Service Cost

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nugpot

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A3 2.0 TDi Sport is showing it needs a service in about 1500 miles which will be its second service, I have a spread sheet that I down loaded from this site which shows the service cost but am having a problem working out the cost, it says on the first part Variable 40k service cost of £154.56 is this correct or what would I expect to pay, also I'm in the Manchester area so who is giving the best price on the cars second service?

Thanks
 
The reason the spreadsheet is showing only £154.56 for the variable 40k service is that the Hourly Labour Rate on the front page has not been changed from the base of £56.00 per hour. Dealers charge more than this.

You need to get the hourly rate from some local dealers and update the front page to see how much the actual current cost will be or alternatively ask them for a quote.

My own dealers rate is around £90.00 per hour which would make the service cost about £210.00. The time allowed for the 40k variable service is 1.60 hours, 30 minutes more than the 1st AVS Service.
 
Well the prices quoted are way over the cost listed on the spread sheet:

SNF Bolton £310
Preston Audi £349
Blackburn Audi £360
Lancaster Manchester £340 plus or minus £10
Warrington Audi is the best at £280

Spoke the the bloke who said that fleets get a better rate but to pay over £150 more just because you are an easy target is /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif poor, the whole service costs of cars is just a rip off and the know they can take advantage of Joe Public because they are a cartel
 
I have just spoken to my dealer ( Vindis Audi in Huntingdon) and asked them for the price for a second (40k) AVS service. They quoted £278.50 including changing the pollen filter.

If the car is fitted with a DSG gearbox then it requires a gearbox oil and filter change at 40k and the extra cost for that is £193.91.

So from the figures quoted in the previous post, the Warrington Audi price is the same as my dealer, but the others are way over the top.
 
The car is a standard manual 6 speed box, but looking at the cost breakdown show how its a rip off:

Based on Warringtons cost:

Total Cost: £280
Less VAT £238
Materials used at list price: £65.00
Labour cost: £173 not bad for 1.6 hours as recommended by Audi.

Based on Blackburns quote the labour cost would be £241.
 
It's certainly worth shopping around, even between Audi dealers, as some seem to charge at lot more than others.

Fortunately for me, my dealer seems to be one of the more reasonable ones.
 
Of the two dealers i 've checked at here in the north east they both quoted £88 £90 per hour for the labour.
But basically the price of the parts and service hours should be identical to the spread sheet.
Another 1800 (showing on DIS) miles to first service
BETTER START SAVING NOW!!
 
Try doing a search on here for "second service". I posted some figures that I was quoted in October.

Out of Warrington, Bolton and Manchester, Bolton were the cheapest at £255.

How old is the car ? You will need to include for a brake fluid change if it is 2 years old (Another £60 ish)
 
Will do a search, the car is 21 months old, so they might do it the fluid change this time, the price of £255 is a good one but they did quote me £310 so will give them a call or might even talk to the sales man who sold me the car and tell him I was thinking of changing my car soon.
 
Nugpot,

You need to tie them down to the 1.6 hours, thats the critical figure. Forget all the crap they give you about 'offering a better service'. If it needs brake fluid, supply your own, the time for that is shown on the spreadsheet (1/2 hr i think).

Then supply your own engine oil too. They'll be after around £10-£15 per litre but you can buy it for £35 for five litres from halfords etc. and tell them not to fill your washer bottle, which they will do and charge you 3 or 4 quid for the privilidge.

When I threatened never to go to Smith Knight Fay again that was enough to get the manager out apologising and refunding the over charge on hours. They then said they would always honour the spreadsheet.

Try Smith Knight Fay at Stockport 0161 2824444 (right by the M60) and mention the spreadsheet (ask for Steve Layton in service)
 
Can someone please post a link for the spreadsheet?

1) Do Audi UK make dealers keep to the times that are in this spreadsheet for Joe Public like myself? If yes, anyone had this confirmed by Audi UK?

2) Do people regularly take their own oil in? Any adverse reaction from the dealer? I remember someone on here saying their car took 4.5l but the dealer said they only sell oil by the litre so you get charged for 5l whatever - as was mentioned, what happens to all the half litres! Surely they buy oil in bulk anyway, not litre cans!

Just want to know what sort of bargaining positioning we are in when it comes to getting a service!

As was mentioned in the press last week, it is mostly a rip-off with some labour charges per hour equiv or more than some solicitors and doctors. When it is my turn I'm not paying £100 per hr for someone to fill my washer bottle with 20p worth of fluid that they charge me £4.00 for.

Thanks.
 
