S4 servicing

scotty76

scotty76

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How does the servicing work on the S4? Is it all variable based on the computer? As I'm planning on keeping this for a while, I thought I'd get my local Audi indie to do oil changes every 12 months which is about 4.5k miles for me, regardless of what the computer says.

Also if anyone has servicing costs they don't mind sharing I'd love to see them so I can prepare. You know sell body parts, children, etc, that kind of thing! :)
 
Audi Uk now claim they will price match on servicing as long as the local garage you are using is using Audi parts !!
 
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I hope so, the quotes I got recently from Basingstoke Audi were catastrophic (minor service £530ish, major service approaching £800ish). The minor was oil, oil filter and pollen filter! The major included air filter and plugs, but no diff oil change which was another £240 each 40k. These figures are long life.
 
Holy schmit! I had to sit down after that news.
 
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warren_S3 said:
I hope so, the quotes I got recently from Basingstoke Audi were catastrophic (minor service £530ish, major service approaching £800ish). The minor was oil, oil filter and pollen filter! The major included air filter and plugs, but no diff oil change which was another £240 each 40k. These figures are long life.
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Thats what my mate got charged to service his Lamborghini but not an S3 !!
Holy macaroni :huh: That is just completely outrageous :keule:
Audi quoted me £2000 for a replacement Clutch & Flywheel so i got it done elsewhere for £800 using the same parts and a 2 year warranty.
 
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Fixed price servicing is every year (limited to 9k annual miles and is £159) and variable servicing is normally every 2 years (at £279), and the car will tell you through the DIS when it's due a service. These are the current prices from Audi.
 
Looking on audi's website fixed price servicing is for cars over 36 months old and 2.0 litre or less.
 
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Fixed price at 159 ... You sure that applies to S4 and not limited to 2.0 and smaller engines?

Most main dealers at least surrey and hants way seem to be >220 just for basic service (oil, inspection, etc)
 
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ScottishS3 said:
Think you could be right actually mate! My bad.
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Thats ok .... I didn't believe it myself until I read it the the latest Audi mag that arrived through the door today I just hope everyone else sees this and doesn't pay over the odds :)
 
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Quotes must be produced in writing and quoted using only Audi Genuine Parts* (including personalised online quotes)
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I don't think I've ever had a written quote, even from Audi themselves!
 
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Not sure about how much the servicing cost as I got a 2 years service plan thrown in when I bought my 2010 used S4. It is due a service in May and will need the S-Tronic oil and filters etc done. I have been quoted £192 from my local Audi dealer for that. I also had the Air filter replaced recently but went else where as they wanted £70 to replace the air filter (was in for some warranty work with the alarm and they health checked it). I got the pipercross version of the air filter fitted for £54 so you can save on some bits.

Hope that helps
 
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Anthony566 said:
Thats ok .... I didn't believe it myself until I read it the the latest Audi mag that arrived through the door today I just hope everyone else sees this and doesn't pay over the odds :)
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I'd better open it up then (still got the previous two to read through!).
 
I can't comment on the pipercross but the K&N panel filter I got makes a bit more noise and you can now hear the dump valve on lift off. And that's just on a 2.0tfsi so I can imagine the S4 sounding quite abit better than that!
 
Chris-Vspec said:
Has the pipercross made any noticeable difference to the noise or the performance
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The filter is a direct replacement for the cone filter in the air box. So the sound is not significantly increased, it does sound better. Nothing like what an intake would sound like with the air box removed. Mind you I am always smiling when I hear that engine go :)

As for performance, the car seems a bit more energetic. I would say there are very slight gains. However this could be down to the fact that the oem filter was very dirty and the introduction of a new one has allowed the car to breath more easily.

Overall I am happy. Also the cost was cheaper than the oem.
 
Thanks for all the useful feedback everyone. Can anyone answer the original query?

How does the servicing work on the S4? Is it all variable based on the computer?
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Thanks again and keep the tips coming!
 
scotty76 said:
Thanks for all the useful feedback everyone. Can anyone answer the original query?



Thanks again and keep the tips coming!
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Mine is base on the computer. It tells me when it needs servicing. Either how many mile or how many days. It is going in for a service in about 4 weeks. I have 500 miles left or 101 days. I know i will do 500 miles before that lol. I will probably do around 700 miles by then. Just want to get the service and MOT done in one go. This is for an oil service.

Also the amount you need to service it depends on the way you drive. Well that's what i think as i have seen it one day say 900 miles and . Then do a 40-50 mile enjoyable drive and the next morning it said 800! So it does vary. Cheers
 
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I don't know for certain but an educated guess would be:

1) Car will measure oil quality (I'm sure there is a sensor that checks oil purity)
2) ECU monitors the types of journeys you do, I changed from doing a job locally to a job further afield and the the variable servicing on my S3 went up from 9,000 miles between services to 14,000 as I was doing more consistent motorway mileage
3) how you drive the car when you do drive it - the car will likely monitor how hard you push it - thrashing it or mooching about (the ECU will adapt and reset service mileage accordingly)
4) Climate / environmental conditions may also play a part (more cold starts in colder climate will work the car harder and put oil through more extreme oil temperature range changes - deteriorating it quicker)
 
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Out of interest Warren do you change the oil outside of the service intervals on your S3? e.g. every 5k miles?
 
