Magnet

Hello Anthony,

On a much simpler tack to Trevor's very sound advice and experience, I would strongly recommend talking with the last registered keeper. Basic, but more often than not overlooked as the best source of information and experience with the particular vehicle you are intending to buy.

For me, it would be - don't buy without doing this. 

Good luck with whatever you decide,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Dave,

I would guess Castrol Edge 5w/30 would do the job very well, but it might be worth double checking (if necessary) in your handbook that 5w/30 is indeed the correct grade for your car and its mileage. 

I notice Trevor mentions Mobil 1 as an alternative, and perhaps it might be helpful to know that the 5w/30 grade of Mobil 3000 fully synthetic (superior or not to Mobil 1?) is always available at Wilkinsons for only £24 for 5 litres. 

As I understand it, VAG were /are recommending Quantum oil ( some say it's rebranded Castrol but I'm not sure). This is available as a "standard" fully synthetic or a Longlife variant - which one would guess should be better.

Two things I would add Dave is to be equally enquiring about the quality of the filter used. In my book use genuine Vag - at discount, or if not, only a quality German make such as Mann. Beware of brand names we used to love and respect which may no longer be what you would hope.

Second thing:- Kwik Fit and using your own oil? Do they do this, as opposed to using whatever bulk purchased oil they stock by the 40 gallon drum? Same for local garage?? Not saying this is going to happen, but will you be convinced that your carefully chosen oil is going to end up in your sump. Doesn't sound very good that, but........  Final bit for this missive would be to ask if you are happy to have your current oil sucked out rather than drained out? Not sure how you are with some hands on with a spanner Dave, but very often DIY with no constraints on time may be a consideration, but only if you know your way around these things.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hello Dan,

A happy and heathy new year to you and yours too Dan.

I'm sure others will offer advice with your service requirements, but I think it is a wise move to enquire about what is considered the best things to do.

For me, I tend to go with main dealer filters even though they may cost slightly more, and if you decide to go down that route, then I have bought such items from Skoda Parts Shop (no connection, and of course there are others ) who will ship out to you at discount prices. If price is to be king, then the only alternative aftermarket make I would use would be Mann. There are cheaper brands and I'm not saying any of them are not up to the mark, but I alway stick to the above and spend wisely , since you are saving on labour. I would also change the air filter and indeed the pollen/cabin filter. You could use a cheap brand of cabin filter since I tend to change these every year anyway, and its a non critical application.

Oil? always wise to consult the handbook, but you might find its fully synthetic 5w/40 (possibly 5/30?). VAG were recommending Quantum oil and it is available as a Longlife grade as well -  for longline service intervals. My idea is again to buy as competitively as possible and change more regularly than the schedule suggests. Money well spent in my book.  

Heater fan only working on higher speeds? As you say, most likely to be the resistors on the lower speed, most frequently used settings.

Hope some of this helps.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Gareth.        

Hello Jonlee,

I guess it will depend on the actual model specification whether the car has a plastic cover over the sill or not - but you would be able to easily know that. Whatever cover it may or may not have over the sill, the sill will indeed be metal and is a structural part of the car. If the metal work has indeed been damaged then the extent of the damage would dictate whether the damage is professionally repaired or if a new panel would be required.

If it has to be replaced then unfortunately this is fairly major surgery since it involves welding to the A,B, and C posts as well as the inner sill and floor. The professionals may suggest a local weld repair instead, but without knowing the extent of the damage it would obviously be difficult to advise, 

I would suggest you have a careful look at it and you will easily be able to tell if what you are seeing is plastic or metal. If plastic and its damaged then you could remove it to see what the situation is with the metal underneath, but my advice would be to take this along to a local trusted body shop and take their advice - that shouldn't cost you anything. While there, ask them to visually check the floor and suspension for you to satisfy yourself the damage is localised - rather than take chances with the unknown.

Perhaps you could let us know how you get on.

Good luck, Gareth.

Hello Philip, 

Bridgend eh - very, very close to home for me. Quite rightly, Trevor normally welcomes you to the fold, and although I haven't been on here as long as a year yet, I find the help offered to be very worthwhile. 

My line with your brakes would be to ask if you have any reason to think that the brakes are currently not as good as you would like them to be, or if perhaps you enjoy a more enthusiastic style of driving and would welcome some improvement over standard?  My experience with the A3 brakes is that in standard form they are better than most comparable cars, but ours is fitted with genuine Audi discs and pads. The reason for this is that at the first change of pads we used some aftermarket ones from our local motor factors. Cheap they were, but we changed back to Audi pads within a couple of months and restored the original confident braking. Chalk and cheese!