I have tried to save a link to the spreadsheet but it never seems to work properly so the best way is to go to the Audi UK web-site at www.audi.co.uk

On the right hand sidebar click Business Sales - then again on the RH side Fleet Data and Policies - then in the centre Fleet Data. On the LH side Service Maintenance and Repair Data. Choose the A3. This downloads a spreadsheet. Click the 'I have read...' button - choose the appropiate model - in my case 2.0 TDI BKD 140PS Auto and change the Labour Rate in the top right - current showing £56.00/hour - a little on the low side for current dealer rates.

Near the top of the spreadsheet, under Variable / Display the Labour hours are given as 1.10. For the 40K service the hours are given as 1.60.

As for taking your own oil, my dealer has never really changed over the top for the Longlife oil. On my 1st service in September 2005 they charged £24.99+vat total for the oil. If you tell them to forget about the screenwash you could save a whole £3.12+vat for the additive. The time is included in the 1.10 hours allowed for the service.
 
Thanks very much Dave, I'll check it out.

Anyone know whether Audi UK make dealers keep to the times that are in this spreadsheet for Joe Public like myself?
 
My dealer certainly does. When I spoke to them on Saturday they said that they allow the 1.10 hours for the 1st AVS service and the 1.6 hours for the second.
 
cdb2:

The dealers can do whatever they like within 'guidelines', but If Audi UK get complaints then they can threaten their franchise licence. They said to me they knew the standard time was 1.1 but they did 'extra' checks over and above the audi spec to justify their 2hr time. I refuted this as unnecessary and they said, 'ok then' we'll do it for 1.1

The published figures (spreadsheet) applies to the vehicle regardless of who owns it (fleet or private) so if they say "that sheet is only for fleets" thats bulls##t too. As Dave R says, he has a honest local dealer who does it at the proper rate - he is in a small minority though, the rest of us have to argue the point.

Go to your local dealer and tell them that another dealer has quoted the spreadsheet hours, but you'd rather use your dealer as they're closer. It doesn't matter where you got the hours from, thats the official time for the job, they know that too - they're just trying it on. Don't say "i've got a fleet service list" just tell them you've got an official Audi service schedule from their website.

As for the oil - it was Smith Knight Fay who told me to supply my own oil to save money, they said there was no problem with that - he even said there's was a rip off and they were made to charge that by the company that owns their chain of dealerships.
 
Nice one Miket, thanks for that.

When the day comes I'll get a quote and argue if necessary before booking it in! I'll certainly go for the 1.1hrs, supply my oil if their quote is daft and fill my screen wash before I go for 20p!

Out of interest, what were the additional checks they were going to do in the additional 0.9hrs?
 
For a start they said things like removing the wheels to further check and clean the brakes etc. Checking suspension bushings and linkages for wear or damage. (although my wheels were free of finger smudges in the brake dust when I got it back). He also said that the pollen filter was not in the service schedule as it was condition dependant. I pointed out it was included in the spreadsheet items.

I said ‘do you mean Audi don’t require you to check these basic things?’ He said there was no specific mention of these items in their detailed schedule.
But I argued that there must be a requirement to ‘generally check the vehicle’ and that I wouldn’t pay for more than the manufacturer requires, what’s the point? That’s why you have a warranty.

There is however, no requirement to take the wheels off. I know this because my father in law runs a small local garage that do MOT’s and he says a lot of cars they get in for the 1st MOT have full dealer histories and the wheel have never been off, they have often corroded on so hard they have to soak the hubs in release oil and force the wheels off with wooden levers & rubber mallets!!
 
Inspection is included as standard. When you have it serviced you get an inspection checklist with pass/fail comments.

Its the whole point of a dealer service. They're even supposed to go down to things like lubricating the door locks, and the sunroof guides.
 
The inspection check list is what they tried to tell me was 'extra'.

They are so full of s##t it even comes out of their mouths when they speak.

They seem to start with the idea of " treat customer as if they are brain-dead to start with", then if they argue give them some slack, until if you really argue you end up paying what you should have paid from the outset!!
 
Just got off the phone with Audi UK and had a long chat with a bloke there, he said that the price for parts should be the same price through out the uk, but the labour cost charged may be different, I said I have been quoted £90 per hour by all the dealer but the price for the service did not reflect the hourly rate quoted, he said it is up to me to talk with the dealer and is nothing to do with Audi UK, also I said the fleet price should not be too much different than the joe public price, yes they have some buying power but we should not pay £160 more, I pointed out we are the one who should get the better price as we pay stright away not 30 to 60 day later like a fleet company.