I do over change it but I'm not slavish about this one as it's only done commutes and no track time. Last car did Combe twice, Ring once, Inters sprint a number of times so it was religiously 5k serviced, this one I've done at 10k whether it's said it or not.

There is obviously a lot more oil in these (50% more) so the cost will go up, but I'd rather do 10k as a baseline as I still believe oil starts to deteriorate significantly over 5k irrespective of conditions. Can't imagine doing 19k on a belly of oil.
 
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warren_S3 said:
I don't know for certain but an educated guess would be:

1) Car will measure oil quality (I'm sure there is a sensor that checks oil purity)
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Last time I looked into this the "sensor" turned out to be something that was still in development. I remember reading that what actually happens is the car does some maths based on the number of stop/starts, journey length, engine load, that sort of thing. It then works out the service interval. That's consistent with what you have seen.

This was a couple of years ago so that sensor may now actually be installed on the cars.
 
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warren_S3 said:
There is obviously a lot more oil in these (50% more) so the cost will go up, but I'd rather do 10k as a baseline as I still believe oil starts to deteriorate significantly over 5k irrespective of conditions. Can't imagine doing 19k on a belly of oil.
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I only do 4-5k a year at the moment so was thinking about doing an annual change as I guess the oil degrades over time as well.
 
Mines booked in next week minor service £179 all in at a main dealer.

2 services plans- long life for those who do high milage which i believe is a service every 2 years, or if your like me only do around 6k a year mines serviced once a year but i always end up topping oil up inbetween services..
 
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scotty76 said:
I only do 4-5k a year at the moment so was thinking about doing an annual change as I guess the oil degrades over time as well.
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Unless something has changed in the VAG world, these cars would leave the factory set up for variable/longlife servicing - ie as per identified earlier. So, you can either stick with 12 month oil changes, or I would have thought that your dealer would have worked out that you only do low mileage and after discussion with you, change the service to fixed, ie service warning comes on at 12 months or 10K miles which ever happens first. I am also doing low annual mileage, so might change the servicing to fixed, if it is not already been changed as the car is a February 2011 with a total mileage of 15K !
 
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The variation in pricing is staggering. I can't get an oil change (for S3 4cyl) on the M4 corridor for some of the prices some of you guys have been quoted. Price match can't come soon enough. Only thing is I can't imagine going to APS and saying can you make up a quote to take to Audi so they can price match you please. That will be an interesting conversation if they need to see it in writing.
 
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audi upgrades
How far out have you gone Warren? Just wondering if you could combine it with a weekend away somewhere. :)
 
I might be a bit late to this, but I was in the dealer's today and asked for a few details of fixed price servicing for the S4, he said the prices were set by Audi and don't vary much between dealer... something I haven't confirmed(!!)

Oil change service... £224.50
Inspection with Oil change... £354.10

Some other things:
Brake Fluis (3/5.7yrs)... £127.20
S tronic fluid (only not filters as "We don't change them, they're not needed." Every 40k miles)... £189.18
Air filter (60k miles)... £57.41
Pollen filter (2yrs/20k)... £50.81
Spark plugs (6yrs/60k)... £195.12

With reference to the S-tronic fluid/filter, he claimed that the service book was poorly translated and the filter isn't changed. Not too happy about that.

Hope the above helps.
 
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Hum, I don't think these engines use special oils or brake fluid, very interesting. This is a shame as I'd like to use the local dealer for a year or so beyond the end of warranty, but at what price? In the past 14 years, I've only ever had dealer servicing while within warranty period, I'd guess it depends on how long you intend to keep the car as to how you service it as I'd imagine Audi will only give you pennies for it at trade in time if service history is missing. Though lots of these S4/RS4 etc will end up being owned by dedicated DIYers who will make sure that they are serviced correctly and not just cheaply.

I hope Audi are not doing what the likes of Renault used to do in the past, for example engine service for identical engine was linked to the purchase price of the cars that engine was fitted to - Volkswagen dealers now seem to have dedicated "GTI" service areas and techs who handle all the GTIs - Seat will no doubt end up with Cupra areas/prices and Skoda RS areas/prices - are am I being unfair? Charging what it costs for parts plus some is one thing, taking money for old rope is another thing altogether.

BTW, I would think that these prices will be same across the country with no "special" deals for these models. Any car club/forum member discounts to encourage us?
 
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For what it's worth I don't believe I've got any less part ex value because the service history is not all Audi. The key thing seems to be full service history and it doesn't matter who's done it. This seems to be the primary concern.
 
scotty76 said:
For what it's worth I don't believe I've got any less part ex value because the service history is not all Audi. The key thing seems to be full service history and it doesn't matter who's done it. This seems to be the primary concern.
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I just wonder how far you would be allowed to stray from the Audi network before you lose value at trade in time.

