Parts prices '10 plate Audi/BMW/Mercedes

[Andehh]

Morning guys, I am doing a presentation on the running costs/through life costs/best value for money of three cars. The cars being the new A4(2.0D SE), 3 series Saloon (318d), and C class (C200 blue eff SE). I am doing it over a 10 year/250,000 period to work out which offers the best value for money in the long term. The manufacturers don't tend to advertise these service parts prices online & i need to stick to main dealers for the cost side of things. As a result I was hoping Pistonheads might offer some assistance.

I need to price up brake discs, pads, brake fluid change, tyres and a few parts (clutchs etc?) which will need replacing a few times during the time period. Without being able to contact the dealers (project rules) for prices & it not being widely avaliable online I am fairly stuck.

As a result i turn it over to you. If any of you have had any of the above vehicles/near to to the models mentioned and have replaced any of the parts as part of a standard cycle/service I would be very very gratefull if you could let me know how much you were charged!

Many thanks in advance guys

[davethebunny]

not looked at this?:

http://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-with-a...

http://www.oceanbmw.com/service/value_service/

http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedking...

Edited by davethebunny on Friday 17th September 12:13

[Andehh]

Thanks for the link there, very useful & not quite sure why i didnt stumble accross them earlier. Found plenty on their service plans but couldnt find anything on the individual prices, clearly wasn't looking hard enough!

Any first hand reports would be welcomed as well!

Edited by Andehh on Friday 17th September 12:27

[HellDiver]

Why don't you call an Audi/BMW/whatever dealer? Ask for parts dept, and they'll give you prices.

[anonymous-user]

I'd be surprised if the whole life cost difference between those three cars was significant over 10 years / 250k miles

[Thorny]

HellDiver said:

Why don't you call an Audi/BMW/whatever dealer? Ask for parts dept, and they'll give you prices.

From OP's post:

"Without being able to contact the dealers (project rules) for prices & it not being widely avaliable online I am fairly stuck."

[homerjay]

As if they would give you prices without a name, address and reg

[Engineer1]

10 years servicing and life costs will be impossible to gauge with any real accuracy, If you are doing main dealer servicing at some point you will get discounts. On top of this though you will be starting to replace something that is none service so you may need to include the cost of an exhaust or suspension components for example.

Edited to add slacker, in 2 searches I have found Audi fixed price jobs list and servicing costs for a Merc. Besides this is BS as VAT changes and the length of time the vehicle is being priced over mean random jobs will pop up, why do you think people change new cars after 3 years?

Edited by Engineer1 on Saturday 18th September 10:28

[Rich_W]

Thorny said:

HellDiver said:

Why don't you call an Audi/BMW/whatever dealer? Ask for parts dept, and they'll give you prices.

From OP's post:

"Without being able to contact the dealers (project rules) for prices & it not being widely avaliable online I am fairly stuck."

If he's not allowed to get actual prices from the dealers he may just as well make it up. What a crap rule for a project

[2 Wycked]

Engineer1 said:

why do you think people change new cars after 3 years?

Because they're a bit daft.

[D900SP]

2 Wycked said:

Engineer1 said:

why do you think people change new cars after 3 years?

Because they're a bit daft.

No. Retail customers change cars once the initial warranty/extended factory runs out to avoid repair bills, or the lease runs out, or something amazingly new and exciting (new colour?)is introduced.

Business customers change vehicles for tax advantages.

For non-PetrolHeads, the adventure into owning (not on finance or lease)a luxury out-of-warranty car is a gamble that is not wanted in their life.

For run-of-the-mill cars, like Toyota or similar, it's just a payment, so why not replace with new?

[Beyond Rational]

D900SP said:

2 Wycked said:

Engineer1 said:

why do you think people change new cars after 3 years?

Because they're a bit daft.

No. Retail customers change cars once the initial warranty/extended factory runs out to avoid repair bills, or the lease runs out, or something amazingly new and exciting (new colour?)is introduced.

Business customers change vehicles for tax advantages.

For non-PetrolHeads, the adventure into owning (not on finance or lease)a luxury out-of-warranty car is a gamble that is not wanted in their life.