Where I'm getting to Philip is whether you know if you have genuine or at least quality brand discs and pads fitted now. If not, then replacing with such may give you the improved braking you want. If indeed you are interested in enhanced performance braking then it could be a different approach and no doubt you will be considering larger discs etc. at not inconsiderable on cost. If you are departing from genuine VAG parts then perhaps worth considering the likes of Brembo or some of the more exotic EBC variants. There are some once well respected brand names that I would avoid, but that is a personal opinion of course. 

Perhaps you could give us a bit more on the reason why bits and I'm sure someone will help.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Well done Nathan,

OK, silica gel bags and all that, but all things being equal and correct, then if they were necessary then Audi would have included them as a standard feature when new, and I would not wear that!  It's simply basics really, and really is down to eliminating possible causes before moving on. "Yes, pollen filter has been changed sir" is reassuring, but sometimes is just that, and not based on fact as they say!  For the cost of the filter, it's worth changing every year when you consider the general weather conditions and the amount of traffic pollution. 

All is well and that's great.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Gary,

Apologies for sticking an oar in, but I must say, this would bother me a little, and I would ask myself why this hose burst in the first place. Has it by any chance scuffed on some part of the car, or perhaps suffered some other mechanical damage? If either, then the cause needs to be sorted to prevent the same situation again.

If neither, would I be happy in just changing just the one hose? Not really to be honest. 

Re. bleeding, I always work on the basis of bleeding the offending line first to expel the majority of air from the system, before continuing to bleed all lines in the normal rotation. 

Sorry to have a different opinion, but if the car has calipers all round then my rotation would be LR, RR, LF then RF. In other words  you bleed the lines in order of the greatest volume first. 

Not sure whether this is going to help or confuse! Whatever, good luck with it.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Kev,

Pardon my ignorance, but are we talking petrol or diesel here?

If diesel it is likely to be the pre heater which tends to come on in cold weather and remain on for a while, and does emit diesel smoke and smell! after the engine is switched off. Not a problem as I see it, just a characteristic.

If it's petrol engined - worry! 

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Well Adrian, that sounds like good and bad news!

Still it eliminates the drains. Appreciating the pollen filter was changed, being a back to basics and check and recheck type of chap, if it were mine I would be taking the pollen filter out and having a look at it. Only then can you eliminate that as well.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Adrian,

As well as checking the bulkhead drains, change the pollen/cabin filter. Usually lives below the glove box and is easily replaced once you locate it!  Try You Tube.

Hope this helps,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Tony,

I'm sure someone more experienced will give you an answer on this, but what you describe doesn't surprise me. It appears there is a quest to reduce the volume of paperwork with many manufacturers! You mention they have included a service book - which is great, but unfortunately no longer considered by the manufacturers to be the vital document it was, and its already being phased out, and not available with some prestigious marques - servicing being recorded only on the manufacturer's/dealer's databases.

Not sure with Audi, but some now have a "Contact assistance/accident" button in the car. Pressing it puts you directly in touch with the assistance required, who will already know your location from the system. Frightening but true! 

Perhaps contacting the dealer will throw some light on this for you. Enjoy the car.

Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Marc,

I think you are being wise in questioning this issue, since the consequence of actual low oil pressure can be serious. Perhaps it would be useful to have some basic information, and as simple as it may sound, confirmation that the oil is up to the required level. Yes, a bit basic, but you cannot ignore the fact that not enough oil was put in, or indeed there isn't an oil leak at the filter, drain plug or somewhere else.

You will also need to know what grade if oil has been used and to let us know what mileage this engine has done. All things being equal, it could - just could - be as simple as a suspect oil pressure switch, but your really do need to get the actual oil pressure measured with a gauge to know exactly where you are with this.

Assuming correct oil level and grade, no leaks, then I think there is some urgency in getting the actual pressure checked.

Hope some of this helps and you are able to let us know.

Good luck with it.

Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello James,

I'm not sure how much of this is going to help, but what I have found with advice about buying cars is generally the buyer serously wants the person they are seeking advice from to say it is a fantastic buy, and anything short of that can disappoint. You see, it's all about the potential buyer falling in love with the car they want to buy and the specs can get a bit rose tinted. I think you are going the right thing in passing it out for advice and I hope others will help you with things meaningful.

Longlife services:- I have a relatively high mileage A3 which has generally had main dealer longlife services in our daughter's ownership, but personally, I prefer at least a basic oil and filter change once a year. c20K miles between oil changes is just too long in my book, but... 

Cambelt assembly changes? These are carried out at a mileage and time interval and may or may not coincide with a time for a service schedule. Ours has been changed on a 70K or 5 year interval but yours may be different. Costs? If you don't want to use an independent then best advice is to check with a main dealer (they sometimes have offers on these). They will advise on intervals and costs. If it were mine, I would certainly not treat this critical job as a best cost job. Always use genuine VAG parts only.

