Magnet

Hello Graeme, I'm sure there will be others more knowledgeable than me would be able to advise you, but I would ask what mileage this car has done, since my experience has led me to believe that original equipment catalytic converters are normally long lived components. I mention original equipment since I'm not sure whether you know the full history of this car or not. There has been a spate of cats. being stolen around these parts and I would just want to conform that this hasn't been fitted with an aftermarket replacement one, say due to this reason. OK, you have been informed that the cats. are main dealer only, but have you actually checked the aftermarket market yourself - even continental aftermarkets? Fuel Parts were one UK supplier who do cats. and it may be worth contacting them for confirmation. Personally, I would be wanting some further confirmation that the cat. is at fault ( if genuine VAG) before throwing more good money at it. Back to the O2 sensors. Can we take it that these were genuine VAG replacements? I would hope so judging by the price! I think there might be generic replacements available for these and they can sometimes be of variable quality. Nothing concrete here I'm afraid Gaeme, but possibly a bit of background which might help. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Julia, I'd be guessing on this, but in the absence of other replies, it may be worth Googling re- programming Audi remote key fob which usually entails putting the key in the driver's door lock etc. - I'm sure you will find various references. Let's hope this may sort it. While of course it is good practice to disconnect the battery before trickle charging - and will be recommended whenever you read about this - I always have always charged older cars such as yours without disconnecting (ensuring the charger is connected the right way first!) for fear of issues such as you are experiencing. More modern, "inteligent " charging system cars - no. One question I would ask is why did the battery run flat in the first place? If not through leaving something on, then it's possible that the battery has suffered a catastrophic failure - as they sometimes do - and its worth having it's serviceability checked following an overnight charge. Halfords should be able to do this for you. If it proves to be unserviceable then you have to decide whether to replace it with a Halford's battery or not! It would be interesting to know how you get on from here. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s.I should have mentioned that it's always worth having the battery checked first in such cases before looking for any other issues. If you do need to replace the battery, you could try Battery Warehouse at Tewkesbury or Tayna Batteries ( there are others, and no connection). Such companies usually get batteries to your door at reasonable cost - the flowing day. I always go for batteries with a minimum of 4 years guarantee.

Hello Susan, To be honest, I'm rather surprised about the ...."very tempted not to return next year'.... bit. Perhaps I've got this wrong, but I think the consensus of opinion you asked for, recommends you steer clear, and I'm sure if you look at it logically it will be realised that was probably pretty sound advice. Just look at it from this point of view:- They change your cambelt, and I'm not sure how much labour they charged you, but you will know, and have a fair idea from that what their hourly rate is. Now, as a good will gesture they give you 5 free MOTs which equates to £270 at the current full charge rate - bit of a loss so far?! Add to that loss, the fact that they spend 1hour doing an MOT at an hourly rate of £54 inc. VAT. I would be surprised if their normal hourly rate isn't far off/over £90 plus vat. So I guess you can now work out that this is a loss loss situation for them, unless they can recoupe work from problems (justified problems of course) found during these 5 MOTs. You can form your own opinion from there. Intersting to hear what the Service Manager has to say, but in all honesty, anyone who walks into anything for free, is quite likely to come out with some sort of charge for the lunch. But don't worry - experience can be even more expensive if not learned from. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks both, If the link between recalls and the significant number of examples of quotes for needing new EGR valves after, puzzles you then that makes it really puzzling! What a hope for the general public who are the receiving end of this. It does seem that owners have little option other than to pay up. I still ask the question - can this recall action be simply reversed if the owner is discontent? It would be reasonable to expect that anything which gets computer adjusted can be reset back to where it was. Well you would think so! Kind regards to you both, Gareth.

