Contaminated engine oil 5 weeks after oil change

[Fishy78]

Hi All,

This is my first post, so nice to meet you all.... and please treat me gently!

I am after a bit of advice really as I am not very clued up regarding car mechanics etc.

I have an A3 1.6 TDI S Line 8V 2015 -  currently on about 23500 miles. I have always had it serviced at the main Audi Dealer in West London. The last service was done 5-6 weeks ago - full oil change, filters etc and also had brake fluid changed.

Went for its first MOT yesterday. About 5 mins after I left the car I received a call from Service Rep to say that I needed the Brake Fluid replaced - to which I reminded him that was done (on their advice) 5 weeks before. Apparently the digital service book was not updated...worrying.

Come 5pm yesterday I had gave them a call to see if car was finished - to be told that it was still in the workshop (9 hours after dropping it in....)

A couple of hours later I received an Audi Cam email stating and showing that the Engine oil (replaced by them 5 weeks ago) was thick, gloopy and contaminated. They wanted £210 to investigate (!) I requested a call back as there is no way I'm agreeing to paying more money out with out talking to someone first.

This morning I called them myself and spoke to the rep - he straight away told me that he can see that the car was serviced by them a month ago (and given a clean bill of health) and said it would not have been released if it had issues then. He said they will need to investigate further and will let me know what they find. I said I look forward to hearing from them . .. and no mention of the £210 for the privilege)

The car has done barely 1000 miles (probably less) since the service so I can not see how the oil can degrade so badly in that time.

Does anyone else have any similar experiences of oil becoming contaminated so quickly?

Could there be something seriously wrong with the car?

Or is it more likely that no oil change (or Brake fluid change for that matter) was done at all last time and I am getting ripped off....

I know it is early days but I am very keen to hear your thoughts......thanks in advance :-)

 

[Envy]

I fear the latter is true - tick the boxes, bill the customer but try and remember to not flag it in front of the customer a few weeks down the line. 

You not in the 3 year Warranty period? Are you on the extended mileage service program? 20k intervals?

 

 

[Fishy78]

Hi Envy, thanks very much for your reply.

I have 29 days left on my audi warranty, and have extended warranty which will take over from the end date - although this is not through Audi. (..Car Giant...)

I am not currently on any service program as the car is (just) under three years old.

I will be livid if no oil change was performed at the service...although how id prove that I don't know.....

If it is legit - have you ever heard of engine oil getting so contaminated and sludgy in only a few weeks?

 

 

 

[Envy]

Your oil should be like new - seen some early diesels getting oil contaminated with fuel due to faulty regens. Other than that sludge would only build up over many years and only due to poor service regimes. Stand your ground. 

The 20K service interval question relates to the service intervals the car has been set to - you can opt for 10k or 20k intervals. You can ask for service history from Audi.

If the oil has become contaminated in such a short time then I would ask questions of Audi regarding engine condition- even after 20k of hard use I would not expect modern synthetic oil to be that black with viscosity so poor

[Fishy78]

Yes, that's what I thought.  Attached is part of the Audi Cam vid they sent me - oil is less black and more like the morning after a dodgy curry...

 

engine_oil_5_weeks_after_service.mp4

[WPAWS]

That is not any oil i would want in my car

[Magnet]

Hello Adrian,

Sorry to hear of your issues.

I can only boil this down as follows:-

Car was serviced at this main dealer some 5 weeks ago, and this service included a 'scheduled' brake fluid change. This fluid change in itself is confusing since my belief is that the schedule is for the brake fluid to be changed every two years - so it would not need changing at 3 year old! - unless they didn't change it last year. Did they change it then? 

The car was returned to the same dealer to simply have a MOT. As I understand it, the 'consistency' of the brake fluid doesn't currently form part of an MOT assessment, and the brake efficiency is assessed as either being within specification for the vehicle (pass) or not (fail) . It might warrant an advisory for visually 'dirty' fluid, but I believe they are not currently permitted to even test that fluid. 

In efect, any recommendation to change the fluid (irrespective of them having changed it 5 weeks earlier) should simply be via. a recommendation. 

So called 'contaminated' oil? Again of no consequence to the passing or failing of the MOT, although it might be suggested that this could aggravate out-of-limits emissions - if the emissions were indeed outside the acceptable limits. 

As it stands Adrian, are they providing you with a MOT pass or refusal at this stage? Or are they giving you indications that they are going to issue you with a fail if you don't get the oil changed etc? 

If it were mine:- I would simply request a MOT pass or fail certificate without further debate. It is reasonable to consider that they are trying to get you to spend money that you have already spent at the service, and something just doesn't add up. I would write to (or e-mail) the dealer principal, outlining your experiences in relation to the service and inform him that if this is not amicably and economically resolved, that you will be taking legal action, and ask whether he would prefer to elect for a  charge of incompetence or fraud! 

Finally, I would find yourself a trusty independent and entrust your car to them in the future - but get them to change the oil and filter now. 

Hope you have a favourable outcome.

Kind regards,

Gareth.