For run-of-the-mill cars, like Toyota or similar, it's just a payment, so why not replace with new?

Still pretty daft for a private buyer financially when you consider the value of the deprecation on every new purchase versus the possible expense of repairs on most mainstream cars.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Beyond Rational said:

Still pretty daft for a private buyer financially when you consider the value of the deprecation on every new purchase versus the possible expense of repairs on most mainstream cars.

Quite. Given most new cars lose half their value in the first 3 years your "old" car would have to suffer some truly savage repair bills in years 4 to 6 to get anywhere close.

IMO changing a new car every 3 years is a guaranteed route to expensive motoring. I'm not saying people shouldn't do it - i'm just saying it's expensive. Spending an extra 50% on a nicer new car and keeping it for 6 years is likely to win every time on the financial front. but not if you just want new metal on the drive to make you feel better or to impress the neighbours.

[mcford]

The franchise that we have got at work use a computerised menu pricing system. One of the options is to print off all the servicing costs upto around 10 years/100,000 miles.

The 'upmarket' badges may do this and you might get a better response with a visit to the dealers service department at a non busy time of day.

[Andehh]

Rich_W said:

Thorny said:

HellDiver said:

Why don't you call an Audi/BMW/whatever dealer? Ask for parts dept, and they'll give you prices.

From OP's post:

"Without being able to contact the dealers (project rules) for prices & it not being widely avaliable online I am fairly stuck."

If he's not allowed to get actual prices from the dealers he may just as well make it up. What a crap rule for a project

The fact is I'd be wasteing their time asking them to go through their lists of spares for me, when im only asking for a project. With the prices main dealers charger per hour, they would miss out on making a fortune for the 15mins they'd be on the phone to me!

I am struggling to find Mercedes individual part prices(ie brakes, pads, clutch etc) from a main dealer site? There are a few price plans/service plans avaliable but idealy im after individual prices. If you could provide a link or key words you used I'd be gratefull. Found a few from independants but nothing main dealery.

Edited by Andehh on Tuesday 21st September 08:46

[HellDiver]

Stupid project is stupid.

[sjg]

Whatcar.com have data on 3 year / 30k servicing costs and intervals. Without access to the manufacturers, you can extrapolate their data over that time - factoring in inflation and likely non-service jobs such as brakes, clutch, suspension.

Sites like http://www.brakeparts.co.uk/ and http://www.gsfcarparts.com/ can give you costs of most bits - if the model is too new, go with the nearest.

[Andehh]

Many Thanks sjg, never thought to use whatcar for the figures. Might have to artfully mention how vague the manufacturers are about specific pricing & use the whatcar data instead.

Edited by Andehh on Tuesday 21st September 09:18

[Dr G]

The Audi has a timing belt interval of 5 years of 75,000 miles ~£400

AVS 1 (>19k) ~£200

AVS 2 (>19k) ~£300

AVS1, AVS2, AVS1 etc etc...

Set of tyres should do 20k fronts 30k rears driven sensibly.

Again driven sensibly I'd expect the discs to do 40k, pads a bit less.

[lowdrag]

May be of no use, but I've owned my C class 10 years and to date, apart from servicing costs (never over £400 main dealer price here in France) the car has cost me not a lot. One aircon compressor (£900 incuding regassing), one set of new discs due to warping, one set of pads at the same time, two front springs, one leaking steering damper and that's it. Tyres last 25,000 miles and are cheap at £280 fitted the four. Fuel consumption averages 35mpg (220 CDi auto) in normal use and 25mpg when towing the trailer and D-type and oil consumption one litre every 12,000 miles. Cost new was £17,000 and worth perhaps £2,000 today. Unlike many stories I've heard, mine hasn't rusted at all. The mileage has just passed 120,000. Worth so little that I may as well keep it until it dies. Funnily enough, it gets more economical with time, the big change being after 80,000 miles when oil consumption ceased between services and she now averages 38mpg, mostly now that holidays are behind us on shortish journeys.

Looking at the average consumption of the new model, it's clearly more economical, but I've no idea on spare prices and logevity will have to be seen.