Magnet

Hello Tabstar, Can you confirm that the roof had to be drilled on say a 2006 Sportback to allow these to be fitted? Might be worth listing these under Sales and Wants. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David again, Sorry to hear of your ongoing problems. Without being critical, I'm guessing you are not really spanner wise! Nothing at all wrong with that, and great that you seek advice, and the best advice I would give you is to foster relations at one (smallish?) garage in your locality that you hopefully learn to trust and respect. They will be your best bet in looking after your best interest. Not sure how big the company you work for are, but if of some size and this garage is local to your workplace, then usually they tend to depend upon a good reputation, since bad news travels fast in a small locality. From your part David, what you need to do is to look after the car you have, to make sure it looks after you! OK, not very spanner wise, but make sure you check the oil and water once a week ( "I refilled it a couple of weeks ago" is just bad news!) Check your tyre pressures once a month - and so on. All very basic, but well worthwhile. Yes, I know there are more interesting things to do, but.... End of advice! - and good luck with getting it sorted as best and most economically as possible. Kind regards, Gareth.

I wouldn't want to appear to be labouring the point Rob, but I would not necessarily go with the idea that chains are for life -. Well of course, they are for the life of the chain! - which may not be the same as what the life of the engine would have been if the chain and tensioner wear had been attended to ! Have a look at other threads where such wear has resulted in catastrophic engine failure. 4 year time interval for changing belts? Agree it would be good - but erring on the side of caution, and perhaps more like..... or 5 years which ever comes first ...normally. Kind regards, Gareth.

Good news David. With the steering rack:- Most components for a particular make, model and engine variant remained the same over a number of years. So let's say you would have had the same rack on a 2001 to 2006 A3 1.6 - this is only an EXAMPLE and may NOT be fact. Couple of options:- If you have faith in your garage then ask them to source the correct rack within your budget from a non-Audi source. Maybe the best option if you are unsure. Or, Ring up your Audi dealer and ask them for a (frightening!) price for the rack for your car by giving them the registration number. When they give you the price, ask them for the part number. Armed with this part number, you can search EBay for the correct rack within your budget and confirm with the seller that it is indeed correct by checking the part number with them. Just get a feel for what's what by dong a simple EBay search to start with. That will give you an idea what you are likely to get for your money. Good luck in sorting it out. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, Have you looked on EBay? I've just looked for you and you have no end of choice for racks, ranging from around £50, to some reconditioned seemingly, for less than £150. With engine oil - "had to fill last week" - sounds a bit frightening if you literally have to refill. From a very low level? How much does it normally use then? I only ask, since your garage questions the worth of doing this work and only you know what this car is like. What model A3 is it David? Hope some of this helps. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for coming back David. Let's hope it's not as serious as the £1000 would have first suggested. It's always difficult to try to diagnose these things at a distance, and no disrespect meant, but clear and full descriptions are helpful - I read this incorrectly that your power steering had failed 5 months ago! Perhpas it would help you if the garage lists the things they think are wrong (I take it via. Diagnostics as well) together with the cost of repair. I'm sure someone will offer you some advice on here should you then need it. You didn't say whether the car uses oil or not, and if so, how much. Good luck with it. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. What part of Wales?

Hello Michael, I'm sure Rob's advice is sound, and I'm afraid my lack of experience of these engines is not going to be of any help. For peace of mind, what I would do if it were me, is to ring up - or better visit - your local Audi dealer parts department and ask them to check their system against your registration number and that will positively confirm whether you have belt/s or chains. Again, although I would not want to contradict the importance of regular oil changes being the main factor for the life of a chain, personally I would not want to put my complete faith in this in terms of the serviceability of a chain and it's associated tensioners etc. I think there is sufficient evidence on here to beware on certain engines even with cars which have full service history. It might be worth considering taking specialist advice about getting chains and tensioners policy changed - as with belts- depending on service and any potential for problems with certain engines. Above all Michael, I think you are wise in at least thinking about these issues and taking advice. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, It's unusual for spark plugs to fail and particularly as a set ( individuals sometimes perhaps). For a further set (same make?) to go for a possible third time is simply stretching the coincidence. I would have a stab at something else causing the plugs to foul up, and the garage simply replaces the fouled up plugs - and off you go- instead of tracing the problem which causes them to foul up. Possible excessively rich mixture comes to mind, but that can only be a guess. Oil contamination from worn valve oil seals might be another possibility, but it would be difficult to diagnose without far more information. Does this car smoke or use oil for example? Re. power steering:- sounds as if you have an issue with the power steering pump which might account for an estimate of £1K. Been without power steering for 5 months? - strong arms with these Welshmen! For it were mine, I would be wanting to know exactly what is wrong to cause both issues (at another garage?) before committing to any expense. Perhaps you could let us have a bit more detail and keep us informed of how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth. (fellow Welshman).

