On the 1st of September last year I purchased the above mentioned car from an Audi dealership.
Since I have had the car I would say that I have had to add at least 5 litres of oil to keep the car running. I have called Audi on many occasions and all they tell me is that this is normal for the car.
I don\'t think this is normal. I plan to book the car in to get it checked out.
What can I demand from Audi so that can assure me that the problem will be resolved? Can I demand a replacement car from them as this even happened about three weeks after I purchased it. What rights do I have? Does anyone have any tips on who I can write to if I am not satisfied by Audi after I have booked the car in?
Spending 19k on a car only to find that you have to keep topping up with oil every 1500 miles is totally unacceptable.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Just out of interest how many miles have you covered to date and how carefully did you run this engine in.???
Contra to some peoples opinion that a car can be thrashed from day one, even with today`s finer engineering tolerances, a car still needs to be run in along the sensible guidelines given by H.J. in FAQ`s.
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I ran the car in as per the dealers recomendations. The oil light came on only two weeks after I had the car. The car has 14K as I have done quite a bit of milege. They keep telling me that it's normal. Surley they would say I had run the car in using the incorrect methods!!
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So....from those facts - you've used 5 litres in 14,000 miles?
If so, there's nothing worng with that whatsoever.
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Are you kidding?, how much oil does your car use in 14,000 miles?. If 5 litres lost in 14,000 miles is considered normal then no wonder they can recommend such long oil change intervals...the old used oil is being replaced by new oil just from topping up!!.
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No....I ain't kidding.
Acceptable engine oil useage by most manufacturers is between 500-1000 miles per litre. I've been there, so please don't doubt me.
Personally, I think 5 litres over 14,000 miles is nothing untoward whatsoever. My 80K 1997 A4 TDi uses roughly 1 litre per 3000 miles.
Some engines use oil initially and then calm down once 20,000 miles or so has been covered - VAG TDi engines are a classic example of this.
Try a forum search for further info - it's been debated before.
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Just to go to the other extreme , my 97 Mondeo (1.8 Zetec E) uses around 500ml of oil per 10000 (10k)miles..... current mileage is 73k
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Yup I back up DL on this. No manufacturer will even consider a car has a problem unless the consumption gets above 1 litre per thousand miles. In all probablility the car will settle down once it has run a anothr 5 - 10k miles. At 14k its barely run in!
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I contacted Audi customer care and they say that it should have settled down by now, then I ring the dealer and they say it\'s normal. I now have the car booked in so that they can check it out. The guy at the dealership said that the oil is slightly thinner so that\'s why its gets used up. TBO I think this is a design fault in the engine. How can a brand new car use up 1 litre of oil in 14,000 miles? Well at least I think it\'s 1 litre, the oil gauge is at minimum when I top it back up to full again. Another 1500 miles or so I have to do the same again. The oil is now black and dirty. Surely they should clean it all out and refill it. There must be all kinds of stuff in that engine because of being run in. This can\'t be good for the engine that the oil level keeps going up and down like a yo yo. I buy a car for £19,000 and end up spending £74 quid in oil in the first six months.
Once they have checked the oil I will be going on a long journey, roughly a 600 miles. After 1,000 I\'ll take it back and see what they say.
Also,
The car has been stood for 56 days and when I checked the oil it kind of had a creamy coloured deposit on the bottom of the oil cap. What is this? Is it because it has been stood for so long???
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Cream on the oil filler cap is normally very bad - it is an emulsion of water in oil, caused by a defective head gasket.
Your FSI is a petrol direct injection isn't it? I have a mitsubushi GDI - same technology. It dirties its oil very quickly. It is a 'feature' of the technology, although I can't recall why...
Regards,
Tim
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Cream on the oil filler cap is normally very bad - it is an emulsion of water in oil, caused by a defective head gasket.
It is also caused by short journeys, and nothing that an Italian tune up can't take care of. Don't give Winston another heart attack on top of the one he's already having.
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>then I ring the dealer and they say it's normal<
There, there endeth that!
After 20-25K your oil consumption will settle down.
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I've used about 2 litres in 15,000 miles in an A2 1.4TDi. It used most of this during the first 10,000 miles but it has now settled down and barely uses any. I wouldn't let it get to the car telling you it needs filling before doing so. The warning is a lack of oil pressure and not oil level. Drive too long with low pressure and the engine will go pop.
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>I've used about 2 litres in 15,000 miles in an A2 1.4TDi. It used most of this during the first 10,000 miles but it has now settled down and barely uses any. I wouldn't let it get to the car telling you it needs filling before doing so. The warning is a lack of oil pressure and not oil level. Drive too long with low pressure and the engine will go pop.<
The oil light has come on about three times since having the car. Each time the oil level was at it's lowest. Because I do a lot of weekend driving (500 to 600 miles) the manual tells you to check the oil level before going on a long journey. The last thing I want is to be going down the M1 in the fast lane and the oil light comes on. It's best to keep it topped up if going on a long journey. This is nothing to do with oil pressure.
