Car Maintenance

[Stevo89]

I've only owned my own car for about a year now so I am noob at this but when dealing with car maintenance do you guys go by the manufacturer recommended maintenance schedule or do you go by the dealer recommended schedule?

My dealer recommends maintenance every 7500 kms where as the manufacturer recommends every 15000 kms. Is this just a cash grab by the dealer or will it actually increase the longevity of my car?

Thanks in advance.

[master hec0]

There are many variables here.


are you referring to your oil change interval?
If so conventional or synthetic oil.
year make and model of the vehicle is also important.

regular maintenance is essential to the longevity of your vehicle
as for being a cash grab what have they been billing you for?

[ExtraSlow]

Most dealers will suggest far more frequent that what is required for your warranty. Since your manufacturer is the one who built the car, and is who pays for warranty work, i think they are the ones who you can trust in this situation. Dealers who recommend more frequent service are strictly ripping you off.

[btimbit]

What's included in these services? More than just an oil change? Regardless, what ExtraSlow said is pretty much all the info you need

[ddduke]

Originally posted by master hec0
regular maintenance is detrimental to the longevity of your vehicle

News to me, always thought regular maintenance was necessary haha.

[master hec0]

Originally posted by ddduke


News to me, always thought regular maintenance was necessary haha.


Haha. fixed it :banghead:

[Stevo89]

In the dealer recommended services the only service being performed is change in engine oil and filter.

master hec0, I have a 2011 A4 tiptronic that takes synthetic oil. I think the dealer recommended maintenance is roughly $200? Price isn't that much of an issue, I think it's more so my Chinese nature of not wanting to pay for something that isn't actually required :D

Thanks for the other replies.

[DeeK]

Having worked for many dealerships over the years, I can tell you that all dealerships are just there to steal as much money as possible from you. Find a reputable mechanic that specializes in your brand of car, and use them, and let them recommend when/what to service. It will save you tons of money, tons of headache, and you won't have to put up with a ton of BS. Not to mention, in most cases they probably know your car better than the "factory trained techs".

I'm not too familiar with Audi, but some of the german car mechanics I know of are Concept1, TuneDub, and Mike's Auto Haus. Whether they know Audi's or not I have no idea though.

[Boosted131]

Try tunedub: my co worker always said how good they were and a lot cheaper than the dealer.
I have no personal experience there though just word of mouth

[lilmira]

I took my GTI to Tunedub last time. Seems like a good shop. If you want to save some money, buy the oil yourself when there is a sale. I change mine @ 8000.

It's not just the oil change too. If you are not the type of person who doesn't mind getting his hands dirty, it's good to have the car on a hoist and have it looked by a good mechanic once a while to catch anything before it becomes a bigger problem.

[btimbit]

Like others have said, you have an Audi, take it to Tunedub.

[Stevo89]

Haha not my original question but I appreciate the advice.

[4runneron36s]

According to this:

http://www.audi.ca/etc/medialib/ngw/ca/etc.Par.0013.File.pdf/

the suggested oil change interval is 8000km. Where did you get the 15,000km from?

[CapnCrunch]

Follow the manufacturers recommendation, the dealers are (generally) full of idiots.

[Stevo89]

Originally posted by 4runneron36s
According to this:

http://www.audi.ca/etc/medialib/ngw/ca/etc.Par.0013.File.pdf/

the suggested oil change interval is 8000km. Where did you get the 15,000km from?

Hmm I can't open your link/linked PDF for some reason. I'm guessing it was linking to this page though?

http://www.audi.ca/etc/medialib/ngw/ca/etc/your_audi/care_and_maintenance/2013_maintenance_.Par.0010.File.pdf/model_year_2011.pdf

So according to that page the very first oil change is at 8000 km but thereafter it looks like every 15000 km (25k, 40k, 55k 70k... etc). Or am I reading this wrong?