Hello Nuala, I'm sorry to hear that your issues are adding to the bad experiences of others. How many bad experiences against good ? Only VAG would know I guess. Not that it will be any consolation to you, but the thought of having to take a car of mine in for a so called update, would lead to many sleepless nights. Thanks, but no thanks for a free update! Now I'm not sure how this will be received by the administrators of this forum - but it's only a personal opinion of what I would be tempted to do if it were mine - I would formally write the to the dealer principal by recorded delivery letter and register my dissatisfaction as a result of this upgrade and inform him that I intend to present the facts of my discontents to the media, since I understand that mine is not an isolated bad experience following these updates. Tell them that I propose to do that within say seven days receipt of the letter unless I have the car returned to me ( with no expense to me) in the same performance mode as it was before I was asked to return it for this upgrade. Still not happy after this? Then it would be the national press for me. I must emphasise that this is what I would do if it were mine, and not necessarily a recommendation for what others should do, but I could be something to think about. I can only wish you well in your quest to right the wrongs. Kind regards, Gareth.

Maybe considered rather OTT, but with a reasonable period of time already given to sort this out, and the evidence of the frequency in general discontent with these upgrades, I might just think about taking the resolution to the small claims court. Of course, it might not be a small claim, since one could argue that they have rendered your car/s unusable (safely) and as such the claim would be for reimbursement of the market value of the car, or the cost to get it independently repaired/returned to its previous serviceable condition. Whether this claim is made against VAG or the dealer who carried out the update ( the dealer I guess) is open to debate. VAG have understandably already been subjected to criticism over the whole issue - which has resulted in the need for these so called updates. To my mind, it is now time for some publicity in respect of round 2 citing such cases as yours where these updates cause issues which were not present before. Have you considered taking this to the national press or consumer programmes such as Watchdog? Good luck with getting getting this sorted, although it should not depend on luck. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Peter, Sorry to hear of your problems, and I must assume that this is a recent account of problems. If so, and taking account that bad news travels faster than good, it would seem that there is sufficient evidence - certainly on here - to at least think twice before going ahead with these recalls. Good luck in getting back where you were with the car. Kind regards, Gareth.

Well, you have to have the greatest of sympathy for Richad's plight with these two cars, and no doubt there is sufficient experience on here to point to whether this is indeed a 'not uncommon experience' with these these engines - if this is not understating the situation! For me, it demonstrates that car sales are driven by brand locality and a falling in love with the appearance of certain models, even to a point of come what may! Having bought a model we like, and we hope others will admire, we sometimes go about getting it tuned up ( are we unhappy with its manufactured performance? - perhaps making it more attractive). It seems (I have been there!) that this desire leads to some degree of blindness while we go about going in for round two despite being once bitten. It also demonstrates that full service history - deemed by some to be the be all and end all - in some cases is of little worth. I have advocated that it is taking an unnecessary buying risk if you don't contact the previous owner to gain their experience before buying - despite FSH, but Richard's experience would blow this advice out of the water, but better done than not done. Could someone enlighten me on this - and perhaps minimise the risk of this happening to some other unsuspecting - but is this an issue with a chain driven oil pump? If so, like cambelts, is it advisable to change these chain assemblies (modified?) at some sort of "regular" interval to ensure the engine remains safe, and Audi do not have any recommended service schedule for this, so FSH is indeed meaningless as far as this is concerned? My commiserstions to Richard, and thanks for sharing his bad experience which might just be of benefit to others. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello David, I certainly don't want to claim any expertise with this, but perhaps some logical thought might point to the fact that the engine cuts out when it needs to when the brake is applied when stationary. Now, if it cuts out when it should not, then is this issue linked to some fault within a brake switch? Of course, this arguement may be knocked on the head by some logic that the engine cut out (when it should) is actioned via. a combination of brake switch and a sensor which senses the car is stationary. Not sure whether this is of any help or not - I guess not. I am not going to wish you good luck in getting this sorted - it should not depend on luck! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Bradon and Jason, Not sure if I'm barking up wrong trees with you model years, but I'm pretty sure the earlier than 2008 models may not/did not, have mounting points for these bars. As I understand it, they can be retro fitted, but it means drilling the roof at the appropriate points! As I say, I could be wrong, but might be worth checking before buying. Kind regards, Gareth.

