Magnet

Hello Martin, Sorry to hear you have clutch problems. If you are not going for VAG parts (available at discount) then the only aftermarket make I would fit would be LUK. You should find these on the online auction site, or probably you local motor factors. I have used a factors called BuyPartsBy (no connection and I'm sure there are others equally as good) and found them to be very competitive and a good service. If you did want a contact for VAG parts at discount (again no connection) then I can let you know which one I have used. Summary:- I would only use LUK. Others may well suggest good alternatives as well. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Robin, Highly, highly unusual for the return oil galleries (large holes) from the head back to the sump to be clogged to a degree that the return oil is restricted with resultant low oil pressure , but as I said " ....perhaps it suffered from a previous glorious lack of oil changing...." Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Edward, Well Bridgend eh. - I'm very close to you, and I take it you bought it from our local Audi main dealer. In my book, what you don't need to worry about is why this car is stalling ( and by what you describe, it sounds more like cutting out, but...) What you do need to worry about is how predictably safe this car is to continue using before they can look at it in over a week's time. If it were mine, I would be returning it to Mr. S...'s dealership as soon as possible, and requesting they keep it there meanwhile, and provide you with a courtesy car until it is sorted. Good luck in getting it sorted quickly and safely. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Kiln, It's always difficult to offer advice without appearing to be over critical and putting people off, but I would add that I think you are very wise to seek advice. Part of that advice may come in the form of a recommendation to have the car car inspected by say an Audi independent or the AA/RAC since the car is being bought privately and you have very little - if any - comeback if things go wrong immediately after I would ask myself why someone would spend a large amount of money on it then part with it so quickly afterwards. Possibly the fear of other things going wrong and not wanting yo spend more? - and leaving that to the next owner. Personally, I would be concerned about this car having a new oil pump since you are not aware of the background to the failure of the original one. Was the engine run on low oil pressure for some time? If you don't anything else, you must road test this car for a minimum of 10 continuous miles to ensure the oil is hot and any oil pressure issues are likely to reveal themselves. Any shorter will simply not be enough. Price? Don't know , except that there appears to be a few on Autotrader with dealers at around that price - being sold with a guarantee from dealers. You could ring We buy any car and see what they value it at. That valuation is likely to be close the part exchange value which the seller would have been offered. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Robin, It seems Christie has not been on here for about a week so we don't know how he is getting on with this. Shame. Perhaps the oil way you are talking about is the oil feed from the pressure side of the oil pump, which pumps oil up to the overhead camshaft ( with the oil returning to the sump via. numerous large cast in holes which allows the oil to get into the sump in the first place when the oil is changed/topped up). If this oil way was blocked it would prevent oil getting to the top of the engine, but not necessarily cause the oil oil pressure light to come on. I just wonder with your Astra if it suffered from a previous glorious lack of oil changing, and/or coolant entering the oil via. a head gasket issue - causing the oil to emulsify and eventually clog up the oil way. Mixing grades and brands of oil being a big no, no? This should not be an issue, or a cause of oil sludging in its own right. Although you should always use the recommended viscosity and specification as the first choice, with high mileage or worn engines it can be worth reconsidering alternative near-grades. Mixing same specification brands leading to blocked oil ways? Never yet come across this in over 55 years of motoring. Besides do the usual frequent fluids checks and tyre condition and pressure checks, probably the most important part of maintenance is to treat the vehicle to good quality oil and filter changes - it does reap rewards. So called long- life schedules? OK they have their place but for old fashioned me it's a 10k mile/ 1year job for me. Kind regards, Gareth.

That's encouraging Gavin, As Dan pointed out earlier, it could be rear wheel bearing associated, and as I said, noises are funny things and certainly can cheat the ear, and in my experience, noises which appear to be coming from the front can be from the rear. What's at the rear to make rotational noises? Much less than the front :- tyres, wheel bearings, brake assemblies. One of the very few non-service items on our 143k A3 to give problems was a rear wheel bearing. Noise was not excessive, was liveable with and there wasn't any play, but we changed it anyway. If you are going to get it changed (at Audi no debate on parts used) then make sure you use good quality parts since there are some c...p aftermarket bearings on the market. Believe this bearing came as a hub assembly incase this helps. Kind regards, Gateth.