Hello Darren and Dan, Sorry to bother you both, but I find this interesting, if only from the point that it exposes my ignorance of the detail of such things! Now you chaps know what you are talking about here, and my experience extends only as far as cleaning EGR valves on BMW engined Rovers and Land Rover, and with Dan's explanation it becomes clear that this must be the old fashioned clean-it-stick-it back-on/blank -it -off type. Nice and simple, and I like simple! Latest generation VAG ones might be more complex and sensor controlled then, and if so, is this where the issues are throwing themselves up following these recalls? If so, would you have any ideas as to what actually goes wrong with the EGR valve that warrants changing it , and why would whatever they do during the recall has such a bad effect on it? Would I be right Darren in understanding that if you have the engine remapped, it is possible to do something to over ride these issues, and if so, would such remapping be able to be done on the generation of engines now subject to recall? Where I getting to is, would it be useful for owners of cars now giving problems after recalls (EGR valve-wise) to have their cars remapped (cheaper?) rather than paying to have new EGR valves fitted? Over to you good folks, since I believe you are never too old to learn! Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Kathryn, Very sorry to hear if your problems. I will return to try to offer some comment in a moment. Meanwhile. To Administrators:- I'm sure this topic is of the vital importance to many Audi owners at this time, yet the topic is relegated to near the bottom of the forum listing. My personal view is that it should be near "top of the shop", and ideally boldly prefixed with something like "Please read before subjecting your car to an emissions recall". Appreciating that this forum cannot/should not? offer specific advice on whether to or not, but I feel it would be useful for owners faced with this to have prominent access to the exoeriences of others before making their own decision whether to submit it or not. I'm sure whatever bum-covering wording that may be necessary, can be decided. Hopefully this will be taken as constructive (criticism) with the aim of suggested modifications assisting Audi owners with this issue. To Kathryn, Sorry Kathryn, I did say I would come back to you! You will be able to judge by the experiences of others who have posted on here whether your issue turns out to be in line with others. If unfortunately so, my recommendation would be to ensure that everything that happens from here is done/confirmed in writing - E-mails would be fine - and even e-mail them back with your interpretation of any telephone conversations you have with anyone. OK, so worse possible senario is you will have to pay for whatever work they consider necessary to return the car to the serviceable condition it was in before they carried out this recall. If you do, ensure you inform them in writing that you are doing so under protest and believe whatever is wrong is as a result of the work you had done at the recall. I would not have this work done anywhere other than at the dealer would carried out the recall. When all is fixed, I would inform them that you intend to apply to the Small Claims Court to recover all monies paid to them ( plus any out of pocket expenses) unless you are in receipt of full reimbursement within 14days. This may be considered a little extreme, but unfortunately you are now at a point of no return ( through no fault of your own) and judging by the experiences of others you are going to have to spend to get back to where you were. My best advice would be to ensure that you keep all your roads open to allow the least complicated route to trying to recoupe whatever you can from this. Good luck with whatever happens from here. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello James, When you say ....."from Audi"... do you mean direct from Audi Cutomer Services, or the main dealer, where you have it serviced ( bought it new from)? This seems early by any stretch of the imagination unless something has changed, and if it were mine - irrespective of where the e-mail originated- I would reply and ask them to let you know (it will then be in writing) what the recommend change intervals are for your car. You should then be told:-. x miles or x years, whichever comes first. It would be interesting to know the outcome. Kind regards, Gareth. Just an afterthought:- are they assuming that due to your annual mileage, that you may exceed the recommended mileage change point before they next see it for service? Unlikely, but may be part of an explanation.

Hello Susan, Are you seriously intending to take this car back to them again next year for your free MOT? If so, I would advise getting these items sorted, since they will most likely pick up on them. If not, and you follow advice and find yourself a trusted local MOT station, then I suggest you take the car along to them and ask their opinion on whether these items are likely to result in a failure next year or not. This may cost you some pounds (or maybe not) but could be good and cheaper advice in the long run. I wouldn't be surprised that in terms of the spring corrosion that that can be sorted by a coating of Wayoyl or similar. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mark, Not sure if this going to be pessimistic or realistic, but I tried all the You Tube etc. suggestions on re programming the fob on a 2006 A3 with very limited success. I just got You Tubed out! Not sure with yours, but my "spare" fob will actually start the car, and of course the key will manually open and lock the door. No remote locking however. Probably yours is more sophisticated than mine, but it would be interesting to know if your key fob does currently start the car. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Richard. I'm really still none the wiser whether my suggestion is going to be taken on board and eliminated or not! At least you have been offered some possible advise I guess, and I can't see anyone can do much more than have such a stab at it at a distance, and try to eliminate all possibilities as you go along. As I say, good luck with sorting it.

