Magnet

Hello Richard, I’m disappointed that you are disappointed with the forum response. As you know, I sent you a PM saying that I thought you were ‘underselling’ this car at your asking price, and suggested you would be better off listing it on EBay. You declined this suggestion, and said you would prefer it to go to an enthusiast, and the money wasn’t important. Unfortunately, I’m not privy to the outcome of the initial interested reaction on here, so cannot comment, but it’s interesting to hear that you did subsequently follow my advice and list it on EBay - and by what I understand, it is indeed realising more (much?) than what I suggested was your under-selling price. I’m pleased for you, but remain displeased with your view that the forum disappointed you. Having said all that, I trust you will now be satisfied with the eventual outcome, and I rest happy that although it did not sell on here, you will be successful with following advice offered via. the forum. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello R.-? I would be avoiding ECP, particularly since they don’t now seem to have their large %discounts on so called retail price. Worth having a look on Car Parts in Motion, and perhaps GSF ( not connection with either apart from have bought from them. Sports suspension? Guess that’s only if yours is an S Line. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Sorry Darren - last comment on this:- the belt on a 7 year old car which has covered only 20k will have had a hammering, unless that 20k had been covered in relatively few long trips. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Darren, Many thanks for the extra detail, which gives a clearer understanding - albeit now even more confusing. Cutting to the chase, unsolicited calls from dealers informing owners they don’t need to spend money with them, must be rare. I too certainly wouldn’t be waiting until 200K, and not taking much licence either on the previous 5 year change period. Hello David, I think we can make as many experience claims of belts lasting beyond their recommended change intervals as we can by listening to owners who have ignored change limits and found themselves with wrecked engines. I agree with your suggested principle that high mileages covered over long distance trips is much kinder to belts and they can indeed reach mileage limits without issue. Where we differ - and apologies for repeating, but low annual mileage vehicles put much higher stress rates on belts, and you just cannot assume that they are going to last until the high mileage limit. Sorry, can’t make it any clearer. Kind regards, Gareth.

This is illogical to me, and I believe it is engineeringly unsafe, and wouldn’t be for me. While noting David’s - Itspointless- comments, I’m afraid I would have to counter the view that …’so age isn’t an issue’. It can, and is indeed an issue. The ongoing serviceability of a completely unstressed belt stored in a box for say 5 years, cannot be compared with a fitted belt which has been subjected to hundreds of highly stressed stop/ starts every week, sometimes in sub zero temperatures. If (in caps) Audi U.K. and I then guess Audi Global ( rather than a dealer) are saying there is now only a mileage limit, then how many of us doing short but regular low mileage trips around town etc. would be prepared to chance our engines ,when running on a 20 + year vehicle? Darren’s dealer’s phone call is interesting, and I’m not sure whether it was an out-of-the-blue call, or it was as a result of Darren having made a prior enquiry -? Audi economics?? Profit is made by the Audi dealer when fitting new belts and VAG make a profit on resale of the belt kits manufactured for them. However, if a belt fails, the potential for revenue is considerably higher where the vehicle is declared beyond economical repair and has to be replaced, or a very expensive engine replacement arranged - potential for far more profit! Now the Audi Economics makes logical sense - to Audi!! Sorry folks but it still doesn’t to my pocket. Additional point to consider - renewing the auxiliary belt -? I can see this timing belt scenario becoming an ‘inherited issue’ for buyers in the future, as the baby is passed on as the purchaser’s responsibility. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Cheran, I’m sure Steve Y will be able to make more sensible additional suggestions, but worth checking engine mountings. Kind regards, Gareth.

Now done all that for you Andrew. Kind regards, Gareth.

Many thanks Kev, Seems Mat didn’t buy it then, and Richard has taken on board my view that it was indeed worth more than the £750 being asked, and it turns out that the quick ‘disposal price’ has already been exceeded. What happened then Mat? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Andrew, but we don’t encourage ‘offers’ against adverts, so could you please list the prices you want for each of the plates. Of course, it your choice, but I wouldn’t put my phone number on an open forum - interested buyers can contact you by PM. Just let me know if you want to remove it, and I’ll do it for you. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, If this were mine, I wouldn’t be opening my wallet until I had checked prices at Battery Magastore, Tayna and other on-line suppliers - delivered to your door, usually within two days. If you search them on EBay you will get free delivery. I would go with Varta/Bosch or Exide, with their minimum of 4 year warranty grade. Perhaps you could let us know how their prices compare with Halfords. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Adrian, Sounds all good and progressive to me. Many thanks for the good wishes. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adrian, Again this is repeating, but I think you are over thinking and over worrying about this issue. To try to boil this down:- You want another 4 years out of this, and trying to judge your apparent low annual mileage, the objective to me would be to get as many of these years out of it as you can by adding oil. Seems eminently doable to me, without catastrophy along the way. It isn’t likely to go bang along the line. Yes, you can view photos of internals of engines and elevate the concern factor, but this engine will continue to propel this car with drinks of oil as it goes along. Having said that, I get the impression that you no longer want to ‘take a chance’ with it, and want to get rid of it, and perhaps you are now looking for someone to agree with that concern. It’s obviously your choice Adrian, but it might be well to think on, and whatever you replace it with is likely to come with unknown issues which could end costing you far more than a few litres of oil. Can’t really say anymore. Kind regards, Gareth.

