Main dealer servicing, surely not worth continuing is it?

SDHA4SLine

SDHA4SLine

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Hi,

Looking for a bit of reassurance that I'm doing the right thing here...

Car in question is 2006 A4 B7 Avant 2.0tdi (brd 170) 90k on clock, two previous owners, all servicing and repairs religiously completed at the same audi main dealer.

I was going to alternate my servicing between main dealer and independent vag specialist every 6k miles but only have book stamped by the dealer. My thought was to keep main dealer servicing at every 12k to keep the dealer service history in tact. I was originally thinking this may appeal to buyers when selling in a few years and may help with the small possibility of getting some good will payments from dealer should the excrement hit the fan in some way.

Repairs that I've had done have been and will continue to be done at Indy.

It's due the dealer service now but I'm not sure I want to pay the extra £60 as the likelihood of me getting anything out of audi in the event of a disaster is slim to none for a car my age even with full history. As for selling, It won't add value will it? Maybe it'll make it more attractive to buy Im not sure?

So I guess to save £60 (£110 on major service) every 12k should I just forget dealer service?

I must admit I did look for full dealer service history when buying this but what's your opinions please?

Regards
Steve
 
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To the knowledegable, servicing by an independent VAG specialist makes good sense cashwise, and some of the specialists are better at resolving problems than the main dealers. I for one would happily buy a car without full main dealer history as long as the car has been cared for and is usually obvious to a prospective buyer who has an inkling for what is a good and what is bad.
Some of Joe Public will blindly buy only Main dealer history cars whatever. I've seen rather tatty main dealer history cars just recently when looking for my S4 and at £1000 more than what I bought mine for.
All in all I feel you'll not regret keeping up main dealer servicing when it comes to selling your car, you'll be quids in for years to come if you keep the car.
 
this is another one of those really tricky ones to be honest, its true that a full an upto date main dealer service looks better when resale is required etc but only if the buyer is looking for a full dealer service history, and as we know, if youre in the know a full dealer service history is not allways worth the paper its stamped on.
A full dealer service history does have its plus and negative points and i supose you really need to weight up if you are going to benafit from its pros which are not that many .
If i was in your shoes i'd go indy now, and one thats got a good history of working on audi etc as that can be the best option.
I mean, look at my previous situation, one prev owner 29k miles and full main dealer service history, and look at what happened to me.
good luck with which ever route you go with you're bound to choose the right one.
 
Soot1. Thanks for the reply, sorry for being a bit dumb here but not quite understanding if you think I should or should not bother main dealer history from your last sentence?

Though I'm assuming by the 1st part of your reply you think maybe not bother?
 
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Chees rob, I really am undecided tbh. I suppose yearly it's a drop In the ocean compared to the outlay I've had on this car so far. Just I hate paying dealer premiums. On the other hand the dealer is just two or three minutes walk from work as opposed to midland vw ( my preferred Indy) who's 40mins from my work and about an hour and twenty from home:eek: so essentially unless they can fit me in on a weekend it's a day off work each visit
 
do you get a free loan car when it goes to audi dealer and indy , sometimes just the fact that audi will give you a loan car will swing a descision when it comes to servicing, one could argue that if you get a free loan car for the day from audi then that justifies the higher service bill etc, horses for course in the end.

What i will say in audi's favour on servicing and warranty issues etc is that they have allways supplied me with a decent loan car, and not just a silly little runaround thing, smallest i have had has been an A4 B8 sline avant, and i doubt many indy gargares would have supplied me the A6 allroad for 3 weeks free of charge even if it was a warranty issue.

its a tough call chap, i doubt very much having a full service beyond where you're at now is going to make any difference on its resale value now, other factors also come into play aswell which make staying with a main dealer less of an attractive proposition.
 
They do have loan cars but only little joke cars, plus if I want to use one I need to sort my own insurance which costs me an admin fee each time. So that's why I just tend to sit and wait for it. That's just bought the difference down by £15, hmmm maybe I should just pay the extra £45 and save a days holiday this time :jester:
 
Steve, it's a difficult one to give a definitive answer on, of course there are many factors to consider, and certainly in your case, convenience is one taking into account of your last post. As Rob says, main dealer history does carry a degree of kudos in the eyes of a buyer if / when you come to sell your car, but isn't always a guarantee of a faultless motor as Robs experiences just prove. However, to the savvy knowledgable buyer a specialist independent is just as desirable. I understand Midland VW have a good reputation, I've spoken to Jody about a question with mine, ( they did some work on it before I bought it ! ) he was both helpful and knowledgable , so for me I'd have no issue in accepting any work they completed as on par with any main dealer .
But when it comes to the convenience factor there's a lot to be said for Bham Audi being right on your door step
 
Servicing is the easiest job on these,and main dealers love it because they get £200 for 30 minutes work.
Buy a vacuum oil pump learn how to do it yourself and save £150 each time.
It can all be done from the top mostly ,and just get the specialist to do anything underneath.
No wonder main dealers don't want anything else.
 
