Magnet

Hello Deborah, I’m sorry to hear this hasn’t been sorted, and I can well understand your desire to now part with it, and get another A3. I don’t want to come over as being intruding, but could I suggest the following as hopefully being helpful:- Get your car valeted and presented at its best before introducing it into any part exchange deal. Do all possible homework on any car of interest - before viewing if possible. View all confirming servicing evidence before committing. Find out what the warranty doesn’t ( in caps) cover. Check how long the previous owner has owned it - short term ownership may suggest it has issues. ideally try to buy locally if possible. If you have gone though those processes and you believe the car is of interest, then it would be well worth getting a local independent to carry out an inspection for you before committing. Please come back to us at any stage, and if we can offer advice we would be pleased to do so. Just let us know registration numbers and I’m sure we can do some homework for you. Good luck with the search, and please let us know how you are getting on. Wishing you and yours a Happy and healthy New Year. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Statson, I believe that everything that has been said on this forum is sufficient to alert the original poster to the fact that his request should not be progressed. As such there is little that the forum can, or indeed should add, and it’s on that basis that I closed the post. Sorry Stason, but personally I do not understand ‘….not worth closing this thread on legal grounds’, but we are open to receive your views on why you thing it shouldn’t. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello and welcome Michael, To try to reply to you ASAP, try a search on here for Ablue. Kind regards, Gareth.

Worth trying the others mentioned as well if you can Irfan. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. My renewal on the non- Audi is due at end of Jan., so wish me luck!

Hello Matt, I think we need to box this up as a solution. Since you know the law, it goes without saying (but unfortunately needs to be said), that you have a duty of care for your passengers. You will also know that any passenger found not to be wearing a belt, can be liable for an on the spot fine of £100, or I believe £500? if taken to court. You, for your part get away with just having to listen to a seat belt warning, if you don’t ensure you’re ( possibly flying!) rear seat passengers done use the belt they are meant to use! Audi are trying to look after you and your passengers whether you like it or not - and you make it clear you don’t! but….. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry Matt, but as I understand it, you as the driver, have the responsibility to ensure all rear seat passengers are wearing their correctly connected seat belts. As Gary says …. As much as you may not like it that your rear seat passengers have to belt up, you do not have a choice in the matter, and you and they, have to comply with the law. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Irfan, Welcome, and thanks for joining. I think it’s fair to say that everyone’s insurance renewals are expected to have increased by X2 at the next renewal, for the same vehicle, and the insured’s situation remaining static. Change of vehicle -? As you have found - you are into unknown territory in terms of premiums being X whatever e.g. X 2,3,4 and so on. Having tried the comparison sites, you are now armed with ball park figures, and I would think it’s unlikely that these would be beaten by non-comparison site listed companies - but worth a try. You could try the insurers who are linked to this forum, who include Adrian Flux. Others who don’t tend to list on comparison websites inc. the Direct Line group which include Churchill and Darwin. Perhaps you could come back to us Irfan and share your up-to-date experience once you have completed your further contacts. Kind regards, Gareth.

For ‘cluster’ read ‘instrument cluster’.

Welcome Matt, Are you saying the bleep continues even when your back seat passengers fasten their belts? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gareth, It seems as if there could be more to this than the battery, but if this is the original, then it had done its fully serviceable time a couple of years ago. It would be an investment to replace it, even though you might find it’s not the major culprit, and the aggravator may have been the water ingress. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Gareth, If it has stop/start, then it’s likely to be AGM. I would not have thought the BCM would protect it from continuous charging via. old style chargers - but I could be wrong. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Dave. If you consider the battery is fine, Clifford has pointed out that the clusters can give rise to issues, and this advice recently proved useful to another poster. Cliff had a repair contact. There are also some other threads going on the adverse affects of water ingress. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gareth, Can I take it your battery is an AGM type? If so, it should be charged with an ‘intelligent’ cycling charger to avoid battery damage. Kind regards, Gareth.

