

I later found out through the club, that the convenience unit doesn't control the fuel flap!

I can only recommend Mr Skipton Auto's, he will not rob you, he will tell you the truth and do a better job than the dealer.

Mike recently did an Oil change for me, which involves removing the sump cover. Many of the fixings on the sump cover were broken or missing. The car up until that day been in the Audi dealer network.

Even if you live a long way from Mike, make a day or weekend of it, and go shopping in Manchester with the money saved, It's worth it, over the dealer experience.
 
I can only recommend Mr Skipton Auto's, he will not rob you, he will tell you the truth and do a better job than the dealer.

Thanks for your reply and for sharing your experience/dealer - I didn't mean to post an article about my experience with Coulsdon Audi to start a flame war over "my dealer is better than your dealer" or to offend anyone in the club. I simply wanted to share my experience with other club members as I have noticed several members posting from the South London/North Surrey area. To be honest, at £99 for an oil change service, and £49 for a brake fluid change I don't think many indenpendent Audi specialist can beat that. At least not substaintially enough for me to want to take a chance with the numerous independent specialist scattered around South London or to warrant a 400+ mile (8 hours?) round trip to Manchester. Certainly this will defeat any "while you wait" or "collection" service I required.

Personally, I am quite competent and capable of changing the dipstick, brake disc/pad and brake fluid myself, but at £49 it is simply not worth getting my hands dirty crawling under the car to change the brake fluid on this occassion - especially with the free collection/delivery service. The tin of Audi sweets left on the passenger seat and the car wash were nice additional touches, as is their offer for a free MOT (or MOT insurance for £49). I am sure others will have different opinions - some may simply enjoy DIY tasks regardless of the money they can save (or not), others will swear by their independent specialist (as I have done myself on numerous occassion for my Mercedes Benz on the MB Club).

In my experience a good dealer (especially a main dealer) is hard to find, and sadly getting harder by the day. I think I have stumbled on one by chance and posted my experience to share with all. Please take my post "as is" and form your own opinion if it is a good dealer or not - it is not intended to start a flame war or to offend anyone.

By the way, I do not have any connections with Coulsdon Audi. I have only started using them for the first time this week to service an A2 we have only purchased from a club member last year.

Cheers
 
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