Off to talk with my local dealer and will let you know the deal struck.
 
Listening to R2 news the other night,they mentioned another article that's been done about the varying cost of servicing.

I think it was on the evening show,and it was that Martin Shankleman (sp) bloke.

Yet again,Audi were the example cited.

That's twice in 6 months that Audi have had bad press about their servicing costs.
 
[ QUOTE ]

That's twice in 6 months that Audi have had bad press about their servicing costs.

[/ QUOTE ]

so they should do though, i dont expect to get it £100 cheaper just by ringing round, then get another £70 off just cause I question their price.

tbh, it's f***ing appalling.
 
tbh it's business, and I did hear the the Euro sprouts where going to start to have a look at this.
 
[ QUOTE ]
tbh it's business, and I did hear the the Euro sprouts where going to start to have a look at this.

[/ QUOTE ]

They have done something about it.

They have given owners the freedom to go to more or less any garage they want,and the manufacturer must honour the warranty,provided the service schedule has been complied with.

If anyone still goes to an Audi dealer,that's their lookout.
I certainly wouldn't,if it were my money.

As it is,my MD is very 'old school' and prefers us to use the main dealer for our company cars.

Servicing a car is child's play these days,it really is,so £90+ per hour is madness.
What do they do ?
Change oil,change filters and plug in a diagnostics box ?

Christ,our local main dealer employed one of my colleague's sons just a few months back.

He was getting to service cars.
Could have been my car,or your car, this spotty,brainless,oik was touching for £90+ per hour. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burningmad.gif

The garage round the corner charges £38 per hour and I bet they can change oil and filters as well as any Audi 'technician'.
 
a dealer service is not just all about an filter, oil change and DTC clear is it though...

it's the extra things like re-lubricating sunroof guides etc etc that give you piece of mind. Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that their service prices are acceptable, but you have to see why they're rated.
 
It's the resale issue that is most important.

People don't like to buy a car without a full dealer history, especially for the first 3 years up to MOT.

I would always get it serviced privately after the 3 years, but before then you'll loose out on resale, especially trading-in to a dealers.
 
[ QUOTE ]
It's the resale issue that is most important.

People don't like to buy a car without a full dealer history, especially for the first 3 years up to MOT.

I would always get it serviced privately after the 3 years, but before then you'll lose out on resale, especially trading-in to a dealers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not convinced by that argument.

I'm pretty sure I would be able to explain,to a prospective buyer,why the local independent specialist garage has done my car and not the 'big flash' main dealer.

Put it this way,until that attitude changes the main dealer will always be able to charge over the odds for the 'privilege' of their rubber stamp.

No-one is advocating the local backstreet cowboy servicing your car,but Audi's prices can be OTT and there is (should be) a happy medium.
 
You are correct Bowfer.

I would buy a 2 or 3 yr old car with a private service history, no problem. But the majority of buyers with little appreciation of this subject would either walk away from a non full dealer history vehicle (probably because of what they’ve read in a which? magazine etc) or demand a discount. So as a seller I would lose, unless was lucky enough to find a sympathetic buyer.

But there is an issue with local garages, (the father in law runs one). They just don’t have the equipment to analyse the vehicle electronics. Manufacturers are careful to only licence limited access to the vehicle electronics to 3rd party systems. So a small garage can buy an analyser with adaptors for several makes, but he will only have limited access to readouts and fault codes - thus forcing him to send the customer to the dealers for anything other than a minor problem. So the poor customer ends up having to go to 2 garages instead of one.

Also - although EU rules say you must keep your standard warranty even when using non-dealers, you will often not be eligible for extended warranties or extended service intervals. My last Ford Focus had its extended warranty voided because the last owner took it to a local garage too soon (just before I bought it).
 
I know what your saying bowfer, but still think that the Main dealer stamp carries a slight premium. It may well be perception only by the buyer, but it's still there.

But I don't think Audi servicing is that bad, well in Aberdeen anyway. My A3 is cheaper to service than my mkiv golf PD150 was, and from same dealer group.

Also, Total service cost over 36k for A3 would be £180 + £250, same for my wifes (ex) 1.4 fiesta was £95 + £110 + £175, so only £50 in it.

Oh, and I tried the Car clinic for last service on fiesta and they were dearer.
 
In my particular case I have my A3 serviced by the same dealer that sold me the car and almost certainly the same dealer that I will be asking for a trade-in price when the car is around 3-4 years old. If a dealer can say to the next buyer that it is a car sold and serviced by them it does make it easier for them to get a good price and sell it quickly and that has, in the past, been reflected in the trade-in price. Most of the cars I have traded-in have already been provisionaly sold whilst my new car is on order.