Ok. You can only confirm the battery is serviceable by getting it comprehensively tested - a simple voltage check with a multi- meter is virtually meaningless - it needs testing under load. Halfords shops can do this. A sub standard battery is a substandard battery, and any amount of charging is unlikely to revive it. Getting the battery to Halfords? No doubt you have someone you can call on to help you out. It may not be the battery, but well worth eliminating. There’s another thread going about water ingress - worth a read. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks, could you please complete your profile, so we know what vehicle we are dealing with, and who, and where you are. Many thanks.

Hello Gareth, Sorry to hear of your issues, but pleased you have been able to find ‘culprits’. Re. eliminating the battery via. testing:- what battery tester do you have? If it were mine, I would be getting it tested ( after charging with an ‘intelligent’ charger - as you’ve been using??) at one of Halfords shops. They will be able to check the all important CCA as well as other parameters. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello again Jennifer, As Steve says - but by what I can see, and what you say, this is already troublesome. As for the legal implications, personally I feel we are totally ill equipped to advise you there, but CAB should be able to - if you and you your neighbour can’t sort it out between you. I guess CAB would want to know the background of why this is thought to be necessary on a private (No through?) road, etc. , but I don’t think we should be commenting further on this topic, unless anyone else on here disagrees. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Dave, With any ‘Christmas tree dashboard lights’ get the battery efficiency checked before doing anything - Halfords stores should be able to do that. Always carryout cheapest option first! Although it shouldn’t yet be an issue on a 9 year old car, it would be worth checking the wiring in the flexible harness section leading into the tailgate. However, I wouldn’t bother to do this until the battery is checked and confirmed to be serviceable. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Dave. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. If the battery tests as sub standard, it would probably be worth letting us know before buying one.

Thanks Peter, Opinions may vary, and I can only say what I would do if it were mine - I would fit a dealer pump, rather than an aftermarket one, particularly if it’s not the easiest of jobs. Try Audi Parts Direct at Cardiff ( part of Mon. Motors - previously Cardiff Audi). You might find you can get a bit of discount. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on Peter. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Jennifer, I just apply a bit of simple logic in such cases:- Did it make this noise before the new belt etc was fitted? If no, then there is something not right. ‘…. I would have thought water pump bearing ……that it is new’. Unfortunately (these days in particular) it is pure assumption to believe new = without fault. Do you know what make of water pump was fitted - main dealer or aftermarket? If main dealer pump, then I would be tending to discount this as being the primary cause. If aftermarket -?? Possible cause:- belt tension is too great, and is straining the pump and tensioner bearings, but that can only be a guess. Was the auxiliary belt changed (on an age basis) at the same time? Even if not, these are generally on an automatic tensioner and shouldn’t be an issue, but temporarily removing that belt should eliminate it as the source of the noise. Back to the water pump - if it had been mine, I would not have changed it (for possibly an inferior quality one) since you say the car has covered an extremely low mileage. Apologies Jennifer, there’s not a lot more I can add, but this car is trying to tell you something, and I’d be tempted to treat it to a second opinion/inspection. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. I like the ‘engineers’ bit!

Hello Clarke, I take it you are aware that it’s not all about looking good, and you have to ensure that whichever diameter one you choose, it’s tyres must match the accepted Audi alternatives in terms of profiles etc. to ensure the rolling diameter remains the same. In effect - the larger the wheel diameter, the lower the profile will have to be. As Snappy has pointed out - low profiles = harsher ride, and I would have thought the A8 ride would have been comfort biased. Kind regards, Gareth.

New windscreen George?

Welcome Alan, Any chance you could do a short recording of this noise? Am I allowed to introduce a little seasonal humour into this ‘…..when I accelerate I get a vibrating exhaust blowing noise’ - solution - cut down on the sprouts! Sorry, couldn’t resist that. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello John, Thanks for joining. Worth a forum search - wasn’t there something about poor engine earths, and adding another earth-? Kind regards, Gareth.

Try registering your want with Partsfinder - there are others.