Oil change cost

Cornershop · #1 9th July 2015, 10:49 AM

Gents, how long would you expect an oil change to take on S8 ?

My garage charged me £100+vat for labour alone (I supplied the oil), based on a £65/hr rate

So 1.5 hrs or thereabouts? (and still they managed to overfil the oil!)

Professor Peach · #2 9th July 2015, 11:30 AM

I wouldn't start the job at home without a good hour to spare (as I like to drink tea a lot), but I'd have thought a garage would be more like 30 mins max for purely an oil and filter change. I am of course an idiot and know nothing!

Conquistador · #3 9th July 2015, 11:39 AM

I wouldn't expect a garage to take more than 1 hour for an oil change on an A8.

ainarssems · #4 9th July 2015, 11:53 AM

It should not take any longer than any other car that needs filter changed from the bottom. Drive on the ramp, drop the noise insulation pan, undo plug and drain the oil, while it drains remove old filter and fit new. refit plug, fill with oil slightly over min level, start the engine, check for leaks. Stop the engine and let the oil settle while re-fitting noise insulation pan. Check the oil level and top up if necessary. Done. 30 min is good estimate.

I think my mate got oil changed for his 3.7 for £60 including 10w40 semi-synthetic oil and filter in the price at the local garage. Oil 7.5l @ about £2.5/l, filter about £10, 0.5hrs labour @ £40/hr + VAT on top. Smaller engines that require less oil and cheaper filters cost £40-50 all in.

Cornershop · #5 9th July 2015, 12:58 PM

Thanks chaps - I'll give them a call to give them a chance to explain the cost, just seemed excessive to me. I thought an hour tops too.

I've been sent a link to provide feedback via Trustpilot which is a good thing for (potential) customers

steamship · #6 9th August 2015, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ainarssems

It should not take any longer than any other car that needs filter changed from the bottom. Drive on the ramp, drop the noise insulation pan, undo plug and drain the oil, while it drains remove old filter and fit new. refit plug, fill with oil slightly over min level, start the engine, check for leaks. Stop the engine and let the oil settle while re-fitting noise insulation pan. Check the oil level and top up if necessary. Done. 30 min is good estimate.

I think my mate got oil changed for his 3.7 for £60 including 10w40 semi-synthetic oil and filter in the price at the local garage. Oil 7.5l @ about £2.5/l, filter about £10, 0.5hrs labour @ £40/hr + VAT on top. Smaller engines that require less oil and cheaper filters cost £40-50 all in.

The car is due an oil change, and thinking of saving some money by doing it myself. I checked Elsa for procedure and it talks about an oil extraction tool for the 3.7 5V engine. Is this really necessary? Also, from the diagram, there appears to be an oil drainage plug in the filter housing. Is this the only one, or is there one in the oil sump that I should be removing?

Dezzy · #7 11th August 2015, 08:54 AM

Oil changes on an 8 are no different than anything else. Easily done with no special tools at home. Just remember there should be around 8 litres of oil in there so make sure you have a big enough catcher or are ready to whip the plug back in, or make a mess on the drive.

There is a drain plug in the sump and one on filter housing. A genuine filter should have a new sump plug washer in the box as well as a new O ring for the filter housing. Drain on the housing does help get that last bit of old oil out and makes it a bit less messy removing the old filter.

Easily doable at home and as mentioned no reason it should be costing more than any other car on the road other than the amount of oil being bought.