The coverage is for 3 years/36K miles. It appears that VW has shortened the length of the bumper-to-bumper warranty period from 4 year/50K miles to this new shorter period to align itself with Honda, Toyota and Nissan in this regard.

Hopefully Audi will bring back their Advantage program too (but without cutting down the warranty coverage period).<ul><li><a href="http://www.autospies.com/news/Volkswagen-To-Offer-No-Charge-Maintenance-Program-Starting-In-2009-28949/">VW offers no charge maintenance</a></li></ul>

I'm not crazy about Truth in Engineering either. They need somethign more catchy. It just doesn't have the same meaning as the Ultimate Driving Machine, Relentless Pursuit of Perfection, etc.

And no charge.

I don't recall I have to pay for oil change during scheduled maintenance.

You're referring to "Audi Care" which can be purchased for [if memory serves] something like $700 at the time you buy the car, which includes all scheduled oil changes, etc... It's essentially free with a lease, as purchasing it improves the residual value, offsetting the increased cost.

It is not nearly as comprehensive as the former "Audi Advantage" which covered the cost of all scheduled maintainence as well as most wear and tear items that were not covered under the warranty.

The Advantage was gradually diluted over the years and eventually phased out entirely for MY 2006, when Audi Care was introduced. Additionally, while the cost of the Advantage was included in the base MSRP, the cost of Audi Care is not, nor did it's introduction coincide with any decrease in said base MSRP.

The way they make money on those service packages is by having the factory state the car can go 10k (or more!) between oil changes, thus they only have to abide by the factory's recommendations and can get away with only giving you 3-4 oil changes for "free" (aka for whatever you paid for the service package).
I don't care what the factory has been told to say, if I'm planning to keep the car long term I'm changing the oil at least every 4500 miles if not sooner.

Unless you drive exclusively in stop-&amp;-go traffic jams in construction zones all the time, there's really no reason for a modern engine to change synthetic oil sooner than 4500 miles.

The whole "you should change your oil every 3000 miles" idea is just a way for engine oil companies to sell more. Over in Europe, average oil change interval is over 10k miles.

Isn't that what Audi trying to compete against?

$0 maintenance for 4 years or 50k miles.

http://bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/Owner/BMWUltimateService/Default.aspx

Several years ago Audi was the one that offered full service coverage as well as pretty much everything bumper to bumper. BMW copied Audi and now Audi has backed off. It seems like these companies can't make up their mind - round and round we go...

Seems like the US is the only place they don't use this. They do where I am and everywhere else from what I know. The slogans they are using in the US seem kind of tacky. The other cars slogans are kind of tacky too though. Vorsprung durch technik is good cause its showing its German heritage, and that its not trying to convert which many other cars do. Audi seems under really bad management in the US from everything I hear on these forums, hopefully they smooth things out in the near future for you all.

If that's the case, it isn't really "free". Somebody is paying AoA for all of it. But, since it's AudiCare, it would be honored by every Audi dealer in the US.

The other, far less likely, possibility is that that individual dealer is willing to absorb the scheduled maintenance costs to keep their current customers happy and increase sales by enticing new customers. If that's the case, then that deal would ONLY apply to that particulaer dealer and no other Audi dealer would honor that dealer's commitment.

I used Mobil One since 10K. Now 90K and the top end looses a part. AoA doesn't want to say it's the sludging issue.

Anyway, I work for one of Audi AG's major suppliers and have the resources and experts to determine the cause of failure. Hopefully, after I show them their mis-guided ways they'll stand up and take responsibility for their poor design.

If not, maybe 60 minutes would like to do another story on Audis. ;-)