Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Gerald Adams

My A1 is due for an MOT in June. It has only done 6000 miles. It received its first years service at the Audi Agents and its second year service at Halfords. Now a third year service and an MOT but where ? Is it worth going back for a possible upgrade at the Agents at considerable cost !! or simply using a local garage - its 'aircon' also seems a bit 'low' ?It has been used all of the time - a little !

Many thanks. Gerald

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - _

Question..

Did the car have an oil change at the first service,, doubt it at Audi..

Is it petrol or diesel?

Did it get an oil change at the 2nd service...

Your Audi warranry is now shot, so don't go back and find you don't get (possibly) another oil change.

Tell us where you are and perhaps someone will know a good indie near you, or ask yourself locally.

If not another choice if you fell minded, get the MOT done, having checked levels in windscreen wash and all bulbs working.

Then find a good indie.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - sammy1

What is a service if you do not get at least an oil change, hardly worth a trip to the garage. If the car had an oil change at Halfords last year and mileage being so low I would skip the service and just go for the MOT. The Mot will check all the vital running gear such as the suspension.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Falkirk Bairn

Buys a new Audi and takes it to Halfords to save a few ££s.

The owner has lost many times the ££s saved at 2 years old unless they plan to hold on to the car for many years - the value for his car has gone down considerably more than any savings on a service.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - catsdad

On my iPad the ads around this thread feature three year old A1s for around £20k. This is an expensive but not rare car. In those circumstances I would suggest that a fsh (preferably Audi but too late in this case) is a reasonable expense for its first few years.

Opinions differ as to when to service low miles cars but on a car worth around £20k compromised service history will knock the value by more than the amount you would pay for a service. So if it was my car I would get it done, including an oil change as others have said.

You can save a bit at an independent specialist who will adhere to Audi spec although the saving, in the context of a £20k car it will not be great. Wherever you go, use someone who can update the service history online. You may not be contemplating changing cars now but when you do so a good service history will have an effect on the price you achieve. As it gets older you can scrimp a bit but while it’s young it’s a false economy.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - daveyjp

Its not worth skimping main dealer services whilst under warranty.

The aircon issue could be lack of use, but it could also be a potential warranty claim for a failed component (my car had a new condenser under warranty about a year ago).

As the warranty is now worthless I'd find a VAG independent. Owners club websites should have recommendations.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Brit_in_Germany

The warranty is still in force if it has been "serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations" (assuming the 3 year warranty. It does not have to be serviced by Audi.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Andrew-T

Its not worth skimping main dealer services whilst under warranty.

This is the nub of the question. Audis have a certain cachet which affects their resale value perhaps more than other marques, so although the day-to-day running of the car is probably unaffected by where it is 'serviced', if you place a value on resale it's best to follow the rules.

When all is said and done, any garage may cut corners, use a cheap oil or whatever. What will count in the end is paper or electronic evidence of where the work was done.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - John F

Its not worth skimping main dealer services whilst under warranty.

That's debatable if you are a low mileage driver. We dutifully presented our Peugeot 2008 for its first service, paying nearly £200 for a few checks and an oil change at around 5000 miles. (I'm not even sure they actually changed the oil). Anyway, it hasn't been back since and I changed the oil and filter myself at 10,000 miles. It has only six months to go before the three year warranty runs out and with only 12,000 miles on the clock I think the chances of incurring a big bill in that time is pretty remote. We intend keeping the car indefinitely so any reduction in its market value is irrelevant.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Andrew-T

As has been said, a complete service record should pay back when you decide to change your car. Having said that, many (most?) modern cars have long service intervals, so as long as those have been met you should be OK. The main objective is to keep an intact warranty in case of problems.