As I see it, Steve is able to offer the benefit of advice from 'two sides of the counter', and although we must be realistic and appreciate bad news travels faster than good, there is sufficient bad news to think about steering clear on this and just enjoying the car as it is- without further thought in my book. One thing I would raise, to add to my bank of 'don't knows! , is will not getting it done affect the chance of it failing the emissions part of the MOT? One would think not, since with VAG's bit of previous technology! it was able to satisfy the emissions requirements before, and assuming the car's actual emissions remain within the previous limits, it should pass again. Assumption :- VOSA has not altered any requirements since this scandal - and is that just and assumption, or fact? Anyone with an experienced view on this? Kind regsrds, Gareth.

Hello Penny, I'm very much with Fast Edd on this and I too believe it is up to you to decide what you want to do about with Your car. If you take a simplistic view and ask yourself if you are happy with its current running and performance (which it seems you are), and if from what you read, you are likely to risk it becoming worse rather than better by accepting the recall, then I see you have the right to leave well alone. If it were mine I would do as Edd suggests and totally ignore these alerts and see what happens. I wouldn't take any risk of taking this 7 year old car anywhere near an Audi dealer, who could well ignore your dictate and just do it and argue about it after. Perhaps think twice about even taking it to an Audi independent, but preferably entrust your servicing to a trusted local garage. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Becci, There might be another school of thought that you may be better off finding a local diesel specialist to look at this for you. They are more often better equipped and knowledgeable on diesels than the main dealer. Usually the local 4x4 enthusiasts are a good source of recommendation for a good specialist to consult. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Karen, I think you are being wise to consider the cambelt change issue having just bought the car. I would most certainly follow Steve's advice, but I would ask of others on here more knowledgeable of your particular engine whether the is indeed fitted with a belt rather than a chain. If indeed it is a belt, then (if it checks out that it's not/never been changed) then I would certainly recommend getting it done as soon as possible (7 years old). Although not a job to be overlooked, I would be seeking advice at your Audi dealer and see what they say - to me 5 years is an overkill ( not that it matters here) but..... A couple of things that may help:- Main dealers often have offers on cambelt changes so alway worth a check. Also check with any local independents, or indeed your local trusted garage. One thing I would say is to use good quality parts - particularly water pumps - since some aftermarket components can be problematic and lead to serious issues. Just come back for more advice when you decide to go ahead. Re. The dealer who sold you the car:- they often take a detached view on such things and might advise the buyer to get it done/ allow them to do it (at cost). Not that it helps you at all, but sometimes owners decide to sell cars because a relatively high bill is forthcoming, so they part exchange it and it goes through the trade and gets sold at a used car lot. They are generally not too interested in the detail of the service history. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Rob, Not sure if this may help, but I would first check the connections on the top of the brake master cylinder. These may have been disturbed/strained when the mechanic most likely would have taken the top off during the brake pad renewal. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Robert, I can well understand your frustration, and I wonder if despite the multi billion communication set up we have these days, whether it fell apart simply due to someone not talking to someone else. I guess you have the name of the person you spoke with on the phone , and no doubt this is where you will level your complaint when you talk with the dealer principal. I don't want to make light of this Rob, but having recently returned from the WW1 war graves and the Menin Gate which lists the names of over 55,000 young men (average age 21?) who gave their lives in action - for us- and have no known graves. It sort of puts (small?) problems in a sort of order of importance in an elderly brain! Is it worth talking nicely but firmly to the dealer principal, saying how disappointed you were, and asking him to personally follow this up for you and arrange another set of test drives, and when this is done, talk nicely over a cup of tea and try to arrange to best deal you can with them. All peace and light and little intolerance for other people's situation. Was/is intolerance the basis of most wars, and are we learning to be more tolerant of one another?? Consider this to be a rant from, let's say "the supposedly mature"! Anyway, Rob, good luck with your test drives and more importantly good luck in sorting it out with Sheffield Audi on an amicable basis. Kind regards. Gareth.

