Bizarre servicing regime

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Discussion

AudiMan9000

Original Poster:

761 posts

55 months

Monday 8th August 2022
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So my Audi Q5 Sportback recently threw up a message on the MMI “Oil change service 1500 miles”, which I got done at a non-Audi garage on Friday. Then on Sunday I got a new message on the MMI “Inspection service 1500 miles”.

Why couldn’t these two servicing requirements have coincided? Why didn’t the garage pre-emptively do this one as well, and clear the message? Will the new inspection service require another oil change in order to check it off and count as ‘full service history’ for when I come to trade it in?

Seems like an Audi rip off to me.

paradigital

974 posts

159 months

Monday 8th August 2022
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When I had my 2016 S3 saloon (2016-2020), the two different services were always around 50-200 miles out from each other. Never enough of a variation that you wouldn’t just book a single service to cover both.

Did your non-brand service garage actually reset the counters on the oil service? Did they only do an oil change?

Ham_and_Jam

2,567 posts

104 months

Monday 8th August 2022
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AudiMan9000 said:
So my Audi Q5 Sportback recently threw up a message on the MMI “Oil change service 1500 miles”, which I got done at a non-Audi garage on Friday. Then on Sunday I got a new message on the MMI “Inspection service 1500 miles”.

Why couldn’t these two servicing requirements have coincided? Why didn’t the garage pre-emptively do this one as well, and clear the message? Will the new inspection service require another oil change in order to check it off and count as ‘full service history’ for when I come to trade it in?

Seems like an Audi rip off to me.
In the car - servicing menu on the MMI, it normally has both services on the countdown calender. It will pop up as a notification on the front screen when you get to 1500 miles / 30 days away.

Sounds like you’re on a long life service schedule, so not sure how long the intervals have been previously.

The bigger service will involve pollen filters and other checks, and yes an oil change.

If the car is less than 3 years old costs are pretty much fixed anyway, so the oil change included in the price.

Using a non franchised dealer means you are saving on the costs, however if you haven’t told them to do anything other than an oil change it’s unlikely they will do anything else.

I’m really surprised you haven’t looked at the servicing schedule on the MMI before taking it for a service.

Ham_and_Jam

2,567 posts

104 months

Monday 8th August 2022
quotequote all
paradigital said:
When I had my 2016 S3 saloon (2016-2020), the two different services were always around 50-200 miles out from each other. Never enough of a variation that you wouldn’t just book a single service to cover both.

Did your non-brand service garage actually reset the counters on the oil service? Did they only do an oil change?
My A6 is just coming up for its first oil change (service) at 11000 miles @ 16 months old. The next inspection service is highlighted at 23000 miles and another 9 months. Total cost for both is £485 from Audi. So basically 2 years & both services covered.

DanSkoda

155 posts

101 months

Tuesday 9th August 2022
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If the place that did the service haven't got a machine to reset the service light and instead do it via the MMI, it's not possible to reset the inspection counter.

The oil change counter is the upper one shown on the service interval screen. Inspection counter is the lower one, this one can't be reset via the MMI

Dr G

15,403 posts

249 months

Wednesday 10th August 2022
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Ham_and_Jam said:
In the car - servicing menu on the MMI, it normally has both services on the countdown calender. It will pop up as a notification on the front screen when you get to 1500 miles / 30 days away.

Sounds like you’re on a long life service schedule, so not sure how long the intervals have been previously.

The bigger service will involve pollen filters and other checks, and yes an oil change.

If the car is less than 3 years old costs are pretty much fixed anyway, so the oil change included in the price.

Using a non franchised dealer means you are saving on the costs, however if you haven’t told them to do anything other than an oil change it’s unlikely they will do anything else.

I’m really surprised you haven’t looked at the servicing schedule on the MMI before taking it for a service.
Agreed; they have probably done what you asked for.

The service schedule is easy. In simple terms:

1 year/9k: Oil change

2 year 18k: Oil & inspection

...and repeat ad infinitum, with things like sparks, air, fuel filter etc. done at a set mileage.

Sheepshanks

35,049 posts

126 months

Wednesday 10th August 2022
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Dr G said:
Agreed; they have probably done what you asked for.

The service schedule is easy. In simple terms:

1 year/9k: Oil change

2 year 18k: Oil & inspection

...and repeat ad infinitum, with things like sparks, air, fuel filter etc. done at a set mileage.
That’s the fixed interval regime - on long life serving, after the first inspection at 2yrs some VWs (inc my wife’s late mk1 Tiguan and the mk2’s do it as well) do a bizarre thing where the mileage resets OK to the long life interval 18K or so) the oil change resets to 2yrs, but the inspection is one year.

Apparently it is one of the possibilities in the range of QI code settings - dealers say there’s nothing they can do. I get the car serviced every year anyway, but it’s really annoying some high mileage users.

I don’t think the dealers ever do just an oil change - they do a very basic inspection, or a more in depth one every second service.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 10th August 17:40

Dr G

15,403 posts

249 months

Thursday 11th August 2022
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I see techs muck that up all the time; more "don't want to" than can't do anything I expect.

Officially this is the schedule for an oil service:



We do tyres also, and any dealer worth its salt will carry out a "safety check" of some description.

That check list is vehicle specific, and the list changes by age/mileage also.

Monkeylegend

27,213 posts

238 months

Thursday 11th August 2022
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Had the same on my BMW and it turned out the Inspection service a few weeks after an oil service was an MOT due reminder.

Sheepshanks

35,049 posts

126 months

Thursday 11th August 2022
quotequote all
Dr G said:
I see techs muck that up all the time; more "don't want to" than can't do anything I expect.

Officially this is the schedule for an oil service:



We do tyres also, and any dealer worth its salt will carry out a "safety check" of some description.

That check list is vehicle specific, and the list changes by age/mileage also.
The dealer would do their standard Vehicle Health Check (basically looking for things to upsell) anyway.



Re the interval - as it happens wife's Tiguan was in for service today - was last serviced end of Aug 22.

Oil change was shown as due in 386 days, Inspection 20 days.

Dealer did a minor service and I asked for the car to be left on longlife servicing.

Picked it up and it was on fixed interval. They sent a technician out to the car car park and he reset it with a portable device - blow me, it's now 720 days to both oil and inspection. They've been abolutely adamant in the past that couldn't be done for the Inspection.