# Audi Care for S3 worth $920+tax?



## the_runner213 (Apr 25, 2012)

I finally picked up my Glacier White S3 after waiting approx. 3 months...such a dreadful time. Anyway, once I got to the finance person, I was offered the Audi Care maintenance package. I went with it based on the individual pricing shown (apparently, I'm saving 40%), but now I'm thinking if the $920+tax is high? I've seen others paying less on more expensive S lines. Anyone else pay the same price or less? Please let me know cause I can cancel still... 

Thanks in advance!


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## Boston7 (Apr 20, 2014)

I had it on my ZM4 Coupe. It was not a good investment since I had very low mileage, there were rarely any visits except for free yearly oil changes and with that I got a new set of wiper blades. The factory battery went down and it was changed for free, but that might have been the warranty. In contrast, I've had a HHR since 2011 and GM did not offer maintenance. However, I constantly get coupons for oil, filters, lube,tire checks etc. so it hasn't cost much at all. 

I will not get it on my S3. Still debating extended warranty but may drop that too. Check your usage and you'll know next time around.


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## jrwamp (Mar 25, 2011)

I'd say it's worth it. It's cheaper than paying for all those maintenances individually. It's kind of a convenience thing as well. I like working on my own cars, but I'll wait until after a warranty period to begin all of it. 

In regards to the $920, I believe that price is based on it being an S car. The non-S cars are in the $800's. I paid $920 for what it's worth.


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## AwdOwns (Mar 29, 2009)

jrwamp said:


> I'd say it's worth it. It's cheaper than paying for all those maintenances individually. It's kind of a convenience thing as well. I like working on my own cars, but I'll wait until after a warranty period to begin all of it.
> 
> In regards to the $920, I believe that price is based on it being an S car. The non-S cars are in the $800's. I paid $920 for what it's worth.


Deff worth it if you plan on keeping the car.

$920 for S3's
$860 for A3's


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

the_runner213 said:


> I finally picked up my Glacier White S3 after waiting approx. 3 months...such a dreadful time. Anyway, once I got to the finance person, I was offered the Audi Care maintenance package. I went with it based on the individual pricing shown (apparently, I'm saving 40%), but now I'm thinking if the $920+tax is high? I've seen others paying less on more expensive S lines. Anyone else pay the same price or less? Please let me know cause I can cancel still...
> 
> Thanks in advance!


It's worth it if you compare the price to the respective prices of the 15K, 25K, 35K, and 45K service. I paid just over $300 for Audi Care on my new A3.


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## the_runner213 (Apr 25, 2012)

Thanks a lot you guys!!! I thought I had gotten ripped off for a moment here... haha! :laugh:


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## RedwinGV (May 11, 2014)

A3_yuppie said:


> It's worth it if you compare the price to the respective prices of the 15K, 25K, 35K, and 45K service. *I paid just over $300 for Audi Care on my new A3*.


I suspect the $300 is for some service and not the entire package? If it is, how did you get it so low?:thumbup:


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## misaka (Feb 8, 2013)

It's doubly worth it if you lease too.

Audicare raises the residual value of the car by 1%... on a 45k car it pays for half the Audicare.


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## Ricky11 (Jun 7, 2012)

misaka said:


> It's doubly worth it if you lease too.
> 
> Audicare raises the residual value of the car by 1%... on a 45k car it pays for half the Audicare.


:thumbup:

One thing to note though, I don't think it covers brake pads.


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## cgpublic (Aug 8, 2014)

I passed on AudiCare because the math didn't work out for me on a 30k mile lease. The first service is free, which means I have two service visits before I return the car. Two oil changes for $800?

"And we can roll it into the lease so you can pay interest on top of the $800+."

"Let me get back to you on that."

Ha ha ha.


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## AwdOwns (Mar 29, 2009)

A3_yuppie said:


> It's worth it if you compare the price to the respective prices of the 15K, 25K, 35K, and 45K service. I paid just over $300 for Audi Care on my new A3.


Just a heads up. Audicare is a set price from AOA. I'm sitting at work (Audi Service Advisor) looking at the Audicare price guide sheet as I type this. 

Cost for Audicare for a A3 is $860. 
Cost for Audicare for a S3 is $920


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## jrwamp (Mar 25, 2011)

cgpublic said:


> I passed on AudiCare because the math didn't work out for me on a 30k mile lease. The first service is free, which means I have two service visits before I return the car. Two oil changes for $800?
> 
> "And we can roll it into the lease so you can pay interest on top of the $800+."
> 
> ...


Yeah, I guess it depends whether you bought or leased. But I think it makes sense for anyone who bought. 


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## cgpublic (Aug 8, 2014)

jrwamp said:


> Yeah, I guess it depends whether you bought or leased. But I think it makes sense for anyone who bought.