Once the warranty has expired you should still follow the recommended intervals, and perhaps shorten them if you plan to keep the car, especially with a diesel engine, as some makers' suggested intervals are too long for comfort.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - sammy1

Anyone paying £250plus to service their car annually when only doing 2000miles per annum is not spending their money wisely. I would suggest that one service at the end of 3years on a car like an AUDI A1 would be more than sufficient and then only oil. In the present economy I have a feeling that car servicing is going to be one of the first things to suffer.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - daveyjp

Having an expensive car for 2,000 miles a year doesn't make sense, but thats what people can do if they so choose,

Whilst £250 is a lot for 2,000 miles service, its the cost of a diagnostic test and about an hour's labour at an Audi dealership for an out of warranty vehicle.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Gerald Adams

Having an expensive car for 2,000 miles a year doesn't make sense, but thats what people can do if they so choose,

Whilst £250 is a lot for 2,000 miles service, its the cost of a diagnostic test and about an hour's labour at an Audi dealership for an out of warranty vehicle.

I / we bought the car as our need was for a long trip every week. This disappeared shortly after purchase. Then Covid etc, lockdowns, family problems - you name it.

I used Halfords as I could not get to the agents. I am informed that as long as the correct servicing is carried out - Halfords say it has been, the warranty remains.Halfords, I suspect, have a little more 'pull' than a 'local'.

So the dilemma remains. We don't like the car that much but will probably 'slog on'. Local or agents ? Probably the latter in case we do want to get rid.

Many thanks for all the advice / comments. Gerald Adams

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - elekie&a/c doctor
Your get out of jail card could be if Halfords used genuine Audi parts with invoices to prove it . However, I think this is highly unlikely. You would have been better of with a good independent garage .
Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - bathtub tom
I used Halfords as I could not get to the agents. I am informed that as long as the correct servicing is carried out - Halfords say it has been, the warranty remains.

You got that in writing?

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Gerald Adams

Three year old car. 6000 miles. Serious problem ? Not under warranty ? Not fit for purpose says judge. Good for twitter and others. Perhaps being German they won't really care. Could offer them some oil ?

Have a nice day.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - sammy1

""""This is the nub of the question. Audis have a certain cachet which affects their resale value perhaps more than other marques, so although the day-to-day running of the car is probably unaffected by where it is 'serviced', if you place a value on resale it's best to follow the rules.

Follow the rules?? How many blindly stick to this nonsense. They are designed to put money into the hands of dealers. In this specific case the oil of an A1 would almost be as clean as the day it went in after only 2000miles. How come VAG group and BMW and others offer 2 year servicing or 20k plus miles between services? I do not think they have some magic oil. I feel that there is an awful lot of waste going on in the industry oils spark plugs filters etc changed to meet a time

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - John F

Follow the rules?? How many blindly stick to this nonsense. They are designed to put money into the hands of dealers. In this specific case the oil of an A1 would almost be as clean as the day it went in after only 2000miles. How come VAG group and BMW and others offer 2 year servicing or 20k plus miles between services? I do not think they have some magic oil. I feel that there is an awful lot of waste going on in the industry oils spark plugs filters etc changed to meet a time

Nice to see some common sense. Our family Focus has I think now reached the end of its life after 21 years, 160,000 miles and a recently failed MoT (much sill corrosion). Since we bought it at 3yrs and 29,000 miles it has never had a garage 'service'. If it had passed its MoT I was planning to change its only third set of plugs. It still has its original cam and poly-v belts, air filter and pollen filter, which were just cleaned occasionally. It also has its original coolant and probably most of its original brake fluid. But 20k between oil changes is too far even for me. It was never more than 14k for the Focus, usually 10-12k - the cheapest semi- and latterly fully-synthetic I could find.

Audi A1 Sportback - Servicing - Andrew-T

Follow the rules?? How many blindly stick to this nonsense. They are designed to put money into the hands of dealers.

Quite probably, but in the end it is up to each owner to decide whether to risk calling on the warranty. If that doesn't happen, great. If by misfortune it does, tough; and even if it doesn't happen, the car may fetch more and be easier to sell. If you don't intend to sell (like John-F) it doesn't matter much. It all depends what is required.