I fully understand the feeling that some will have, ie if you can't afford to keep it correctly serviced then you can't afford to own it, but, for at least myself, I don't tend to care for a dealer maybe giving me and my car "poor" service at "big" costs especially as it tends to be agreed (but not by me yet) that Audi UK seem to handle products that suffer the biggest "gap" in the sense of owner satisfaction with sold product and dissatisfaction with dealer aftermarket issues.
 
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rum4mo said:
I just wonder how far you would be allowed to stray from the Audi network before you lose value at trade in time.
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I think that depends a lot on where you trade in and the individual involved.


Personally, I never had my previous Audi serviced at the dealer, I bought it with VAG Specialist services and continued that/went to VW as my B6 was just a jazzed up Passat.
This car has full Audi history, is high performance (all relative, I know!) and is far more complicated that my B6 (modules all over the place) so for me, I think I'll continue it to get all the soft/firmware updates etc as well as genuine parts. It's not that much of a premium over specialist. I'm currently exploring service plans (hence why I have the prices) and running the numbers to see if there's really a saving to be had over going in off the cuff every year/9k miles.
 
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I always ask how much of the service cost is the oil, then tell them I only use Mobil1 ESP and take my own cos its cheaper.
 
Zafi said:
I always ask how much of the service cost is the oil, then tell them I only use Mobil1 ESP and take my own cos its cheaper.
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I agree, providing my own oil saved me £70 last oil service!
Dealer agreed to it, but said they wouldn't do that for all customers!
 
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I've had my S3 serviced by APS in Brackley since new. They have won Audi Independent Service Centre of the year for 8 years on the trot (from Audi Driver magazine).

It's a 110 mile round trip for me but I don't care as they're brilliant. Dealer hasn't punished me for it as he knows what I think of his main dealer service centre (it's f*****g crap). He knows I obsess about my car, don't kerb the wheels, have it detailed annually and it always looks mint so he didn't bat an eyelid at part ex value time.

I'm astonished given the wealth of knowledge sharing and experiences the web has provided that some people still clammer for FASH. On three occasions they've failed to identify faults on my car and I've had to use the Indy network to resolve (at cost to me even when in warranty). I only got quotes to see how ridiculous they might be, and surprise they were.

I still think some people see FASH as a badge of honour (like saying they own coilies or a Milltek). I prefer to have my car serviced by enthusiasts rather than module fitters who struggle to diagnose faults that don't poll a code.

Edit: As I see it, my car deserves better than an Audi stamp
 
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Quite. I'd rather have someone fix the issues than pay for an expensive stamp in the book.
 
That reminds me. Need to print one of those "do not wash" signs.
 
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scotty76 said:
That reminds me. Need to print one of those "do not wash" signs.
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Yes my VW dealer used to supply the good old vac and wash FOC during MOT, it used to annoy me needing to settle down the sunroof seal joining point on the B5 Passat and 9N Polo after that. Fortunately, when I took my S4 in for its first MOT, it "got lost" due to me saying that I'd take it away before they had washed it, though at 5 minutes before the workshop closed, I'm curious to know when they were going to fit that wash and vac in - all the workshop guys were walking past me as I was searching in the dark for my S4 - I think it was found a bit later where it had been left queuing for vac and wash - all I got at first was the key!

Why is sorting out the paperwork always a big time washer, don't these idiots know how to do it? They must be using turn key solutions for that.
 
warren_S3 said:
I've had my S3 serviced by APS in Brackley since new. They have won Audi Independent Service Centre of the year for 8 years on the trot (from Audi Driver magazine).

It's a 110 mile round trip for me but I don't care as they're brilliant. Dealer hasn't punished me for it as he knows what I think of his main dealer service centre (it's f*****g crap). He knows I obsess about my car, don't kerb the wheels, have it detailed annually and it always looks mint so he didn't bat an eyelid at part ex value time.

I'm astonished given the wealth of knowledge sharing and experiences the web has provided that some people still clammer for FASH. On three occasions they've failed to identify faults on my car and I've had to use the Indy network to resolve (at cost to me even when in warranty). I only got quotes to see how ridiculous they might be, and surprise they were.

I still think some people see FASH as a badge of honour (like saying they own coilies or a Milltek). I prefer to have my car serviced by enthusiasts rather than module fitters who struggle to diagnose faults that don't poll a code.

Edit: As I see it, my car deserves better than an Audi stamp
Click to expand...

Well my car from an Audi main dealer as a "Audi Approved" car complete with "sports exhaust" - ie Milltek, I didn't expect a non standard car to get sold by them.

Personally, my worry wrt FASH concerns any issues developing, like clutch release stuff, when just outside warranty - I hope that it never happens, but it looks like a lot of 6MT S4 are having issues - expensive issues. My local VW main dealer does offer "Audi servicing" which when looked at closely does not appear to be to strict Audi levels, which is a bit strange, luckily there is a good VAG indie about 40 miles away - he also gets VW/Audi Driver awards.
 
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