To be honest, I was so dumbfounded by the manner in which the discussion about AudiCare was initiated by the finance person, I can't really comment beyond the absurdity of it, $860 + tax + finance charges to roll it into your lease for two oil changes.

But unless I'm missing something, the cost of two scheduled visits for a 30K lease, 15K and 25K, is the same as someone who is leasing for a 45K lease and four scheduled visits, 15K, 25K, 35K and 45K. Also, other than oil changes, spark plugs and air filters, no actual parts are covered.

But I can certainly understand the value to someone who has purchased the car and the willingness to pay extra for the piece of mind of not having any warranty issues compromised by having someone other than Audi service the car. I have a number of superior foreign car mechanics nearby, but not everyone has that luxury.


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## GordV (Sep 28, 2014)

Audicare isn't worth it if you don't keep the car through the 45K service. But if you do, it is definitely worthwhile as the 45K service includes the S-tronic service which is very expensive. The 36K mile service on my wife's Jetta with the DSG (which is the VW similar service) was a $690 service alone.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

RedwinGV said:


> I suspect the $300 is for some service and not the entire package? If it is, how did you get it so low?:thumbup:


My current A3 is my third Audi from the same dealer, and I also get almost all the major services done there, so when I ordered it the dealer gave me what seems like a really good price ($500 under invoice). After my car arrived (after 4 months!!) I asked for Audi Care at a good price, and the salesperson took another $455 off the previously agreed upon price and added Audi Care for $800 so I got Audi Care for $345.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

GordV said:


> Audicare isn't worth it if you don't keep the car through the 45K service. But if you do, it is definitely worthwhile as the 45K service includes the S-tronic service which is very expensive. The 36K mile service on my wife's Jetta with the DSG (which is the VW similar service) was a $690 service alone.


Your wife's VW dealer charges much more than my Audi dealer for the DSG service. My dealer charged me about $225 (incl. tax) for the second DSG service of my old A3 at 70K (back in 2011), and the third at 105K miles (in 2013) was not more than about $300. And by the way the first DSG service should be done at 35K miles.


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## Fizzboy7 (Feb 20, 2003)

Just throwing it out there, some of these services are no more than an oil/filter change and visual checks. Most reputable mechanics can do the same for far less. Or if you still want to have the work done at the dealer, you can ask for an oil/filter change only, which usually gets it's own set of inspections but costs a lot less then a "scheduled service for x amount of miles."


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## gamegenie (Aug 24, 2014)

I say get it, it's the least expense you can put on your new A3 or S3. 

http://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/audiusa/Documents/AudiCare_12_Brochure_Combined_j2.pdf


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## misaka (Feb 8, 2013)

cgpublic said:


> To be honest, I was so dumbfounded by the manner in which the discussion about AudiCare was initiated by the finance person, I can't really comment beyond the absurdity of it, $860 + tax + finance charges to roll it into your lease for two oil changes.
> 
> But unless I'm missing something, the cost of two scheduled visits for a 30K lease, 15K and 25K, is the same as someone who is leasing for a 45K lease and four scheduled visits, 15K, 25K, 35K and 45K. Also, other than oil changes, spark plugs and air filters, no actual parts are covered.
> 
> But I can certainly understand the value to someone who has purchased the car and the willingness to pay extra for the piece of mind of not having any warranty issues compromised by having someone other than Audi service the car. I have a number of superior foreign car mechanics nearby, but not everyone has that luxury.


You are missing something. Especially for leases. Audi care raises the residual value of the car by 1% on an Audi lease. I'm not sure how much you know about lease math but the cost of the lease is (((Negotiated sale price)-(Residual Value))xFinance changes)+Taxes and fees)/number of months. The higher the residual value the less you pay on the lease. For example on my A3, the residual value went up by 450$, which offsets the cost of Audicare (dealer gave it to me for 800) down to 350$ extra I am paying. Had I not done audicare, the lease would have cost only 350$ less, since the residual would have been less. 

350$ for 2 years of extra service didn't seem as bad. I fully expect at 15k miles an oil change, new cabin filter and at 25k an oil, change, new air filter, and new brake fluid according to the guide. I also expect them to bring me a loaner and take my car in to service when the time comes on each of these. Also should I decide to buy this car after this lease is up, I know I will still be covered for 2 more years. 

And Also like you said, it's harder for audi to screw you on a warranty if they've been doing all the inspections and work. So yes 10$ a month for all your maintenance and peace of mind seems like a small price to pay. 

