I am driving a 74 plate A3 and have done 3500 miles. A message has appeared to  change the oil within 30 days which surprised me in view of the low mileage. Any ideas why this should be?

Having contacted my local Audi dealer they have quoted in excess of £300 to carry out the oil change!

Hello Allan, 

‘….why this should be?’ I think the answer might lie in the possibility the car is approaching 1 year old and (correctly for your mileage) your car must be set on an annual service schedule - unless you tell us it wasn’t registered early in the 74 sequence. 
Low annual mileages can take its strain on vehicles - hence the recommendation that those covering <10K a year, should have a basic annual service. 
You are not strictly restricted to getting this done at an Audi dealer, but parts used, must be Audi parts, and the servicing carried out at a VAT registered garage - ideally with a system to record this service on VAG’s data base. Otherwise - potential adverse affect on warranty. 

I think you will find that VAG’s labour rates may be approaching the £200/hr at some locations.

Car on PCP? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

Hi,

I bought my Q3 tfsi s line, new on 1/10/24, to date it has only covered

2400 miles. my car is set on the annual service schedule, and for the

last few days has been reminding me, that it requires a service in 30

days or so. Magnet, is correct in saying about low mileage vehicles

requiring frequent oil changes. mine is going in on the 29/09/24.

luckily my first 2 services and mot's, where included in the package

when I bought the car.

Brian.

1 hour ago, dalswinton said:

Hi,

I bought my Q3 tfsi s line, new on 1/10/24, to date it has only covered

2400 miles. my car is set on the annual service schedule, and for the

last few days has been reminding me, that it requires a service in 30

days or so. Magnet, is correct in saying about low mileage vehicles

requiring frequent oil changes. mine is going in on the 29/09/24.

luckily my first 2 services and mot's, where included in the package

when I bought the car.

Brian.

thanks. Is there way to check if the car is set on the annual service schedule?

Allan

without complicating matters,

if you google (Audi Service Intervals,) all will become clear.

hope this helps.

Brian.

Even if it isn’t Alan, it should be with the mileage you do. 
Some questions remain unanswered Alan. Could you have a read of my post again and come back please.

Regards,

Gareth.

11 hours ago, Magnet said:

Even if it isn’t Alan, it should be with the mileage you do. 
Some questions remain unanswered Alan. Could you have a read of my post again and come back please.

Regards,

Gareth.

car is owned outright and was registered in September 2024.

So it appears it’s correctly set on an annual service schedule then. 
Having invested considerable funds on its purchase, I guess you would be prepared to further ‘invest’ in its maintenance through its warranty period, to best safeguard its future. 
Regards,

Gareth.

Any comments on the advice you have received Alan?

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

Any comments on the advice you have received Alan?

they have helped clarify why the oil change message has appeared. The service interval for oil is set at 12 months so this stacks up. Thanks.

I am now somewhat confused. I have a 2024 A3 30TFSI S-Line. Its a leased car, and was registered on 21/11/24. My car is going into the main dealer on the 20th of this month for a fault investigation, and I wanted the 12 month service carried out at the same time. However, on speaking with the Stirling Audi Service dept, they assure me that my car is on the Flexible servicing regime and wont require a service till Nov 2026. I pointed out that I am only doing circa 5000 miles/year, but they still insist I dont require a service till 2026. Everything I've seen online seems to contradict this, so are they correct?

Exactly as your last sentence John, combined with the comments already mentioned earlier in this post.

Did you buy the car and opt for a maintenance/ service package? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

3 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Exactly as your last sentence John, combined with the comments already mentioned earlier in this post.

Did you buy the car and opt for a maintenance/ service package? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

No, the car is on a 3 year personal lease, and no maintenance/service packages are included.

John.

Thanks John,

If it were mine, I would be approaching another main dealer. As I understand it, such low annual usage should be on an annual service schedule, and not a Flexible (c 18month) service.

Did they ask you on collection when new, what your anticipated annual mileage would be? If not, thereby hangs the answer.
Low mileage cars usually take a comparative hammering via. not continually operating at optimum temperature , numerous stop, starts etc.

What are your long term plans for the car John? Return it at the end of the lease or perhaps purchase it? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

 

9 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Did they ask you on collection when new, what your anticipated annual mileage would be?

No, but it WAS stated in the Lease conditions that the annual mileage would be no more than 10,000miles.

 

11 minutes ago, Magnet said:

What are your long term plans for the car John?

It will be going back at the end of the 3 years...If I could get them to take it back sooner, I would, as I have an issue with the engine cutting out at slow speeds, but thats another story!

I DID find this on the Audi UK website, which seems to indicate you can be on Flexible Service intervals for any annual mileage, as the car analyses the driving patterns and adjusts the interval to suit...I have my doubts!

 

Regards

John.

Thanks John,

The lease mileage estimate simply governs the price of the lease - based on the car’s total mileage at the end of the lease period. It does not mean that the supplying dealer sets the service schedule correctly. 
Since we now know you have no intention of keeping the car, then ‘who cares how often it gets serviced’? Not your worry. 
This situation is not untypical, and the car will qualify to be sold on with Full Service History- which throws in doubt the seemingly all important must- have when buying a second hand car - and the importance of having sight of how often it has actually been serviced in its lifetime.

Regards,

Gareth.