Audi RS4 DRC Replacement Cost

[carlover164]

So I recently noticed one of my metal DRC lines started to leak. Took it to the dealer for them to confirm and turned out I was correct. However, they also found that 3 out of 4 shocks were leaking so they quoted me to replace all 4 shocks, lines, and a repressure. Now here’s the kicker, they told me it was going to cost $17,500 to do everything. I looked around on forums and that price seems absurdly high, even if it’s replacing everything. I don’t intend to go with coils and want to stick with DRC so I’ll most likely just tell them to repressure it and head off to find an Indy shop to fix everything else. I’m based outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so if anyone has good recommendations on shops who do affordable DRC work, let me know. Thanks!

[turbello]

That’s a comical price. I wouldn’t even have them pressurize it. Unless your extremely low mileage and going for oem resale value, I would seriously consider a good aftermarket set.


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[VinnysS4]

Either find a new shop or buy some good coilovers. Ohlins/stasis are the bomb if you can find some. Most go with KW v3 and love them.
That quote is absolutely ridiculous. When I was pricing DRC parts for my RS6, the shocks could be found for a couple hundred each. Around a grand total. Where the extra 16k on the quote came from who knows. Re-pressurizing the system doesnt take that long, nor should it cost more than a couple hundred to do so. They must be quoting on the entire system. Lines and all. Cant see any other way it would cost that much

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[Audibot]

Either find a new shop or buy some good coilovers. Ohlins/stasis are the bomb if you can find some. Most go with KW v3 and love them.
That quote is absolutely ridiculous. When I was pricing DRC parts for my RS6, the shocks could be found for a couple hundred each. Around a grand total. Where the extra 16k on the quote came from who knows. Re-pressurizing the system doesnt take that long, nor should it cost more than a couple hundred to do so. They must be quoting on the entire system. Lines and all. Cant see any other way it would cost that much

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Got a source for this for the RS6?

[VinnysS4]

Got a source for this for the RS6?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28452394387...1b0b27e4651374
Here is one source for NEW OEM replacements for cheap. One thing to keep in mind... you'l have to find someone who will charge the system. Most places wont charge a system they didn't install and most wont install customer supplied parts. This is what I ran into. I have seen 2 people recharge the system themselves throughout the years

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[carlover164]

Either find a new shop or buy some good coilovers. Ohlins/stasis are the bomb if you can find some. Most go with KW v3 and love them.
That quote is absolutely ridiculous. When I was pricing DRC parts for my RS6, the shocks could be found for a couple hundred each. Around a grand total. Where the extra 16k on the quote came from who knows. Re-pressurizing the system doesnt take that long, nor should it cost more than a couple hundred to do so. They must be quoting on the entire system. Lines and all. Cant see any other way it would cost that much

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The quote was for everything including the lines. The breakdown was around $5500 for labor (which is believable for dealer rates) and $12000 for parts (which is ludicrous in my opinion).

[Kenny147]

That’s an absurd price. For $5k you can get 2 way Öhlins TTX’s, which are probably the ultimate setup for most cars.

[VinnysS4]

The quote was for everything including the lines. The breakdown was around $5500 for labor (which is believable for dealer rates) and $12000 for parts (which is ludicrous in my opinion).

Absolutely ridiculous pricing. Even at $100hr, it doesnt take 55 hours to change the shocks out. Less than one day with one tech can have it done. So pay that guy $200hr and it still doesnt cost that much.
You'll either want to go elsewhere, or switch over to aftermarket suspension. As stated, ohlins makes arguably the best setup you can get for our cars. Period. And it's much cheaper than the quote you got and it will ride better.
The main problem is that most shops dont have the DRC recharging equipment. So you'll have to find one that does and is familiar with the job.
Was the DRC overhauled once before?

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[Audibot]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28452394387...1b0b27e4651374
Here is one source for NEW OEM replacements for cheap. One thing to keep in mind... you'l have to find someone who will charge the system. Most places wont charge a system they didn't install and most wont install customer supplied parts. This is what I ran into. I have seen 2 people recharge the system themselves throughout the years

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Thanks!

[carlover164]

Absolutely ridiculous pricing. Even at $100hr, it doesnt take 55 hours to change the shocks out. Less than one day with one tech can have it done. So pay that guy $200hr and it still doesnt cost that much.
You'll either want to go elsewhere, or switch over to aftermarket suspension. As stated, ohlins makes arguably the best setup you can get for our cars. Period. And it's much cheaper than the quote you got and it will ride better.
The main problem is that most shops dont have the DRC recharging equipment. So you'll have to find one that does and is familiar with the job.
Was the DRC overhauled once before?

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Yeah that’s the biggest issue right now, no shops near me has to the equipment to fix it. Called like 8 shops and none were willingly to repair it. There’s a shop in New York that has the tools but it’s going to be a good 6-7 hour drive to get there. I have no idea if the system was overhauled at one point. I got the car in 2018 so I assume whoever had the car back in 2010 had the DRC recall done.

[turbello]

I’ll say it again. Unless you are crazy low mileage and keeping a museum piece, you’re wasting time and money trying to stick with Drc.


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[bluebull]

Ohlins TTX36

Use the DRC for boat anchor


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[87vr6]

It's quite obvious no one in here has a clue as to how dealerships work, and why they're commonly called stealerships.

First, the Audi dealership rate is likely north of 200/hr, not 100 as someone suggested.

Second, they're not buying parts off of ebay, they're getting them from Audi, and as I've discovered, often at a markup over what you can literally order yourself from https://parts.audiusa.com/ (which is the OEM Audi parts shop).


As a reference, they wanted 2300 give or take to replace both front axles, parts and labor. I obviously did not, bought from FCP and did it myself for under a grand and 3ish hours of my free labor.


back to the DRC,


The rear shocks are 735 and 804 each, the fronts are 785 each, and that's from the website, I'm willing to bet your dealer tacked on a mark up for the estimate, and then apply that for whatever other parts they wanted to throw at you, and I can easily see a 16k bill.

Like others said, it's WAY more cost effective to eliminate DRC, even with OEM non-DRC suspension.

But, if you insist on fixing it, you need to truly find out what's leaking. If it's just lines, a hydraulic tubing shop could make replacements. If it's the shocks, well, you're in at 2800 dollars just for those.



That being said, I have my full DRC shock set, pulled at about 84k with zero leaks. Shocks/springs. I need to list those one of these days..

[CAD73]

I replaced the entire DRC system at 15k miles, mostly under a warranty that I paid for when I bought the car from Audi Fort Worth. The DRC replacement ended up only costing me just north of $1,500 out of pocket. So my '08 RS4 with 49k miles on it still bone stock today. I wouldn't have done it if I had to pay out of pocket for everything - and if it fails again I'll be going aftermarket, unless I sell the car by then. They quoted me around $11k total at the time I think. That was about six years ago. Given the supply chain issues and inflation, I'm not surprised by the price tag they gave you - even though I agree it's ridiculous.

[blubusdrvr]

Holy Crap! Yeah, scrap that DRC and get a set of coilovers and be done with it. Like others have said Ohlins/Stasis are incredible and KW3's are a close 2nd (and readily available).

[zachf88]

I had 3 sets of DRC on my RS4 and finally went with Stasis Ohlins after the 3rd set started leaking/ clunking. Its a terrible system. And the device to pressurize it costs $3000-4000 and many dealers don't have it. I assume they are tacking on that price to your quote. I'm all for originality, but no DRC will last more than 5 years. The DRC is pressurized to 7-9 bar (~120 PSI). With that much pressure, the seals weaken with the fluid and the shocks/ lines start to leak. Again, terrible system.