I know these 2 articles are not about the A3, but should give insight to the ridiculous labor rates you'd be charged if you had work done at the dealer. (And even if your local mechanics only charge 1/3 of the price, you'd still be behind.

http://www.edmunds.com/audi/a8/2012/long-term-road-test/2012-audi-a8l-expensive-but-pleasant-15000-mile-service.html
http://blog.caranddriver.com/2013-audi-s7-quattro-long-term-logbook-audi-care-can-save-a-bundle-in-service/


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## cgpublic (Aug 8, 2014)

*Not Missing Anything*



misaka said:


> You are missing something.


 No, I'm nothing missing anything, but thanks all the same. Would I would say is that my experience was different than your own, and I can only relate my experience.

I negotiated my selling price, residual value and finance rate independent of AudiCare. The finance rep offered AudiCare, for two service visits, totaling $860, not including tax and finance, and then explained that the increase to my monthly lease payment would be $23, not $10, per month. That's $828. For two oil changes.

Did you negotiate your selling price, residual value and finance rate independent of AudiCare? There may be the point of difference. Perhaps one dealer was being more generous with the residual, perhaps one buyer negotiated a better deal, I can't say for sure.

What I can say is this.

I'm not paying $828 for two oil changes.

I'm not paying $350 for two oil changes.

I'm not negotiating the price of maintenance when I have three foreign car specialists, one of whom is on a first-name basis, within a five-mile radius.

Personally, I believe the BMW approach is preferred approach, which is to include it free. For a typical lease, there are four oil changes. It costs the dealership the cost of oil and related labor, but it increases the opportunity to sell up; alignment, winter tires, etc. The dealer comes out ahead regardless.


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## AwdOwns (Mar 29, 2009)

A3_yuppie said:


> My current A3 is my third Audi from the same dealer, and I also get almost all the major services done there, so when I ordered it the dealer gave me what seems like a really good price ($500 under invoice). After my car arrived (after 4 months!!) I asked for Audi Care at a good price, and the salesperson took another $455 off the previously agreed upon price and added Audi Care for $800 so I got Audi Care for $345.


Your dealership put the money into your deal somewhere. 
Just so others are not mislead into thinking that Audicare is a negotiable option I wanted to be clear. 

If buying Audicare from a Service advisor after purchasing your car that price is set in stone and non negotiable.


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## NotFast (Mar 20, 2002)

I believe that it's worth it, but (as I found out) - Audicare is non-refundable if your car is totalled.


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## the_runner213 (Apr 25, 2012)

Something to keep in mind about going to the dealer vs. your local auto mechanic is the loaner car. My sales rep advised me to contact him whenever I need to come in for service and that he would have a loaner available for me. Plus, like someone mentioned, there is the added peace of mind if something were to fail, Audi can't pin it on you for not having your car worked on at an Audi shop... 

Btw, I leased my vehicle, so more than likely, I wouldn't even meet the third 35k maintenance. I plan on trading in my car for the another S3/S4 or maybe one of the Q's in about 24 months. Oh, and the finance rep mentioned that whatever unused portion would be refunded back to me if I were to end my lease early.


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## misaka (Feb 8, 2013)

cgpublic said:


> Did you negotiate your selling price, residual value and finance rate independent of AudiCare? There may be the point of difference. Perhaps one dealer was being more generous with the residual, perhaps one buyer negotiated a better deal, I can't say for sure.
> 
> What I can say is this.
> 
> ...


Had I been trying to save money and smart, I would have leased a Premium, as the residual value is much higher. Residual values are FIXED by the leasing company, in this case Audi Financial services. Other private banks will offer different residual values, but these values cannot be changed by the dealer. The base money factor (interest rate for car leases) also is fixed by the lender at a minimum. The dealer can mark this value up to earn more money, but cannot discount it below this value.

I did a bunch of negotiating, and I had all my ducks in line. I ordered my prestige with an MSRP of 44975 and wanted a 3 year 10k mile/year lease. I knew that an A3 Prestige was 58% residual on the MSRP without audicare, and 59% with it. I also knew my money factor was 0.00133 (without markup) These values are fixed by Audi financial. A dealer can mark up the money factor, but can't touch the residual values. I also negotiated the price to sale price to 41250. I kept the option open to take audicare or not. As you can see with an MSRP of 44975 1% would amount to 449.75. Obviously the Audicare was 800$. During the summer event, Audi also would make the first month's payment for me. So I do end up approximately paying 340$ for the plan.

