Magnet

Welcome Simon, Invest £9.99 on an on-line VCheck on the vehicle. Have you ran an MOT history check on this? MOT elapsed Feb 2025 and car sold is being sold as spares or repairs - good luck with that! Has a history of numerous presentations for MOTs with tyres near or at the legal limit, together with suspension isxued, which would indicate its not been in careful hands. Dec. 2022 to Feb 2024, the car covered just 60 miles, so this car has likely sat around for 2 years. Um?? Regards, Gareth.

Thanks Andrew, The fact that the seller of the brake discs cannot spell ‘brake’ correctly, does not instil confidence! Incidentally, where do you get your car cleaned? Regards, Gareth.

Thanks, but didn’t I say so a long time ago!! ?

Thanks for coming back on this Roger. I’m sure this will be of use to future members seeking the same items, Regards, Gareth.

Welcome Roger, Try the LLL Parts website for part no. enquiries. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

Can I respectfully suggest that sufficient comments have already been received against this thread, and we now simply await updates from Leah, before adding a further posts ? Thanks, Gareth.

Apologies for jumping in on this, but from a simplistic viewpoint, if you agree the noise originates from the area of the clutch, then the assembly has to be dismantled for inspection with a minimum of delay. Failure to do this could result in catastrophic failure. The running issue is probably not connected, but please bear in mind that no one on here has access to inspect what you describe. Regards, Gareth. Post overlapped with Cliff’s reply.

What’s the latest news than Leah?

Hello Colin, Most of the regular contributors on here know the latest party line recommendations issued by VAG. Any dealer will give you details - to save us repeating what has been said on here many times over. You will then end up having to make your own decision whether to follow these recommendations, or follow Stevey Y’s advice above. You can see which I prefer by my ‘Liking’ Stevey’s advice. Perhaps you could let us know what you decide Colin. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Antonio, Great news. For clarity, can we revert back to your post of 16th Feb. when you say ‘The battery has been checked and is fine…..’ Who tested it, and how was the check carried out? Regards, Gareth.

New battery coded to car?

There is room for healthy debate here, since my understanding is that replacement batteries for pre 2008 vehicles VAG cars do not need coding. Possibilities with your A3 Cliff is that it was either a 2008 model year car, or x years on from new, when your battery needed replacing, it was topical ‘common practice’ to claim they had to be coded. Nick:- Who informs you at 100% certainly that the above is wrong? I appreciate that that is academic in your situation, since no doubt it has been coded whether it needed to be or not - so as I said originally, you can eliminate that as a possibility. Back to your issue - Have you actually measured the current drain on the car ( and incidentally, do you have answers to my original question)? Whatever it is, it has to be considerable, e.g. many amps, rather than mA, but you need to know. Possible culprit at that level of discharge would be discharging back through a faulty alternator (diode??). Yes, I know you say it’s been checked, but you don’t give us any figures to work with. Regards, Gareth.

Hello Nick, It’s unlikely that you would have needed to code the replacement battery on this age of car, so probably wise to ignore that possibility. What we need here is actual voltage readings:- Battery voltage at rest ( after it has been independently recharged). Should be around 12.4 ish volts. Charging voltage at the battery with the engine running at around 1500 rpm. Should be around 14.5V. Please let us know what the readings are. Regards, Gareth.

Thanks, First cost-free move would be to inspect the wiring within the flexible harness section twixt body and tailgate/boot. Favourite place for wires to fracture particularly in cold weather. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

So it seems you knowingly finalised the purchase of the vehicle knowing it had a fault -? Deposits are generally non refundable, but I would have thought that would not apply where such a disclosure had been made after the deposit had been paid.

Welcome Matthew, What is the actual problem? Regards, Gareth.

Sorry about jumping in on this, but was it bought from a dealer, and did you know the previous owner had parted company with it due to the high cost of repair?

Apologies for the contra opinion Cliff, but I think this 12 year old car would have been supplied with the owner’s cased handbook pack. Post 2020?? models seem to be accessed on-line, but I’m unsure when this change was actually implemented. Way forward Philip:- contact seller, but many ex lease etc. vehicles seem to suffer from a lack of a retained owner pack. Well worth searching EBay, and I’d be surprised if you don’t come up with what should have been there. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth. p.s. I take it you have a print out for the computerised service history -?

Thanks Cliff, Interesting and confusing! Regards, Gareth.

Admin. Any idea why we are now dealing with this poster under ‘Guest’, rather than a named poster as originally? Regards, Gareth.

Welcome Malcolm and sorry to hear of your bad experiences. When you say ‘… they (garage)….’ What sort of garage is this - main dealer, independent specialist, local garage etc? Regards, Gareth.

Have you measured the voltage at the actual motor, and the relay feed? As Richard says- sounds to me you would be wise to invest in an hour’s time with a trusted auto electrician, rather than just throwing money and parts at it. Richard’s helpful post worth a ‘Like’ ?

Wipers designed to be inoperable when the bonnet is open- as with other models? If so, consider investigating the bonnet- closed switch ( in the bonnet latch I guess). Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

Work on the principle that warranty companies will get out under a snakes belly with a top hat on to avoid paying out. It’s always worth giving the small print a good couple of coats of studying and thinking about before putting your signature on any piece of paper.

Hello Stefan, I would not exclude using parts from Meyle and Febi. Not sure why people source parts from Autodoc - if only due to the high postage charge. Reputable sellers on EBay offer good deals on what has been good quality aftermarket parts - generally post free. Regards, Gareth.