Magnet

Hello Mumith, Sorry to hear of your unacceptable issues with this car. So that we can better understand your obvious discontents:- Exactly where is the car now, and how long has it been there? ‘Been calling various people….’. Why anyone else apart from the supplying dealer? Have you recorded your discontents in an e-Mail to the dealer principal? Have they provided you with a courtesy car? I take it such breakdowns would be covered by Audi Assist ( if they still exist) so is there any reason why you called the AA in preference? To be in a position to broaden your options going forward, is there any finance involved with the car purchase. Perhaps you could come back to us. Kind regards, Gareth.

Have a look at Bosch as well, since it’s reputed to be the same battery. Beware, not all Varta/ Bosch are the same - different colour tops = different qualities. Try Battery Megastore as well, and compare prices. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Bob, I guess you can just replace the bush, but why just the bush, rather than the less-work -more-comprehensive method of renewing the complete arm? Try pricing a Lemforder arm. Kind regards, Gareth.

Before moving on Paul, could you tell us whether the starter motor turns the engine over enthusiastically enough, but it wont start, or if the starter motor doesn’t turn the engine over at all? Kind regards, Gareth.

Sounds good Tyler, so if budget and ‘hoped for life expectancy’ are relatively short, then my plan would be to go with the best servicing deal you can get from a small garage. Forget about the car having any ‘investment’ value, so spend wisely on whatever maintenance it needs to keep it running, and don’t over-pamper it with expenditure. Property should be an investment, but cars generally are not. It may be a bit of a come down from a modern lease car for which maintenance during the contract period is a necessity, but treat it with respect - improve it with minimum expenditure if you can, and it will probably do you well - within its lesser capabilities. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jon, Look up the likes of Battery Megastore, Tayna etc. put in your registration number and go forward from there. They will inform you of the correct fitment for your car. I always buy batteries with a 4 year warranty, and never buy on cheapest-price. You will find such on line specialists will give you far better delivered - to- door deals than you will find locally. Perhaps you can let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Sue, Thanks for joining and posting your plea. Can you please give us something to go on here, such as where it’s actually leaking and what ‘messing around’ you have done so far? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Tyler, With no disrespects, what you are into here with a car of that age, is straightforward banger-momics. Spend as little as you need to, wisely. Get it into the hands of a garage you can talk to on the day, take advice from, and have trust in. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks George, Let’s hope that information may help someone else, since Brian from Liverpool cannot be bothered to respond to anything. There you go, hey, we are only hear to waste our time! Many thanks again and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello my namesake from the Homeland. I recently bought some Chinese ones for our non-Audi, at less than a third of the price of the main dealer ones, and all I can say is that if they had been genuine ones, I would not have expected them to be any better in quality or fit. I got mine via. an EBay seller, but you could look at Ali Express as well - they do all sorts of replica accessories - well for our non-Audi they do. One tip I would add, is wherever you get them from - including a main dealer - buy equivalent stainless fasteners, rather than fit the ones that come with them. Again, you should get what you need from EBay. Perhaps you could let us know what you decide Gareth, and how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Tyler, Many thanks for your comprehensive post. If this were mine, I would be trusting this to a small trusted local garage with a request to give it a full service including a new air filter. 118k is relatively low for a 18 year old car, but some reasonable expenditure is inevitable. Spending more than you need to on a good service for this age of car would not make sound economic sense - hence entrust it to a local garage who you can talk to, rather than receptionists at larger dealerships. Stick some Redex or similar in it, and treat it to some non-supermarket petrol, and give it a good run before retesting the emissions. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Stuart, Many thanks for joining and posting your plea. In essence, your question cannot be answered, since ‘coincidence’ comes into play, and really, who knows whether it was about to split anyway? Since they are now going to rectify the coolant loss, then my main concern would be:- did the temperature gauge give you sufficient warning of increasing coolant temperature to allow you to stop and switch off before all the coolant was expelled and any significant overheating prevented? Cambelt changes can incur having to remove the engine mounting, and obviously the need to support the engine to prevent stain on any components. Not sure about your actual engine, but personally I don’t see that any degree of post mortem is going to put you into a better position - at this time. Kind regards, Gareth.

Price Gordon?

Thanks Gordon, You would aid your sale by posting photos on here. Also, can you post MOT details and the price you want for the car? Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. personally I wouldn’t post my contact phone number on an open forum. It’s your decision of course, but interested parties can contact you by PM. I can remove your number for you if you want to.

Hello Lewis, Is performance that (in caps) important to you then? We are all going to be subjected to increasing 20mph limits, leave alone the vast stretches of 30/40/50 s we already have, so where are you needing to go in a hurry? It sounds a nice example, and probably non-hacked, or been subjected to the mercy of the go-faster tribe. £5000 can be dodgy territory money these days, but in any case read up about oil burning issues with cars slightly younger, before jumping out of the cosy just-warm-enough oven, and into the fire! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Lewis, Thanks for joining and posting your plea. I think- but you would need to confirm - that what you have is a 1.6, so called Special Edition - which is in fact the most basic model of the A3, and as I understand it, has the older generation engine. I ask for your confirmation, since we have that model bought new into the family in 2006, and is still with with some 168k miles under its belt. Economy? Never bought on a must-be-economic on fuel basis, and happily returns lower 30s knocking around, and upper 30s on long runs. Performance? Will readily maintain 80mph for motorway overtaking, but you will find that the revs are the other side of 4K at that speed, and it really needs another gear to be more economic. I always compare this with the non-Audi in the family which sits at 2k revs at 70mph! Folks rave about mileage, but often forget that mileage (wear) is relative to engine revs., and cruising revs are an important consideration. Tuning? As I see it Lewis, you don’t buy a 1.6 Special Edition if you want performance - you buy it for its comparative simplicity. Yes, I guess you can ‘tune it’, but I suppose it’s a bit like tuning a Morris 1000. The economics of spending money to possibly get more miles per gallon? A bit of maths needed to work out how many thousands of miles need to be covered to get your money back. Of course, discount all of above if yours isn’t to 1.6 Special Edition. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Brian, Can see you’ve revisited the forum. No further information to give us? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Paul, You don’t tell us whether you have the rear wheels rebalanced (once tyre pressures were correctly set). You don’t tell us anything about tyre brands/patterns across the axle, or any indication of whether tread depths are even. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Brian, Can you let us know where you have searched to avoid us advising where you have already tried. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Roy, but I think I would leave that topic open to further debate with the latest generations of BCM vehicles. Kind regards, Gareth.

I guess we are here trying to help, at anyone’s beck and call, and I think Steve Q’s welcoming responses to new posters - ‘we are a helpful and friendly bunch’ - and I genuinely think we try to uphold that. However, to post and ask for advice, but never even return to read it, let alone leave some acknowledgement, is taking people for granted, and frankly rude - Genuine reasons for not returning, accepted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Have you tested for a parasitic drain on this battery? Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry Glen, but I meant what is the current ‘best-price’ retail price of these tyres-?

Sounds good Joshua. If this were mine I would be asking for an ‘invoice’/detailed statement of exactly what has been done to your engine. I would guess that simply replacing the (skinny) rings is likely to result in similar issues, so it’s likely to require new pistons, and that will be (very?) expensive, so will they do that? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Glen, It would probably aid your sale if you advised what is the best current price per tyre for these - and what their date code is on yours. Kind regards, Gareth.m