£282 for an oil and filter change are Audi taking the ****

[nictry]

I thought i would be a sensible new owner and having just bought my 2016 A6 with nearly 10k now and a year old having the oil and filter changed rather than waiting for another 6-12 months on the service schedule was sensible

I thought ring Audi as I know the oil is readily available for around £70 for 8l and a £20 filter so assume about £140-150 for the job, nope he told me £282 I asked *** were they doing for that amount and he said oil was £120 (yeah right they obviously must add liquid gold to the normal Audi recommended) and the filter/plug etc another £20 so I asked what the other £142 was and he said well obviously Labour!!!!

What on earth do Audi think customers are? I don't have mug written on my forehead so although I know I have to get my actual service done at Audi they can jump off a very high bridge if they think paying nearly £300 for an oil/filter change is reasonable!

Off to the Indi I go!

Rant over


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[lynalldiscovery]

I love it when I hear people talking about getting their car serviced yes was 300 quid ones says to the other and they both agree its a good price, then you see them driving off is their everyday boring eurobox and think to yourself oil filter 10 quid 30/40 quid for the oil and as they have alloys the tech never even took the wheels off, bargain!

I ran a nissan micra for 12 months (dull beyond belief, but oh so cheap) they rung me up said needs service 250 quid, I replied what for 3 litres of oil and an oil filter? guy said well we do look at other stuff, what stuff brakes/lights/wipers/tyres and er thats 10 minutes work at best!

[A6S]

To be honest it's a £40k+ car so not unreasonable for £282 service.
Running a business is not easy especially at the dealership with rediculous overheads like staff, fancy coffee, fancy showroom etc. Backstreet garages have less overheads so can do it a lot cheaper.
I know it seems like a lot for very little but it's business and if you are precious having that stamp and maintaining your full Audi service history you don't really have a choice.
supply your own oil and save £60. Think the 3.0 takes about 6.5 litres so a couple of 4l cans of Castro edge will set you back £50-60 and you will have enough left for top ups.
Other options is get them to price match.

[nictry]

To be honest it's a £40k+ car so not unreasonable for £282 service.
Running a business is not easy especially at the dealership with rediculous overheads like staff, fancy coffee, fancy showroom etc. Backstreet garages have less overheads so can do it a lot cheaper.
I know it seems like a lot for very little but it's business and if you are precious having that stamp and maintaining your full Audi service history you don't really have a choice.
supply your own oil and save £60. Think the 3.0 takes about 6.5 litres so a couple of 4l cans of Castro edge will set you back £50-60 and you will have enough left for top ups.
Other options is get them to price match.

This isn't a service though and it's not a warranty requirement just me wanting to look after my car better than the recommended requirements

I am not even sure why you mention it's a £40k car, so what, that has nothing to do with anything unless you are suggesting that it entitles them to rip customers off more?

In my experience main dealers are pulled up as much if not more than local independent garages for shoddy work or cutting corners so that's not an argument either

It is a simple oil and filter change £60 for oil, £15 for filter and £3 for plug total £78 and £40 from any 'normal' garage to do the work so £136 vs £282

My guess is 20-30 mins labour so even with your argument about overheads they are billing at around £3-400 per hour which is ridiculous by any standards!


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[A6S]

I mention it's a £40k car which means you aren't short of a few bob and the dealers know that and can ask for more. It's no different like a skoda Octavia and a3. Same engine and same parts but I can guarantee you that servicing the skoda is cheaper than the same engined a3.
most prestige dealership are charging around the £100 an hour labour mark. It's not a rip off. It's simple supply and demand. If you want it serviced there with all the nice essentials like fancy showroom, up to date tech in the workshop, courtesy cars etc you pay that rate. If you don't like it you can go to a nice independent and get it done for half that.
For every one of us who likes to moan about the price there are 100 that will pay it and expects it to be the norm and keeps them in business.
Im not disagreeing with you, it's an expensive quote. Should shop around the dealers, my 10k oil service was about £150 and 20k service was less than £280 at an Audi dealer but I got a good relationship with the local dealer and bought a few cars from them.
Biggest markup they have is on oil. Charging around £20 a litre when they buy it for like £3. Parts are normally around 30-40% markup. So try haggling with them.

[wildbore]

I am not even sure why you mention it's a £40k car, so what, that has nothing to do with anything ...

