While I'm not defending the prices of service etc at a main dealer, you can take your vehicle to an independent & keep the warranty, but what the independent won't tell you, is that most manufacturers will offer "goodwill" to pay towards repairs on vehicles that are out of warranty, if it was serviced at an independent, then you're on your own!! I'm an Audi Master tech.......just for the record.....I wouldn't own any modern vehicle out of warranty, or with the possibility of some sort of "goodwill", because when things go wrong......they are very expensive!!
I had the pleasure of owing an Audi once, my wife wanted it and then refused to drive it as she though it was dangerous (limp mode wasn't in agreement with her). My everlasting sentiment to the marque is that it is a four letter word. I'll stick with Japanese for the 4 wheels until my wife lets me buy sub £500 motors again They are not bad cars in the scheme of things but they have the reputation of being expensive (premium?) so everybody will charge accordingly -dealers, specialists and even independants. I was very disappointed at the news of Ducati being bought by them.....
If that's the Cambridge Audi dealership, then it's owned by the same group (family) that owns the Ducati Cambridge dealership.
Xeneon bulbs from the manufacturer cost a fortune and need to have the headlamp out which then needs to be set up correctly. Doesn’t take long with vat to get up to £320 The dealer has manufacturer standards to achieve to keep the Audi name - they make as a site such low percentage profit you wouldn’t bother investing the money.
8years ago, i won a loyal dealer customer due to the cost of VW beetle H4 bulb fitment. £72+vat. it takes approximately 5mins.
check out buying a service plan. mine, for a 2.0 tdi ultra A6, is only a few hundred quid (about £400, if my memory serves me correctly - check here https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/...ans/audi-service-plans-existing-vehicles.html ) to cover 2 services when bought up front. they can be bought for cars that aren't new, so worth a looksee to see if you can shave the costs down a bit (mine are every 2 years, so in the grand scheme of things it works out at around £100/year). at MOT time, they (main dealer) called to see if I would use them. they quoted £50 and price match, so sent a photo of a local garage doing MOT for £35, and they price matched and washed and vacuumed the car once finished.
Merc Xenon bulb £230 ish quid each, they recommended changing both. eBay £49 for two, 10 mins to fit and still look good 12 months on.
Replacing main front bulb in Renault Megane can be north of £200 at main dealers. Front wheel off and cover on inside of wheel arch too. Battery may also need to come out. All down to crumple zone design and component packaging to pass NCAP tests I believe.
This is a very good point. I fear that the manufacturers exploit this too, because goodwill and very expensive spares prices go hand in hand. The result is that if something serious goes wrong when you are out of warranty, the dealer can cut you some slack by getting a big cost reduction on an unfeasibly expensive spare, making the customer less unhappy than they would have been but allowing dealer and manufacturer still to make a profit. Of course, an independent might be able to source alternative spares, or use refurbishment services, so it can be difficult to decide when a vehicle is old enough to switch from dealer to independent or DIY servicing. The only Audi I've owned was switched from dealer to independent (trusted specialist) at the first timing belt change because the price difference was too much for me to bear; it went on to be the most reliable car I have ever had. One other thing I'd say is that I have concluded that for vehicles with a "condition based servicing" programme, which often goes with a maintenance contract, there's a danger that oil changes will not be as frequent as would be wise, but I can't see that stopping one from doing a DIY or independent oil change in between dealer services, obviously using recommended oil, and the computer doesn't need to be told.
My Vw R32 is due for a big service soon, haldex, dsg and engine all need doing, what with a few other bits the total comes to 735 quid!!! That's at a specialist indy too, I dread to think what a main dealer would charge!
This thread needs some positivity to balance out the negative vibe .... I had a bit of luck Monday , in my otherwise life of shit the last few months Took my 17 plate golf gtd ( don’t judge me ) for its first 10k service at Sinclair vw Newport , was offered a 2 year service plan for £297 First fixed price service was set to be £178 & next years service £346 So an absolute no brainer !
careful with any recommended repairs they may make. it might be worthwhile getting a second opinion on any advisories
Just check JD Power for both Audi and BMW. Unless it was a company or lease vehicle i'd go no where near!
...get over the "Brand" and avoid them. Ran a new A4 Avant for 4 years/100k - had the most warranty work of any car I've ever had. Switches, electric window motors, wiper motor, suspension struts, centraol locking, cylinder head gaskets, air con unit...loads replaced Stuck with VAG though 2 Skoda's (Superb estate and Octavia VRS Estate) - great cars....had wanted to replace the diesel VRS with petrol.....but fell foul of VAG massive WLTP certification problems.....was quoted 6 months leadtime. WTF? Walked away. Looked at other makes - just took delivery of a new Kia Sportage, 7 year/100k warranty, 3 years free servicing, in top 5 of the JD Power charts, head of design ex audi, head of chassis ex BMW, good quality (now the 2 germans are in), handles well, comfy, all the tech you could ever need and around £25k less than a similarly specced Audi Q5. Intend to keep for 10 years and run it in to the ground - have no doubt that the thing will be trouble free. Have not regretted my decision one jot.
Also running a pretty much faultless Kia Sportage. One issue whereby there was a break in the loom for an aircon component.