Tapping on start up? Probably hydraulic tappets. If the seller is claiming this will be sorted by a simple oil change then why haven't they just changed the oil and cured it? Surely, if it has been serviced as required then the oil would not need changing simply to correct this fault. Beware, if the seller does change it before sale, he may just add an additive to minimise the effects of the wear.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Gareth.

Hello,

I suppose such decisions ultimately boil down to what the individual feels he wants to do, and it's easy to fall in love with a particular vehicle and all its impressive extras etc., and not bother to delay a decision while other similar vehicles are looked at.

This is certainly not going to be of much use, but if it were me, I would be tempted to run away from it once I knew the engine had been pulled apart to change the head gasket. Why? If this is not concerning enough, then changing the - rear crankshaft seal? - and then being uncertain if it has been successful in sorting the original issue?? For me, too many points of possible concern to delay me looking at other examples, but as I say the final decision rests with the potential buyer.

Apologies if this comes over as a little hash and unhelpful, but it might be worth sleeping on it for a couple of nights.

If you decide to consider it, then it would certainly be advisable to talk with the previous (long term?) owner. If short term - why? If the dealer is unable to put you in touch, then it may be even more questionable.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hello Gary,

Sorry to hear of your problem. Could I ask who has diagnosed that it is faulty to a point where it needs replacing?

These units are generally very long lived, and often lend themselves to oil and filter and reprogramming to sort out many problems. 

If not already done so, I would suggest taking this to an automatic gearbox specialist and if indeed it is beyond economical repair then you should be very capable of advising which boxes can be used to replace it. 

Good luck with it.

Gareth.

Must confess, no I haven't yet Perry. 

Will do though when things are quieter and will let you know.

Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Hamad,

Unfortunately, I cannot advise you on reliability -  with experience of Audi vs. other German makes, but our local long established "executive " hire company who regularly talkes our daughter to and from Gatwick and Heathrow, turned up last week in a brand new black Audi! Lovely! 

Now .."only buy manual with the mileage it will be doing.." 

Oh dear!

Worth thinking about New York taxis regularly doing 250K miles on auto boxes and that's from the 1960s -  when I had hair!  Why would you want to risk having to replace dual mass flywheels, internal clutch slave cylinders etc. at great expense? That's without having to spend your day waving a gear stick about. No brainier - as they say these days? - automatic every time for the use you will put it to. 8 speeds now even, so tick over rpm at motorway speeds.

Good luck with whatever you decide on - and the business.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Hamad,

Are you going to buy new or secondhand? 

 If new, I think the answer is fairly simple, and the servicing should be carried out according to the recommended schedule. At 70k/ annum, you will of course cover just over 200k miles within the warrantee period of 3 years, and with mostly motorway mileage, this mileage should not present any issues if properly serviced, and respected.

Just as a comparison, there are VAG Skoda Octavia taxis doing this annual mileage on mainly local trips. Not easy on a car! If you want to know the best value for money, least problematic cars to buy, then just talk to your taxi drivers. Our local chaps are now moving to Hyundai after being with Skoda for years.

If you are buying secondhand, then the question is very much open ended, and depends on the mileage and service history and how it's been driven before you own it. Different story there!

Kind regards,

Gareth.

You are very welcome Danny.

I should also have suggested visiting local motor factors, since again they may well have some old stock parts sitting on the shelves. 

I have found that they are now getting wise to the desirability of some of these parts (rather than dumping them as they often did) and quite often will even have someone dedicated to listing these on eBay etc. 

It probably goes without saying Danny, that this car will qualify for classic car insurance which will have the benefit of agreed value cover in the event of a total loss, and is not dependent on having a "spare" NCB to reduce the premium. Mileages are usually limited, but probably OK for normal enthusiast's use.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Danny,

Looks like a nice little project. I think you will be surprised at what parts (well service items anyway) will be available for this. My advice would be to buy quality brand parts for filters, belts etc. and I think you should get what you want via. eBay search even.

I wouldn't ignore making contact with you local (long established) Audi dealer since it may surprise what they may have on the shelf as left overs. Parts are now ordered in to satisfy demand, but when this car was new it as not uncommon to hold stock of parts pending enquiries. Might be worth trying them for an exhaust, and your local tyre/exhaust dealers who tend to have racks of left over exhausts. Making (welding etc.) exhausts up from such old stock is another cost cutting possibility. 

I'm sure you will get there if you search on the computer for a few hours. German suppliers seem to be popular for older exhausts at the moment.

Good luck with it,

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Mick,

Glad you had it fixed. "All Audis use coolant!" - worth finding another garage! 

 Just a couple of points to ensure everything stays as it should be:-

I would advise keeping a regular eye on the coolant level over the next couple of weeks while inevitable air locks are expelled. Don't be surprised if you have to top up a little over this time, but not after. 