You know what I think I'm just going to knock audi services on the head, that £50 ish is an hours labour at midland vw, I could get them to spend that hours labour doing a little investigation into the blue exhaust smoke issue I have:)
 
Just keep all your oil and filter receipts and only buy when the service is done 5 liter at a time.
And just mark the book up yourself.
 
I took a vw Passat in to vw for free recall on injectors ,I wasn't impressed.wanted to replace a brand new can belt,top up 3/4 full oil for 17.50 and loads of other money making jobs got declined, but failed to notice the cracked windscreen that they probably farm out and make no money on.
 
Yes mate, don't bother about the main dealer servicing, the longer you keep the car from now on the more you'll save. The difference in sale value with or without main dealer servicing will be minimal from now on. Even go one better and service it yourself as I do, keep the parts invoices and date/sign the service book. At least a buyer can see you've taken care of your car.
 
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Main dealer history is not forced to raise the value but quite possibly the saleability. But with everything you've done (so far) to your car Steve, that will improve the saleability a lot more than dealer/indy history especially when it's full history anyway.
 
We were having exactly this discussion just last week haha :)

The question you have to ask yourself is that will the extra you spend on main dealer servicing throughout the lifetime of your car be replicated in the value you can add to the car by being able to sell it with a main dealer FSH?

For example, if you keep your car for 4 years, and spend an extra thousand pounds across that period (sorry - I just pulled that number out the sky, don't hold me to it!), will that extra grand be representative of the extra value you can sell your car for?

For me....... I'd rather go and see a car and be presented with a folder full of receipts and invoices and whatnot rather than a book with a stamp in it. My car hasn't been near a main dealer for a service since I bought it - but its been maintained well in excess of what's stated in the service schedule and the pile of receipts I have tucked away show that better than a stamp in a book does :)
 
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audi upgrades
Thanks all that have commented, I doubt I'll be going as far as servicing it myself but I've now made my mind up its false economy having main dealer servicing.

Regards
Steve
 
Not worth it, especially not on an old B7.

I've self serviced pretty much every VAG car I've owned over the last 14/15 years. Never had an issue selling, you get the odd Derek/Colin types who wants to see all the stamps in the book and are completely blinkered. So long as you can back up your claim with receipts sensible buyers are usually happy.

The only reason I can see for main dealer servicing is if you have any warranty remaining on the car.
 
Well having your car fixed under warranty by audi has it perks... This goes like stink;)
Image
 
It's a diesel unfortunately, but a ****** nippy one. It totally took me by surprise and I don't know what size it is but it feels far bigger than a 2.0.

Not sure why I seem to here so many bad things about semi auto gearboxes as this one is fantastic select a gear with the flappy paddles and it's instant no delay that I noticed.
 
SDHA4SLine said:
It's a diesel unfortunately, but a ****** nippy one. It totally took me by surprise and I don't know what size it is but it feels far bigger than a 2.0.

Not sure why I seem to here so many bad things about semi auto gearboxes as this one is fantastic select a gear with the flappy paddles and it's instant no delay that I noticed.
Click to expand...
Newer auto are much better than previous efforts....ad still go manual if it was my own cash right enough! Back to your original thread....I think it's academic after the 3 or 5 year warranty is up or if your car has done stellar mileage. As long as there plenty of hustory and everything matches up It wouldn't put me off if it wasn't an official VAG stamp in there. Not sure if its the same in the UK but up here every bit of work from pre delivery check to windsreen washer fluid that has been done on your VAG car is registered on the mainframe service computer system, so as long as it has been done at a VAG dealer all warranty and service work is on there. Handy if you know someone in tbe service department at your local VAG dealer when your shopping for a used Audi hehehe. Plus side I guess of having official stamps in the book.

BR
A
 
gary_tfsi_quattro said:
Looks nice Steve, which engine ?

Neighbours will think you've won the pools ;)
Click to expand...

Just took it back and discovered its the 240hp 3.0 litre, that explains grunt then:p Think I'm going to be disappointed when I drive home in mine tonight :(
 
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I get mine dealer serviced but also have the extended warranty, which over the last few years has more than paid for itself and probably covered the extra cost of dealer servicing. Its had 2 DMF's and the balancer shaft / oil pump done and a few other minor things all under warranty for a £250 excess.
I reckon that's around £3k+ of work for around £1500 of warranty payments.

Doesn't your local dealer do a call and collect service? It will save you taking time off work and the hassle of taking there, they can pick it up from where you work and bring it back when its done.
 
audi upgrades
My local dealer is not an issue for dropping it off as they're a few mins walk from my work, the indy on the other hand is now where near either my work or home. No warranty left whatsoever on mine now.
 
I've been having the same dilemma about my 2008 B7.
There's not much chance that I'll be benefitting from any goodwill from the dealers so in that respect it's not worth keeping up the dealer history but at the same time it might look a little better from a resale point of view.

I was thinking about changing the car this year but now I've pretty much decided to keep it I think i'll go with either the VAG Indy route or just start servicing it myself.
 
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