My S4 thread

[Keef]

To be honest I just try and ignore it now lol

 

[scotty76]

So on the way home last night I saw something that I'm sure I read on here doesn't happen! After a spirited bit of driving I settled down for the last few miles home at a sedate cruise. The DIS "miles until empty" went up! It had been showing 55 miles left but rose to 60 miles. I'd been led to believe it never goes up.

2 year service is due in June. My car is supposed to be on "Fixed" rather than Long Life but was wrongly reset to Long Life last year. The service computers are now showing a random selection of dates:

Next oil change:
6100 miles / 181 days

Next service:
8300 miles / 27 days

Neither date is correct. The Audi website says: "Inspection service:Fixed to every 19,000 miles*/ 2 years" as my car was brand new in June 2014 and has only done 10775 miles the Inspection should not be due until June 2016. Oil change was done June 2015 and on Fixed should be due in June 2016.

I asked Audi about it and got this (which I don't believe - might be true for oil change but not Inspection)...

"The service indicator might be displaying a slightly earlier date due to driving style. For example, if you do a lot of stop/start driving, as opposed to motorway driving, this can impact the service light, along with the mileage and vehicle age that you’ve mentioned."

I'm planning to have both services done in June and the counters reset to the correct regime! And here are the quotes so far (are you sitting down)...

Basingstoke Audi: £439.18
Reading Audi: £474.79

Cue the usual discussion about price match, taking to an indie as won't affect the warranty, supplying your own oil (sorry @Keef) etc etc.

I'll be taking it to Audi and grimacing whilst I hand over the money! Once this car is out of warranty then it won't be back at Audi but until then I'm on the maximum warranty preservation plan.

 

[Hear-Vier]

Good work on the DIS range improvement, I've never seen that on mine but it did go up sometimes on my old B5, other than when it hit 30 miles remaining - it never went up after hitting that.

Horrendous prices for what should be a straightforward service seeing the car is still fairly new. I'm facing a similar thing, took delivery in September '14 and opted to have the fixed oil change service last June at 9,000 miles. So the indicator says oil change beginning of June (as I've done <<9,000 miles since the last one) then the inspection in September. Would prefer to do it all at once to reduce the chances of the car being written off while it's at the dealer!

 

[Rich M]

Basingstoke Audi: £439.18
Reading Audi: £474.79

Thanks for the heads up. Mine is in for 2nd service next month will see what price my dealer comes up with. Like you I will be using main dealer until out of warrenty at which point I will use independent tuning specialists

 

[Dippy]

I have seen the DIS miles remaining go up on both my B5 and my B8, but indeed it was only during a period of very economical driving following a period of very uneconomical driving.

I asked the guy at Audi Basingstoke about the way the service advice works and he gave me a very vague and unconvincing answer proving that he has no idea. To me it's no problem as I choose to be on fixed interval servicing but I will leave the MMI as-is for reference.

Its nice to know that Basingstoke is cheaper than Reading as I shall return there next year and that gives extra justification to my decision.

 

[scotty76]

Newbury Audi: £360.86

interesting. I got them to double check it without saying "are you sure?" But the price stands.

 

[Keef]

£360 doesn't sound too bad (doesn't sound great either but ya know)
I'm due an oil and first inspection soon - think I had my oil done at around the same sort of time you did last year, at 9k I think. My car was set up on fixed from day one, I'm on 17.5k miles - service indicator says next oil 1200/53 days. Next inspection 1700/30 days, so generally on track for 19k. Will be phoning round for prices in the next week or so. I'm sure my oil service last year was £184 abd at the time the inspection was an extra £150.

.........have you considered supplying you own oil??

 

[scotty76]

I've booked it @Keef . I double checked it with them and frankly I'd rather save the £80. If they muck me about I'll be digging out the email that confirmed the price. Newbury wouldn't have been my first choice but this level of servicing isn't rocket science.

 

[Locoblade]

Has anyone had any luck persuading Basingstoke to let you supply your own oil for a service? They're easiest for me as they're quite close to work but I was told it was Lookers policy to not let customers supply their own oil which is a pain. Because of that I ended up getting mine serviced at Snows in Portsmouth having bought 7L of Mobil 1 ESP 5w30 from Opie Oils for about £45 beforehand. Given most dealers around here seem to charge ~£22 per litre for the 7L of oil an S4 needs, supplying your own gives a significant saving so it's worth hunting around.

