My new website and servicing charges

[Niall McMahon]

As my other thread appears to have been stolen by people discussing rear window demisting ( ) I thought I'd try another

I am collecting information for a website I am building. It is intended to provide information for people buying second-hand performance cars on a budget - ensuring they know what they are getting themselves into. The R8 will feature of course. I am trying very hard to obtain basic information regarding servicing charges (both dealer and specialist) in the UK but have had no joy - either here or by contacting dealerships myself. Any info you good people might provide would be invaluable. I know you are under warranty but I assume you are given an indication what you would be paying once the warranty expires.

Secondly, I was intending to post direct links from the new site to certain very helpful threads within the pages of this forum. Does anyone have any objection to this?

Thanks for your replies.

[Niall McMahon]

OK, here is the fledgling site:

http://www.car-tell.com

The R8 page is the only one completed (I say 'completed' - I mean I have added everything I know and need more info!) and I may still play with the formatting. Please let me know what you think and feel free to throw anything useful my way. (I'm sure you can see the benefit of a site like this for the kind of people who may one day purchase your car from you). Note that the email address mentioned on the site is not yet up and running.

Niall

[KfabR8]

Very nice start.

[Niall McMahon]

Thanks mate.

I have now updated the page after information received from an owner in the UK. His costs sound pretty frightening.

[KfabR8]

One owner talked to us of requiring new intercoolers, a new radiator, new steering column electrics and several smaller items totalling £5,000 (under warranty) in a single year. He also claims to need new front discs and pads after just 5,000 miles. The same owner recommended putting £5,000 per annum aside to cover servicing and items not covered by warranty. It remains to be seen whether or not this rather high figure is indicative.

Intercoolers?
That whole paragraph doesn't seem R8 correct. Maybe RS6?
And why does one require new intercoolers unless they've been damaged? They're just air radiators and shouldn't have any issues other than damage...

[Niall McMahon]

I have asked him to elaborate. Thanks for the comment.

The feedback email address is now active

[geffers]

I've had my car from new for 21 months and 18,000 miles. Apart from a gallon of oil its had £350 spent on its 1st service and that's it.

It does need a new set of tyres very soon c£1,000 and the steering rack is leaking slightly which will get replaced under warranty.

[randombloke]

One owner talked to us of requiring new intercoolers, a new radiator, new steering column electrics and several smaller items totalling £5,000 (under warranty) in a single year. He also claims to need new front discs and pads after just 5,000 miles. The same owner recommended putting £5,000 per annum aside to cover servicing and items not covered by warranty.

a single swallow does not a summer make.

running at around 9k miles on mine with no major warranty work and no non-warranty work other than servicing which is covered by a £24 a month (£288 a year) audi maintenance plan thing and tyres due to punctures.

they did offer a plan that included tyres with the servicing at £118 per month (£1416) but I wanted to choose exactly when and with what I replace the tyres.

[Niall McMahon]

Thanks guys. Will update accordingly. Have had some helpful servicing information from APS which I will add also.

[Niall McMahon]

Thought you guys would find this from APS interesting (italics are mine):

"The thing is that although the R8 is a hand assembled car with dynamics to shame some serious supercars, underneath the drivetrain is typical Audi and becuase in a sense you can call that "domestic" it means that it doesn't have the sort of running costs that Italian supercars come with.

You are correct though that the clutch setup is not so good and can fail and costs are actually towards £****. Discs and pads all round are about £**** INC VAT but if you don't track the car then they should last well as there is a lot of pad material. For reference the costs here are the same as the RS4 and the old RS6 V8 biturbo. In fact, the RS6 is actually a much more expensive car to run!

Our only concern is that all the R8's we have worked on have been built slightly differently, by this I mean shims here and there to get panels to line up, different fittings, bits of wiring loom in different places, not a problem at all and the finish from a customer point of view is fine, it is just how well things like the wiring will last after say 5+ years. I expect they will be ok but it is just interesting to note these variations, a bit like you find on some of the TVR's from a few years ago. "

A very helpful guy (he asked me not to publish prices).
Comments?