All I want Audi to do is to check over my car and give it a clean bill of health. If that's what they come back with then I will be a happy chappy and just enjoy the car. If they just keep beating around the bush without giving me any real feedback then what do they expect. Word of mouth is not good enough for me. I want it in writing that my car will use oil. If the engine blows up in 2,3,6 month?s time at least I have something to fall back on.
I purchased this car to drive, it will be driven. That's what it's built for.
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If it was the head gasket then surley the engine would overheat because of lack of water. That just aint happened. I do quite a lot of short journeys to and from work. About 15 miles round trip. 5 days a week. Then I normally head down the M1 on a 500 mile round trip every two weeks.
Anyway, the dealer has agreed to check it out. I will demand that they take everything into consideration when they do this.
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I seriously doubt you'll get anything in writing from the Dealer......too risky IMO!
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If that's what they are verbally telling their customers then they should put this in writing. What's the difference? I was not told that it would use oil when I got the car. If that was the case I would not have purchased that car. I would have got a BM or something.
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I'm sure the handbook mentions potential oil usage of up to 1 litre per 1,000 miles.
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How many people read through the handbook of cars they are thinking of purchasing?. I have never even seen a handbook in demonstrator cars I have been in, the glossy brochures the salesmen thrust into your hands certainly don't mention it. Even if winston has no leg to stand on re his oil useage, I can certainly sympathise as I would feel the same way.
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I think you'll find pretty much the same statement about 1000 miles/1 litre oil useage in most handbooks.
Vauxhall certainly do, or at least did. Wouldn't surprise me if most manufacturers do.
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Just checked the handbook for my 520i and no mention of oil consumption at that or any other rate, but I will concede that my car is a 1995 model which probably has old technology which doesn't burn as much oil as newer more, modern engines...no that didn't make sense to me either.
Thee handbook does recommend checking the level every 600 miles (too long IMO) and they also state " Adding too much oil serves no useful purpose and harms the engine. Since excess oil is burned off rapidly, the engine would appear to be consuming excessive oil." That last comment begs the next question of winston. Are you 100% confident of your oil checking methods and are you sure you aren't adding oil unecessarily which might then be burned off quicker?.
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winston
deja vu
as dizzy said
"Ah, I think I've spotted part of the problem, having just read your earlier postings about getting caught doing over 100 mph in your three-week-old car! "
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=16858&...f
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=16393
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A friend of mine has just taken delivery of exactly the same car. Its brand new straight from the AUDI dealer.
I was chatting to him today and he had already been told his car would "use oil" both by the dealer and by others.
He told me, the dealer had supplied 1 litre of oil in a pouch in the boot with his Audi as standard and he was told he could expect to use 1 litre of oil in 4000 miles.
Seems like this particular car is known to use a bit more oil than normal.
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i ran an A4 2.0 FSI for a few months, in that time i did around 10k in it, mostly motorway work, and it was serviced during that period. when i handed it back it had over 40k on it (at approx 10 mths old) and it wasnt using ANY oil. it seems that like most engine it takes a time to settle down.
the oil Audi use, which you can now get at Halfords special Castol type, is very thin. could be your driving style and type of journey use more oil when the engines tolerances are allowing oil past pistons and valves etc.
my driving was 300+ in a day, one cold start and 85-90 on the motorway.
i would say i didnt find the oil a problem, the fuel cons was a difenat matter, never went above 31. glad i wasnt paying for it.
like the others have said, most cars use oil, they almost should use it, i'd be more worried about it leaking it than using it
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You have now opened the can of worms I wanted to keep shut. The day I was supposedly caught I was actually on my way to the Audi dealer to get the oil checked out. They checked it out and took it for a test drive. I then took the car home and two miles down the road it came on again. Took it straight back. Do you really think I would be doing over 100 if that were the case? To this day I still say it was the Audi dealer that gave me a 56-day ban and £325 fine. If you see the way they drive the cars on test drives then you must understand my concerns. Even so, I was told to drive the car as normal but I did not go mad.
So on one side, it could be me coz I broke the car in wrong and on the other side it's normal because the Audi dealer says so.
Which one is it then!!!
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I would doubt doing over a ton is the cause of your problems. I did nearly 110 on day one in my A3, just following manufacturers recommendations if you will ;) - "Use no more than two-thirds engine speed in the first 1000km" then "Build revs gradually till 1500km" mine hasn't used a drop of oil. OK it's a completely different engine, but yours shouldn't have drunk 7 litres of oil.
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Winston,
I have the same problem with my A4 @ 25k miles. Audi have been telling 0.5l/1000km is "within spec" every month, last week I burnt out my exhaust valves and the road side recovery advised this was probably due to the excessive oil consumption!! Keep pushing Audi.
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Ive got one of these bought new in mid April 2004 and so far has covered 13K and used 13l of oil !! \So blow that out ya exhaust.
The first top up needed in the first week of owning the car
Main (st) dealer just giving out the "characteristic" chestnut
After about 7 calls to customer susport Audi technical have said there may be a fault and the car is book in for some engine check on the 16 of oct. Ill keep you posted
Pete
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