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Hi all, I have just gotten myself a second-hand 2008 A3 8P 1.9TDI with the dreaded BXE engine and was wondering if it was worth it to repair it to tip top condition. I bought it off someone for £1000, which I thought was a good deal since other examples went for about £3000 and autotrader quoted me £2000 for it. It has 186,000 miles on it right now and I did a full servicing on it myself. So far, the car has no major mechanical or electronic problems that I can tell, except for a minor oil leak which I think might be from the rocker head gasket. I am not sure if the head gasket might be leaking oil too, though, as I vaguely remember seeing some oil marks near there. I haven't had the time yet to check on it yet, and because of how rare it it for head gaskets to leak oil externally, combined with no oil and water mixing in the block, and no power loss, I feel like it might be unlikely. The oil leak, however, is nothing major as there is no visible dripping and no oil on the lot despite being parked up for more than a week. It also require suspension bearings to be replaced along with the drop links. The underbody is quite clean with only surface corrosion and no structural issues. I have already spent £350 on it so far with a new set of tyres and a new battery I am considering if I should invest about £1000 in it more in repairing the suspension bearings and doing some preventive maintenance on it. What I have noted down so far is to replace the timing belt along with the water pump as I do not have a full service history for the car. I am also thinking of getting the main and big end bearings changed to sputter coated ones to prevent the conrod failures along with doing up the clutch at the same time since the engine will be out for it. I have been quoted £500 for the sputter bearing change and labour but I can't imagine adding on the timing belt, water pump and the clutch would be more than £200 extra. The clutch and timing belt is still fine so far but I was thinking that if the engine was going to be out, it might be worthwhile to get them done together to save on labour costs. I must admit that I have not worked much on cars, only doing my own servicing. I have however, bought up some tools and am willing to work on the car for easier components to keep costs down, such as ones that only require me to undo bolts to replace parts. I also have VCDS with me so I can do my own diagnosis for the most part. I guess my main concern is if I should invest the money into repairing the car entirely or if I should just do the bare minimum (suspension bearings and topping up the oil every now and then) and run it till it stops. I am looking for a car that is quite reliable and will not throw up any issues daily, which I have heard the 1.9TDI is quite renown for (except the BXE). I haven't heard of anything else that could go wrong with the car I have except for the conrod. I might have to change the brake discs in the near future along with the front springs as they are rusty but not broken yet. (Brake pads are fitted new by previous owner hence not changing them now) It doesn't have a DPF and I do not live near any ULEZ zones which is why I chose the model I got. My budget would definitely be around spending £1500 max on it this year before I consider just running it till it stops, or if I could delay some of the servicing for 3/4 years down the road, it would be much more palatable for me. In short, I have a 2008 A3 8P 1.9 TDI (BXE) with 186,000miles. No Service history except the one I just did. Wondering if it is economical to do preventive maintenance on it or to just run it and wait for issues to develop. Faults: Worn suspension bearings Worn drop links Preventive maintenance measures I am considering: Minor oil leak (rocker head gasket, maybe head gasket?) Change conrod main and big end bearings to sputter coated ones Timing belt and water pump Clutch Brake discs + pads Front springs Thanks!

Hi everybody I am looking for a honest and reliable garage in and around Kingston to service my 7 year old Audi A4. I have sent it to Wimbledon Audi a couple of times, but somehow I feel they are a ripoff. Just to add, my car is an Audi A4 SE Technik TDI Quattro Diesel. I bought it for new in 2016, when it was 3 years old (I am the 2nd owner). I wonder if I need to do a cambelt change too? Do I need a Major service? I had it last serviced in Oct 2018 when it had done approx 35k miles. Right now its at 45.5k miles. so just under 10k miles in 2 years. Mostly its short drives around or max 1 or 2 hours on the odd occasion. Thanks!

The Audi dealer/workshop service costs are very high. Especially when you look at the cost of brake pad renewal and extrapolate the rest! I got some Pagid discs and pads recently and got them fitted locally for a third of the cost. That said. I need a service in 1000 miles, or so I am being told by the HUD. What should I ask the local garage to do? I have the BiTdi Allroad. Thanks in advance...

Just created my account to make this post. Quoted for an oil change, which admittedly included some dam expensive oil, oil filter and sump plug. Labour at £190 per hour (+ VAT) for a full hour comes to a total charge of £358! The Porsche UK main dealer "only" charges £172 per hour for labour (this may vary depending upon vehicle, although I haven't enquired). I won't describe how I feel however suffice to say it doesn't improve my feelings towards the brand! Has anyone else got a service price horror story (or labour rates) as bad as this? I'd be interested to read your posts.

I'd appreciate recommendations of independents in the Telford area as my A5 is just coming to the end of the 3 year warranty period. No significant problems yet, although I'd like to find someone to check the wheel alignment (Audi charge a fortune and I do not believe they do a good job.)