You are now a victim of throwing money at it in the hope that you may solve it Liam. Even a cheap code reader may not find it, but worth a try I suppose. Where abouts in S.Wales are you? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Liam, Thanks for joining, and sorry to hear of your issue. I don’t see any viable alternative to getting fault codes read. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Matt, Have you searched EBay for a copy of the sales brochure for your model year. That should tell you all standard and optional equipment. Kind regards, Gareth.

Braided brake hose suppliers then Jacqui ??

Hello Jacqui, Google ‘ commercial vehicle hydraulic specialists’ in your area. They should be able to assist to resolution. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

Good morning Adrian, Much of this will be a repeat - so apologies in advance. Again, if this were mine:- I would not be worrying about it. It won’t have any beneficial affect on the car, but will have an adverse affect on you. I would not be wasting money with Audi by ‘asking to put it on their diagnostic machine’. ’Just my luck to buy a car with a problem’. All cars come with problems (that’s why people sell them), so you could indeed swop this car, damage your wallet, and end up with some other unknown problem. Oil burning will not result in the car going bang. Monitoring the oil consumption would be good, so at least you know how much it uses in say 1K miles. I guess you don’t do a large annual mileage. I would buy myself a 20ltr drum of oil to make its consumption affect as economical as possible., but before hand, I would experiment with 5w/40 Incase that reduces the consumption. Finally, be wary of making any rash decision, and just give the issue some coats of thinking about over a month or so, otherwise you will probably end up making a decision you might later regret. Just be positive and think it only boils down to the convenience of having to add some oil every now and then. Everything else can work out positive. Definite repeat! - do not worry about it. Just as an aside:- I clocked 80 last month, and that was great, and I can assure you I’ve ‘worried for Wales’ on occasions during my lifetime, but take a bit from my experience - it’s never changed anything, and the likelihood is something else will come along that needs worrying about!, and this problem will merge into the background. As well as the inevitable car issues, I’ve got a bit of a recent major issue to now worry about, but when I see some poor folks at the treatment centre then I think -how lucky am I? It’s a minor hiccup you have with the car Adrian, and it’s likely to give you continued good service. Good luck with it and kind regards, Gareth.

Hell Adrian, I’ll come back to you in the morning. I sense you are understandably concerned/worried about it, but just sleep on the fact that it’s no worse today than it was a month ago, and hopefully a lot of much nicer things have happened in the last month. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Imram, Worth eliminating the battery as being a contributor before moving on to diagnostics. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adrian, Forget about the USA - VAG treat their customers differently in this country! Warranty on a 12 year old car? Forget about that too, although as I understand it, VAG were making some contribution on <10 year old vehicles will FSH until a couple of years ago, but not any more as I understand it. Not that it matters, but you don’t tell us how long you’ve owned this car Adrian, and what level of servicing has it had throughout its life. Re getting rid of it - I think I’ve already suggested what I would do if it were mine, but only you can counter or agree with that advice. Be prepared that if you were to sell it, the trade are likely to know of the issue and will price it accordingly. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. no question of you being a pest - we are here to offer some advice which you can add to other advice given, and then form a more considered opinion.

Hello Adrian, My first port of call would be to check if it is indeed affected by this engine issue. Even if it is, it would be worth getting the other possible causes mentioned by Stevey inspected to at least eliminate them as aggravators. If it is indeed the engine issue in isolation, if it were mine, I would just keep putting oil in it if it passes the emissions - far cheaper over 5 years than getting any engine work done. At 20 litres/a I would be dispensing with annual oil changes, and simply changing the filter. You could try using a 5w/40 grade oil to see if that has any benefits. Kind regards, Gareth.

Engine code will also be on the V5 Adrian. We will need Stevey Y to give you the link to the website. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Adrian, Thanks for joining and sorry to hear about your issue. Steve y on here should be your authority, but we have certainly come across this issue before with models around your year - just put it on a forum search under say ‘Oil consumption’. As I understand it - but Steve will clarify with sound knowledge - it’s to do with VAG’s attempt to use skinny piston rings too hopefully!! reduce friction. Result:- excessive oil consumption. Your post suggests you have owned this car for some time -? so you wouldn’t have any comeback on the seller. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ray, I’m not sure whether these light issues are covered by the 3 year warranty, but (pessimistically?) it wouldn’t surprise me that they declare they are not. To me, the most urgent action needed at this point is to e-mail the Service Manager at your servicing dealer, and record the faults. I would also copy in Audi Customer Services. Such notification should counter any claim that it will be out of warranty by the time that they can book it in for inspection. Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.