But that is the very essence of the matter. If you buy a £40K car, you have to expect the official dealer to charge you more for the same service than a Kia dealer will. Buy a £400K car and the service costs on that will be of the order of two to three times more than Audi. You are entitled to take your business wherever you like but, in the same way, the Audi dealer is entitled to charge as much as they like. I am not sure what your issue is or why you think they think you have "Mug" on your forehead. Unless you think that all of us who do pay Audi to service their cars are mugs?

I am not saying that I don't wince when the Audi garage present their invoices. However, I bought an expensive car and I fully expected the running costs to be proportional to the purchase cost. And Audi don't disappoint on this score!

If I recall correctly, the cost of an ACC radar sensor is approximately £600 from Skoda, £1000 from Audi and £2300 from Bentley - all three are the same part, just in different boxes. It's just how it is.

[A6S]

If I recall correctly, the cost of an ACC radar sensor is approximately £600 from Skoda, £1000 from Audi and £2300 from Bentley - all three are the same part, just in different boxes. It's just how it is.

bentley one will come in a shiny box and the vag ones will be scrappy brown box

[nictry]

But that is the very essence of the matter. If you buy a £40K car, you have to expect the official dealer to charge you more for the same service than a Kia dealer will. Buy a £400K car and the service costs on that will be of the order of two to three times more than Audi. You are entitled to take your business wherever you like but, in the same way, the Audi dealer is entitled to charge as much as they like. I am not sure what your issue is or why you think they think you have "Mug" on your forehead. Unless you think that all of us who do pay Audi to service their cars are mugs?

I am not saying that I don't wince when the Audi garage present their invoices. However, I bought an expensive car and I fully expected the running costs to be proportional to the purchase cost. And Audi don't disappoint on this score!

If I recall correctly, the cost of an ACC radar sensor is approximately £600 from Skoda, £1000 from Audi and £2300 from Bentley - all three are the same part, just in different boxes. It's just how it is.

I totally disagree, sorry, if you buy a 10k, 20k, 40k, 60k car then a basic requirement such as an oil change should not by default be 3 or 4 times the price because you paid 3 or 4 times the price of the car? The fact an Audi, bmw, Porsche garage can charge what they want is not the argument I am making.

I don't disagree when it comes to 'technical stuff' of course you expect parts, engineering, knowledge to come at a premium but my point is that an oil change is an oil change and the value of the car receiving it (bar the difference in volume of oil required) should not reflect the price to do it!

The mug comment was specifically aimed at how I feel a dealer is treating me, no inference to someone that accepts it as that is up to them to accept it or question it but honestly if you do pay £282 for an oil change then frankly you must have more money than sense!


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[A6S]

The difference is the dealership. For Audi dealer to stock 20 new cars it will cost £500000+ more if they have a range of rs models. For a Kia dealer to stock 20 cars will be around £2-300k. There's your overheads. Then the continuous used car stock depreciating while they are trying to sell them will be greater than the used car stock at the Kia dealer. That's a mass amount of overhead cost on stuff just sitting there doing nothing. To be an Audi dealer they must meet the spec so continuous refurbishment and renewing tools/equipment.
There are costs and overheads that needs absorbed by all departments so it's not that simple. They got to make a profit as well.

[wildbore]

I totally disagree, sorry, if you buy a 10k, 20k, 40k, 60k car then a basic requirement such as an oil change should not by default be 3 or 4 times the price because you paid 3 or 4 times the price of the car? The fact an Audi, bmw, Porsche garage can charge what they want is not the argument I am making.

I don't disagree when it comes to 'technical stuff' of course you expect parts, engineering, knowledge to come at a premium but my point is that an oil change is an oil change and the value of the car receiving it (bar the difference in volume of oil required) should not reflect the price to do it!

The mug comment was specifically aimed at how I feel a dealer is treating me, no inference to someone that accepts it as that is up to them to accept it or question it but honestly if you do pay £282 for an oil change then frankly you must have more money than sense!


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A6S has pointed out some core reasons why Audi will charge you more - and here is one more: the dealers make very little out of the sale of a car - especially nowadays with everyone getting them to price match internet deals. Instead, their profits come from selling finance, add-on insurances and servicing. They rely on most people just working on the basis that it is easiest / safest / wisest to get the work done in an Audi dealership.

The mug comment would be justified if, every time you went in for a service, they pulled a whopping big figure out of the air and tried to chance their arm on the highest they could get away with, but they don't (even though it might feel like it!). They have a fixed-price menu and are often prepared to negotiate. Plus, as others have pointed out, you can supply your own oil, too. What more could you want? You can't really expect them to change the oil for the same cost as Kwik Fit, can you?