Cost for fitting new sump

[Roderick]

My local (non-Audi) UK garage is quoting £428 + vat (just over £500) to fit a new sump on my Audi A3 1.4 2017. I'm no expert, but my understanding is that the work takes around 1.5-2 hours. If that's so, this makes for a very expensive sump. If anyone has knowledge of the realistic costs involved, I would be most grateful.

[Magnet]

Hello Roderick,

Pricing things is a little like trying to price a house - costs vary from area to area. 
Way forward:- 

Check sump price on line :- eBay, Parts in Motion etc. etc. As you probably know, parts aren’t cheap anymore. 
The £428 - forget VAT, we’ve all got to pay it! - doesn’t surprise me if it works out at a 2 hr. job. 
Labour ( this is where we don’t know your local rates) is likely to be c£120/ hr., so you have over half your cost there.  
 

Perhaps you could let us know the sump (ribbed aluminium?) price Roderick, once you have had some quotes. 
Issue with your current sump? Thread damage perhaps? If so, considered Helicoil? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Roderick]

Hi Gareth,

Thank you for your reply – I appreciate your thoughts, and of course, I understand what you say. It was, in part, a guide to the job length. The car was losing oil – I was told there was a leak, and the only option was to replace the sump. I don't know whether this is the whole sump or part. If they're using Audi parts, then that could be £179 + £228 for lower and upper, so I suspect they're either not OEM parts or not the whole unit.

Due to the urgency of an impending holiday, I've had to go ahead. I have no reason to doubt the garage, which I've known for many years, but I was rather shocked at the cost. They may be using much cheaper equivalent parts which, with a hourly rate of c. £65/80 (last year) might make some sense. It all rather depends on the parts they use. However, your guide on this being around a 2-hour job is very helpful as I can then get a better idea of what's going on.

At the end of the day, I just have their word as to what was causing the loss of oil!

Thanks for your time.

Kind regards,

Roderick

[cliffcoggin]

9 hours ago, Roderick said:

At the end of the day, I just have their word as to what was causing the loss of oil!
 

Ask the mechanic to show you the fault in the old sump from where oil was leaking.

[Magnet]

Hello Roderick,

I think it’s unusual for sumps (gaskets themselves) to leak oil. Sumps can of course get damaged as can drain plug threads. Most ‘lower end’ oil leaks are associated with the front and rear crankshaft oil seals rather than any failure of the sump casting itself, so in effect, we don’t know the cause without having the car to inspect. 
Perhaps you can keep us posted. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Stevey Y]

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

Hello Roderick,

I think it’s unusual for sumps (gaskets themselves) to leak oil. Sumps can of course get damaged as can drain plug threads. Most ‘lower end’ oil leaks are associated with the front and rear crankshaft oil seals rather than any failure of the sump casting itself, so in effect, we don’t know the cause without having the car to inspect. 
Perhaps you can keep us posted. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hi Gareth, they dont use gaskets anymore just grey sealant cr@p and trust me it leaks, I had my one done twice the second time was with an upgraded racing sealant from Loctite at over £30 for a small tube that was just enough to do the job, the sump will be alloy and they dont normally give trouble unless they have had an impact.

Steve.

[Roderick]

Thank you all for all your thoughts and advice. The outcome is that, yes, they do now use a sealant rather than a gasket. I understand that the leaking seals are a fairly common problem. They kept the car in overnight as it's recommended to check for leaks the following day. Apparently, they have to put fresh oil in the system, and the cost of that is now around £100, which accounts for a fair bit of the price. This has been a learning curve, but I think everyone was playing fair.

Bring back gaskets – at least when a gasket fails, you don't have to replace the whole part!

[Magnet]

Thanks both,

Yes, I heard of this - high temperature silicone in effect. What I can’t and still don’t, understand, why actually replace (in caps) the sump if it’s only the sealant which has broken down? 
Easier to charge the owner for a new sump pan, than to spend a small amount of time properly cleaning the old sealant off -? 
Kind regards,

Gareth.

[Roderick]

I strongly suspect that when the sealant fails, it's impractical or unreliable to get a clean and smooth enough surface to take new adhesive reliably. My cynical mind sees this as a nice money-making wheeze.  However, I understand that if the garage is told by VW to proceed in a particular way, they would want to do so.

Roderick

[Magnet]

Perhaps so Roderick, but questionable and arbitrary on a 14 year old car I guess.

Still, job done. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[cliffcoggin]

1 hour ago, Roderick said:

I strongly suspect that when the sealant fails, it's impractical or unreliable to get a clean and smooth enough surface to take new adhesive reliably.

Hmm. I am not convinced. The lower flange of the crankcase still has to be cleaned so why not the upper flange of the sump?

[Roderick]

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

Perhaps so Roderick, but questionable and arbitrary on a 14 year old car I guess.

Still, job done. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

It's actually 8 years old, but I take your point.

[Roderick]

5 minutes ago, cliffcoggin said:

Hmm. I am not convinced. The lower flange of the crankcase still has to be cleaned so why not the upper flange of the sump?

 I just spoke to them again, and they told me that the sump (maybe they said the sealant) goes porous and they see it a great deal on these cars.

[Magnet]

I’m with your logic. Never heard the likes, but Stevey Y is your man with the knowledge of these things, and I’m sure will have the proper reason. 
£100 for oil? seems to be near dealer charges unless it’s pretty special - which I would doubt due to its age. 
Anyway….. It will be job done. 

[Guest]

On 8/7/2024 at 9:19 AM, Roderick said:

My local (non-Audi) UK garage is quoting £428 + vat (just over £500) to fit a new sump on my Audi A3 1.4 2017. I'm no expert, but my understanding is that the work takes around 1.5-2 hours. If that's so, this makes for a very expensive sump. If anyone has knowledge of the realistic costs involved, I would be most grateful.

What's wrong with the sump ?

[Magnet]

Why are replying to a 2 month old thread? 

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Why are replying to a 2 month old thread? 

why not ?

[Roderick]

Thanks for your interest. However, the sump was leaking and was replaced two months ago.

[Guest]

25 minutes ago, Roderick said:

Thanks for your interest. However, the sump was leaking and was replaced two months ago.

how much did u pay?