B8 RS4 1st Oil Change Cost

[andrewt1982]

Does anyone have any rough costs for an oil change on an RS4 - i've just spoken to my local dealer who have quoted circa £100 for labour, £250 for parts (oil and a filter?)... Sounded quite pricey for some oil and a filter??

Any one else had any significantly different quotes? I'm in Kent if it makes any difference...

Edited by andrewt1982 on Monday 2nd February 20:24

[RC Developments]

Labour should be no more than £60 for a simple oil and filter change on an RS4 but you are probably being quoted for a minimum 1 hour labour fee at dealerships

[Rich_W]

https://www.audi.co.uk/content/audi/owners-area/se...

£189 from the look of it. Over 2 litres. Interim Service

[Tame Technician]

I cant remember exactly how much oil is in the RS4 but its somthing like 9 or 10 litres.

Most dealerships charge £12 - £15 for a litre of oil.

So lets call that 10 x £14 a litre or £140 + VAT

Labour rates vary but will be a minimum of £100 an hour, maybe £150 in London.

You get about 0.7 hours for an oil and filter change.

So @ average £125/hr thats £87.50+ vat

Oil filter and sump plug washer £20 +vat

Should be arround £247.50 + Vat = £297 all in


There is no such thing as minimum 1 hour charge, no dealer in the world will change the oil on an RS4 for £60, sorry.


If you want the best price ask them to break it down like I have, ring round a few dealers, compare labour rates and costs of oil per litre.

[Tame Technician]

Rich_W said:

https://www.audi.co.uk/content/audi/owners-area/se...

£189 from the look of it. Over 2 litres. Interim Service

This is a genuine offer that we do, essentially at a loss, to try an retain the customer, many people will no longer use the main dealer after the car is 3 years old. So we have to work a little bit harder.

However...........

• Applicable to privately owned Audi vehicles. Offer may be varied or withdrawn at any time. Prices include VAT at the prevailing rate and parts and labour. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Excludes Channel Islands.

• Offer excludes RS, R8 and models with 6 litre engines or over on all jobs and S8 (2003-09) for front brake pads / pads and discs, and rear brake pads / pads and discs. The fixed price offer for brake pads and discs jobs does not apply to Audis with ceramic brakes. At participating Audi Centres only.

[ATAC111]

Right - In case anyone is interested:

Bosch Oil filter - £15
Sump plug, O ring - £8
12 litres shell helix - £70

So parts widely available on the web for £93 delivered... I think I'll have a ring around tomorrow - I can deal with the labour rate for the Audi stamp in the book but can't see spending £250 on £100 pounds worth of parts.

[KungFuPanda]

I just paid £88.75 for 20 litres of Quantum LongLife III oil from TPS. Works out at £4.44 a litre. Quite a big saving given my S6 uses 10 litres.

Given that TPS are a wholly owned subsidiary of VAG, I presume Audi will be paying even less.

[Rich_W]

KungFuPanda said:

I just paid £88.75 for 20 litres of Quantum LongLife III oil from TPS. Works out at £4.44 a litre. Quite a big saving given my S6 uses 10 litres.

Given that TPS are a wholly owned subsidiary of VAG, I presume Audi will be paying even less.

So you think that because they can get it cheap they should make no profit on it at all? Assuming they put cheapo Quantum oil into an RS which I would suggest is not the case. Oil is not just about weight remember, there's many reasons why Castrol is recommended on the oil cap. Additives, detergents etc etc

[KungFuPanda]

I didn't even mention profit in my last post. Notwithstanding that, surely most people would baulk at paying £10 a litre for oil when having their car serviced.

Personally even though Quantum might be described as cheapo by you, I have no problems with putting it in my S6 as it meets the VAG 504/507 approval and is sold by VAG.

[graeme4130]

Mine goes in for exactly that tomorrow - dealer price is £280

[graeme4130]

Rich_W said:

https://www.audi.co.uk/content/audi/owners-area/se...

£189 from the look of it. Over 2 litres. Interim Service

That appears to be for cars over three years old
Excludes R8 and RS models too

[Nedzilla]

I was recently quoted £550 by my local Audi dealer for an oil service on my 4.2 R8. It takes 9 litres of oil and they use Quantum long life 3 which is available online for £25.99 for 5 litres????

Surely there must be a law against this!!!

[graeme4130]

Nedzilla said:

I was recently quoted £550 by my local Audi dealer for an oil service on my 4.2 R8. It takes 9 litres of oil and they use Quantum long life 3 which is available online for £25.99 for 5 litres????

Surely there must be a law against this!!!

The audi dealer will allow you to supply your own oil, and as long as it's per the manual, it won't affect your warranty

[KungFuPanda]

According to Rich_W, Quantum LongLife III is a cheapo oil and you should never say a word against Audi making a profit...

[silentbrown]

a: Supply your own oil
b: Haggle
c: Shop around

Personally I can't be arsed with 'a', and I want to support my local dealer as they've been great so far, so we do a small dance of 'b' and 'c'.

Don't forget Audi offer a price match for all work: https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-maint...

[Dr G]

graeme4130 said:

Nedzilla said:

I was recently quoted £550 by my local Audi dealer for an oil service on my 4.2 R8. It takes 9 litres of oil and they use Quantum long life 3 which is available online for £25.99 for 5 litres????

Surely there must be a law against this!!!

The audi dealer will allow you to supply your own oil, and as long as it's per the manual, it won't affect your warranty

The fill process on an R8 is a pain also as it's dry sumped. Two hours at Audi main dealer rates very quickly adds up.

[Tame Technician]

An oil change on an R8 really does take over 2 hours.

There are about 50 t30's holding the undertrays on. Which are often siezed.

There are 3 or 4 separte engine drain bungs depending on V8 or V10 + the oil reservior, and cooler have to be drained.

Once filled the level cannot be check until the oil is over 100 degrees.

Once completed there is a two page quality control check sheet to complete on the car.

Dont get me started on the pollen filters


I tried to find a vid of one being done, but could only find this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFdZp3eefM

[Murph7355]

Rich_W said:

So you think that because they can get it cheap they should make no profit on it at all? Assuming they put cheapo Quantum oil into an RS which I would suggest is not the case. Oil is not just about weight remember, there's many reasons why Castrol is recommended on the oil cap. Additives, detergents etc etc

I've heard this argument several times before.

The exact same oil can be bought retail for significantly less than dealers supply it for. That last italicised bit means that other retailers can supply it at a profit even at those prices. And I am pretty well convinced that the Audi network will be getting the oil for no more than those retailers, and most likely a lot less.

I have no real issue with dealers making a profit on the oil. But the charges they charge are taking the piss, on the basis that most people don't think to query it, don't know you can do this or are just too lazy.

The dealer is also typically making a decent profit on the hourly rate. So it's not really like they have to take the mickey on oil.

(To be fair to Audi, all dealers seem to do this. And they're almost all as bad on tyres too! It pays to be well informed).