Re: S4 vs. V8

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Mon, 21 Nov 1994, Jack Van Geldern wrote:

> eliot writes:
> >the only dirt i can dig up on the car are the now abandoned internal
> >caliper brake discs which cost $500 (?) a pop.  mine and a couple of
> >other v8s have had the discs converted to regular 200q discs, so one
> >could tell potential buyers to look out for this.  
> 
> 	$560 a piece, remanufactured at about half price.  How much
> did it cost you to change to the regular disks?

warranty covered the entire job. i got new struts, shocks, springs,
discs, pads.. the whole entire front suspension was brand new.

> 	Someone mentioned that the 60K V8 service was $3000.  Anyone
> know what they do?

that sounds like dealer gouging to me.. 

the major items at 60K are:

timing belt: approx $500-600  

OXS: $120-130 (no more than the other cars), plus 1/2 hour labor, i think
i strongly recommend this change, because it made a big improvement to
my car's running characterisitcs.  let's say about  $180 total..

slush fluid: $60?

brake fluid/radiator flush: (if 60K = 2 yr interval) $200 total if needed.

plugs: $90 (don't use any other kind except the special expensive kind, i'm
told)

air filter: $25

oil + filter: $25

differential oil: not required, but i had it done at 60K anyway, because
the new lubricant that was made available was supposedly extremely
high quality stuff.  cost maybe $100 or so, can't really remember.

i think the trick here is to take your car in with specific
instructions to perform individual items (and thus be billed
individually for each item) rather than to take it in and say "do the
60K service".  that way they cannot charge you for stuff like filling
the washer reservoir and checking to see if the rear brake lights
(covered by the dash electronics) are working.

when they raise the car to perform some of the work such as replacing
transmission fluid, they will notice if your CV boots and muffler and
other components are ok, which means you get this inspection done for
free.  after all, it is in their interest to spot trouble items for
you so that you can have them replaced.. so why pay for them to do it?

i think my 60K service cost around $1K...  it is money well spent
because the car is giving me such good service right now.

good luck


eliot


> 	I figure once I get past that and the brakes I am good for
> another 50,000 miles or so. (I hope!)
>