It also builds up a good relationship with a dealer which can help. If I have a faulty bulb or need new wipers etc I know that I can go to the dealers, buy the items from parts and the workshop will fit them for me for free.

One other advantage for using the dealer for servicing is the car is then covered by Audi On-Call. If it does by other than a dealer that cover lapses after 24 months.

The warranty is not affected providing the car is serviced and repaired in accordance with the Manufacter's instructions and using genuine Audi parts. If it is done by a dealer there is no question that this is the case. If it is done by someone else it may be more difficult to prove if it becomes necessary. An Audi dealer will also be notified by Audi of any updates or further checks to be made on a particular vehicle should there be a problem for example automatically changing the faulty coil packs when the car is in for a service.

I seem to be lucky in having a very good dealer that charges a reasonable price for servicing and does it in accordance with Audis times and prices.
 
You're only assuming that the dealer would treat you differently if you didn't get it serviced there though David.

I'd wager it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to the way you're treated with regard to warranty work,or your trade-in price.

They know you could just go elsewhere,and they know punters are clued up about their rights.
 
Thats your opinion Bowfer. You always come across as very cynical. I have been offered a lot less for trade-in by other dealers and dealers of other makes for all my A3s. I always go round to several dealers just to make sure that my dealers price is a good one and it always has been up to now.

They offer the service I am looking for and I have no wish risk an unknown quantity just to save a few pounds. If money was my only concern I would have bought a cheaper car in the first place.
 
As David is fortunate to have a good dealer with whom he has built some sort of relationship, I say good for him and I wish I had the same experience.

There is a significant market sector for 2nd hand buyers who will pay a premium for cars with Full dealer history only. Right or wrong its a preference some buyers have. Therefore a dealer / trader is more likely to pay more for a dealer history.

People don't want to part with 20 odd grand for a car that's been serviced by Bobs Motors. (unless, perhaps, they know Bob very well)

As Japper said, you might save £100 if you're lucky on 3yr /36k schedule - I'd go for that anytime for the extra resale and 'perceived' piece of mind.
 
[ QUOTE ]

People don't want to part with 20 odd grand for a car that's been serviced by Bobs Motors. (unless, perhaps, they know Bob very well)


[/ QUOTE ]

Which is exactly the sort of extreme I mentioned should be avoided in a previous message.

Would you dismiss the service record if it said "Bobs independent Audi specialist" ?

I doubt you would,yet there is still this perception that anything other than the main dealer should be avoided.

Oh.and David,if I come across as cynical,you'll forgive me for thinking that you come across as very set in your ways.
 
For once I agree with you Bowfer. I am very set in my ways. The reason is my ways have always served me very well in the past and they are generally based on fact and my personal experiences rather than speculation.
 
I too am a great cynic, but I have something up on the wall in my office which I run my business by:

As John Ruskin (1819-1900) once said:

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. If you pay too much then all you lose is some money, that is all.
If you pay too little then you may lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it for.
The common law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot, it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better in the first place.”

This applies very well to all situations, and my business is very successful because of it.
 
Having said in my previous post that I am set in my ways, that's not quite true, as my current A3 is my first ever Diesel after 41 years of driving and 19 previous cars and my first non-manual gearbox.

I may be 'set in my ways' in the way that I deal with people and orgainisations but not when it comes to technology. I do work by what is probably considered as old fashioned values, such as assuming that those that I deal with are honest and trying to give good service to their customers until they give me cause to believe otherwise.

If I was that set in my ways I would probably not be into computers and the internet etc and would therefore not be talking in this forum !

 
[ QUOTE ]
As David is fortunate to have a good dealer with whom he has built some sort of relationship, I say good for him and I wish I had the same experience.

There is a significant market sector for 2nd hand buyers who will pay a premium for cars with Full dealer history only. Right or wrong its a preference some buyers have. Therefore a dealer / trader is more likely to pay more for a dealer history.

People don't want to part with 20 odd grand for a car that's been serviced by Bobs Motors. (unless, perhaps, they know Bob very well)

As Japper said, you might save £100 if you're lucky on 3yr /36k schedule - I'd go for that anytime for the extra resale and 'perceived' piece of mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

nail


head


If it was me buying second hand, main dealer service history carries a lot of weight,
 
miket - we used to have just the same quote by John Ruskin on the wall in when I worked in an Architects office. I personally think it's very true.
 
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