I took the Audi A4 in for service last week. We are about to sell the car and figured we might as well take care of the maintenance and the broken visor clip that had been hanging around since October. At 34,420 miles, the car was close enough to the 35,000-mile service interval, which is considered a major service. The original price Audi quoted for the service was $509.19. It seemed high, but not unreasonable for a major service at a luxury-brand dealership in upscale Santa Monica.
When I was back in the office, I had a chance to inspect the billing estimate more closely. The dealership gave us a breakdown of the parts and service for the maintenance. Cabin filters, synthetic oil -- everything looked normal until I saw a line item for spark plugs ($64 for the parts, plus labor).
Thirty-five thousand miles seemed a bit premature for spark plugs. I looked at the owner's manual and saw spark plugs listed under the major maintenance section: "Spark Plugs-Replace* (Audi A3 3.2L, TT 3.2L, A8 6.0L only)." Clearly the A4 was not listed in this group. I looked at the next major service, 55,000 miles, and saw that it called for a spark plug replacement on all models except the Audi A3 3.2L, TT 3.2L, A8 6.0L.
I called the service advisor and asked him to remove the spark plugs from this service. He asked why and I told him that we didn't want to spend that much on the car, since we were selling it soon. I didn't confront him about the premature spark-plug replacement because it wouldn't have changed anything. If had said something, I suspect it would have been business as usual for the next car that pulled into the service driveway anyway. But the incident is a good reminder of why you need to pay attention to exactly what service is being performed and make sure the elements match what's called for in your owner's manual.
I worked at two dealerships in my pre-Edmunds days and my theory is this: Service departments have one standardized "major service kit" for all cars and the service team doesn't bother to look at the differences among models. They're erring on the side of caution, but the unsuspecting A4 consumer ends up changing spark plugs 20,000 miles too early and paying more than necessary. This "dealer recommended" service is a common occurrence at nearly every dealership.
After it all, removing the spark plugs brought the service total down by $155. Our final price with tax was $362.03.
Ron Montoya, Consumer Advice Associate @ 34,500 miles.
sodaguy says:
11:48 AM, 01/24/11
Audi may have updated the maintenance requirements, as the latest 2009 maintenance schedule on the website shows that it was last revised in June 2010:
http://microsites.audiusa.com/ngw/11/media/downloads/ScheduledMaintFlipChart_2009.pdf
However, I do believe the A4 2.0TFSI requires spark plug replacement initially at 35k, then every 40k thereafter based on this info I found on the maintenance schedule:
1) "35K and 115K only: A4 2.0L TFSI,
A5 2.0L TFSI, TTS, A3 3.2L,
TT 3.2L and A8 6.0L only"
2) "75K only: A3 3.2L, TT 3.2L,
A4 2.0L TFSI, A5 2.0L TFSI,
TTS and A8 6.0L only"
I also find it interesting that your 35k service was less expensive than your 15k service, even though the 35k service includes replacing both the engine and cabin filters, while the 15k service only includes replacing the cabin filter.
Also, brake fluid needs to be replaced every 2 years on an Audi-- isn't your A4 nearing that mark?
hybris says:
12:14 PM, 01/24/11
I thought most spark plugs are a 100,000 mile item?
throwback says:
12:57 PM, 01/24/11
"But the incident is a good reminder of why you need to pay attention to exactly what service is being performed and make sure the elements match what's called for in your owner's manual."
sigh, you are right of course. One should not expect a high end dealership to follow a simple maintainence schedule when they have so many more important things to worry about. Like selling you another car. My guess is a BMW dealership would not make this mistake since routine maintainence is included in the purchase price. now would they change everything they should, well...
heidis says:
01:13 PM, 01/24/11
hybris, that used to be the case. With more complex electronics in the ignition system these days those plugs seem to live a lot less longer or the systems may be less tolerant to degradation of the plugs. My 2005 Grand Cherokee has sixteen plugs and they seem to have an expected life in the 30k mile range.
eldaino2 says:
01:40 PM, 01/24/11
^ but come the time where that included maintenance runs out, who knows what'll happen....regardless of manufacturer.
My vw dealer hasn't done anything I didn't ask for, but I have been advised to change things at intervals that vw clearly states is too soon or unecessary.
eldaino2 says:
01:42 PM, 01/24/11
Heidis: modern honda's don't need them changed until 100k. My wifes insight, my 06 civic and 07 fit were all like this.
mjp16 says:
02:10 PM, 01/24/11
@eldaino2
I noticed that too--my dad's A4 vs. my mom's Civic. The fact that the A4's engine is DI and turbo could have something to do with it? Honda's current engine line up (while perfectly fine) is no longer on the forefront of engine technology.
It'd be interesting to see what Hyundai suggests on the Sonata Turbo. Another DI/turbo engine, but not belonging to a luxury brand.
barich1 says:
02:12 PM, 01/24/11
I can't believe that Audi isn't using platinum or iridium plugs by now. Modern precious metal plugs last 75-100k miles easily.
blueguydotcom says:
02:18 PM, 01/24/11
So what did you pay for? $350 for a car still under warranty sounds extremely high.
What did the clip run you?
ohh_my says:
03:04 PM, 01/24/11
platinum plugs are used in naturally aspirated audis. Since this is a turbo engine, i beleive they use copper plugs which run cooler but need to be changed at 35k.
daskiing1 says:
03:05 PM, 01/24/11
now, call me a moron for missing the point of how you do these long term tests (and i know its dealer-only service), but couldn't you cut about $100-$120 out of the $155 quoted by the dealer and just do it yourself?
Of course I could be wrong, I really don't know if the spark plugs hide under an inaccessible plastic cover or something or you need a special tool or some dumb new-car crap, but that seems like a ridiculous sum for a job I did on my car myself for $20.
rm2008 says:
03:09 PM, 01/24/11
blueguy,
The clip was repaired free of charge under warranty. I forgot to mention that, thanks for reminding me.
-Ron Montoya
bodyblue says:
03:29 PM, 01/24/11
I just did the plugs on my Stratus at 132K....the damn thing still ran fine but I had to do the valve cover gasket on the back bank so just did it at the same time....they looked just fine.
litewerk says:
03:39 AM, 01/25/11
@bodyblue
I ran the factory original plugs in my Stratus well past 100K simply because the car ran great and was still getting great fuel mileage. Amazingly, this 12 year old car is still running the original factory exhaust system because it hasn't needed to be replaced.
1487 says:
09:20 AM, 01/25/11
so the question is do ALL turbo engines have such a short lifespan for plugs or is this an Audi issue only? I need to check my manual since the optional engine for my car is a turbo. I've never heard of this issue before, I thought all modern cars had 100k plugs.
bodyblue says:
12:07 PM, 01/25/11
"I ran the factory original plugs in my Stratus well past 100K simply because the car ran great and was still getting great fuel mileage. Amazingly, this 12 year old car is still running the original factory exhaust system because it hasn't needed to be replaced."
Yep, Mine too. It had the original plugs and wires and ran just fine.
allthingshonda says:
06:33 PM, 01/25/11
Spark plug replacement at less than 100,000 miles seems odd. IL's Z06 is good up to 100,000 miles and I doubt that the A4 will ever be driven as hard as a Vette. If Ford can build the twin turbo ecoboost engine to go until 100,000 miles for spark plug replacement why can't Audi? Oh and I know Ford's engine is just as or more advanced than the A4's or just about anything coming out of VW. Another over complicated high maintenance German car.