TinyElviss

When I purchased my car CPO last May, I was not expecting scheduled maintenance to be covered. Mileage at purchase we 18k, and I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the car at the 25k service (actual mileage 27k) and the charge was $0. I asked if it was an Audi Care prepaid benefit or a CPO coverage, and got a nebulous response.

A dealer switch was in order after they said I must replace rotors and pads; a second dealer confirmed my brakes were fine and had 10k on them.

Really happy with new dealer! For the 35k service (car right at 35k at appointment) I asked them to check the sway bar end links for squeaks, and sure enough they needed to be replaced. Brakes are ready for replacement, and I have an appointment first of April for brake overhaul and they will swap my winter rims/tires with my summer setup. We discussed the turbos issue. Service Adviser was aware, confirmed it's nearly 10 hours of labor involved in checking/cleaning/etc, and recommends changing engine oil in 5k increments.

So for all the work they did I had to pay the $85 CPO deductible for the sway bars, and that's it. I'm banking that this will be my last free service as my CPO expires in November. I'm sure I'll need the 45k service before then, and will report back here with updated info. The car is pristine.

The only teensy tiny fly in the ointment was the horrendous smell of the car at pickup. The combination of lubricants and cleaners was ghastly..... a full 40 minute ride home with windows cracked (at 28° ... it was that bad) and it still reeks of manly mechanical fluids!

MP4.2+6.0

Sounds good. You should do further research though. The service was not a CPO benefit, so logically it was covered by AudiCare. That would have been bought by earlier owner (or sometimes spiffed in Audi car sales promotions). It transfers with car. It has its own end date, and if it was original AudiCare also covers the 45,000 mile service. You want to know when it runs out by time (SEPARATE from CPO) so you can get your last service in before then. Service advisor should just be able to look it up on his desktop computer.

TinyElviss

I will do that. Did my headlight aiming per your previous suggestion....worked out really well. Thank you for your input and time!

theanimala

TinyElviss

The only other issue I asked to look at was intermittent radio cutting out...they tested the antennae and it was fine so they did a hard reset. Can't tell yet if that had any impact.

TinyElviss

Well, buckaroos, turns out my Audi Care is in effect until the week before my CPO expires in November of 2019 OR 57,000 miles, so it looks like I'll be able to squeeze in the 45k service. Thanks for the tip!! Audi Care covering my 25k-35k-45k service is $1500-$2000 in savings, yes? I love it when I can reinforce that I made a good purchase decision nearly a year after making it!

MP4.2+6.0

Yes, I think AudiCare--at least for D4 era--was a good deal for the V8 rides. It gets in that pricier 35K major service. For a V6/longer interval, maybe not so compelling. Yet better was back when they flat rate priced it. For my 2006 W12 is was $690 (as of early 2007 CPO). I couldn't have even bought the parts for those $$! --13 quarts of synthetic every time; 12 plugs, two air filters, etc. Same price back then as for an A4 four banger; they eventually figured that out...

Gary Knox

The '13 A8 I purchased with 3.0T engine last summer had been driven about 6K miles for each of the first 3 years (older woman owner in FL), then only 2K miles per year for the next 2 years. The car had a service at 18K miles, then the 35K mile service at 21K miles (and about 5 years since purchase) 2 years later. All services were by the selling dealer.

We've driven it 9K miles since purchase in July '18 (2.5K put on in 3 day drive from selling dealer to our home).. I changed the oil & filter myself at 29K miles (used Mobil 1 0W40 - I have a hobby garage with lift etc.).

Will the 35K mile service be required at 35K miles (odometer will probably be there in about June)? I'll certainly have the oil/filter changed, but another 35K mile service after 14K miles of driving seems overkill!!

Appreciate any opinions. - Thanks,

Gary--

dwboston

Which engine do you have? The 4.0T needs the spark plugs changed @ 35k miles or 6 years, so if you have that engine you would change those as well. Although you mention it had the 35k service done by the dealer at 21k miles, so the oil/filter change is probably fine.

MP4.2+6.0

CAUTION: We are unintentionally starting to get apples, oranges and bananas in here as far as service intervals. Please ALWAYS post which motor you have, along with year. Geography matters for the Euro members' variable service intervals too, but so far that hasn't entered into the dialog here. Best to get all the backgrounder car and location into signature or avatar for permanent use.

For service intervals, both model year and motor are differentiators. North America service intervals work by both fixed miles AND time, so need all of that info to call these accurately. The switching between time and miles intervals is the nuance I think is going on in some of the replies here too, since by Audi stds. it is the lesser of the two for service intervals. There are also possible plug issues to be mindful of on the 4.0T's, so I can draw that out. But first, we need a good factual grounding to assess situations against the official Audi service schedules. Thanks.