Gearbox Oil Change...
 

Ok, I'm going for my first major service at 38K miles. I went to a local independant.

Got a quote for a Major Service £345 + £210 for gearbox oil change.

Independant rings back and says Gearbox oil never has to be changed according to Audi. If you want it done its £403, not £210. I'll do it if you want, but you don't need to.

So comments please on this issue. I know its a definate for D3's wondering if things have changed for D4's - Should I go for it anyway?

You will see that most of people will recommend to get it done but to get it done at ZF automatic gearbox specialist.

You'll be on Lifeguard 8 oil.. It's about twice the price of the lifeguard 6 and 3 times the lifeguard 4. I'd take it to a proper ZF specialist.

That he is quoting you, then changing the quote, then telling you it doesn't need it, all of that would make me want to find an alternative indy.

As Richard says above, a ZF specialist would be best for the gearbox, the service can stay with an Audi specialist.

I've no doubt that Audi's 'official' schedules do not include a gearbox service, but their intepretation of "lifetime" is about 5 years/100,000 miles (i.e. if it fails after that then what do you expect, one that will last a lifetime???), so probably quite different from the rest of us.

Mercedes used to say sealed for life too, they changed about 2 years ago and are now including gearbox oil changes on their servicing, and have even retro-added it to the service-inclusive deals they sold at no extra charge.

If you've seen the oil come out of a 100k plus miler gearbox that's never been changed, you'll understand why it should be done, about every 40k I'd reckon

I with you on this one....

So need to find a ZF specialist in the Midlands / East or West

Gearbox is a ZF8HP55 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_8HP_transmission

In the Midlands, for servicing, though I've never used them myself, MRC Tuning in Banbury have a very good reputation

http://www.mrctuning.com/index.php/servicing/

I have used http://www.rsdlimited.com/ for servicing and MOTs, they are okay and were a big help when I had to replace my D2 steering rack a few years back. Not perfect, but okay.

For transmissions, the nearest recognised specialist is in Chester

http://www.transcentre.co.uk/

List of ZF Agents here:

http://www.zf.com/eu/content/en/grea...e_cars_uk.html

You should also read up here:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=24

and here:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=8

and here:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=122

and here:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4060&page=5

ZF say this and I have seen silimar in on ELSA:

6- and 8-speed automatic transmissions:
ZF 6- and 8-speed transmissions are filled maintenance-free with specially developed partially synthetic ATF oils. Maintenance-free fills are intended for normal operating conditions. Especially driving at very high operating temperatures can result in accelerated aging or increased wear of ATF oils. It is recommended, in the event of severe operating conditions, such as:
- frequent highway driving in top speed range,
- offensive, sporty driving style,
- frequent trailer operation,
being above average, oil purification (oil change) on automatic transmissions is recommended between 80,000 km and 120,000 km, or 8 years, depending on the load. In each case, only released ATF oil may be used for oil changes. And oil changes must be performed in accordance with the relevant specifications.

I think with the cost of repairs being high, it is prudent to change the fluid every 2 or 3 years.

Update
 

Ok, I've had a look at transmission servicing places and they are way too far away for me with my present schedule. I had a look at maybe getting the car trailered down and back to one of the recommended places, but that's adding £400 to the already large bill.

I rang up my local Audi specialist and asked them to have a go, but I asked for the filter to be changed and magnets to be cleared. Bloke got stroppy on the phone, there is no way we are going to drop the pan on the transmission. LOL So much for the "specialist" part of the title. So I told him not to bother with any of it.

I've found a porsche specialist and I'm asking the same sort of questions, waiting for a call back. Will keep updating ...

BTW: Quick Fit Rear Brake pad on 10K miles

Is it just me and you but are Audi Main Stealers (Sorry! Sorry!! I meant Dealer!) are main dealers just always happy to send out quotes for doing work that they 1) are not even sure if the car requires it to be done and 2) can't do it properly anyway?

I took my car in with a few faults and all six of them had a resolution cost, saying next to it customer declined, yet when I asked them why they've not fixed a single one of the issues they told me it was because they couldn't communicate their computer an software to my car to sort it... :rolleyes: Really but you managed to generate quotes from something you couldn't solve? :Confused:

I've already lost all trust in my Local dealer after paying £315 for them to brake a part of my car and type out my list to them on their invoice with the words "Confirmed Customer Complaint" against each issue :mad: Perhaps I should start a bad main dealer experience thread? or good experience, which ever is easiest cover :ROFL:

Regards, Mark.