Hello Rob, Thanks for coming back on this. Note your point about your original battery not being an AGM but I just wonder - on a belt and bracers policy- it you were certain the battery that was replaced was the original one fitted to the car when new. I would not have expected a seven year old alternator to give problems, or indeed for it to suffer battery issues quite yet, that's why I wondered if you checked what the battery specification should be, rather than was (swopped?) Just a thought. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Rob, Now I'm sticking my toe in waters of unknown depth here, since I'm must quickly say that my personal experience with this "modern" battery technology extends to what I have read ( which I guess may or may not be right) rather than what I have experienced. As I understand it AGM batteries were developed decades ago but were not fitted to our production cars until about 10? years ago. As such, would I be correct in assuming that your 2010 vehicle would have originally been fitted with an AGM battery when new? If so, by what I have read, AGM batteries must only be replaced with another AGM battery, otherwise you will c..k up the 'intelligent" charging capabilities of the alternator. i.e. you alternator will pack up! True or not true? Worth the risk?? Perhaps you will tell me that yours wasn't originally fitted with on of these, or it was, and you have fitted another similar, and there is no connection here between changing batteries and alternator issues. If so - great - and this post ( for what it is worth!) may only serve to perhaps encourage others to check up on what they have before renewing batteries. Kind regards, Gareth

Hello Robert, I certainly don't want to excuse the treatment you received, but I wonder if the (valid) criticism of Sheffield's Audi dealer could be levelled at quite a number of main dealers over a busy bank holiday weekend period when staffing levels are likely to be lower. I could be out of touch with car buying at a particular dealer, but would I be wrong in thinking that their preferred and normal car selling/customer buying route would be for a potential customer to come in and view the vehicle and then a test drive is arranged following this face to face contact. If this is the more normal route to test drives, then it would have been good if they could have informed you of this when you arranged ( telephone call arrangement or other?) the appointment. As Steve says, it would be interesting to know what two models you are considering buying, and whether the dealership may be able to re arrange something for you at a more convenient time following a face to face discussion on what you want to buy. I think any open criticism on forums, although most certainly potentially helpful to others, might also be considered as somewhat premature until the dealer has had time to consider your complaint and their response included in the open criticism. Let's hope you are able to buy the car you want at another dealer (more local to you?) or even reconsider Sheffield Audi if they prove to be more accommodating at another time. Be interesting and helpful to know where this goes from there. Could you keep the forum informed? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dave, I think the answer is in the warranty detail on this, and you may find that it refers to 'through" rust (or a similar term) which means rust which originates say the inside of a panel and perforates through. Being cynical, one could be excused for believing there will usually be some cop out as you indicate - perhaps even " The corrosion check is part of the service sir, and it appears you have missed one," As far as the door handle is concerned Dave, it wouldn't surprise me if these were a type of cast aluminium, and if so, may be suffering from some "white rust" which can be caused by the aluminium oxidising usually due to some localised chipping of the paint and the aluminium being exposed. Well worth a try at a local dealer though. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Piotr, Sorry already have, because you did! Kind regards, Gareth.

90%/10%? - Intersting. Be useful to know where these precise figures come from. Kind regards, Gareth

Hello Christie, Thanks for coming back. It's probably me, but I'm a little confused on timing and events here:- " Last Friday, a couple of days after I got the car ......... so I called out the AA...." , but if I read your earlier post correctly, it had already been into a garage days before that and had the oil pressure checked and sensor changed. 0w40? Doubtful. Not sure if your year 1.6 would should run on semi synthetic 10w40, but the later ones run on fully synthetic 5/30. I think I would go with a good quality semi synthetic 10/40 for a start. Oil pressure reading at 2 (I take it that is measuring in bar which is about 30psi in old language). If you have 30psi at idle with the oil hot then I would not be worried, but as I say, it has to be measured with the engine oil hot to be meaningful, so test may not mean anything. AA draining off about 10 litres of engine oil - well as unbelievable as this sounds it must be right. I'm sure you will appreciate that that amounts to over 2 gallons excess! What I would do now - which is what I said:- Have engine oil and filter changed, and I would use a good quality semi synthetic 10w/40 and a good quality oil filter. Oil capacity I'm guessing is around 5litres but you need to confirm. Do I know how much London garages charge to change the oil and filter? Sorry no I don't, but just try your local garage. If you are buying the oil, then Wilkinsons (Wilko) are doing Mobil at £24 for 5 litres, and a good quality filter (say Mann or Audi) should be yours for less than £10. Good luck with it Christie, Gareth.