 

[Chop.]

Please excuse my ignorance if I'm wrong but I do all my own servicing etc so have never really paid much attention to this

Is fixed servicing not just a date picked by yourself or Audi regardless of millage and not an actual setting on the mmi therefore the service clock will always run and adjust due to driving style but would always be rest as a fixed service would be due sooner the whole point of doing a fixed service

So your dates and millage would never match as a fixed service is just a millage you've decided to go in at

Hope that makes sense

 

[scotty76]

Hi @Chop. you're correct on fixed there is a mileage element which is 9000 miles but I never do that in a year. Last service I'd done 4k miles. Basically what I want is annual oil changes as I don't like flexible and possibly 2 years between changes.

VW more accurately call this "time and distance".

Have a look at:

https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-maintenance-mot/servicing-your-audi.html

 

[Locoblade]

As I think I said in another thread, what I'm doing with the wife's new Leon that does ~10k a year is leaving it on variable (~20k servicing) but doing interim oil changes myself. To me thats the best of both worlds getting an oil change each year with the higher spec longlife oil and keeps full dealer history plus its cheaper and it doesn't have to visit the dealers so often.

My S4 is already on fixed so not an option there but given my mileage it will get a service every 9-10 months or so anyway.

 

[Chop.]

@scotty76

4K miles nice job she'll been purring like a kitten for years at that rate

Yeh I think 2 years is mental far too long even with low millage in my opinion

Every year does me but I don't do much millage either

 

[scotty76]

@Locoblade I think that's what I should have done. Left it on long life and got the annual change done at my local indie. Ho hum. Will stick with it now.

 

[jdp1962]

Mine left the dealer on variable service setting because I forgot to ask them to switch it to fixed interval. So I'll do something similar to @Locoblade and change the oil and filter in between times. I won't do it myself though, I'll get my local indie to do it. I no longer feel confident doing even the most basic stuff.

 

[Dippy]

@scotty76 let us know how it goes at Newbury. I'm sure I used them once or twice for my B5 but can't remember much except that it 'felt' like Basingstoke gave a better service. Of course that was years ago when I cared about FASH for my B5 and have used an indie (MDMTechnik who are excellent BTW) for the last 5+ years. I used Basingstoke for my first S5 service last week and they were very good - couldn't fault anything. But if Newbury are as good and are cheaper...

@Locoblade - Basingstoke charged me £95.20+VAT for the Shell Helix Ultra that they used, although on the invoice it is shown as 6.8 litres at £17.50+VAT per litre. So unless they made a mistake they are cheaper than you think (although not as cheap as buying your own oil of course).

 

[Locoblade]

Thats £21 a litre so I wasn't far off haha, a £70 difference in what I paid

[USER=105817]@Locoblade - Basingstoke charged me £95.20+VAT for the Shell Helix Ultra that they used, although on the invoice it is shown as 6.8 litres at £17.50+VAT per litre. So unless they made a mistake they are cheaper than you think (although not as cheap as buying your own oil of course).[/USER]

 

[Dippy]

Sorry @Locoblade , maybe I should have added the detail. They charged me £95.20+VAT for 6.8 litres which is £14+VAT or £16.80 including VAT. So its further from the £21 that you were quoted. But you still paid less by buying your own.

 

[Locoblade]

Ah OK, you confused us with the "£17.50+VAT per litre" line in your original post

Seems odd though, they definitely quoted me over £20 per litre just before Christmas.

 

[Dippy]

Either they made a mistake on my invoice or there's a discount that they didn't state.

 

[Keef]

@scotty76 have you had your oil & inspection service yet??

Just been phoning round for quotes, my local dealers (listers group) started at £394 but offered me 10% off! But they kept saying long life oil service even though I mentioned my cars on fixed! They have just called back and said they quoted wrong and it should be £324 and which point I asked for the 10% so it's now £292 - £50 of that seems to be for the pollen filter!?
Have a few more calls to make but don't think I'll get it cheaper

 

[scotty76]

@Keef not yet. Booked for 6th June. You really are the master of the good servicing quote.

Mine will be about two weeks overdue according to the incorrect dash display but one dealer told me you have 30 days grace. So I split the difference.

