Oil Consumption

[Bob Danby]

I have an Audi A6 Avant MHEV 2 litre Deisel, its 3 months old and has covered 2500 miles,

I was horrified to get in it the other day to find a warning to top up the engine oil with at least 1 litre of oil but able to carry on driving,

I was on my way home after holiday and popped into the nearest Audi dealer to be told there was no problem and that oil consumption of up to 1 litre per 1000 miles was within tolerances. I bought oil and put 1 lire in the engine  on checking the oil level it wasn't even full.

Research on the internet seems to validate the information given by the dealer.

Surely this can not be correct I can't recall any of my vehicles needing a top up between oil changes, including a Toyota Landcruiser with 160k on the clock.

I would welcome other members experiences on this subject before I rant to Audi UK

[Magnet]

Hello Robert, 

Thanks for joining the forum. 
It’s not that unusual for engines to burn oil within the first few thousand miles, and then the consumption falls off as the components bed in. Time of course will confirm or refute this.

I this were mine, I would ensure any added oil is only bought from an Audi dealer, and the receipts retained. I would also keep a log of the date and mileage when the oil was added. This will be important evidence in the event of any subsequent dissatisfaction. 
Perhaps you would keep us updated. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Bob Danby]

Thanks Gareth,

I have started a log as you suggest and the oil was bought from an Audi dealer (with a spare for futur use), I've not experienced a bedding in period as you suggest but I'll take that into consideration.

Cerianly I'll keep the Forum updated

 

Kind regards

Bob

[Optimus]

I also experienced this with my MY22 A6 Avant 40 TDI.

 

Few things to consider to put your mind at rest...

1. New vehicles often are delivered with half or near empty fluids to keep transportation costs (weight) down. During the PDI the dealership should be topping up fluids and checking levels etc. It is not uncommon during this period the technician checks your level and sees 60% full and wont top up the fluid -  come round 2 months later your oil warning light appears and it says to need to top up at least 1 litre to bring it back above 50% capacity - To give you an indication in litres the max capacity is around 6 litres. I believe, this warning message appears when your oil level is around or below 50% capacity. It is not low (near empty), I found out when I put 2 litres in and then checking after letting the engine settle, my level was now showing way above the max line which then made me realise that this level is not a TRUE level of your total oil capacity. 
2.  New vehicles though refined and already run in to a degree, will be inefficient self lubricating and running efficiently due to engine/drive train bedding in. You tend not to see the real world efficiency, performance until around 15,000 miles or so which for a diesel car is roughly 1/16th of its engineered/designed 'typical' driven life cycle. low fuel economy and high oil usage up till then should be monitored but expected.
3. All diesel vehicles due to emission laws now need to be as efficient as possible, this means manufacturers have tried every which way to get past regulations (sometimes cheating) Audi use a very low viscosity oil similar to what was used in high performance cars during the early 2000's due to its low friction whilst lubricating intricate parts, marginal tolerance fast moving components. This means in layman's terms, the oil when at operating temperature is more likely to burn/evaporate during combustion cycles - thus higher perceived oil consumption is likely to occur. 

 

With my A6 I was topping up 1 litre of oil or sometimes more, roughly every 3-5k miles however, I do a lot of motorway mileage compared to short to medium journeys. I was monitoring this and in fairness the oil usage has become far less between 10K miles to 18K miles compared to the first 10K miles.

 

I hope this helps!

[Bob Danby]

Thank you for your response Optimus, you seem to speak with some knowledge so I'm heartened but will keep an eye on the oil comsumption.

[Optimus]

Not a problem, I just got into my new MY23 avant. Literally checked my oil level before setting off I got the sales guy to get them to top it up. It was literally just above the the low line. So case in point to point 1. I was making! 😂

[mstv]

A6 C8 40 TDI MHEV also, 2,500 miles today, about 6 weeks from collection. My Audi app indicated to check oil level about 10 days about likely around 2000 miles, it wasn't at minimum but was low on the gauge, so added 1/2 litre of 0W-30 to spec (see label on radiator cover under the bonnet). Seems that the App gives a warning before the point where you'd reach minimum, so I check that regularly. There was no warning from the car at this point, only in the app.

[Bob Danby]

Thanks everyone