The dealer in question here did not require any real negotiating. I knew what Audi Financial was offering for top tier credit. I also had connections to the dealer, but I brought along with an Audi Friends and family certificate or Audiclub NA discount if any of them were better, which they were not. I stated my numbers financial numbers and had them take it. The only negotiating was for the overpriced tire and wheel protection package. (I had it on my GTI and had them replace 6 tires with how bad the roads are here)

You on the other hand have connections to mechanics, who will work for a lower rate and won't likely screw you, so it's different. Most reputable places around me which do a synthetic oil change I find will cost about 70-80$ A cabin air filter is cheap, as is the air filter. Also at 2 years they change brake fluid. It's defined in the maintenance protocol for 2015 models. If I assume 75$ an oil change x2, 20 bucks for a cabin filter and 20 bucks for an air filter(no idea the cost, but probably not much less than this) 85$ for a brake fluid flush/change. Which leads me to about 75+75+20+20+85 = 275$. If I don't keep the car, I have overpaid by 75$. Over 3 years. That's 2 dollars a month for peace of mind for me, and NOT having to actually bring my car in for service, and having them come to me, with an A4 or A3 loaner to my work or home so I don't have to go... It's a great service.

As the cost of the car increases, the increased residual benefit from audi care makes the maintenance cost less and less. If there were no residual benefit on the AFS leases, I would whole heartedly agree with you that it's an extreme rip off.


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## GordV (Sep 28, 2014)

A3_yuppie said:


> Your wife's VW dealer charges much more than my Audi dealer for the DSG service. My dealer charged me about $225 (incl. tax) for the second DSG service of my old A3 at 70K (back in 2011), and the third at 105K miles (in 2013) was not more than about $300. And by the way the first DSG service should be done at 35K miles.


Oh, sorry, I wasn't clear enough on this -- the $600+ was for the total service. App. $250 of that was the DSG, the rest was the oil change (TDI diesel) and rest of the full 36K service. My overall point was that I doubt keeping to the full Audi service schedule through the 45K S-Tronic service would be less than the $920; almost certainly not at a dealer and probably not elsewhere. If you do just the basics and not the full Audi recommended, you could likely do things for considerably less.


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## the_runner213 (Apr 25, 2012)

misaka said:


> Had I been trying to save money and smart, I would have leased a Premium, as the residual value is much higher. Residual values are FIXED by the leasing company, in this case Audi Financial services. Other private banks will offer different residual values, but these values cannot be changed by the dealer. The base money factor (interest rate for car leases) also is fixed by the lender at a minimum. The dealer can mark this value up to earn more money, but cannot discount it below this value.
> 
> I did a bunch of negotiating, and I had all my ducks in line. I ordered my prestige with an MSRP of 44975 and wanted a 3 year 10k mile/year lease. I knew that an A3 Prestige was 58% residual on the MSRP without audicare, and 59% with it. I also knew my money factor was 0.00133 (without markup) These values are fixed by Audi financial. A dealer can mark up the money factor, but can't touch the residual values. I also negotiated the price to sale price to 41250. I kept the option open to take audicare or not. As you can see with an MSRP of 44975 1% would amount to 449.75. Obviously the Audicare was 800$. During the summer event, Audi also would make the first month's payment for me. So I do end up approximately paying 340$ for the plan.
> 
> ...


I agreed to getting the Audi Care, but my lease payments remained the same. Should I contact the dealer to see what happend to the increase in residual value by a percent?


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

the_runner213 said:


> I agreed to getting the Audi Care, but my lease payments remained the same. Should I contact the dealer to see what happend to the increase in residual value by a percent?


Probably too late if you have signed the paperwork and picked up the car.

Yes you may have overpaid a little, but a 1% increase in the residual spread over a 3 year (or even a 2 year) lease makes little difference, so there is really no point to beat yourself up about it now; just enjoy your new car.


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## Ricky11 (Jun 7, 2012)

cgpublic said:


> Personally, I believe the BMW approach is preferred approach, which is to include it free.


Just to clarify, nothing is free. BMW does not give you "free service". They build the cost of the service program, let's say $800-920 (as with Audi care), into the price of the car. 

So while it may give the impression of "free", the reason a BMW might not come with leather or sunroof when it's Audi rival does, is because BMW decided to offer the service rather than the leather or sunroof. 

Audi on the other hand doesn't force this on customers and gives them the option if they want pre-paid service or not.


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## the_runner213 (Apr 25, 2012)

A3_yuppie said:


> Probably too late if you have signed the paperwork and picked up the car.
> 
> Yes you may have overpaid a little, but a 1% increase in the residual spread over a 3 year (or even a 2 year) lease makes little difference, so there is really no point to beat yourself up about it now; just enjoy your new car.


I'm enjoying every minute with it! I just can't wait to be done with this break-in period... I mean, it's a lease, so I could take the "drive it like you stole it" route, but I rather play it semi-safe and wait at least i'm around 500-1k miles. I've been doing most of my driving in comfort mode, just to pretend the car is warming up to the eventual dynamic mode. haha! That way, I will notice the difference for sure.


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## Tazman71 (Dec 4, 2014)

They make a pill for this Xanax 


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