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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2018 15:37:06 GMT
I guess I'm looking for some support to my line of thinking here, never having had the car serviced outside the main dealer network - although it has had considerable work done elsewhere.
Driver's door central locking unit failed this year, adding a good few quid to what should have just been an MOT this year. Unit was £160 or so, labour was £250, both before VAT. Rear offside unit has just gone, and I'm in no mood to be shafted like that again. I also noticed that Mrs 12th's labour costs had gone up last time, and doing the maths they have increased labour rates by 48% over the last four years. I doubt their mechanics have enjoyed such largesse, and think that this is how they are funding the huge plate glass structure they operate from.
My instinct is to say bollocks to them and just use local indy, who seems perfectly competent - albeit not up to really big jobs (such as if the DRC ever needs work).
The car is definitely a keeper, so someone else's estimate of its value doesn't really figure too highly in my thinking. And it'll need new front discs and pads next year, which ain't cheap.
Am I missing anything? |
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Post by Roadrunner on Nov 3, 2018 15:47:43 GMT
From my experience you are probably missing something if you don't use a good indy. Find one which is recommended by those in the know and avoid the main stealer.
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Post by Andy C on Nov 3, 2018 17:04:05 GMT
A good Indy would be a good idea , These are quite good I’ve heard (and not too far from you) www.centralaudivw.co.ukCarwow uploaded this earlier. . Could that RS4 be ‘coked up’ do you think ? Even with the turbos torque and LC, I’m surprised the V8 didn’t make mince meat of the 4 pot |
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Post by Martin on Nov 3, 2018 17:49:30 GMT
Combination of launch control and DSG. You can see the RS4 pause enough for the nose to dip as the driver changes gear, which is what you’d expect when it’s being driven with mechanical sympathy, including not just dropping the clutch at the start.
Back to the OP, decent Indy every time. The Audi ‘technicians’ will know much more about the newer models and will struggle more when it’s not just plugging in a laptop and changing a component. Had a similar conversation with our local Porsche/Aston/Ferrari specialist who’s training an ex Porsche main dealer technician to rebuild things rather than just throw them away.
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Post by Blarno on Nov 3, 2018 18:48:24 GMT
Indy all the way.
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Post by Andy C on Nov 3, 2018 19:09:34 GMT
Combination of launch control and DSG. You can see the RS4 pause enough for the nose to dip as the driver changes gear, which is what you’d expect when it’s being driven with mechanical sympathy, including not just dropping the clutch at the start. What about the rolling start though? Foot down in 3rd at 50mph. Yes the dsg is quick but sheer brute force of that V8 had me thinking it would destroy the S3 |
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Post by Big Blue on Nov 4, 2018 7:56:02 GMT
OP: Indy, although the Gorilla is yet to step outside main dealer at 7 years old and 2.5 of those with me.
Audis: The new generation cars are all mega-accelerators due to things like better software for gearboxes and TC. They can bug most things below 90 leptons.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2018 9:17:56 GMT
A good Indy would be a good idea , These are quite good I’ve heard (and not too far from you) www.centralaudivw.co.ukCarwow uploaded this earlier. . Could that RS4 be ‘coked up’ do you think ? Even with the turbos torque and LC, I’m surprised the V8 didn’t make mince meat of the 4 pot Entirely possible. The place that did mine said they'd seem outputs down to not much more than 300bhp when they'd been driven less than sympathetically. The S3 is slower to 30 as well as 60 from Autocar data (and as that's all well within 1st gear, DSG makes no difference), so it's either down on power/torque or badly 'launched'. |
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Post by Roadsterstu on Nov 5, 2018 8:45:18 GMT
From my experience you are probably missing something if you don't use a good indy. Find one which is recommended by those in the know and avoid the main stealer. This. The odd good one aside, my experience of main dealers is all about quantity not quality and if it doesn't say anything on the computer when they plug the car in there there is nothing wrong. For simple jobs a well recommended local indy is probably ideal. For the more complex jobs, use a specialist. |
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Post by Tim on Nov 5, 2018 12:10:27 GMT
Indy every time.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 12:18:08 GMT
Car's booked in for the door at Indy, and I'll be discussing where we go from there. Have noted the place that Andy mentions (thanks), as well as another at RS246.com which can deal with DRC issues.
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Post by Tim on Nov 5, 2018 12:23:54 GMT
For something like a central locking unit then ANY indy should be fine, not just a marque specialist, so long as they're well recommended. E.g. I've used the Alfa/Fiat specialist in Dundee for all work on the M5 for at least 10 years now and they've always done a good job. There were one or two things they weren't sure about (camshaft phase sensor replacement for example) but I pointed them to the relevent thread on the M5 Board online forum and they followed that with great results. They've never been offended when I supply the oil & filters either. Perhaps the copious quantities of chocolate Digestives and Jelly Babies have helped  |
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Post by johnc on Nov 5, 2018 14:08:24 GMT
My wife's last A5 came without cruise control which the main dealer said could not be retro fitted. The local Indy checked the VIN and told us the car was already pre-wired. He supplied and fitted an original cruise control stalk and sorted the software for about £300.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2018 16:05:30 GMT
A good Indy would be a good idea , These are quite good I’ve heard (and not too far from you) www.centralaudivw.co.ukCarwow uploaded this earlier. . Could that RS4 be ‘coked up’ do you think ? Even with the turbos torque and LC, I’m surprised the V8 didn’t make mince meat of the 4 pot
As luck would have it, I had an 18-plate white S3 saloon behind me this afternoon. A few caveats:
- My car is non-standard - an extra 20bhp and 42 torks (as measured on rolling road), has another 250-300 rev range, plus full throttle in gears 1-3, which is not part of the standard engine map. - You can never be certain how hard someone else is trying. - If the driver is a skinflint and not on 98 RON, they'll be losing a little.