Just wondering whether to have a year 2 detail, wait until winter or hang on until the coating is gone. I've got a random rear bumper scuff that's annoying me but only visible when clean. Can't work it out. Can't be another car as would be more severe. Might be a bush scratch but my OCD means I stay out of prickly parking spaces.

 

[Keef]

What worries me is how there can be such a big cost difference between an inspection and oil on long life and fixed servicing!? Either way I'm not gong to complain (too much) as the price seems good.

I haven't really thought much about my car and what to do next year but I would happily have the coating reapplied if I keep it. I'm right with you on the OCD

 

[scotty76]

So here's a funny thing. I've been running Texaco bog standard unleaded for a few weeks and am now getting nearer to 300 miles before I fill up. I was using Shell standard unleaded. I usually fill up at approx 70 miles left on the DIS. Not sure why the S4 loves it but it does.

 

[Hear-Vier]

So here's a funny thing. I've been running Texaco bog standard unleaded for a few weeks and am now getting nearer to 300 miles before I fill up. I was using Shell standard unleaded. I usually fill up at approx 70 miles left on the DIS. Not sure why the S4 loves it but it does.

Maybe it's a combination of the milder spring weather and your recent higher commuting mileage? Less time to warm up and steady commuting miles.

In other news I've been quoted an astonishing £505 to £475 for a combined 2 year inspection and oil change.

 

[xpoweruk]

My MPG is on the up since the warmer weather has come.
Same fuel as always (Momentum 99)

 

[scotty76]

Maybe it's a combination of the milder spring weather and your recent higher commuting mileage? Less time to warm up and steady commuting miles.

In other news I've been quoted an astonishing £505 to £475 for a combined 2 year inspection and oil change.

Yeah could be the warmer weather. Have been doing the commute since November.

As regards the servicing quotes, it's depressing isn't it? My local indie charges us about £120 to service our VW Jetta which seems more like it. Roll on the end of warranty!

 

[scotty76]

So today was service day, a day I always dread for a multitude of reasons. The car is 3 days off 2 years old and has 11,800 miles on the clock. For those who like a good tyre thread you might like to know the factory fit Pirelli P7s have 3.8mm left on the front and 5.3mm on the back.

The winning entry this year was Newbury Audi at about £80 cheaper than the other dealers. The good: they didn't wash it (yay), I know this as it's now covered in water marks so was obviously parked near the wash bay (sigh). The service indicators now appear to be correctly set. The less good: they've filled it with Magnatec 5w40. This according to the manual is appropriate for annual / 9k servicing (it's VW 502.00/505.00) so will be OK for me but haven't seen anything other than 5w30 for years. This may go some way to explain the lower cost but hang on a moment.... they also changed the air filter and spark plugs.... at 2 years old and 11k miles. Why?! The book has air filter as 57k miles. The spark plugs are 57k miles or 6 years. I know it won't do any harm but WTF?! All in all a very weird looking invoice and this is exactly the issue I have with FASH being the gold standard. You just don't get the feeling they know what they are doing. Roll on post warranty and my local indies.

Finally the coolant system was checked again as the level had dropped though I'd say has now been stable for months. None the less I thought it worth adding to the paper trail on this again.

 

[Keef]

I also survived the experience!
No spark plugs for me luckily, just a note saying brake fluid in 11 months.
I got Mobil super 3000 FV which sounds about right
The price was actually £4 cheaper than the quote, £288
Car not washed, but I had forgot they are building an extension to the show room
So it was chaos, with no service parking.

...not sure why we have different air filters!?

 

[Hear-Vier]

Interesting reading. Mine's being done next week, a few days overdue now with the dash pinging 'service due' every time I fire it up or turn it off. But as it's still three months shy of 2 years old not worried about being a little late for the fixed oil change.

Have already agreed the parts as I went down the Audi price match route with a quote from my local indie. This was fairly fuss free to arrange but interesting to see what happens as it's two thirds less pricey than the first Audi quotes.

Your tyre wear @scotty76 is showing only one tyre as being 1.5mm less than the others, the rest exactly the same, maybe this was a mistake? Thought these wear tyres fairly evenly and that sort of difference in circumference might upset the quattro computer.

 

[scotty76]

Your tyre wear @scotty76 is showing only one tyre as being 1.5mm less than the others, the rest exactly the same, maybe this was a mistake? Thought these wear tyres fairly evenly and that sort of difference in circumference might upset the quattro computer.