Hello Dereck, Not sure if you might have mistyped the price on these, but the same Pagid numbered discs are currently available on EBay from motor factor suppliers at a bit under £66 a pair- inc. p&p , I think. Not sure about the comparative prices of your other items. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hi Richard, Interesting background, but I'm a bit lost as to where these photos fit in with your current problem for which you are asking for advice on what may be causing your issues. As I see it, the best that can be done on here is to offer some advice on what the causes could possibly be - and it's generally a stab in the dark - and leave it to be dismissed or followed up on, as the case may be. It would be interesting to know how you sort it/have it sorted in the end. Kind regards, Gareth.

"Random", "varnishes", well, that is exactly what you might expect with electrical issues, where such things as contact resistance varies according to damp or dry conditions, vibrations etc. and may, or may not cause problems at one time and not another. Not sure what age group you are, but never having experienced anything like it before sounds as if your motoring to date has been one of good fortune! Kind regards, Gareth.

Possibly the fuel pump relay?? Good luck with getting it sorted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Peter, I'm sure others more up to date on this will come to your rescue with perhaps a more informative answer, but I too believe the true answer may be as vague as you have already received. If this car as being used on say a 12 to 15k mileage per annum then the service light might come up at about 15 to 18k. However, at your lower mileage, it's unlikely that you will get to that mileage before the light does come on, since the system is logging the distances travelled, average speeds, time etc. , so indeed it is difficult to predict, but perhaps around 18 months from the start - ? Personally, I believe you can trust VAG's technology to let you know when it's due, but it is that important to you then perhaps you can talk with your dealer and get this off the "longlife" service interval it is probably set on, and arrange to have it serviced say, annually. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry to hear of you issues, particularly since I guess we are talking a Welsh dealership here. I'm sure the old adage of no such thing as a free lunch can, and generally does, still apply, and personally, I avoid the so called free MOTs and even discounted rate ones, and simply pay the going rate with a garage you trust. Perhaps a daft statement, but what cost is free MOT when it entails an 80 mile journey? Still, all's well that ends well. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andrew, Welcome to the forum. Boiling this down, I can understand you are exhausted from searching, but in reality you are really simply spoilt for choice. Imaging a situation where you believe no one is prepared to supply you with a code, then out of the blue, you stumble across someone who can, but their charges are understandable high because they offer a unique service. I guess good money would have to be paid. From online providers at around £10 through a main dealer at £15, to other main dealers at £85, seems to be enough to choose from. I have used online services for the odd non VAG car, and touch wood, they have been quick and correct, but these were used since the dealers wanted to charge about £25 - reasonable enough I thought, but the on line service was cheaper. If it were mine, I would be snapping the £15 quote dealer's hand off, since this is a bargain, and you are far more likely to have some sort of redress if the code doesn't work. I'm not sure if you are wondering whether someone is going to give you a code for nothing, and even if they did, such kindness would surely warrant some gratuity, so how cheap is a dealer's £15 in the end? I trust this isn't taken as being critical, but for right or wrong, I feel the decision just has to be yours. I'm not sure about your logic of expecting this anti theft service to be free of charge - what service is these days? - but you could of course argue the converse, and suggest that such an anti theft by- pass service should be charged at a very high rate to deter anyone trying to recode a set which has come to them via. dubious routes! Anyway, good luck with sorting it. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, Bringing this back to basic logic, there are only two possibilities here:- (1) The "book" recommended refill quantity of 4.3 litres is insufficient for your engine. (2) You have the wrong dipstick fitted in your engine. My (bad) experiences have taught me never to ignore the 'highly unlikely' until you have eliminated it as a possibility. Possibility (2) can be eliminated by accosting some helpful owner of the same model and engine, and trying their dipstick in your car! If that reads the same, then you have eliminated that as a possibility, and whatever quantity you use to refill this to the max. mark - is the quantity required, and the "book" is wrong ( not unusual). Although I do not advocate deliberately overfilling modern engines, it was always the common thing to do some decades ago when you refilled to near to 1/4 inch above the max level (rechecked cold) since some oil consumption was usual. Mind, reading what some of these modern engines burn, and is still considered acceptable, it would worry me! If you think of the surface area of the sump, then adding an extra 1litre is only going to raise that level by a relatively small amount in any case. Although nothing to do with the final quantity of oil added, I too think Luey's right in his good practice to at least partially refill the new filter, since it reduces the 'no oil pressure" period when the pump simply refills the filter - bad news! Assuming of course that the filter is attached from below rather than above! A bit messy otherwise. I would be interested in the final outcome if this. Kind regards, Gareth.

