whats up everyone?
i have a 2010 Audi B8 a4 2.0T quattro,my 25,000km maintenance service date is coming up,i didnt purchase the audicare, because i dont drive it a lot,i was just wondering is the 25,000km service really important?At dealer it costs around 300 cdn, i do my own oil/filter change every 7000km or so,i dont bring it to audi at all unless theres a problem.if anyone can help me out here,that would be great.


cheers

 

that info should be in your owners manual or maintenance manual. usually its just a bunch of checks and if needed, replacing some things. maybe fluid or tune up kind of service, but with only 25 000 k i would doubt it would need much yet.

 

Something you should confirm is whether you're putting your new car warranty at risk...my understanding is that to keep the car under warranty, you have to provide evidence that the scheduled maintenance has been performed which is easy if you take it to the dealer for servicing, but not sure how that would work if you're doing it yourself.

 

Will hit the nail on the head. If something goes wrong down the road, you can expect audi to fight your warranty claim if you can't prove that the maintenance has been done.

 

you can take your car to a smaller mechanic that your trust and the warranty is fine. people that pay dealer labour prices are a little slow.

 

Haha, you could be right on that point...I ended up buying the Audi Care package which means I have to take it to the dealer. The cost of $750 for the first 4 scheduled maintenance might be higher than if you took it to an independent for servicing, but with shuttle service thrown in by the dealer (and at least a little bit of peace of mind) it was worth it for me.

 

I know that technically, you should be able to keep the receipt proving that maintenance was done and your warranty should remain intact. However, if there is an issue down the road, it's pretty easy for audi to say "we think the other mechanic screwed up." In my opinion, the savings from going to an independent shop do not outweigh this risk. Consider the following:
The audi dealer in my city charges an hourly labour rate of $130/hr
The cheapest trustworthy independent shop that I'm aware of charges $110/hr.
For $20/hr, I'd just as soon have Audi do the work so that if anything goes wrong in the future, they don't have a way of voiding my warranty.
Don't get me wrong, I think there are great indy shops out there. I just don't trust that Audi won't screw me out of warranty coverage.

 

the smaller shop i work for can provide a ride to work or home and a pick up, and we also have loaner vehicles. like i said, you need to find a trusted small shop with this kind of service and its hard to find, i know. most people go to the dealer for peace of mind but you're getting raped.

 

wow, door rate in edmonton is so high. good thing im moving there in a month.

 

Just curious, Janz3n would you say that the $20/hr is also accurate for the GTA (more or less?)....just trying to figure out if I should keep your soon-to-be ex indy shop in my rolodex