Hi, I’ve put down a small deposit on a 2.0 TFSI Quattro A5 2011. I’ve since discovered various articles about piston rings being an issue in this engine which requires major work to fix if it is an issue. The car has 48700 miles on it. Questions are, how common is this issue and is it a major enough issue to put me off buying the car? Any advice is much appreciated!!

Hello Ross,

Others more knowledgeable than me on this, will hopefully colour in some more detail, but I believe this is within the year range of ‘low friction’ ‘skinny’ piston rings. This can result in engines devouring oil at an unbelievable rate of knots, and have little respect for what mileage it does it at. 
If it were me, I would be steering a wide birth around this and attempting to my deposit back. Indeed, it could be worth forfeiting the deposit if needs be. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. This advice maybe disputed, and if so, I respect that alternative opinion, and will leave the decision to you. 

Thanks Gareth I was thinking along the same lines. I’ll raise the issue, you never know there might have been some work done on it already and it has some paperwork to back it up but I’m not hopeful. 

Hello Ross,

I think you are resting your hopes on something that is unlikely to be the case. If you raise the issue, you are letting yourself wide open to being convinced all will be well, particularly since you have already fallen sufficiently in love with it to put a deposit on it - without being pessimistic, you are in an emotionally vulnerable position. Still, it isn’t my money or my risk going forward. 
Trade seller? If so, be prepared to be convinced that the warranty will cover such an issue, but even if does, do you really want the responsibility of being subjected to the hassle of loss of use through substantial repairs? 
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 
 

Hi Gareth,

I’ve taken the decision not to go ahead with buying the car. I’ll look for a facelift version as it is apparently resolved in that version. Too much of a risk and I don’t need to take it.  👍

Ross