Advice required on service and maintenance

[the_boy]

First off I just want to say hello......hello!

I'm currently looking for something that's a bit quick but is also practical
Fast enough for me to enjoy but also big enough to get the dog in the boot

Cash is limited so I've been looking @ cars around 2000 / 2001 with approx 90, 000 miles on the clock for approx £18, 000 give or take.

I've done a bit of a search on here, read the buyers guide, searched the tyresmoke forum and even done a google but can't seem to pinpoint the information I'm looking for so am hoping someone can help.

I'll be taking the car to a local independant in Tyneside so I'm hoping for decent rates etc. Prestige German Cars based in South Shields, has anyone used them?

I'm looking for a service schedule for the B5 RS4. Are there different stages to the service and if so does anyone know the average costs?

Clutch - what is the average wear and price to replace? The buyers guide lists 25, 000 Miles but that can't be the norm can it
I've seen prices ranging from £800 to £1200

Gearbox - how long do they last on average and how much do they cost to replace?

Turbo - how long do they last on average and how much do they cost to replace?

Exhast / CATs - how long do they last on average and how much do they cost to replace?

Cambelt etc - listed as every 40, 000 miles and approx £1000 to complete. Does anyone know if this is Audi rates or Independant and is it still about the same price?

Disks and Pads - I've seen prices of about £1000, what's the standard wear and tear on the RS4 for these type of items?

Not sure if I have missed anything else major on the car? Failing that how much do people budget per year for the RS4?

I appreciate this is a long list but any help or advice on any of this would be great. A lot of the searches I am doing produce results for the new RS4 which obviously is out of my reach..

Thanks
the_boy

[Golich]

Don't worry about having to replace a gearbox and turbos unless they are fecked when you buy it. If you think like that you'll never stop worrying about it.

Its the Audi labour rates that really hurt not so much the parts for these cars. Just as I say a pair of turbos is approx £1500. Then you have to find someone to do the work.

I don't know about a gearbox but its unlikely you would need a completely new one. Bet on at least £1500 to £2K for the box alone.

I've heard of clutches going as early as 25K but its relative to the abuse they were getting. I've not heard of folk regularly changing clutches on either the S or RS. So I wouldn't get too worked up about that either.

The cambelt cost for approx £1K. Is stealer prices and includes a full service which is typically £400 but clearly depends on what needs replacing. If you go to a specialist they should be able to save you heaps. The actual parts are quite cheap. Its the bloody £80+/hr that racks up the bill!

Disks n pads I'm still on the orginal front disks at 67K miles 2nd set of pads. Both need replaced now.

I'm on the second set of rear disks n pads at approx 40K miles. But again it depends how hard people are on their cars. Mine has an easy life.

If you can do the work yourself I'm guessing I must spend around £1300 per year. That includes £750 of tyres and one major service by Audi other bits n bobs I do myself.

I am still on the orginal exhaust 6years old it still looks to have some life in it yet but I wouldn't bank on much more than another year. I had new CATs when a turbo seal went and possibly contaminated the CAT with oil. They didn't take any chances. That was 30K miles ago.

Basically you can't buy supercar perfromance cheaply, but relative to supercars they are very cheap to run. Bear in mind you are looking at a 6year old car.

[derdle]

Welcome!

Golich's post covers most things.

I bought mine at 44000 and now have 93000 on it. Original clutch, gearbox, exhausts. A turbo bearing went at 62000 and whole job done under warranty at a dealership - the final bill was just under £5k. In some ways it was lucky I had the warranty, without the warranty the work would have been done by an indy and maybe hybrids rather than stock turbos.

Yep cambelts at 40k. Most cars (I believe) are on long life servicing, but everyone suggests that you do the oil and filter every 5k or so.

Golich is lucky with dealership rates of £ 80/hr....I'm in a rural area just north of London and rates are close on the ton!

Never forget the RS4 is all but a supercar - albeit a very stealthy one!

Good luck in your search for your RS4 - and enjoy it when you get it.

Others will bne along shortly and maybe offer advice about an indy specialist in your area.

Paul

[the_boy]

Really appreciate the reponse. I was having a bit of a 'mare with the search facility trying to track any of this information down...

So what is the service schedule for the RS4?

Oil and filter change every 6000 miles
Does that mean it's a service every 12, 000
40, 000 is the cambelt and auxciallaries?

Cars in my price range are approx 90, 000 miles so a warranty would probably be best

[Golich]

The car came from the factory with the ability to tell you when it needed serviced. Depending on your driving habits, e.g. a lot of short trips requiring lots of stop starts high engine loads would induce the "service" indicator on the dash quicker than say a load of miles being done on the motorway at low engine loads.

In theory, under ideal conditions, say very low engine loads, I believe the car is capable of going for 20K miles without flagging up that it needs serviced.

Quite a few owners have opted out of this "variable" service option where the car's service ECU is simply switched to a fixed service interval. Typically 10 to 12K miles (I think). On top of that, as Paul said most of these very same owners change the oil and filter in between the 10K service at 5K miles.

The service intervals are split between a "Lubrication" service and a "full" service. However, they still have the same interval.

The "lubrication" service is simply the oil and filters and a basic check of the cars overall condition. Typically costs around £180 from my stealership. If it doesn't need anything.

The "full" service typically is the same as the "lubrication" service but the plugs are changed and depending on the age/milage the brakefluid will be changed out at approx £70-90 and the timing belt plus pulleys and advisably the water pump changed out every 40K which on its own is in the order of £600. Its labour rather than parts intensive as the whole front end of the car has to come off to access the timing belt, which the front end of the car is designed for. None the less with a labour rate of £80 to £100 it doesn't take many hours to rack up a £600 bill the parts are less than £100.

Buying an independent warranty, (e.g. Warranty Direct etc) is worth considering for your first year of ownership at approx £700-800 I think it is worth considering if you are unable to work on the car yourself.

Its worth noting that having owned and worked extensively on both my previous S4 and now RS4 for over 5years. From a mechanics perspetive (which I'm not to trade - but I do have a lot experience of working on all sorts of mechanical "things") there is nothing incredably complicated about these cars so you could quite comfortable hand this over to a GOOD mechanic that you are comfortable with. He would require knowledge of working VAGCOM and be prepared to read the factory manuals that can be downloaded from Audi's Erwin site. Look up Audi Erwin on Google.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.