Which dealer lets you supply own oil

[sonny]

That is rather annoying, at one point all dealerships was happy with us supplying out own oil, but one by one they are all changing there protocol. But they should have at least kept to their word. I use them a lot and have no dramas (I drive from Kent) maybe times are changing.

[Ian_C]

That sucks. Yes, I guess they do play roulette - dealers would rather you DON'T supply your own oil as they still make a killing if they supply it - even at a discounted rate.

March 2012, spoke to dealer who was happy to let me supply my own oil. However I managed to negotiate a superb 'all in' deal where they supplied. As above, they still make a killing at a discounted rate - especially with 9 litres! They said (over the phone) the deal was so good they wouldn't be able to give me a break down, but the service invoice states 12.50 + vat a litre. I got them to confirm they used Castrol - they even wrote Castrol Edge 5-30 on the invoice.

I'm doing 5k a year, so I've decided to have AVS every 2 years (10k) as per Audis schedule, plus an additional oil change every year, hence fresh oil every 5000 miles / 12 months.

March 2013, spoke to Audi dealer again about supplying oil myself only to be quoted a loony price for oil change labour only - 1.6 hours!! Tried to negotiate them down but they said it was a fixed time. A cynic might say this suggests they don't want the customer to supply their own oil.

Its not like they were trying to persuade me to have a full service rather than oil change only - Audi don't mind doing oil only services - I've booked in the Sportback for April at same dealer for 159 (plus 59 BFS) for inspection oil change as part of the fixed price service plan for sub 2.0 engines

So I had S4 oil change at TT Shop last Friday 1st March. Got a blinding deal on 20 litres of Castrol from Opie

[54Kab]

- booked my RS4 in with Poole Audi for 22 March. Asked about supplying my own oil and after a hesitation was told "we use Castrol Edge Professional" -Luckily, that's what I've got.

You could say they are protecting themselves against putting in lower-spec oil, not just the reduced income (?)

(the difference in the operating temperatures between Castrol Edge and Castrol Edge Professional are enough for me to seek-out the better stuff..)

[jobbys]

Amersham Audi did put up the argument of protecting themselves from "parts" from an unknown source. I don't find it convincing considering I was providing sealed bottles of Edge.

Both "normal" Edge and Professional Edge meet the specs for an RS4 set by Audi. My understanding is the biggest difference is the professional variant has fluorescent additive, so you can check it's genuine stuff by getting it to glow under a UV light. If we take this to extremes they could insist on using only dealer provided petrol.

With a bit more time on my hands at moment, I've pushed this further by complaining of poor customer service to Jardine Motor Group (who run Audi Amersham). To be clear although I think each dealership is well within their rights to not accept customer oil (though I believe their primary reason is profit), but it's not acceptable to agree to accept customer oil at time of booking and then change their minds just before the service.

[DuncanF]

Had mine serviced (longlife at 53k miles) this week having rung both Watford and Amersham Audi. Watford said from outset they wouldn't allow me to supply own oil, whereas Amersham said yes. So booked in with Amersham ( double checking they would accept my oil with price reduction of £160) and ordered oil through amazon marketplace (Europarts) at £32 per 4l bottle Castrol Edge.

I never had that trouble with Watford. Mind you I didn't give them much choice in the matter. On the day of the service I delivered the car and told them I had supplied the oil which they could find in the boot. No debate, no disucssion!

[Surrey Sam]

Well, I've been phoning around today to get an idea on price for my new aquisition and found that

• Audi - Five Oaks (Harwoods)
  Audi - Crawley/Gatwick (Inchcape)

both were happy to quote me for an Oil inspection service, where I'd be providing the oil. The more rural the dealers are, the cheaper the labour cost is too I've found.