Engine failure

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
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Sun 6 Mar 2016 09:11
Engine failure - T908
I bought this car from an Audi dealer four an a half years ago, the car is now over six years old. It has always been serviced by the main dealer, almost exactly to the schedule (I do 10k miles pa). It has now done 61500 miles. Ten days ago, the engine stopped without warning, so had it recovered to my local independent garage.
They discovered one of the cam shaft journals had been starved of oil, suggesting a blockage rather than oil pump failure. Consequently, the cam shaft seized causing the timing chain to jump four teeth.
This has written the engine off. No point in replacing the head, trying to find the cause. Stripping the engine to check for further damage would not make economical sense.

The main dealer have said - rightly so - that they would need to examine the engine. This would cost in the region of £500 and around £100 to have the moved to them. They could then report back to Audi Uk to see if they could offer a good will gesture. Worth a £600 gamble?

I know the car is long out of warranty but it has been maintained to the letter. To replace the engine with a Audi re engineered engine, fitted by my garage will cost well over £4000.

This all seems grossly unfair. Surely in this day and age, an engine should be expected to last longer than this. The dealer would have always used the correct grade of oil, I have used the same if topping up. I could understand If the complex gearbox had wrong, but not getting oil to the head is fundamental. Is this a design or manufacturing fault for it to fail at this mileage?

The main dealer say they need to know why it has failed, to me, it is irrelevant, it HAS failed.

Would it reasonable to expect the manufacturer to take some responsibility over this fantastically expensive repair?
I have asked the dealer if they could use their influence in asking Audi to give me a discount on a re engineered engine, expecting an answer tomorrow. Is this best I can hope for?
Is there anything else I can do? I'm guessing you'll say, take it on the chin and buy a vehicle with a 7 year warranty next time!










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Sun 6 Mar 2016 09:49
Engine failure - elekie&a/c doctor

I wonder if your engine is one of those that suffer oil pump/drive failure.Take a look here;forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3974...1

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Sun 6 Mar 2016 10:08
Engine failure - gordonbennet

That makes grim reading, chances of help from the maker would appear to be less than zero, unless you happen to buy them by the fleet.

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Sun 6 Mar 2016 09:56
Engine failure - Falkirk Bairn

6 year old car!!

Audi will do nothing of any worth to you. They may offer a small %age off the highly inflated price of a new engine.

Best hope a a local Indie who is able to source an ne motor from a write-off or a recognised & vouched for engine re-builder.

There is an engine rebuilder 300/400 yds from my home engines from cars, vans, tractors, roadsweepers, HGV & even the odd small aero engine have passed through the doors. Inexpensive they are not but a compared to Audi cheap as chips!

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Mon 7 Mar 2016 10:14
Engine failure - Peter D

Would you care to tell us exactly what engine this is. Regards Peter

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Mon 7 Mar 2016 10:28
Engine failure - RobJP

I'd agree with Falkirk Bairn.

Audi, for that ridiculous sum, will be fitting a largely new engine. Because that's how they make their money.

Find a good independent. They will either rebuild your engine, or source you a good engine (possibly from a crashed write-off car). Either way, the costs will be massively less than anything Audi are likely to offer you, even if they discount their inflated initial price.

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Mon 7 Mar 2016 21:43
Engine failure - T908
Sorry everyone, can't believe I hadn't stated the exact engine.
It's a 2.0Tfsi (petrol) engine code CCZ.


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Mon 7 Mar 2016 22:29
Engine failure - T908
An Audi replacement exchange engine is £3632 incl vat (comes with a 2yr warranty).
The dealer has offered me one at cost; £3396 incl vat.

What a massive hit on my finances.....I never thought for one minute that an engine could fail at this mileage when serviced correctly. So much for FASH!

Thanks for all your thoughts and comments.

Edited by T908 on 07/03/2016 at 22:31

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Tue 8 Mar 2016 09:43
Engine failure - Falkirk Bairn

Back to basics - what was the value of your car BEFORE it went bang?

Spending £3,400 on a 6 year old car sounds lot (and is a lot!)

What is the exact model of car/engine etc etc ?

Surely there must be a less expensive write-off (A3, Golf, Passat etc) car with the same engine for a lot less. Get the 2nd hand engine fitted & if you are wary in any way Trade it in for a "new car"

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Tue 8 Mar 2016 11:45
Engine failure - slkfanboy

These days its hard to find a good engine rebuild company. In the past I had an engine rebuild after total cam belt failure. A new set of valves, the head was ok,Cat was ok but a new O2 sensor was required. It ran better then when I first go the car!

New engine or not the cat could aso have been kill by unburnt fuel pump though the system and other issues. I would look for a good 2nd hand engine if you can find someone to rebuild your old one.

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Tue 8 Mar 2016 17:39
Engine failure - T908
Yep, back to basics. It's a A3 2.0Tfsi Quattro (3dr) S-Line black edition and S-Tronic (as Audi call it)
Built in Sat- Nav etc. Was probably worth £9.5k!
Would be great to find an engine from a smashed car, but this may take time for one to come along.
May be best to sell it as spares or repair, a mechanic who can put the labour time in could have nice car if an engine was found.

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Tue 8 Mar 2016 19:03
Engine failure - Cyd

Is this it?

www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2...0

there's a 25k unit for £1500.

All you need now is a decent VAG Indy

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Tue 8 Mar 2016 21:30
Engine failure - T908
Many thanks for looking Cyd. A shame, it isn't the right one but they do have the correct one (possibly 2) in stock. I've emailed them for further details. Regards
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