Hi all - new member here! I've just picked up a 2.0 tdi Ultra sport Avant which has blown me away in terms of quality, comfort and refinement. The dash is a work of art too. There are a few gripes that I'm sorting via the dealer and if not it will mean the car gets returned. In the meantime what I'm rapidly learning is that this engine has some expensive issues (adblue pump/egr...). But that's the nature of forums - the majority of topics are people looking for help with issues. So the question is have any of you here with the same engine had a reliable experience without having to replace these parts? And for how long? It feels like an inevitability depending on what you read! Thanks for reading and noted about a bit of courtesy when getting replies admin! 

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 

Keep us posted on how you get on, as you know your consumer rights hopefully all issues will be resolved. 

48 minutes ago, andy1976 said:

Hi all - new member here! I've just picked up a 2.0 tdi Ultra sport Avant which has blown me away in terms of quality, comfort and refinement. The dash is a work of art too. There are a few gripes that I'm sorting via the dealer and if not it will mean the car gets returned. In the meantime what I'm rapidly learning is that this engine has some expensive issues (adblue pump/egr...). But that's the nature of forums - the majority of topics are people looking for help with issues. So the question is have any of you here with the same engine had a reliable experience without having to replace these parts? And for how long? It feels like an inevitability depending on what you read! Thanks for reading and noted about a bit of courtesy when getting replies admin! 

Hi, yes the refinements are great but if its a CNHA engine or any of its derivatives for that year you will inevitably come across EGR cooler problems and MAF/MAP problems I ran mine over 270k as a taxi and believe me I ran in to a multitude of problems during that milage, the worst being the EGR cooler and its valve which are a nightmare to change then you have the clutch, parts are hard to get hold of unless you want to get them from Audi my first one was £1900 for the parts alone and only about £100 cheaper on subsequent changes, around 100,000 miles the game becomes interesting with things like oil leaks around the sump and oil level sensors packing up, you can't beat a dipstick, then there is the silica bag in the expansion tank which ruptures and kills the heater matrix if you dont get at it a bit sharpish, drive shaft outer gaiters tend to be a problem as well, never had a problem with the adblue as I used so much I dont think it had a chance to crystallise, lovely drive but expensive parts/labour even at an independent garage because everything major is so hard to get at, as for the nature of forums thats just the tip of the iceberg, the majority of owners who have the problems with EGR coolers and clutches just sell the car when they find out the cost of the repairs, I am lucky insomuch as I did most of the repairs and have an excellent rapport with my local garage for clutches etc.

Steve.

2 minutes ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi, yes the refinements are great but if its a CNHA engine or any of its derivatives for that year you will inevitably come across EGR cooler problems and MAF/MAP problems I ran mine over 270k as a taxi and believe me I ran in to a multitude of problems during that milage, the worst being the EGR cooler and its valve which are a nightmare to change then you have the clutch, parts are hard to get hold of unless you want to get them from Audi my first one was £1900 for the parts alone and only about £100 cheaper on subsequent changes, around 100,000 miles the game becomes interesting with things like oil leaks around the sump and oil level sensors packing up, you can't beat a dipstick, then there is the silica bag in the expansion tank which ruptures and kills the heater matrix if you dont get at it a bit sharpish, drive shaft outer gaiters tend to be a problem as well, never had a problem with the adblue as I used so much I dont think it had a chance to crystallise, lovely drive but expensive parts/labour even at an independent garage because everything major is so hard to get at, as for the nature of forums thats just the tip of the iceberg, the majority of owners who have the problems with EGR coolers and clutches just sell the car when they find out the cost of the repairs, I am lucky insomuch as I did most of the repairs and have an excellent rapport with my local garage for clutches etc.

Steve.

Thanks Steve I think my heater matrix is dead.... this may be a reason to return the car as much as I love it. Finding out a premium brand has such a problem is hardly inspiring and especially with a huge labour bill. And all those other issues you mention too....

Such a shame, it's a lovely car.

38 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 

Keep us posted on how you get on, as you know your consumer rights hopefully all issues will be resolved. 

Thanks Steve - will do!

1 minute ago, andy1976 said:

Thanks Steve I think my heater matrix is dead.... this may be a reason to return the car as much as I love it. Finding out a premium brand has such a problem is hardly inspiring and especially with a huge labour bill. And all those other issues you mention too....

Such a shame, it's a lovely car.

Hi yes  they are one of the best cars you could own in terms of drivability and comfort but the built in obsolescence is off the Richter scale, I think what happened was they built a reputation for reliability during the nineties and have been trading on that ever since whilst back tracking on parts quality, I think the premium sticker is pretty faded for most German car producers, BMW Mercedes Audi.

Steve.

So I'm in the process of rejecting the diesel. Does the petrol enjoy better reliability? 

14 minutes ago, andy1976 said:

So I'm in the process of rejecting the diesel. Does the petrol enjoy better reliability? 

How's that going? 

How has the dealer been? 

