A6 Avant - first service cost?

[targa_man]

A6 Avant, 2.0 Diesel, 190PS, S-Line, 18 months old. First service due (oil change & inspection) with 19.6k miles on the clock. Is £441 reasonable? Seems like a lot of money to me (and when I asked for a quote at another dealer a few miles away it was £486, labour costs the difference apparently!).

Supposedly there is no fixed price service costs for a car less than three years old and when I pressed for a breakdown, this is what I eventually got i.e. the bulk of it is labour costs. So for what can't be more than a 2-hour job, they're charging £118 per hour labour - so based on a 37.5 hour week and 47 working weeks a year that makes an Audi technician worth over £200k per year????

Sump drain plug x1 - £2.96
1 ltr screen wash x1 - £5.11
Oil filter element x1 - £9.20
1 ltr shell helix 5w-30 oil x4.7 @ £16.00 - £75.20
Top up oil - £19.20
Pollen filter - £20.00
Labour - £235.81
VAT - £73.49
Total - £440.97

[DuraAce]

It's probably about right for audi depending on your location. Still dear though!

Bin the screenwash, £20 for a litre of top up oil? Ridiculous. Bin that.
Oil price in general is high.
Labour is nuts, it's an oil and filter change and quick look around underneath. Hours work surely?

I wouldn't pay that bill. £200/250 all in would make me happy.

[djc206]

No that's criminal. Supply your own oil, it's about a fiver a litre on eBay.

[PositronicRay]

targa_man said:

A6 Avant, 2.0 Diesel, 190PS, S-Line, 18 months old. First service due (oil change & inspection) with 19.6k miles on the clock. Is £441 reasonable? Seems like a lot of money to me (and when I asked for a quote at another dealer a few miles away it was £486, labour costs the difference apparently!).

Supposedly there is no fixed price service costs for a car less than three years old and when I pressed for a breakdown, this is what I eventually got i.e. the bulk of it is labour costs. So for what can't be more than a 2-hour job, they're charging £118 per hour labour - so based on a 37.5 hour week and 47 working weeks a year that makes an Audi technician worth over £200k per year????

Sump drain plug x1 - £2.96
1 ltr screen wash x1 - £5.11
Oil filter element x1 - £9.20
1 ltr shell helix 5w-30 oil x4.7 @ £16.00 - £75.20
Top up oil - £19.20
Pollen filter - £20.00
Labour - £235.81
VAT - £73.49
Total - £440.97

Crap isn't it, tossers. If they can do fixed price servicing on cars over 3 yrs old then they can do it (and still make a handsome income) on yours. They do a price match but make you want to jump through hoops.

If you're keeping the car for ages just find a decent indi, if you're on a 3-4 yr change cycle haggle hard then suck it up.

[targa_man]

PositronicRay said:

targa_man said:

A6 Avant, 2.0 Diesel, 190PS, S-Line, 18 months old. First service due (oil change & inspection) with 19.6k miles on the clock. Is £441 reasonable? Seems like a lot of money to me (and when I asked for a quote at another dealer a few miles away it was £486, labour costs the difference apparently!).

Supposedly there is no fixed price service costs for a car less than three years old and when I pressed for a breakdown, this is what I eventually got i.e. the bulk of it is labour costs. So for what can't be more than a 2-hour job, they're charging £118 per hour labour - so based on a 37.5 hour week and 47 working weeks a year that makes an Audi technician worth over £200k per year????

Sump drain plug x1 - £2.96
1 ltr screen wash x1 - £5.11
Oil filter element x1 - £9.20
1 ltr shell helix 5w-30 oil x4.7 @ £16.00 - £75.20
Top up oil - £19.20
Pollen filter - £20.00
Labour - £235.81
VAT - £73.49
Total - £440.97

Crap isn't it, tossers. If they can do fixed price servicing on cars over 3 yrs old then they can do it (and still make a handsome income) on yours. They do a price match but make you want to jump through hoops.

If you're keeping the car for ages just find a decent indi, if you're on a 3-4 yr change cycle haggle hard then suck it up.

- yep, you've summed it up well! Not decided if it's a keeper or if I'll want to change in a couple of years, so I might just suck this one up for now. Problem is, if I was selling anytime soon a cautious private purchaser will be suspicious about an indi service, or use it as a reason to lower their offers and a dealer would definitely use it as an excuse to fleece you on the trade-in value.

[Dr G]

The Audi dealer labour rates start at something like £130+vat/hour. That enormous structure we call an 'Audi centre' needs paying for; the infrastructure, tooling, and training the Audi centres are required to have as part of their franchise agreement is a colossal investment.

Supplying your own oil will save some, using an independent specialist will halve the price.

[blueg33]

Cheaper to get my evora serviced at a Lotus main dealer

With my A6, I always phoned round the dealers and provided or offered to provide my own oil.

In 118k miles the most expensive service was £326 when they did brake fluid change, most were under £300

[targa_man]

Folks - thanks for all your replies. I was chatting to my local indi garage this morning (who service our other car and who we've used for 20 years). The main dealer network has got it priorities all wrong - they're charging £120-£130 an hour, but still paying their technicians sh*t money and then they wonder why they can't get people to take up apprenticeships. Apparently Mercedes-UK could only fill 23 of 50+ apprenticeship places they offered recently.

Apparently 30% of in-warranty cars are now serviced by independents, if that number continues to grow the main dealer network surely can't survive in palaces of glass and steel, free coffee, large reception areas staffed by gormless smiling women who add no value.

[blueg33]

Flash showrooms are very expensive

[Ej74]

Fixed Price Servicing on my S6 over 3 years old though !

[Mgd_uk]

Have a look at this Audi price match, I used it for getting my SQ5 serviced at Audi dealership vs indie for the lower price that the indie quoted me.

https://m.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-with-au...

[PositronicRay]

blueg33 said:

Flash showrooms are very expensive

Flash showrooms are expensive, so how do they manage to reduce the rates for stuff over 3 yrs old, sub contract to fred in a shed?

The rates are just nuts.

[blueg33]

PositronicRay said:

blueg33 said:

Flash showrooms are very expensive

Flash showrooms are expensive, so how do they manage to reduce the rates for stuff over 3 yrs old, sub contract to fred in a shed?

The rates are just nuts.

Subsidised by the higher costs obviously. I am sure they service the property cost from the whole turnover for that dealership. But if they reduce service costs they have to make it up elsewhere.

[yayitsadiesel]

Think your dealer is trying it on, i have the same model A6 as you and the local Audi dealer price matched an online price i found in the end the 1st service cost me £209.00

[KungFuPanda]

Ej74 said:

Fixed Price Servicing on my S6 over 3 years old though !

I loved the fixed priced service on my old S6. £199 for an interim. Was still a lot considering Quantum LL3 oil is only £18 per 5 litres at TPS. However I had decent customer service, a clean health check which helped on resale and I sat there stuffing my fat face with their cakes, biscuits and coffee.

BMW were just as good when I went to look at a Porsche Cayenne they were selling. Lovely lemon drizzle cake!

[a4cabrio]

Them sort of prices make the service pack a must buy when buying new