A7 timing chain noise

[Dovestone]

Presented my 2015 A7 with 23000 miles to local main dealer for final service on the service plan. Was informed on collection that a serious noise had been found from the rear of the engine. This I was informed indicated a serious problem involving the timing chain. I could not hear this sound myself. The work to rectify this amounted to 35 yes 35 labour hours plus parts plus vat. Somewhere in the region of £5000. The vehicle is some six months out of warrantee and being a prestige Audi I felt I really didn’t require an extended warranty at this point. I was informed the the dealership had come across other A7s with the same issue and that there had been a change to some parts fitted to recent vehicles to avoid this problem I was told there was a possibility’s that Audi UK would foot the bill. In the event it transpired that they would meet the parts element and that the dealer would meet some more and that I still would be required to pay £2100 inclusive of vat. I managed to negotiate this down to £1500. My question is should I challenge this further. Is it really credible that a three year old A7 with such low mileage and serviced to shedual. It’s worth mentioning that I made a fuss about them not installing the available emissions upgrade upon presenting my vehicle for service. What should I do. Opinions please

[Steve Q]

Sorry to hear of your issue. 

You've done well to get a good proportion off so far and I'd be definitely pushing for more. I totally agree that a 3 and half year old cat shouldnt have issues with the timing chain (depending on mileage obviously). As it's a known fault, in an ideal world Audi should pay the whole bill but this was probably very unlikely.

Cheers

Steve

[niedzial1983]

1500 for a timing change is cheap to be honest. Most indy will charhe same or more .

Its a engine out job and  they will be done using audi parts. Also you will get warranty on the work and new chain,, tensioners etc. So i think its a good deal

Not doing the chain could be catastrofic to the engine and the car 

[Magnet]

Hello Les,

I sympathise with you regarding this defective engine component, and would ask the question:- Is it reasonable to expect a 23k, three and a half year old, supposedly quality engineered car, serviced according to the schedule ( I guess - correct? ) to develop a significant engine deficiency? My answer would be - no it isn't reasonable. 

OK, it's now out of warranty, so it becomes your responsibility to repair it. That has to be fact, and any contribution by the Audi organisation can be considered to be simply as a good will gesture. 

You ask the question ' should I challenge this further...?' Well do you have anything to lose? That depends on whether the current 'offer' is subject to withdrawal or not, and whether there is any experience ( possibly via. other forums) of their good will gesture to you, being bettered in the past. It seems the answer to that is not forthcoming from here, but there may be additional help via. other sources. 

I'm of an age where I suffer from significant hearing problems, and it would be understandable if I couldn't hear the noise they are referring to. Is your hearing compromised in any way, since you say you cannot hear any noise? 

If it were mine:- I would be first getting a second qualified opinion on whether this noise exists or not. From there, you will obviously need to decide whether you are prepared to get the work done or not at the current costings, or consider selling the car if that is an economic thing to do. 

Not sure how much of this helps, but...

Good luck with whatever you decide. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. '.. made a fuss about them not do the emissions update....' Sorry Les to be rather direct, but making a fuss is not conducive to getting the best out of negotiations, and they may well have done you a big favour!  - worth reading up on the topic near the top of this forum. 

[Dovestone]

Thank you all for your kind thoughts. Gareth when I say I made a fuss what I did was to firmly state when offered that I had heard many reports of affected performance and mpg from this software tweet and given the option I would prefer not to have it. I was concerned that the car would be plugged into a central server at some point during the service and this adjustment would be made inadvertently. I asked the service manager to acknowledge my request in writing which he was most willing to do. So not really a fuss. My main concern is that there appears to been a general fault with my era of A7 and who knows other vehicles fitted with the same motor. Here is an extract from a mail to me from their my Huddersfield service consultant. “Following on from the conversation with Audi UK, as I mentioned to you on Tuesday as a centre we have experienced similar noises on the A7 3 Litre's previously. Along with this a modified Camshaft has in fact been released from Audi as oppose to the original camshaft fitted within the vehicle from factory & we have confirmed similar faults with our technical team in Milton Keynes.  

Here is a link to another forum on this site “

  This clearly indicates an serious wide spread problem which A Mr Nasar, end of the line at Audi UK, explicitly denies exists. At this point a have to say that I think Audi Huddersfield have been excellent and given me as much support as they can Audi UK however seem to be in denial. I wonder why. Comments Please

[Magnet]

Hello Les,

Apologies - I've re read your original post, and to me it read that you made a fuss because the recall had   not     been carried out, rather than you didn't want to have it carried out. Still... it's clear now. 

Regarding the major issue, I think that although the situation you find yourself in is unreasonable, it is unfortunately what it is, and my way forward from this inaudible-to-you noise problem would be to first have this independently assessed and move from there by having had a second opinion on its severity. Apologies for repeating. 

Good luck and kind regards, 

Gareth

[Dovestone]

Thank you Gareth

I now am convinced that the fault is genuine so I have no issue with my treatment at Audi Huddersfield. From the information I have since gleaned both from the service representative who’s e mail I published in my last post and from post on other forums, I am now convinced that there was a serious manufacturing fault with the camshafts and belt tensioners of this era of engine. This engine was also fitted to several other Audi models. Audi is trying to avoid a very expensive recall @£5000 a pop. This is morally reprehensible. Without a general recal owners like myself who plan to keep their vehicles for a long time now face the prospect down the line of either having to pay the 5k or if undetected having a catastrophic engine failure. This is a coverup on the scale of the emissions scandal. Not as many cars affected but far more expensive to fix. When I explained to Mr Nasar at Audi customer service that my centre had come across at least two examples and that this had been the subject of a service bulletin from Audi warranty center at Milton Keynes he actually said to me that “there must be something peculiar about Huddersfield “ like there was something wrong with the water! That illustrates perfectly the contempt this company hold its customers in. Apparently claims for this issue are treated on a case by case basis. Which means that if you are judged to be a young person or corporate entity who will stick with the brand your repair bill will be met in full if like me you are an old !Removed! who is less likely to be loyal you will have to part or all the cost.