Audi - keep up very expensive?

[pboy]

tdi : just put some money aside for injectors and turbo. and you good!

i agree with most comments here: all cars are expensive to maintain man! although they do say that a german car is pretty done with once its out of motorplan!

 

[cerebus]

So Pboy, would you get that Audi 1.9 TDI or rather not...I just wonder why it is so cheap...R49k for that model. The aircon and one of the side mirrors needs work. THat is all the owner says!

 

[froot]

So Pboy, would you get that Audi 1.9 TDI or rather not...I just wonder why it is so cheap...R49k for that model. The aircon and one of the side mirrors needs work. THat is all the owner says!

I cannot say that you "shouldn't" buy that car. It can be a great car if it is in a great condition and does not give any major issues.

Just some side notes... what is wrong with the aircon and side mirror?
New aircon: R20k ballpark.
Side mirror: not sure about one that old, but a new model one can be R3-4k

 

[cerebus]

R20k???? Well there we go, reason for being so cheap! I wondered why!

 

[froot]

R20k???? Well there we go, reason for being so cheap! I wondered why!

That's to replace the entire aircon. It might be that it simply needs some work.
Hence do yourself a favour, ask the owner if you can take it to a mechanic and have them look over the entire car.

 

[Nokkie]

You can do the following,

Give Audi a call and ask them about maintenance plan costs
Ask them about 10k to 15k service costs
And main service for every 60000km or so.

As a consumer you are allowed to get these following info from any car dealer.

*I always ask before I buy.

We are have been looking into getting the Audi Avant(station wagon) due to family needs. BUT, we keep hearing that the Audi is so expensive to maintain. Is that correct, and such a big deal? We have been seeing so many beautiful Audi's second hand, and would just love one! Thanks!

 

[MFour]

R20k???? Well there we go, reason for being so cheap! I wondered why!

It cost me R13k to replace my aircon in the Merc - included all components except the pipes - had to be done to cover all the new part warranties. Was not done by Merc, I was referred to aircon specialist by the Merc indy that services my car.

 

[Monamodi]

It depends, will you take the car to an Audi stealership or will you have a private mechanic do all of your work?

A decent private mech will save you thousands. Last year my A3 cost me around R6,500 to maintain. This included Cambelt service, replacing all the calipers, replacing front discs, having rear discs skimmed, replacing a coolant system hose that had broken off (it happens after 214,000kms), replacing my water pump (propeller had broken) and various other minor things.

If a turbo goes things can get costly, but apart from something major going wrong, Audi costs aren't that scary. Unless you take it to a dealership, in which case I'd recommend taking some vaseline with.

What year and model Avant are you looking at?

Hahaha... You called it a "stealership".

 

[ubercal]

try maintaing a modified subaru ... Paid +- 5K for 4 silicone radiator hoses.Busy trying to save for a new turbo +- 30K . Oil changes every 5k using the best synethic oil you can afford etc etc.

 

[AfricanTech]

Hahaha... You called it a "stealership".

Holy Necroballs!

Feb 2012....

 

[Mrlepen]

Wow what ford focus st or fiesta st

try maintaing a modified subaru ... Paid +- 5K for 4 silicone radiator hoses.Busy trying to save for a new turbo +- 30K . Oil changes every 5k using the best synethic oil you can afford etc etc.

 

[dyllindd]

All cars are expensive to maintain these days... Whoever said a major Mercedes service (B Service) costs R800-R900 is smoking some strong stuff. (Or maybe that's on the service plan?) I've had 2 of those done so far and they were R5000 and R9000 respectively. An "A" service is about R2-3k. That said, I used to have a Jetta and even a small service on that was never below R4000 either. Mercedes parts are some of the cheapest I've seen (cost R1200 for an alternator a few years ago, vs a few grand (I think R4000) for a Toyota), but their labour rates make up the difference. Volkswagen, Toyota etc. tend to charge insane prices for parts but their labour is a lot cheaper. A colleague recently had a major service done (including replacing a cambelt) to his Land Cruiser and it was just under R11k.

With especially German luxury cars with lots of electronics, sensors, computers etc. it's best to go to the dealers since they know what they're doing and what to look for. Don't know about Audi's but with Mercedes dealerships you get fantastic service as well, and if they didn't fix your issues they will get it sorted without charging more and telling you sob stories. As others have said though, it's much cheaper with a service plan on a new car. Of course, then you're paying a few thousand every month for years on end anyways...

I have to agree with you. I recently took my 2007 CLK500 for it's 130000km service at an Independent Specialist Mechanic. The A-Service Came to R3700.00 (Bearing in mind the V8 is essentially two of everything when it comes to parts, except the oil filter). I recently replaced spark plugs and ignition coils myself. @R200.00 per plug from Mercedes Benz. Goldwagen charges R187.00 per plug so might as well stick to original. Ignition coils came to R800.00 each at Goldwagen (Same brand as OEM). Also replaced the coolant reservoir. R989.00 from Mercedes Benz. Coolant Level Sensor R270.00.

I elected to buy the Coolant Reservoir from the stealers as I previously bought the same part from Goldwagen and it started leaking within 6 months after I bought it.

So yes, in essence don't buy a German Vehicle out of maintenance plan unless you also buy an advanced diagnostic scanner and have a decent set of tools and knowledge on how to do a lot of things yourself on the vehicle. I only take it for services in order to maintain a full service history.

 

[BlackBiker]

there's no such thing as cheap to maintain vehicles, I'm still driving my Audi A3 2007 model with extended third party warranty I never claimed from it yet in 3 years, minor service with my indy is usually at 2-3k and major usually 4-6k depending on parts last major cost me 7k at 175000km, I was thinking to cancel the extended motor plan as i haven't had a claim,