Although I understand Piotr's point about some grooving on the brake discs (or rotors as they say in the US of A! ) it has to be realised that although this is not ideal, it is a fact of service life, and it is surprising how quickly this now occurs ( anything to do with brake pad compounds and the suggestion some years ago that discs now wear as quickly as pads). Anyway, the simple fact is that it is the pad which causes this wear, and it is not logical that the grooves reduce the braking efficiency since the pads wear in peaks which correspond to the disc groove, so 100% contact. As far as the disc thickness is concerned ( lip on edge) then this can only be assessed by measurement against the specified minimum acceptable thickness. You didn't tell us what make pads were used Andrew. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andrew, I'm even boring myself now by asking posters to answer a couple of questions! Were the repalcement pads genuine VAG or aftermarket ones, and if aftermarket, what make? It seems pretty certain that the disc were not changed at the same time. Dan and Trevor's advice just may well sort this out for you. There is now a school of thought against the use of a smear of copper grease on back faces of the pads - in favour of silicone grease. Good luck in getting it sorted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Christie, A couple of questions, as is my want! :- What engine do we have here, and can we take it that the mileage on this 16 year old car is now reasonably high? Do you know what oil is being used and when that oil and filter were last changed? I'm from the old school of doing the simplest/ least costly things first, and if it were mine, I would/ would have treated it to an oil change and a good quality oil filter, and see what happens. I would ask the garage what the oil pressure readings actually were, and if they were carried out with the oil at its operating temperature. Incase it helps in the future, any road test should be a minimum of 10 miles to ensure the oil has reached its operating temperature. No good testing oil pressures/ oil lights when the coolant has reached Normal - the oil will need another few miles to get up to temperature, as you have found out. But who road tests cars over this mileage? It's usually fallen-in-love time before this! If this is diesel by any chance, then you may have engine oil diluted by diesel, but we are moving away towards assumptions, before we know the facts. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Charlie, Not sure if this is going to help or hinder, but we had a similar ESP fault light on a 2006'A3 some time ago, and this turned out to be a fault (common at the time) with the actual ABS unit - valve or valves as I recall. Audi were doing a "part ABS" unit, which cured the problem. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jason, Um? "So I may just have to take a chance...... There aren't any particular problems that I need be aware of are there? Well Jason, as I see it it's the bit "so I may just have to take a chance....." - that's the potential problem. It's always difficult to advise at a distance and it's again its always likely that any advice can be putting a dampener on the pleasurable process of buying. I would guess (due to its age) that this car is being sold by a non franchise dealer, and I take it you have seen the V5 to be able to get the last keeper's name. I just wonder if this owner is localish to where the car is now being sold, and if so then it's reasonable to assume it's come through the local trade channels and been part exchanged possibly through a main dealer. If so, then it should be easy to make contact. If the owner is not local to where it's being sold, then there is a chance that its come through the auction route! Three things Jason:- Have you tried visiting your local Audi dealer armed with the reg. No. and asking them if they will check the history for you.? Wondered if you have tried the good old fashioned BT Directory Enquiries for the keeper's contact number. Wondered if you were going to have this inspected to minimise the ...take a chance..? Good luck with it . Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. Take it you have run an MOT history check on this. Advisories like tyres near the limit etc. often give an indication of how careful the owner has been.

Hello David, Many thanks for filling in the detail for us. This is understandable to point, but if Audi are subcontracting the extended warranties then, as I see it, the buck stops at Audi rather than the subcontracted insurer, and any discontents should be laid at Audi's door. Depends on whether you want to do battle with them to give them money to insure your possible mechanical failures. I don't think I would David. Would I personally take out an alternative one year cover on an 18k three year old car? No, I wouldn't. My alternative would be to put my trust in a local garage who come with a good reputation. Kind regards, Gareth.