Magnet

Exactly what volume of oil did you put in the car Sayed, in comparison with what was quoted in the owners handbook under ‘engine oil capacity including filter’? We take it you also renewed the oil filter. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Robert, and it’s clear that you obviously asked the sensible questions relating to the main dealer’s ambiguous report. If this were mine, I would simply be placing my trust in the local garage’s inspection, and be following their guidance regarding the need to do anything in a hurry. Discs ‘lip’, and the lip often appears worse due to the inevitable increased corrosion on the extreme outer rim. The all important bit is to have the overall thickness measured against the minimum allowable thickness limit. Again, discs score, so the garage will be able to assess the severity against normal. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Robert, but I sense a ‘no panic’ outcome at this stage. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Many thanks for contacting the forum. Unfortunately, the answer to your brief question, does not lie in its history, but with your capabilities and desires in terms of carrying out any work it needs, and your motivation for buying it in the first place. If that was for monetary gain (and nothing wrong with that) then you dispose of it at a profit and move on. If the perceived gain is longer term, and you have suitable ‘free’ storage, then you retain, maintain, and renovate it, and sit back and wait for the long term benefits of appreciation in value - if (in caps) that happens, as we push on with EVs. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Robert, Many thanks for the additional information, but unfortunately, I remain confused regarding the pad wear since I gues you are quoting from the dealer’s ‘report’, rather than questioning it and genuinely understanding it. No personal criticism meant - except of the dealer, if this is their wording:- ‘.......pad wear ......stated as 20% of their original thickness....’ Are we right in believing this statement as written (in caps) and the pads are only worn a couple of mm., or are they worn down to 20% of their original thickness? Re. large part manufacturing groups who supply to the motor manufactures, producing the same quality/specification parts under all their brands as they do to the manufacturer of the vehicle when new, is unfortunately not the case - the important word being ‘ specification’ - which differs from new and aftermarket. I could elaborate, but I won’t bore, but quote a practical case where your top brand battery that comes with your new car, lasts longer than the same make replacement! Again, am I the only one to believe you get more mileage out of the set of say Michelin tyres that came with the car when new, than you do out of the replacements ? Same brands, same specification -?? Kind regards, Gareth.