Well done, As I said, it's always worth fostering good relations with your local used car lot boys in any case. These chaps ( and don't they usually get bad press?) don't make an easy living - contrary to the easy formula of selling price minus buying in price equals good profit! Not really so, when overheads and repair expenses are considered. They have to know local sources for paint repairs etc. and their contacts have to do a good job at a reasonable price, so they will know the most reasonable specialists in your area. Always worth popping in for a chat, armed with some biscuits etc. even when you don't need their advice. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Thibault, Not too up on this but my stab at it would be along the lines of Steve's advice. Ignition coil?? Not sure what you mean by this. I would think the CL system is controlled by the driver's door lock as Steve says, and this would be my first port of call. Removing the door panel will provide access, and you might well find that a good clean with contact cleaner and WD 40 might well help. As you can apireciate, there will have been a fair bit of water passing down from the window seals over the years and this can take its toll on such things. I have found that even injecting some WD40 down into the lock area without taking the panel off sometimes gives results. Kind regards, Gareth.

Very useful and informative information. I'm sure there is plenty of food for thought there for anyone considering reacting to this recall, and many thanks to you Steve. To the administrators:- Is it worth moving this to the Recalls section? I would have thought so to ensure this information gets to where it is needed. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Just a thought :- A VAG dealer takes a car in in part exchange which is due for a recall. What do they do with it? Trade it out, even though it would be retail age stock? Or do they just not subject it to the recall?

I agree with you Olgert. These are indeed usually changed in pairs, and I would say particularly since this is a performance car. You can bet that if this wasn't under warranty, you would struggle to get any main dealer to change just one shock absorber. Having said that, this is the manufacturer's warrantee we are talking here, and I wouldn't be surprised if VAG simply change the faulty one. I would suggest seeing what they actually propose to do, and if just the one then use your sound logic. My feeling is it will end up with them fitting a pair if you are prepared to part fund the second one. Good luck with getting it sorted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Experience shows that staying with the same company for too long may not be in your premium's best interest. Certainly automatic renewals are a recipe for getting away with increased premiums. OK, if you are disorganised with insurance renewals then yes this method prevents you from being in an uninsured situation, but it will cost you. Extra 10 or 15% off sounds attractive, but off what? We had a local builder's merchant who had an annual 33% off sale. Great! until you realised that on the Friday before the sale started, he simply inflated prices by 1/3 ! Comparison websites seem to be a good way of sifting through the basic quotes and is always a good starting point, but I have found that if you want the once-norm legal protection and courtesy car etc. then you have to pay extra, so cheap may not always be cheap. Alianz no longer doing car insurance? Found out about a year ago that they no longer do household insurance either. It may be interesting to note that during the 60s and 70s average car insurance premiums were into the £200plus bracket in our comparatively in the sticks locality. Equivalent to well, well over £1000 in today's money? I am still able to insure what you would call a luxury car for less less than £300, so I guess it has to be admitted that whatever the hike in premiums, we are better off premium wise than we were. Kind regards, Gareth.

Oh dear, how many more? To be fair we don't hear about the recalls that go well, but I guess nether do we know the full extent of the problems following these recalls. What amazes me is where are the media here? They were quick enough to swoop on VAG's ill doings with this whole debarkle, but seem conspicuous in their absence about the public's bad, and sometimes expensive, experiences. Is it that car owners aren't notifying the press about such issues, or are the media now closing their eyes to these problems? Food for thought and comment I feel. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jamie, Two possible ways of reducing the risk of buying the wrong car:- If you view a car and are serious enough to proceed towards buying it, then arrange to get it inspected by a local independent (need to do your research on who this will be in that area first). OK it will cost you possibly a couple of hours labour charge, but well worth that investment in their expertise. If this cannot be done on the day of viewing then no doubt it can be arranged prior to a final decision. If the buyer isn't too happy with this ( and you can check in advance) then don't bother to look at the car. If not buying from the actual owner, then always obtain their contact details from the V5 and talk with them. No one is likely to know the car better than they do. When you think you have found the car you want to buy, you will fall on love with it - for better or worse. Now you know what they say about love - it's blind- so just disappear into a dark room for a couple of hours of thinking rationally. Good luck with finding the right car. Kind regards, Gareth.