No it's correct. I hit a metal bollard and trashed the left front tyre. I was surprised the tread difference was as much as that as it happened early on in the car's life. When the right front wears down I'll replace them as a matching pair.

Shark bite: My S4 thread

 

[jdp1962]

I also survived the experience!
No spark plugs for me luckily, just a note saying brake fluid in 11 months.
I got Mobil super 3000 FV which sounds about right
The price was actually £4 cheaper than the quote, £288
Car not washed, but I had forgot they are building an extension to the show room
So it was chaos, with no service parking.

...not sure why we have different air filters!?
View attachment 93461

@Keef, which dealer is that? I only ask because my local dealer, Bexley Audi, is building a mahoosive extension right now. It could just be a coincidence, or we could be neighbours.

 

[Keef]

@jdp1962
Listers Audi, Stratford upon Avon.
Could be neighbours! Only 150 miles in it no time at all in the S4

Goes to show, the stealers are making way too much money off us!

 

[Dippy]

The less good: they've filled it with Magnatec 5w40. This according to the manual is appropriate for annual / 9k servicing (it's VW 502.00/505.00) so will be OK for me but haven't seen anything other than 5w30 for years.

Given the choice I'd have xW40 in my S5. I'm not even sure what is in it. When I asked the service guy at Audi Basingstoke he said they used 5w30 but my invoice just states Shell Helix Ultra with no weight specified. Of course all the oil comes from a big tank somewhere so it is quite possible (likely even?) that the oil is no longer 'pure'.

I'm a bit surprised that they changed your plugs & air filter and it makes me nervous about Audi Newbury that they did it without telling you first. I'll remember this when it comes to booking next year and I might be inclined to go back to Basingstoke even if they are more expensive.

In an ideal world I'll not be going to an Audi dealer at all for my 2nd year service but back to MDM Technik on account of the fact that I'll have an MRC stage 2 and so FASH becomes a bit pointless (for me). Then I could be very sure of what is done and with what level of skill, and I would definitely have xW40 in the engine, probably Mobil1. However I am slowly losing faith that MRC or anyone else will ever provide a package for this CREC engine and am starting to wonder if I will be looking at a B9 RS4 or RS5 in a couple of years.

 

[scotty76]

So I've been chatting to the dealer about this today. They've confirmed that the oil is suitable for fixed/annual servicing. I'm not worried about this just wanted to double check it.

@Dippy as for the mystery of the spark plugs and air filter, the call centre are to blame. They quoted for the correct service but then wrote major service on the job sheet. The technicians just did as the job sheet said! The service I received should have cost £620 (ouch) but it's their error. I suspect the service manager was off to have words with the call centre staff. He's been very helpful in answering my queries and getting to the bottom of what happened albeit a painful outcome for them. So I feel more positive today. Just a case of Hanlon's razor!

 

[RyanJonS4]

So I've been chatting to the dealer about this today. They've confirmed that the oil is suitable for fixed/annual servicing. I'm not worried about this just wanted to double check it.

@Dippy as for the mystery of the spark plugs and air filter, the call centre are to blame. They quoted for the correct service but then wrote major service on the job sheet. The technicians just did as the job sheet said! The service I received should have cost £620 (ouch) but it's their error. I suspect the service manager was off to have words with the call centre staff. He's been very helpful in answering my queries and getting to the bottom of what happened albeit a painful outcome for them. So I feel more positive today. Just a case of Hanlon's razor!

Sounds like you had a bit of a result there then. I personally wouldn't want to leave the spark plugs and air filter as long as Audi say you can do and have always changed them every other year as it can't do any harm, getting them for free is a bonus!

 

[Keef]

Ok so I remembered to check my service indicator okay - miles look ok but not sure what's going on with the days!?

 

[jdp1962]

Just a case of Hanlon's razor!

Never attribute to malice that which can be sufficiently explained by stupidity. Love it!


(And I love that I didn't have to google that, either. )

 

[scotty76]

Ok so I remembered to check my service indicator okay - miles look ok but not sure what's going on with the days!?
View attachment 93538

Keep an eye on it. That looks like the kind of thing I had last year.

 

[scotty76]

@Keef here's last year's random computer stats...

My S4 thread