Well MM ( is that really your forename? - I was going to say Christian name, but that probably won't be politically correct any more!) - if you understand one part of it, then you are at least one step ahead of me! - I haven't a clue what you are on about, but I think I will just plead being thick. Good luck with your acronyms. Gareth.

Welcome to proposed Audi A6 purchase. Yes, I know what an acronym is, but never knew it was a prerequisite of Audi ownership. If so, I'm out of compliance! Good luck. Gareth ( Regath)

I would agree with Darren, but I would ask the question, does this engine use much oil? in fact, how much oil does it use say per 1000 km? Perhaps I'm missing something , but I cannot see how a thicker oil will prolong engine life, when compared with keeping the oil level to normal using the correct viscosity oil. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. For what it is worth, I've been using VAG's. branded Quantum ( Longlife) oil for years in a similar mileage/ age petrol A3 throughout its life.

Many thanks Darren.

Many thanks Smokey. It's probably me, but I wouldn't entertain carrying out all this work and expense, and then not changing the slave cylinder - effectively the only clutch component you won't be changing. I just asked about where you were since it is normally listed ( perhaps not filled in) and your reference to "my tech" almost sounded American. As I say, good luck in getting it sorted properly. Kind regards, Gareth.

Oh dear Smokey - that does not sound a good outcome, and I guess it goes without saying that you will be changing the clutch slave cylinder ( (as asked for initial advice) as well - relative peanuts of an add-on cost. Not sure if I should say this, but perhaps your bad experience may just be of benefit to others about the perils of letting things get worse before attending to them. Anyway Smokey, let's hope it all works out better than it could be for you. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Where abouts are you?

Like the 'Removed' edit for the term describing the mother of a pup? Must remember to respect political correctness even when the word used is the correct, and non offensive, descriptive one! Good, isn't it? Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks to you all for the good advice. Down near Cardiff, Darren. Just wondered if you could let me have the TPS contact - sorry, never come across these, but sounds useful. What to they do by the way? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks for the update Carl. Now if my maths serves me well after all these years, you paid an extra £46 to get a pollen filter changed - plus whatever the nogatioated discount you managed on the original oil and filter change. Re taking your own oil next time:- well you could try, but there is a well quoted tale of the restaurant owner who often did the same thing at his local garage, until the garage owner visited the restaurant with his own steak, and asked to simply be charged for cooking it! Still, you've had it all done now. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Carl, £190 per hour plus VAT equates to £228. Has anyone else got some up to date comparison with average labour rates at Audi dealerships? Appreciating I'm probably out of touch, but I think that is most certainly on the high side of high! Oil at £130 - OK I realise you car is a bit special. I think I would be asking if you have sought alternative quotes from other Audi dealers. You list your location as "UK", and no doubt you will be aware that rates are likely to be more expensive around the large cities. It might help to know where you are, since someone on here may be able to recommend an alternative main dealer or a respected independent. Appreciating your car is still under warranty and the need to ensure you don't compromise that with the necessary servicing. Very enlightening, or at least frightening! Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ann, In relation to your question raised by Trevor's sound advice " How would you know if miles are proper......?" I think the answer to that is fairly simple to research. I have mentioned before under other such posts that although service history is important, it is likely to be more important to know how the car has been used and cared for. Easy to ascertain? Well, I think it is ( but more often than not overlooked). If you are not buying direct from the owner, then you obtain the last keeper's contact details from the V5 and you discuss the merits or otherwise, of the car. The true story of the car lies there. If the dealer is reluctant to give you that contact - data protection and all that! - then ask them to ask the last owner if they will contact you. If that doesn't work, then walk away. Short term ownership with last owner? Very often not a good sign. Good luck with finding what you want, but just think - would you buy a pup from a dealer without at least talking to the owner of the !Removed!? Pedigrees are all well and good, but how something has been cared for is important too. Do as much homework as possible before shaking anyone's hand. Kind regards. Gareth.