Minor rant about Audi's whatever-it's called "included service" with new car

[Carmine_S4]

Mother-in-law's 05 Allroad. It was in for service on Sept 7 2007 with 36,996 kms for it's 40,000km service. On July 18, 2008 at 43,329kms, it was brought in for recall work and the oil was "topped up". I checked the oil 3 days ago and had to add, so I call bs on the "top up" ...and btw, it was very dirty. So I call in this morning to book an appointment for and oil change...the car has ~45,000kms. "Okay, we'll book you in for the 55,000km service." "Uh, but the car has only 45,000kms" "Yes, but that's the next service......we change the oil, check the fluids, grease the doors". "Ok, sure." The rep was nice about it, so this isn't a dealer rant, but just a rant about an idiotic policy. Why don't they just give customers a $1000 or $2000 or whatever "coupon" for service...spend it however you like it? Rather, they tell customers that their first million kms of service are covered, except that you can only come in every 333,000 kms...and then they round up! They lull the customer into a false sense of security that their car is being well maintained...."Hey, Audi says change my oil every 20,000 kms, and they INCLUDE it, so they must know best". They could call it - and the marketing types would never go for it - "The most of your service is included, but if you really care about the car, and want it to last beyond your lease, you should change your oil more often and pay for it yourself Audi Service Plan." I guess with the prevalence of leasing, the goal is not for longevity of the car - since most likely it's the 2nd or 3rd owner who's going to "benefit" from a 20,000km oil service interval and all Audi will do is blame the previous owner for not taking care of the car. Canadian winters? Canadian summers? Oil Service every 20,000kms? Thumbs down.

[SMO]

To do any service above and beyond what's absolutely necessary. Realistically, the majority of the stuff that the dealer suggests will not affect the performance of the car nor cause any problems during the first 4 yrs of ownership. It's the long-term owner that will suffer. So as far as doing the extra checks and more frequent maintenance, I'd think that Audi would want to do that at their cost (talking from the perspective of someone who doesn't have the maintenance package) in order to reduce the cost of major warranty repairs in the future.

That's my thought. Theoretically, I think it makes sense. Practically, I acknowledge this would never actually work out .