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CROSSROADS: 2000 / a4 / 1.8 / Q / 60,000 mi / engine light on

I'm trying to make a decision here, and having trouble.

My Audi (as in the subject):

2000 A4 1.8 turbo Quat 60,000 mi

...has the engine light on for a short while now.

I'm seeing a lot of complaints about expensive timing belts and the like needed at 70k because the 105k "suggested" interval is risky.

I've also asked about the 60k mile service at an Audi dealership (I'm in the US), and get a load of this bullshit:

  1. They said that the 60,000 mi service is roughly 5 to 0, "depending".

  1. They told me what it entailed:

Oil & filter Air filter Dust & pollen filter Spark plugs Check DTC memory (one of the computers) Check transmission operation Check brakes Multipoint inspection.

Now most of those are just "checks" which is a bunch of freaking hoo hah. Paying for checks with the repair extra?

  1. Now get this: THEY REFUSED TO TELL ME WHAT INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS WOULD COST. Basically he said "I have no idea---no one has ever asked for just one or two of these things before".

I wanted to drive over there and smack him. No one EVER just asked for a new set of plugs??????

Does anyone have any comments on any of this?

Thanks in Advance,

Thomas

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall
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Switch to decaf.

Reply to
daytripper

Clerks lately seem to have an interindustry competition on who'd successfully feed more BS to a customer.

Reply to
John Opezdol

"Thomas G. Marshall" wrote

Definitely need to read the codes off the ECU to find out what's causing it, ASAP.

The general concensus among those 'who know' is to do it at 60K miles, seeing how early these things like to go.

Depending where you are, this sounds about right, given dealer part prices and labor rates. My dealer wanted $200+ once for just the sparkplug replacement.

If cost is an issue, you can do almost all of it yourself. Buying parts on-line may save you some additional $$. The only thing you'd need is find a fellow Audi enthusiast around you that has a VAG-COM tool to read the DTCs to find out the source of your check-engine light, as opposed to having dealer read it and possibly feed you more crap making up stories that the DTCs 'told' them to replace your entire engine or tranny. ;-)

Their labor rates are high. They figure if you can afford an Audi, you probably have some more spare cash laying around for servicing it. They don't call them stealerships for nothing.

Ask around for a reputable independent repair shop near you where they'll do this for less, although if a shop is good and knows what their doing, their rates aren't going to be all that low either. As for the tool to read engine codes, many independent shops have them. I think you can also have a place like AutoZone read your codes for like $20, IIRC.

Final note: All cars need to be maintained. If you're not willing to pay for it, get a new Audi, which will cover your maintenance for the first 4years/50K miles.

Cheers,

Pete

Reply to
Pete

I really hate to be so clinically paranoid about this, but it really seems that way sometimes....

Reply to
Thomas G. Marshall

I was just thinking, the labour rate here is £75.00 an hour at an Audi dealership, with the current rate of exchange thats like $140.00 ph in the states :)

imagine paying that guys, also fuel now, is 78p a litre, thats now $1.42 a LITRE not gallon lol

Ron

Reply to
Ron

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