On the basis of simple things first, spray some contact cleaner on the level switch and wiggle the connector, and see if this has any effect. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Maurice, Is your intention to upgrade the braking system based on wanting to use the car for track day events? Do you know what make of pads are currently fitted to your car? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Robert, Thanks for being in touch with the forum. I wonder if we can have some clarification:- You say the brake pad wear has been described as 20%. Do you/the dealer mean just that - that they have been worn by 20% of their original thickness, or if they are now only 20% ( approx 2mm remaining) of their thickness? If the former, they don’t need changing now. You then talk about brake disc wear, but you don’t quote what the current thickness is in comparison with the manufacturer’s recommended minimum thickness. The dealer should have been able to provide these figures. ‘Premature brake wear .....and obviously been driven hard....... won’t be replacing with OEM after this experience’ Unfortunately Robert, since the banning of the use of asbestos in brake pads, two things have happened :- pads can wear at a fast rate, and the current pad make up is known to increase brake disc wear. Gone are the days where you were almost guaranteed to get 2 x brake pad renewals before you changed the discs. Not fitting genuine VAG pads again? I think this would be a serious retrograde step, since in my experience the original brake set up and efficiency is very good, and using aftermarket pads has shown a marked decrease in braking efficiency. Personally, I wouldn’t go there. Appreciating VAG charge uncompetitively high prices for their discs, you might like to consider using Brembo discs to go with the new VAG pads. If you are going to go with Steve’s advice of getting a (cheaper?) quote from an independent, then I would be checking what brand of parts they will be using, before committing . Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Tom, Pending someone coming up with the specific answer, then the rule of thumb is, if it hasn’t got a sump plug then it must have a suction facility. Does it have a sump plug? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ieuan, Sorry to hear of your issue with this car, and please excuse the pun, but it’s a pity Cardiff Audi can’t hear about it too! Is this the dealer which has now been ‘rebranded’ - Mon Motors - at Cardiff Gate? Just to be clear on the history, did you buy it direct from them, and was there any form of finance involved in its purchase/lease? I would advise that if there is any finance/lease involved, that you formally complain there as well, and copy them in with all correspondence. As Cliff says, retain a log of all dates and reactions. If this were mine, I would be following their suggestion - simply because this is what they recommend d you to do - and getting this car checked at another main dealer - ideally outside the area that this one operates in. OK, that can be inconvenient, but I would be Googling to find a good reputation Audi main dealer in say the Bristol area and entrust it to them. Of course, they are likely to have access to the history of your complaint, but stress that you are just following the advice of Cardiff Audi. Perhaps you would be kind enough to keep us informed of how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Karolina, Very sorry to hear of your plight, but fortunately, I certainly think you are doing the right thing by being cautious. If I were in your situation, I would simply be getting in touch with your breakdown service and getting them to relay the car and yourselves home. I certainly would not be attempting to drive this home. If you take it to a local garage then I would think your breakdown service may well not assist further unless that garage says they cannot fix the car. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stacey, Cutting to the chase, you could be ( most likely to be) doing yourself a disservice. Brake disc wear, and scoring is not at all uncommon following changes in the brake pad materials many years ago, which has resulted in discs wearing much quicker than they did. Couple this where MOT inspectors can mark this scoring on ‘Advisories’ and you arrive at your situation, although there is very little wrong at this stage. It’s from here that things can go in the wrong direction ‘.........I’ve asked .........they replace the replace the discs and pads..’. What you are likely to end up with is a set of discs and pads which are the current ‘best deal’ at the local motor factors who supply parts to your garage. They are highly unlikely to/will not match the braking efficiency of genuine Audi pads, so you will be worse off. The analogy would be ‘....give me a new pair of trainers...’ , and you end up not getting the designer brand you wanted. My advice - for what it is worth - yes, have the car re-MOT’d, but do not allow them to replace the discs and pads. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Brett, Its reassuring to know that you are prepared for the dealership to rectify the unacceptable paintwork, since I sensed an up hill battle if you did not agree to allow them to do that. So it now seems it’s down the road of claiming some funds back for loss of this and that, and you will hopefully be content with it - and that is the main thing. I certainly cannot knock your sentiment of having to inform whoever subsequently takes this car in part exchange that it’s had some paint rectification. That’s your principle, and fair do s as we say in this part of the world - a rare thing to do, considering there are few vehicles on the road which haven’t had any paintwork in their lifetime. I really hope it all works out for you Brett. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dave, The fact is you have to replace this faulty component, and it’s reasonable to expect that there will be some residual moisture in the exhaust. A couple of weeks for the white smoke to disappear? If a few garages have told you that, then you have to go with that opinion. Seems a rather long period of time to me, but I will now to their experience. I guess it’s a question of replacing it , and see what happens - on the basis that you only have to worry about one thing at one time. Perhaps you would let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Brett. No, I am certainly not missing your point that you believe the dealer has acted in an unreasonable manner by not informing you, pre purchase, that this up-to-there-year old car had had a little paintwork which you failed to spot during your pre purchase inspection. You have now spotted it, and reasonably, the dealer has agreed to get it sorted to your satisfaction. You are still not satisfied (and intend to seek legal advice) since your claim is you would not have bought it if you knew it had any (in caps) paintwork, irrespective of whether that paintwork was as near to undetectable as possible. I maintain my opinion (and it it just that) that that expectation is unrealistic, when taken in the context that the car was known to be an ex demonstrator and quite likely to have had dozens, or far more drivers, any of which could have scraped the car, and I’m yet to experience -or be told about- any dealership who volunteers information about paint rectification on any secondhand car it sells. To me, Brett, it sounds as if you simply do not now want the car, even though they have agreed to rectify the painted area to your satisfaction - full stop. If that is the case then no doubt they can come to some agreement with you about returning the car and seeking an alternative which they can offer. I really hope you can resolve this, but I must say, I reserve judgement whether that resolution will be to your complete satisfaction. To me, I would allow them to attempt to rectify your dissatisfaction with the paintwork, and see what the end result will be, and if good enough, simply enjoy your new purchase. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dave, ’...coolant never moved...’. Simple logic - if it isn’t losing coolant with the cooler by passed, then it cannot be burning coolant! Kind regards, Gareth.m

