Service Costs??

[W8PMC]

Just booked the Beast into Preston Audi for her 2nd service which the DIS is saying needs doing in 500 miles (car will have covered 17500 miles at that point).

What is the cost others have experienced for a 2nd service? (noticed that Audi dealer prices differ heavily). What gets done at the 2nd service?

Also what mileage have others been DIS instructed to have the 2nd service done? I thought the standard on RS6's was every 10K miles, so not quite sure why my 2nd is due at 17500.

Cheers in advance.

[Kev.S]

I've recently had my second service, which cost £408 at Chester Audi I actually had this done before it was due, as I was about to go to France and was expecting to rack up a couple of thousand which would have put me over the limit. Mine shows fewer miles between services as I do a very short daily drive to work (3 miles), and as a result want at least an oil change every six months, although the service indicator seems to think 9 months is ok.

[W8PMC]

Cheers for that, but now i'm getting a little stressed out about this. I went into my local dealer on Saturday to confirm pricing after seeing your price of £408, saying that their £580 seemed a little excesive, so asked them to justify the amount by telling me what work was involved. They could not answer directly but siad they would call me back yesterday.

I get that call & they say that the total cost for parts & labour is £620 inclusive but as i was quoted £580, they will honour that price. Work that should be carried out in the 2nd service is plugs replaced (fairly pricey), all filters, fluids & various checks. What did throw me is they suggest having the timing belt checked at 20K miles & this costs £400 (shock horror), although it only needs replacing at 40K miles, so this seems very odd & why not just replace at 20K rather than paying £400 twice over, or just leave it to 40K mile service. As my car is modified, i'm worried that if i dont get it checked now & it fials at say 35K miles, then i'm looking at a huge multi 000's bill.

Can anyone shed any light on this?? I'm going to call Audi CS, as i'm more than a little worried about the rising costs & the story i'm being told.

[W8PMC]

Big help needed now.

Audi Customer Services have confirmed that the Timing Belt has to be checked at 20K miles at a cost of just over £400 & that this same item needs replacing at 40K miles & that will cost £1000.

If i don't have it checked at 20K miles & the item fails at say 35K miles, then my warrantly would be void & i'd face a potentially massive repair bill.

This seems more like an easy way for an Audi Dealer to remove £400 from my vice like grip & a total waste of time & money. If this is all true, then a Ferrari is technically far cheaper to maintain than an Audi RS6. How can a timing belt need checking at 20K miles.

Any advice gratefully received.

[wboard]

Try and find a tame service manager and bung him £100 to tick the relevant box!

[DavidT]

Strange, but the scheduled service intervals and the work required should be documented somewhere.

I first step may be to ask for these to be posted to you ?

[W8PMC]

Strange, but the scheduled service intervals and the work required should be documented somewhere.

I first step may be to ask for these to be posted to you ?

The service book does not mention a 20K mile check of the timing belt, but does mention the 40K change. According to Audi CS & i quote "Audi have the right to alter, add or remove any required items from the servicing schedule at any time". Bottom line is that a few (no idea how many is a few) RS6's have had timing belts go at between 30-40K miles, so to save them mucho money they now make it a requirement to have them checked at 20K mile service at the owners cost (robbing barstewards). To say i'm angry would be an understatement & having spoken to a pal with a Ferrari 360CS, the RS6 is now more expensive in servicing costs up to 80K miles than his car.

[W8PMC]

Try and find a tame service manager and bung him £100 to tick the relevant box!

A nice idea, but any such action would be bound to come back & haunt me to the tune of many thousands of £. I've got the dealer to reduce the labour charge on the timing belt check by 25% but still all in & including a brake fluid change, the overall bill will be just shy of a Grand at £982.00.

Only upside is that i'll be trotting around in the DP's A8 W12 for the day.

[DavidT]

Yikes. So if I have this right, the fact that they got their estimates wrong on belt life means that, without warning, all RS6 owners have to pay an extra £ 400 + VAT in servicing costs every 40k miles, starting at 20k miles ?

That stinks. It is no way to treat people who have paid £60k + for a car.

My view is that Audi should compromise, in the interests of good will at least, assuming the case against them is not arguable.

[W8PMC]

Yikes. So if I have this right, the fact that they got their estimates wrong on belt life means that, without warning, all RS6 owners have to pay an extra £ 400 + VAT in servicing costs every 40k miles, starting at 20k miles ?

That stinks. It is no way to treat people who have paid £60k + for a car.

My view is that Audi should compromise, in the interests of good will at least, assuming the case against them is not arguable.

In a nutshell, YES.

This now means that a 10K service is about £300, 20K service £900 (includes timing belt check), 30K service about £300 (but if 2yrs old then a brake fluid change at £85 is also needed), 40K service about £1400 (includes timing belt change), then back to the starting point as of 10K service.

So over 40,000 miles the running costs (excluding fuel, tax & insurance) are almost £3000 in services, £2000 for tyres & almost £1000 in brake pads (both tyres & pads depend on driving style but defo 2 sets of rubber in 40K miles & 2 sets of pads, unless you drive like a girl ).

Me thinks £6000 in regular running costs, excluding fuel, tax & insurance, makes the RS6 one of the most expensive cars in the world to run.

[DrB]

Your conversation is scaring me!

I have just phoned Specialist Car Audi in Aberdeen to ask how much a 20000 miles service would be and they said £385 + VAT. No timing belt mentioned. I then phone Glasgow Audi the largest garage in Europe and they quoted me £325 including VAT. They said nothing about timing belt but did mention at 40000 the service would be around £425 and the timing belt would be changed (did not give a price for that).

I don't think we should make too big a deal about this. I think the best option might be to try a differenent dealer. Phone around.

Mark

[Mog]

Won't Audi just say crap your car is modded and you don't have engine warranty anyway.

Mog

[wboard]

Could be getting out of my depth here but how would they know a belt at 20k isn't going to last to 40k? what are they checking for ? Might as well just change it at 20k and be super safe.

[DavidT]

The thing about warranties and mods is that the provider (manufacturer/dealer/third party) must be sure beyond reasonable doubt that a (the) failure is a result of the mods, otherwise, they must honour the terms of the warranty, even if the stated terms of said warranty exlcude mods.

Obviously the provider does not commence discussions about any claim on this basis though.

[W8PMC]

Your conversation is scaring me!

I have just phoned Specialist Car Audi in Aberdeen to ask how much a 20000 miles service would be and they said £385 + VAT. No timing belt mentioned. I then phone Glasgow Audi the largest garage in Europe and they quoted me £325 including VAT. They said nothing about timing belt but did mention at 40000 the service would be around £425 and the timing belt would be changed (did not give a price for that).

I don't think we should make too big a deal about this. I think the best option might be to try a differenent dealer. Phone around.

Mark

Mark, sorry to scare you, but i received the revised servicing information directly from Audi Customer Services. According to them, the service schedule on on RS6 has changed by adding this 20K timing belt check. All Audi dealers should be aware of this, however my local dealer had to dig deep to find the information & have is verified by Audi CS. If you went to a more naive dealer who was not aware, as per your quotes from Glasgow & Aberdeen, then you may run the risk, although if they did not do work they were meant to, you could argue its the dealers fault.

I'm angry as hell basically & can't believe how expensive this car is to maintain.