But he seemed to be taking a keen interest in the rear of my car as we joined a dual carriageway and automotive body language suggested the driver was 'interested', but there was no contest whatsoever.
So regarding the video, who knows? Maybe this guy had just seen it too...
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Post by Roadsterstu on Nov 5, 2018 16:42:59 GMT
Thank goodness you were able to serve up a healthy portion of fuk yu.
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Post by ChrisM on Nov 5, 2018 20:10:24 GMT
My wife's last A5 came without cruise control which the main dealer said could not be retro fitted. The local Indy checked the VIN and told us the car was already pre-wired. He supplied and fitted an original cruise control stalk and sorted the software for about £300. This is a common VW-Audi thing. I recall reading on MPV forums over a decade ago that cruise could easily be retro-fitted to Mk I Sharans/Alhambras that didn't have it already fitted - same as you said, new stalk plus enabling it in the software |
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Post by Stuntman on Nov 5, 2018 21:50:28 GMT
As a slight counterpoint to all the good advice you've already received - my local BMW dealership still gets my servicing and maintenance business for the M3. It helps, I think, that I bought the car from them new, and the service team and the technicians still comment on how they enjoy seeing/working on the car most times it's in. Their prices are always open to negotiation and the service manager I usually deal with will happily go the extra mile, for instance to source the tyres I want at a competitive price. In that context, he's an enthusiast first and a BMW service manager second. They appreciate that I have a choice about whether I use them, and I think they factor this into their quotes and their approach.
When and if this changes though, I'll vote with my feet acccordingly!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2018 8:10:51 GMT
Sounds better than the corporate monolith I deal with. Front of house are friendly (which wasn't a given before Sytner took over), but it's all meaningless satisfaction surveys (and negative response deemed to be the fault of the aforementioned staff), and massively hiked hourly rates. The door part as £160 + VAT. Labour was £100 to find the fault plus £150 to fix it. Before VAT. And I told them what the fault was in advance...
(The people who deal with the car are enthusiastic enough and clearly lament the loss of V8, nat asp, manual and hydraulically-assisted, but that's not enough.) |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2018 15:30:12 GMT
A good Indy would be a good idea , These are quite good I’ve heard (and not too far from you) www.centralaudivw.co.ukCarwow uploaded this earlier. . Could that RS4 be ‘coked up’ do you think ? Even with the turbos torque and LC, I’m surprised the V8 didn’t make mince meat of the 4 pot
As luck would have it, I had an 18-plate white S3 saloon behind me this afternoon. A few caveats:
- My car is non-standard - an extra 20bhp and 42 torks (as measured on rolling road), has another 250-300 rev range, plus full throttle in gears 1-3, which is not part of the standard engine map. - You can never be certain how hard someone else is trying. - If the driver is a skinflint and not on 98 RON, they'll be losing a little.
But he seemed to be taking a keen interest in the rear of my car as we joined a dual carriageway and automotive body language suggested the driver was 'interested', but there was no contest whatsoever.
So regarding the video, who knows? Maybe this guy had just seen it too...
Interestingly, I had a V10 M5 in the same situation. The gap didn't close at all until I backed off - engine not warm enough for the upper echelons of the rev range. I doubt there's much in it in terms of torque to weight (384 iirc vs 360 post-remap), as I am guessing the M5 is probably a little heavier. Driver was a right cunt in terms of tailgating others and barge-innery, though.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2018 15:29:11 GMT
Cost for a new door actuator inc. fitting and VAT, £314. Main dealer for same, £552. A 76% increase.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2018 17:41:28 GMT
I once ordered a window regulator from a breaker and was charged a delivery fee of £20. As it was still much cheaper than buying a new one I let the extortionate cost go. The next day it was delivered. Still in the door!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2018 15:54:34 GMT
A good Indy would be a good idea , These are quite good I’ve heard (and not too far from you) www.centralaudivw.co.ukCarwow uploaded this earlier. . Could that RS4 be ‘coked up’ do you think ? Even with the turbos torque and LC, I’m surprised the V8 didn’t make mince meat of the 4 pot
YouTube chucked me another of his vids as a suggestion, and it had a drag race between four generations of RS2/4 - I think it's the same B7 in both vids. The standing quarter quoted for the B7 was a second off what Autocar got when tested new, two-up and full of fuel, so that one is definitely not in particularly good health.
He's an irritating fucker to listen to as well!
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