Cooperative so far. My car has been collected and the fault will be assessed at the dealer tomorrow. I will be pushing hard for rejection because even if they get it working I'm concerned about the residual damage caused by any neglect from the previous owner. 

The thing most people forget about german cars is that no matter how cheap they become Tom purchase the maintenance costs are just the same. So like you say, people just leave it if something big starts to fail. 

Latest update, the A4 has gone back. Very disappointing but the right thing to do. 

With more knowledge about the running costs (repairs!) of the TDI ultra engine I'm mulling over a 1.4tfsi. In my budget I could probably pick up something around 50-60k miles and will do 15,000 mainly motorway miles each year. I don't mind the drop in economy if I can avoid an inevitable £4-5k spend on adblue/egr issues. But would love to hear any feedback about reliability specifically of this engine on higher mileage. Are there any differences in engine codes across different years from 2016 onwards? And anything to be aware of e.g. chain vs belt. Thanks for all comments and replies so far. I'm considering other VAG options too - the B8 passat has a 2.0tdi pre-2018 with no adblue which is very attractive! 

Many years ago the 1.4 litre petrol engine suffered dramatically high oil consumption leading to many claims by owners. The problem was eventually rectified by Audi with a modification to the rings. It's unlikely you will come across one of them now, but it is worth knowing of the possibility. Unfortunately I don't recall the affected production dates so you would need to research it yourself, unless others here can supply the information.

34 minutes ago, cliffcoggin said:

Many years ago the 1.4 litre petrol engine suffered dramatically high oil consumption leading to many claims by owners. The problem was eventually rectified by Audi with a modification to the rings. It's unlikely you will come across one of them now, but it is worth knowing of the possibility. Unfortunately I don't recall the affected production dates so you would need to research it yourself, unless others here can supply the information.

Thanks Cliff. If anyone can help identify the 'safe' years or engine codes that would be amazing.

Hello Andy,

I believe you should be OK with post 2015, but Stevey Y on here would be your best adviser.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

13 minutes ago, Magnet said:

Hello Andy,

I believe you should be OK with post 2015, but Stevey Y on here would be your best adviser.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Fab thanks Gareth. I'll await Stevey's wise counsel! 

51 minutes ago, andy1976 said:

Fab thanks Gareth. I'll await Stevey's wise counsel! 

Hi post 15 is about right but get a late 16 if possible, with regard to the Passat I have one for a cab now and can't speak highly enough of it when bought it in feb this year it had 58k on the clock, it now has just under 90k on it and apart from discs and pads all round and the usual servicing its been brilliant, its only 150bhp but gets down the road a bit lively and returns about 40mpg around town and sixty on a run, the part prices are about a third of what I was paying on the Audi.

Steve.

32 minutes ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi post 15 is about right but get a late 16 if possible, with regard to the Passat I have one for a cab now and can't speak highly enough of it when bought it in feb this year it had 58k on the clock, it now has just under 90k on it and apart from discs and pads all round and the usual servicing its been brilliant, its only 150bhp but gets down the road a bit lively and returns about 40mpg around town and sixty on a run, the part prices are about a third of what I was paying on the Audi.

Steve.

Thanks Steve that's very helpful. I'm looking at a 150bhp passat gt tomorrow on a 17 plate. The mileage is higher than I'd like at 78k but I'm convinced that'll compare favourably to any small engine petrol on 60-70k unless the 1.4tfsi is more resilient than I'm giving it credit for. The point about parts prices is useful. Of course if I take this route it will mean I'm an imposter here and will have to make myself scarce 🤣 

2 minutes ago, andy1976 said:

Thanks Steve that's very helpful. I'm looking at a 150bhp passat gt tomorrow on a 17 plate. The mileage is higher than I'd like at 78k but I'm convinced that'll compare favourably to any small engine petrol on 60-70k unless the 1.4tfsi is more resilient than I'm giving it credit for. The point about parts prices is useful. Of course if I take this route it will mean I'm an imposter here and will have to make myself scarce 🤣 

Hi no way you will be blackballed as a non Audi owner, I as an ex Audi owner thought the same when mine went but due to open minded attitude of the moderators I have just been able to carry on, they all seem to realise as I do that all VAG model diesels operate the same way regardless of different engine designations, they even share a lot of the same DTCs and I would be more than happy to help you should you need it, just PM me, after all its a sad world when you can't help someone else, the small capacity TSFI units have to work a lot harder to get you what you want so longevity is not guaranteed and when you consider a lot of Audis, Q3,A3 share the same engine design you could still learn loads.

Steve.

 

Thankyou that's really kind. I will certainly be tapping into the knowledge here and your kind offer of help if I need it! Will update after tomorrow! 

41 minutes ago, andy1976 said:

 it will mean I'm an imposter here and will have to make myself scarce 🤣 

No more of an imposter than me. I no longer have an Audi, and as if that was not enough, my current car is electric.

Electric? Clutching my pearls 😱.