It's a shame, then, that the quality of the service provided by Autohaus fell woefully short of the standards set by the build quality of our RS6.

You'd think a day would be enough to complete a 20,000-mile service but I'm afraid it didn't turn out like that, even though the RS6 was dropped off just before 9.00am. We needed the car back the same day but as I still hadn't heard anything by 5.30pm I rang to find out what was happening. I was told that it could be ready for 5.50pm but Autohaus would have to order the spark plugs and fuel filters because it didn't have any in stock. What on earth is the point of booking a car in for service a week in advance if they don't get the parts in to do the job?

No apology was offered and, just to wind me up further, I could only get the car back that night if I paid for the service in full. Company policy, apparently, to demand full payment before releasing a car back to the customer. That'll be ΂£284.76, please, even though half the jobs hadn't been done.

The next day Autohaus rang to say the parts were due and could we book the car back in. On arrival, the service receptionist got me to sign in advance for the work to be carried out. Plugs and fuel filter were fair enough, but I put a line through front brake pad replacement as even Autohaus admitted there were a few thousand miles left in the old ones.

At 5: 30pm the car was finally ready for collection. I was staggered to be presented with another bill, this time for ΂£157.86; turns out I hadn't paid for the eight spark plugs and fuel filter the previous day after all. That meant the service had cost a whopping ΂£442.62 in total, an unacceptable amount for an oil and spark plug change in my view. Not from Autohaus's viewpoint though - its retort was 'what do you expect if you buy a car like that?' Well, some old-fashioned courtesy would be nice for a start, together with an apology for the inconvenience of having to arrange lifts for the two days it required the car. The labour charge didn't help either, an eye-watering ΂£94 per hour including VAT, reduced to ΂£73 if your car is over three years old. I bet it's the same mechanics doing the work.

I was thoroughly disappointed with the whole episode. It's little wonder rival BMW's free servicing package is proving such a hit on its new cars. Audi should take note.