Audi approved?

[Lost boy]

Hi all. 

I am in the hunt for an Audi approved allroad and thought that I had found what I was looking for.

however... having test driven the car and settled down to talk business I spotted that the car had never had a service before .

the car had 2 1/2 years and 21000 miles but was on the forecourt as Audi approved . Just serviced buy the dealer.

In my book that doesn’t sound like it qualifies as Audi approved ... it’s missed its first service altogether. 

What do you all think I should do ?

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum, servicing for vag cars is 20k or 2 years which ever comes first, as they use long life oil I believe. Therefore it has missed a service by 6 months and 1000 miles. As a general rule this should be ok but I have to agree and question whether it fits into Audi approved used criteria. 

It sounds to me like it was an ex lease car or company car, or something like that. What did the dealer say when you point it out? 

Cheers

Steve

[Envy]

I had the option of 10K and 20K (extended) service intervals. Due to the milage I do a year I opted for 20k. Some say service every 10k as Oil is critical but modern oils tend to be better with age.

One area where oil is impacted is on the number of regen / failed regen your car may do. It is thought that engine oil can become diluted with diesel when a regen is interrupted.

I have tried to read up more on this theory but there is so much conflicting opinion that I am going with my own thoughts and those of VAG - if 20k were a problem they would not offer it...

Sounds like the car you are looking at is on or below average miles and will have been on extended service. I see you are listed as in london - lots of city driving? if so I would err back to the 10k interval but that is only me...

[Lost boy]

The dealer has just got back to me. 

The warranty department have said that the Audi extended  warranty would not cover any future engine oil related issues...

I guess that could be anything engine or gear box related ? But the dealer is still claiming it counts as Audi approved !

I’ve asked him to think about that again. I’m seriously concerned that they are now miss-selling the car.

If another member of the public doesn’t spot this then they could be buying a complete lemon at full Audi approved list price.

if they were to offer me a substantial discount to reflect the risk I might think about it , but so far that’s not forthcoming!

unbelievable....is this standard Audi custom and practise? I’m new to the brand . 

[Steve Q]

It's definitely not the norm for the brand but it shows you can't be too careful even with a main dealer! 

I'd be looking at other allroads if it were me. Serving is key in my book. That's how my a,6 has covered 328k on the original engine and gearbox which have never been rebuilt. 

Keep us posted on your search :)

Cheers

Steve

[Beezil]

10 hours ago, Lost boy said:

The dealer has just got back to me. 

The warranty department have said that the Audi extended  warranty would not cover any future engine oil related issues...

I guess that could be anything engine or gear box related ? But the dealer is still claiming it counts as Audi approved !

I’ve asked him to think about that again. I’m seriously concerned that they are now miss-selling the car.

If another member of the public doesn’t spot this then they could be buying a complete lemon at full Audi approved list price.

if they were to offer me a substantial discount to reflect the risk I might think about it , but so far that’s not forthcoming!

unbelievable....is this standard Audi custom and practise? I’m new to the brand . 

It seems to me an awful lot of money for someone to have spent on a car (when it was new) only to spend six months or so driving around with a "service due" light on and not bother taking it in for service. If it was leased originally, there's a likelihood that the company/individual running the car would have been paying for maintenance as well, which wouldn't make sense. And if they hadn't paid for maintenance, then they would have been hit with a fine for returning the car to the lease company without it being serviced according to manufacturer's instructions.

 

Why not try speaking to Audi Customer Services about it, and they may be able to check on whether it had actually been serviced but just not had the handbook stamped? Remember that some dealers are just numpties, and would only check their own computer system in case they had serviced it, and not bother checking the VAG system as well.

[Lost boy]

There’s no such thing as a handbook any more apparenty!

i thought the same, but it seems to be the case that it really did miss the service as there is no record of a service anywhere .

The dealer is doing more digging, so maybe they will find out from the previous owner.

In the mean time he is sticking to his line that it’s still audi approved.

 

[Magnet]

Hello 'Lost',

I'm rather lost (pardon the pun) as to why you are continuing to persue an interest in this car, since it is clear it was not serviced (cared about?) and there is obvious debate in terms of it qualifying as an Audi approved vehicle. Unless I liked trying to solve mysteries and taking subsequent chances, then if it were me, I would be simply walking away and looking elsewhere. The buyer holds the ace card- his money/ business. 

If you want to get to the bottom of this then I would ask - Have you seen a V5 for this vehicle? If not, I really think you ( or any buyer of any vehicle) should. My stab at this is it's an ex lease car, (in early for some unknown reason??) but a stab it is.

Interesting to read Beezil's comments on why it would be highly unlikely that the leasee would not take it in for a service if it was a no cost to them maintenance contract. I have a family member who has had on A4 estate as a company car and it is just coming up to the end of its 3 year lease where she doesn't have to pay a penny for maintenance. Service light has been on for a couple of months. Bless her, she has no interest at all in cars and just hasn't got around to taking it in for service! Possible this vehicle had a similar driver? 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[PhilA3]

Agree.   I would walk away from a car that has not had an oil change (or at least any evidence of such) in 2.5 years.  Keep looking, cars come up for sale all the time.  You are making a substantial investment and want it to be perfect.

[Butts1918]

Have you tried these guys.... https://vantage-leasing.com/audi-leasing (I used to work for them, they're a great company to be honest)