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Went an bought a 2014 BITDI black edition saloon.

Well here's a third who shares that opinion Gareth and Ken. I understand questioners doubting or even rejecting some of the advice received from the regulars here, after all we are unknown strangers with no proven reputation or experience, but it irritates me that rarely is there any feedback by way of resolutions to their problems, and still less any thanks for the time and effort we contribute. Perhaps I am also too old and cynical to cope with the ungracious demands of those who expect instant answers at the touch of a keyboard. Cliff.

Hello Ken, And there’s me thinking it’s just me, going through my old and cynical phase! Well at least the old bit is correct, and as for the cynical bit, I really do feel that that part of me is showing through - unfortunately. For my part, I try to be polite, logical, and hopefully constructive, but (as with most forums?) there seems to be an air of ‘I want, you know, you tell’ - seldom thanks, and that’s OK if it must be, but as you say Ken, very often not even an acknowledgement, and certainly a general absence of follow up, which is the most important part, since this is the part which will assist others in similar problems in the future. My sincere apologies and thanks to those who take the trouble to return to the forum and give an update. Perhaps some of this is understandable when you consider some folks come to the forum asking for advice on, let’s say the source of a noise, and their expectation maybe that the forum can isolate the cause FOC without any access to inspecting the vehicle. A failure to be able do that may perhaps disappoint, and put the forum in bad light. I’ve been wondering for a little while about the general effectiveness of my involvement on here, so your your interesting comment comes at an opportune time Ken. There again, it might be just us two who share this opinion Ken. Still….. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

dont you just love it when people drop their problem on the forum , receive sound advice . then nothing, no follow up or acknowledgement as to if it helped or not.

I think your complaints are felt by lots of motorists with various companies. I have to say I hate vag adaptive cruise control as it can't predict cars moving over etc. We have a Ford van at work and find the lane departure warning ok. It doesn't jerk the wheel it just vibrates the steering wheel if you go over any line. Regarding the brakes, I often find the vehicle health checks ott. They'll tell you parts need changing even if there's 2k Miles in them. I worked as a service advisor for Volkswagen but not on commission to upsell work. Therefore I was straight with the customer telling them that the work wasn't needed yet but it was an advisory. But I was a minority as most service advisors get commission to upsell work on a health check.

I've driven the new corolla and found it not to be a good car. Plus I found the last of the line avensis to be a disappoint too. It only achieved 36mpg from it's 2.0 diesel. Which is the same as I get from my old v6 a6! However I do believe Toyota have been hiding uneconomical engines behind the hybrid system. Needless to say I wouldn't buy a Toyota car but I've got nothing against Toyota pickups which I find good.

Hello Alex, Thanks for the update. Cutting to the chase:- Your have two quotes from non Audi approved bodyshops for £210 and £190 - both have good reviews. It could be me but why would you want to entrust the repair to ‘a mate who knows someone’ for ‘no more than £200’ with an option of losing a friendship if you are not happy with the work!? These things are best kept independent to my mind. Notifying your insurers:- too late now, you obviously cannot do a U turn on this. The stock question for premiums is ‘have you been involved in an accident?’. So your insurers know the answer. Re. the Audi approved repair shop. If you consider Audi charge north of £110/ hr + VAT for labour, and then add on the average panel spray cost of c £350 + the cost of the wing, then the quote becomes at least ‘understandable’. My long time ago school economics taught me that if something like this is so exaggerated, why aren’t we all rushing out and borrowing millions and setting up our owner golden egg producing profit making facilities? There’s always two sides to the coin Alex, and if nothing go else, seeking advice has resulted in a phenomenal saving - well done you for seeking it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jonathan, Many thanks for the helpful additional information. The following pointers may clarify the realistic situation:- Anticipated journeys of 8 to 12 miles for a diesel are just the sort of journeys such engines were not designed for - particularly since they take a comparative long time to warm up, and are unlikely to deliver anticipated optimum mpg under these operating conditions. Automatics will not give you the best of mpg compared with sensible driving with a manual. I think it is realistic to apply the following logic:- These are large (expensive) vehicles, and are seldom bought with economy being a priority, and an average of 36mpg may be considered as reasonably acceptable for a luxury automatic car. Sorry, this might not go down too well, but spending a large amount of money on a luxury car, then being concerned about its economy on short trip usage is a little contradictory. Regarding ‘duff engine’ is more likely to equate to ‘(un) reasonable expectations’ , rather than anything actually wrong with the vehicle. If it were mine, I would fill the tank up and stretch it’s legs on a nice couple of hundred miles or so, on an enjoyable motoring day out. Refill the tank on return, and see what you get mpg wise. If you are still disappointed, then I would book it in to a trusted local diesel ( in caps ) speciality to get it checked over. Kind regards, Gareth.