Hello Dave. Thanks for being in touch with the forum, and sorry to hear of your issue. All we know is that you are losing coolant. The task now comes to finding where it is leaking, and not to assume anything (suspect head gasket included) until you have eliminated any external leaks. A basic start is to place newspaper or similar ( weighted down) under the car, following its last trip of the day, and look for wet patches in the morning. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Brett, Unfortunately business is business as they say, and the business is to attract a successful sale, and if the buyer has any discontents then sort it out, when it needs sorting. At no point, does any secondhand car salesman point out negatives with any car he, or his employers offer for sale, but they do offer a sympathetic ear in cases of issues. It would be where you go from here that would be important to me, since you cannot go backwards, and it’s reasonable to claim that if the appearance of the car had been unacceptable to you at the point of sale, then you would have raised that discontent then. Just acting as Devil’s advocate, the car was at least 18 months old when you bought it. As I said where now? I can relate experience of seeing a partial respray of a bumper of a prestigious marque car in their customer car park, by a ‘dents and scrapes’ franchise, on a literally freezing day - the end result and lasting qualities of the work?? - and that was a main dealer! Contrast that with a friend who has recently suffered two no- fault accidents on virtually new cars and had them both repaired by the different insurer’s recommended repairers. Both were superb jobs in my estimation, and I doubt whether anyone would notice any difference from the original. Are you going to entrust the rectification to the same dealer to have to a second go at this? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Brett, Sorry to hear of your issue. There are a couple of points which I’m not clear on, and I wonder if you might be kind enough to clarify. It seems the car is now at least 18 months old and you bought it 3 weeks ago with a mileage of 3,500 in that minimum of 18 months. It also seems you were informed that the car was an ex-demonstrator, but in my experience demonstrators are usually only retained as such for around 6 months. Do you know the owner history of the car, and were you induced to buy it because it was an ex demonstrator - registered to the dealership? I don’t want to counter you understandable disappointment, but it might surprise how many new vehicles are subject to some degree of paint rectification at the point of import, and of course what happens to any vehicle that results in paint rectification within say 18 months, will generally only be known to the owner! Having said all that Brett, it’s reasonable to expect that the quality of any paint rectification should be near to that of the original finish, and in your case it disappoints, so my first port of call would be to get the car inspected and reported on by a trusted local bodyshop. If they agree with your view, then it’s off to the selling dealer to discuss your discontents. Perhaps you could colour in the detail and let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth. Posted after Brett’s reply.

Sounds good Aaron, but there’s always a ‘but’! In this case, an ‘older gentleman’ suspects the head gasket, then along comes a probably ‘older, older gentleman’ ( some time since I’ve been addressed as a gentleman) and says he doesn’t think it is! I would still suggest my earlier course of action. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Aaron, I’m not sure I follow your logic of suspecting it might be due to a head gasket failure, unless you are losing coolant or have coolant in the oil or vice versa. Could you let us know if it does. Blue smoke is indicative of engine oil being burnt, and likely not to have anything to do with any head gasket issues. The dear car is getting on a bit, and sounds like it may have covered an average mileage, but the symptom and it’s duration would not suggest anything major it terminal, based on age and anticipated mileage. I have a pal who has had the same issue for years with a relatively low mileage Citroen diesel, and nothing untoward has happened with that over that time. Having said that, it might be worth looking at the engine breather system to ensure all is reasonably well there, then just keep looking after the car and don’t go tearing anything major apart! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, How often does the car get used, and what is its typical journey when it does? I go along with Steve’s suggestion of getting the battery checked as a basic first port of call/elimination. Halfords and new batteries if it does need one?? If the car is seldom used, then I would be taking it for a minimum of a 20 mile run before having the battery tested, to ensure it has a fair degree of charge before it is tested. Kind regards, Gareth

Petrol or diesel Aaron? Kind regards, Gareth.

Well worth checking best discount price for VAG pads and best EBAy price for Brembo discs - when you need them - rather than having potentially £550 of parts sitting on a shelf. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Oscar, The original poster joined and advertised on the same day some 2.5 years ago, and never returned to the forum from that day. As a matter of interest, what was/is the price of a set of VAG rear pads for this? I know VAG discs can be expensive, but have you considered Brembo as an alternative aftermarket disc, with the VAG pads? It is quite likely you will find a couple of Audi main dealers selling genuine pads at discount on EBay. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Sammy, I wouldn’t even think twice about it! Buying cheap is usually just that, and you can end up buying twice, and paying twice to get it fitted and the system de, and re-gassed. If I was going to be tempted to buy non-VAG, then in this case, my only alternative would be Bosch, but how long has the current one lasted? Worth doing a quick division against the cost, to work out how much per year it has cost you. Kind regards, Gareth.