Magnet

Well done Deborah, Sounds good. South coast car - ex Exeter. Only two points I would mention:- guess you’ve checked out the service history recorded on the Audi database -? Car appears to have been in the same ownership since September 2020, which is fine, but it’s previous MOT expired 9 months ago, in March of this year. It confuses why it’s been kicking around for this time. Owner may have forgotten? But unlikely in these days of tax reminders etc. AA Approved. Your best assessment of the car will be via. your independent. Many thanks for letting us know. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Charlie, Even though the tyres are new (brand?) and have been balanced, it might be worth going through the no-cost exercise of swopping front and back wheels - with respect to rotation. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Brian, You should be able to buy a secondhand rear window - place your wanted ad. with Partsfinder and other on-line breaker link sites. Any link through to classic car trimmers should be worth a go. Kind regards, Gareth.

Youngster Kev! Bless you. I too hope 2024 is kind to you, and although I’m grateful for 2023, it’s taken its opportunity to be not as good as it could have been, but hey, I’m old and passed my sell by date. Still….onward and upward. We all have to take what 2024 brings, but let’s hope it will be kinder. I feel it will be. You take care Kev. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Brian, and thanks for joining. I think there are probably quite a number of forum members who have taken a few engines out in their time, and I maybe different, but with countless engine removals over decades, would I upholster our 3 piece suite? No I wouldn’t. With reference to 1000 pieces, can we take it the rear window was glass rather than Perspex? If it were mine:- I would be approaching one of the local ‘all makes’ classic car clubs and seeking advice on a recommended localish car trimmers, and asking them for a quote to replace the window. DIY hood swopping on modern cars can turn out to be one of those jobs where you wish you hadn’t started, but you can’t go backwards - consider numerous linkages and micro switches to say the least. Hope some of this helps, Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Mark, and best wishes to you too for the coming year. Would I be right in believing that you are looking for advice on getting your engine sorted - obviously by a company who has the machining capabilities to recondition the worn parts? If so, based on the car now being 20 years old, it would be fair to claim it comes under the heading of a ‘modern classic’, so advice on localish engine machine shops is likely to be available via. a local ‘all makes’ classic car club. Have you considered a secondhand engine as an option? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Stason, I think your example clearly demonstrates the disadvantages of protracted dialogue in such cases, and my (in caps - as opposed to a forum decision) to mark the thread as ‘solution’, which I would think the original poster Matt understands, but is nonetheless disappointed with, I guess. Re. ‘Closing the thread’ - the fact that you have been able to post, even though the ‘solution’ has been achieved Stason, clearly disproves any impression that the thread is actually closed to additional comments - no gagging here! From my side I feel satisfied that the forum has provide adequate information to the point of being marked as solution, and all comments to that point are clear. What I would suggest is that you now create a new and independent thread based on your concerns - that thread being hypothetical, and not attached to any specific case - as this one is. If you do that, the free speech and opinion will be demonstrated, by responses against that thread. Just Incase there is any confusion, although the thread was marked as ‘solution’ after Steve’s post, I actually marked it as solution - not Steve. I had full intention of doing that before Steve’s wrote his last post. Would the other moderators please offer comments in agreement or disagreement with my actions, and with my response to Stason. Trusting this will aid boxing it up, or progressing it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Wishing all forum members, and their families a happy and healthy New Year. I would also like to send my thanks to those at the helm, who ensure the forum continues to run smoothly for the benefit of everyone. Take care all. Best wishes from Gareth & family.

Hello Joel, Shimi hasn’t been on the forum for over a year, so it would be best if you send him a Personal Message. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Deborah, I’m sorry to hear this hasn’t been sorted, and I can well understand your desire to now part with it, and get another A3. I don’t want to come over as being intruding, but could I suggest the following as hopefully being helpful:- Get your car valeted and presented at its best before introducing it into any part exchange deal. Do all possible homework on any car of interest - before viewing if possible. View all confirming servicing evidence before committing. Find out what the warranty doesn’t ( in caps) cover. Check how long the previous owner has owned it - short term ownership may suggest it has issues. ideally try to buy locally if possible. If you have gone though those processes and you believe the car is of interest, then it would be well worth getting a local independent to carry out an inspection for you before committing. Please come back to us at any stage, and if we can offer advice we would be pleased to do so. Just let us know registration numbers and I’m sure we can do some homework for you. Good luck with the search, and please let us know how you are getting on. Wishing you and yours a Happy and healthy New Year. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Statson, I believe that everything that has been said on this forum is sufficient to alert the original poster to the fact that his request should not be progressed. As such there is little that the forum can, or indeed should add, and it’s on that basis that I closed the post. Sorry Stason, but personally I do not understand ‘….not worth closing this thread on legal grounds’, but we are open to receive your views on why you thing it shouldn’t. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello and welcome Michael, To try to reply to you ASAP, try a search on here for Ablue. Kind regards, Gareth.