If it were mine, I would get the auxiliary belt (driving alternator etc.) changed. It's done it's time and when they do decide to go can sometimes get themselves cobbled up with the crankshaft pully - with potential catastrophic results.

Final point Mick- what make water pump did they use?  Personally, I don't favour aftermarket ( motor factor supplied) pumps which are known to be highly variable quality wise. Generally main dealer part only for this critical application. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

Hello Karen,

Sorry to hear you have water ingress problems with your brand new car.

To me, the situation is not at all complex, and you don't have to worry about the reason why, and simply have to return it to the supplying dealer and request they correct the defect under warranty. Any new car which leaks water is surely unfit for purpose, and if they cannot effect a permanent cure then you are within your rights to reject the car. Although not mechanical, this would be an unacceptable problem to me since the boot will stay damp, will smell and lead to deterioration of the structure of the car - just not on with a brand new car. Ignore comments about the weather being exceptional bad! No excuse. 

It might be worth doing a bit of research on this and I think you will find that this is not an unknown/uncommon problem with these cars, and Audi should know how to fix it by now. Some degree of continued pressure may be necessary to ensure it is fixed properly.

Goid luck with it.

Gareth. 

Hello Wilson,

I can understand your disappointment, but you really have to forget about comparing the economy with that of your previous  BMW car. There isn't any scope there for a like for like comparison. 

I don't think you can realistically compare your on-road mpg with that which the manufacturers claim during bench testing etc. I think it's common knowledge that such figures are seldom achieved. 

Where I think you can reasonably compare, is what you managed to achieve in the same model driven in the same manner and conditions over the same journey, and by what you say, your current car is not as economical, and that is real.

If it were mine, I would go back to basics and check the tyre pressures are as recommended ( you may or maynot be surprised how many people just don't check tyre pressures on a regular basis). Refill with non supermarket fuel ( to be sure) and reassess your mpg over the same journey conditions. 

If still the same and you have proof that the other same-model car was much more economical then I would be returning it for checks.

Good luck.

Gareth.

Hello Calvin, and a welcome from the homeland.

Warning light issues:-

Faulty signal bulbs? Does this refer to the indicators? If so, you may find that although the indicators are working there might just be two bulbs per side in say the rear lights, and one of them has blown. Having said that, you should find that if that is the case then they will flash at different rates side to side. I would suggest checking these in the dark and assessing if one side is not as bright as the other.

Low coolant light? Back to basics- you say you have some coolant in the reservoir, but how much? Check when cold and top up with the correct coolant mix to just below the max. line. Low coolant light still on? You should find there is a low coolant level sensor built into the reservoir. This sensor has a plug going into it and it is worth a try unplugging this and giving it a squirt of contact cleaner and refitting. If the light is still showing then I would guess the sensor is at fault and should be replaced.

I don't think these warning lights are anything to do with a need to reset them, but are giving you a warning that there is a fault of some kind.

Good  luck in getting it sorted, and it would be interesting to know what solves it.

Kind regards,

Gareth.c

Hello Graham,

Not sure how much of this is going to be helpful since you seem to have covered most of what would be seemed logical to cover, so it may be time to further question the way in which you have done things. Apologies if this appears pedantic but this is what I would do I terms if rechecks:- 

With coolant at cold, turn the heater control to max. hot and drain the system (collecting the coolant if you can). Remove the thermostat and place in very hot water on the stove, and continue to heat the water until the thermostat is open. Carefully remove the thermostat from the water with a long nose pliers and insert a length of cotton between the body and the open valve (be quick!) The valve will now close and jam the cotton, and you can suspend the thermostat by the cotton thread. Armed with an accurate thermometer, gradually reheat the water - with stirring- and note the temperature at which the thermostat falls from its suspended cotton. This should be 88c or very near to this. Simply placing it in boiling water and making sure it opens and then adding cold water to make sure it closes is not accurate enough, You need to actually measure the temperature at which it opens, and assure youself it is 88. 

When the system is refilled, as you know, you will need to squeeze the hoses to eliminate as much air as possible and then bleed the remaining air via the bleed screws. I don't replace the reservoir cap at this stage, but start the engine and allow the coolant to rise until the thermostat opens and the top hose gets warm, at which stage I replace the cap and allow the engine to run until the fan cuts in - keeping an eye on the temperature gauge. Obviously making sure fingers and fan are kept well apart, I continue to squeeze the hoses, particularly the heater hoses which should now both be at the same hot temperature. Leave the car to thoroughly cool without slackening the cap. Top up when cold and road test the car with the heater still at hot.

If the thermostat passes the correct opening temperature test and the coolant temperature still fluctuates then it's head scratching time again!

Water pump faulty? Not had one do that yet and obviously  agree with Trevor. 

Probably a lot of rambling and maybe not a lot of help, but...

Kind regards,

Gareth.