Magnet

Hello Mike, All other things being serviceable, the failure of the stop start system is usually associated with a below par battery. Appreciating you have check your battery voltage, but if that was with a multi meter, then that no- load test is almost meaningless. Stray warning light issues can also be characteristic of battery issues. Yes, I know the car starts well, so it is assumed that the battery must be OK, but the battery condition monitor will know differently! Even quite sophisticated battery test test equipment may not test all of the parameters monitored, so again beware of testing with ‘outdated testers’. A new battery - if needed - will need coding to the car. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Thomas, I guess you have a conventional manual handbrake, by the year of the car. Assuming the pads and calipers are in a serviceable condition, then it maybe wise to totally slacken handbrake adjustment to a point where the cables can be disconnected at both wheels. You can then sharply apply the footbrake and ensure both rear wheels lock up properly and then fully release properly. It would be great if your friendly MOT station could retest the rear brake efficiency and balance to ensure they are working properly - oops, just realised Ireland - so Government testing?? Once you have established correctly working rear wheel braking , you can then tackle the handbrake cable efficiency. Do both cables pull and release properly? Renew if any doubt. Your A4 may have the same set up as the similar year A3, whereby the cables pass through aluminium guide tubes, and they can stick within these tubes. New tubes will be necessary and I think these are main dealer parts only. Liberal application of WD40 may assist handbrake cable action and removal of tubes if necessary. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Greg, Can any other owners confirm that Greg’s car isn’t actually missing some hold-up facility? If not, does anyone have some designed modification to sort this! Hoping someone can help. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Just a thought Greg:- our recently replaced non-Audi saloon had a similar recessed lifting handle in the boot floor, and when raised, this handle clipped over the rubber boot seal - which then held it in the raised position. Any possibility yours might do the same?

Hello Gregg, If it’s the heater matrix then you will be obviously losing coolant, and your ‘floor water’ will be tinged with antifreeze. Chances is it’s rain water ingress. Was the car parked with with the driver side facing the prevailing rain and wind? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Greg, There should be a short strap on the raisable floor base panel, that hooks into a plastic hook under the ‘parcel shelf’. That will hold the floor base in its raised position - well at least our humble 2006 has such an arrangement. That same short strap is what you grab to actually lift the base panel. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, I think you are going to struggle to find a genuine replacement pipe for this 28 year old car. My suggestion is to get one made up in a copper based material - similar to that used on brake pipes. You might have to put a join in it at some point, for convenience of fitting. Obviously use the old one as a pattern. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Michael, It’s a Torx head - female - socket you need. Size ? Difficult to say from the photo. Have a look on EBay. There are a number of individual sizes, and even a cheap multi- size set for around £10. Probably not very good, but should do for single use. Let us know how you get on, and what size it turns out to be, thereby helping others in the future. Kind regards, Gareth.

Where has Manus gone?

Hello Manus, Are you saying the car is currently fitted with Continental tyres - or not? This 2 year old car has covered an average annual mileage of only 2,300 miles - ridiculously low, and highly likely to be via. short ‘shopping’ type tips where tyres seldom get up to temperature and journeys usually include regular changes in direction, which accelerates tyre wear. Probably the same tyres fitted on a vehicle driven on the motorway would cover twice the mileage. In effect, your comments don’t surprise. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, I could be wrong, but I don’t think you would now be able to formally reject it ( after 6 months), but if I was in your situation I would certainly be taking appropriate legal advice on that without further delay - you could start with the CAB. There may be a consideration to reject it, based on the date you first notified the dealer, and the fact that they have failed to efficiently solve the issue, even though you have given them opportunity and time to do so. It might be worth sending Paul a PM, since he hasn’t been on here for over 2 years - but I wouldn’t be awaiting his reply before starting to seek advice. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

All to no avail. Why are we wasting your time, effort and brain power on an OP who cannot be bothered to return to the forum since he posted his plea for advice?

Have you checked the on-line MOT history, and when the last V5 was issued. £20K for a c6 year old S4 having covered 20k/a seems expensive to me, but you would need to check this out. Manual or auto? If manual, when was the clutch changed? If auto, when as the a gearbox oil service carried out. Suspension is likely to be getting weak at that mileage. Kind regards, Gareth.

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.

Hello Fakher, Symptoms are not untypical of clutch release bearing failure. Kind regards, Gareth.

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.

Worth inspecting the belt, and it’s tension, as well as the belt tensioner. Could be typical of a slack belt. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Assuming P.S. is hydraulic.

Hello Nathan, An honest opinion would agree with your first few words. To ignore inspections of braking systems to a point where pads wear below 3mm is asking for trouble. Having said all that, the fortunate outcome is that only your wallet and shoe leather has been damaged on this occasion. When did you look at the front ones last Nathan? Apologies for being direct. Kind regards, Gareth.

One other question Dan - why did the arm snap? You would be wise to check all moving parts are indeed moving freely on all sensors, otherwise you may find yourself in the same situation with another one. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dan, Obviously any level sensor issue is going to result in some issue in relation to ride height, so it wouldn’t surprise me. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dan, Very sorry to hear of your air bag issue. Without wishing to be pessimistic, I would think that is now the major issue area compared with the level sensor - which should be a comparatively easy fix. Your air bag misfortune maybe a lesson to others to avoid driving these vehicles with similar symptoms. Good luck in getting it all fixed fairly easily. Kind regards, Gareth.

Assistance to date any good to you Ben?

Hello Jon, Probably down to one of the sensors being faulty, but regrettably it’s likely to need diagnostics to home in on the culprit. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Thanks for joining, and apologies for the delay in responding. You can of course insure it with any company, but unless you have a ‘spare’ NCB, then you will have to start from zero bonus, since your everyday car will be using up the bonus earned on that. Possible alternative? Insure the car as a classic car with quite a choice of brokers to approach for quotes. However, it’s worth pointing out that the rule of thumb is that the car has to be a minimum of 20 years old. There can be exceptions to this. These policies usually don’t depend on, or earn a NCB, and mileage has to be restricted - 5K would be reasonable limit - 3K limit is likely to be cheaper. The bonus of CC insurance is that you can usually agree a pay out value for the car in the event of it being a total loss. You could try the likes of Adrian Flux, Lancaster - and others found in a Google search for Classic Car Insurance. I was told there was a comparison website for such cover, but personally I wouldn’t bother with that. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Well we hope Adam is OK, since he hasn’t returned to the forum since he posted his plea for help.

You could be missing out. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on with CPinM. Kind regards, Gareth.