Worth trying the others mentioned as well if you can Irfan. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. My renewal on the non- Audi is due at end of Jan., so wish me luck!

Hello Matt, I think we need to box this up as a solution. Since you know the law, it goes without saying (but unfortunately needs to be said), that you have a duty of care for your passengers. You will also know that any passenger found not to be wearing a belt, can be liable for an on the spot fine of £100, or I believe £500? if taken to court. You, for your part get away with just having to listen to a seat belt warning, if you don’t ensure you’re ( possibly flying!) rear seat passengers done use the belt they are meant to use! Audi are trying to look after you and your passengers whether you like it or not - and you make it clear you don’t! but….. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry Matt, but as I understand it, you as the driver, have the responsibility to ensure all rear seat passengers are wearing their correctly connected seat belts. As Gary says …. As much as you may not like it that your rear seat passengers have to belt up, you do not have a choice in the matter, and you and they, have to comply with the law. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Irfan, Welcome, and thanks for joining. I think it’s fair to say that everyone’s insurance renewals are expected to have increased by X2 at the next renewal, for the same vehicle, and the insured’s situation remaining static. Change of vehicle -? As you have found - you are into unknown territory in terms of premiums being X whatever e.g. X 2,3,4 and so on. Having tried the comparison sites, you are now armed with ball park figures, and I would think it’s unlikely that these would be beaten by non-comparison site listed companies - but worth a try. You could try the insurers who are linked to this forum, who include Adrian Flux. Others who don’t tend to list on comparison websites inc. the Direct Line group which include Churchill and Darwin. Perhaps you could come back to us Irfan and share your up-to-date experience once you have completed your further contacts. Kind regards, Gareth.

For ‘cluster’ read ‘instrument cluster’.

Welcome Matt, Are you saying the bleep continues even when your back seat passengers fasten their belts? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gareth, It seems as if there could be more to this than the battery, but if this is the original, then it had done its fully serviceable time a couple of years ago. It would be an investment to replace it, even though you might find it’s not the major culprit, and the aggravator may have been the water ingress. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gareth, If it has stop/start, then it’s likely to be AGM. I would not have thought the BCM would protect it from continuous charging via. old style chargers - but I could be wrong. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Dave. If you consider the battery is fine, Clifford has pointed out that the clusters can give rise to issues, and this advice recently proved useful to another poster. Cliff had a repair contact. There are also some other threads going on the adverse affects of water ingress. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gareth, Can I take it your battery is an AGM type? If so, it should be charged with an ‘intelligent’ cycling charger to avoid battery damage. Kind regards, Gareth.

Ok. You can only confirm the battery is serviceable by getting it comprehensively tested - a simple voltage check with a multi- meter is virtually meaningless - it needs testing under load. Halfords shops can do this. A sub standard battery is a substandard battery, and any amount of charging is unlikely to revive it. Getting the battery to Halfords? No doubt you have someone you can call on to help you out. It may not be the battery, but well worth eliminating. There’s another thread going about water ingress - worth a read. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks, could you please complete your profile, so we know what vehicle we are dealing with, and who, and where you are. Many thanks.

Hello Gareth, Sorry to hear of your issues, but pleased you have been able to find ‘culprits’. Re. eliminating the battery via. testing:- what battery tester do you have? If it were mine, I would be getting it tested ( after charging with an ‘intelligent’ charger - as you’ve been using??) at one of Halfords shops. They will be able to check the all important CCA as well as other parameters. Kind regards, Gareth.