Car maintenance

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Fine to own one out of warranty but you must budget for the potential costs, worst thing would be buying an Audi and assuming it has German engineering so must be bulletproof.

 

 

Not at all, a 2hnd Audi just out of warranty can be a ticking time bomb, not all Audi dealers are the same and I've heard of numerous just out warranty Audi's detonating the owners wallet.

 

The dealer probably replaced that exhaust because they legally could and then obviously claim the expense back from Audi, ie easy revenue, most dealers are independent agencies so warranty work is one way they make money.

 

Audi ownership out of warranty is not for the faint hearted or skint. Granted I'm sure most may give many flawless miles but when it goes wrong it costs a mint.

Sure, but you can have issues with any car, its a mechanical item, things go wrong. General Audi spares and services from my experience were not super pricey either. However major items like electronic brains, gearboxes etc are expensive, but there are thousands of older Audi's running around flawlessly, the secret is maintenance, you cant just ignore it.

 

I have to say I usually traded my Audi in at motorplan expiry, but I can safely say every Audi I traded in was in exceptional mechanical condition due to the motorplan. Usually at the 90 000 service they would advise you to just bring it in at around 98 000 so they can give it the once over and repair anything while its still under motorplan, its a lot of peace of mind.

 

I also like that if you buy an Audi out of warranty from an Audi dealer you can request its history, and Audi will supply you with the complete workshop history, when (and where) it was serviced, what was done, if there were issues, even if it was in an accident, this is very valuable data for anybody when buying a used car.

 

I guess other manufacturers may do it as well, I don't know, as I said, I am a huge Audi fan, so I am (maybe) biased.       

[Long Wheel Base]

Fine to own one out of warranty but you must budget for the potential costs, worst thing would be buying an Audi and assuming it has German engineering so must be bulletproof.

 

 

Not at all, a 2hnd Audi just out of warranty can be a ticking time bomb, not all Audi dealers are the same and I've heard of numerous just out warranty Audi's detonating the owners wallet.

 

The dealer probably replaced that exhaust because they legally could and then obviously claim the expense back from Audi, ie easy revenue, most dealers are independent agencies so warranty work is one way they make money.

 

Audi ownership out of warranty is not for the faint hearted or skint. Granted I'm sure most may give many flawless miles but when it goes wrong it costs a mint.

Or one of the mechanics needed an exhaust for his audi so he got a slightly dented one for free. I have heard stories(Not specifivally the audi brand) where common consumables(eg: brake pads) are needed for mechanics cars so they replace pads that still have some mileage on and the mechanic puts it on his car. The owner doesn't care as its under warranty so nothing comes out of his pocket.

[AlanD]

This is not so much a maintenance question but does entail it. We are looking at getting an automatic as a second car but cannot decide which automatic is best.

 

We have seen that majority are CVT or Semi Auto with few DSG out there. looking at the cons, the CVT can have a drone due the revs being kept fairly constant and the Semi may not always change gears when it needs to or get stuck in a gear and expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

 

Reliability seems pretty ok for most but not 100% on this.

 

Anyone got any experience with different automatics and whats best?

[Let's Ride]

Dsg if under warranty. If anything breaks it's very expensive.

 

Manual if you keep it after warranty.

[Kalahari Vegmot]

This is not so much a maintenance question but does entail it. We are looking at getting an automatic as a second car but cannot decide which automatic is best.

 

We have seen that majority are CVT or Semi Auto with few DSG out there. looking at the cons, the CVT can have a drone due the revs being kept fairly constant and the Semi may not always change gears when it needs to or get stuck in a gear and expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

 

Reliability seems pretty ok for most but not 100% on this.

 

Anyone got any experience with different automatics and whats best?

Why not a stick?

 

Anyway, our DSG has been faultless for 160K km's. Pleasure to drive. Not a fan of cvt's...the ones I've been in anyway(never driven one). Great for old people's cars...

 

The dsg is better imo. You never have to wait for the gears to change, and they tend to be morefuel efficient.

[gazzacpt]

Don't get the DSG 1.4TSi combo if plan on keeping it for long. They seem to have the most problems. The 2.0l and DSG seems to play well together 200 000km on some of them and not even a clutch pack replacement. The 1.4's seem to eat a clutch pack at about 70 000 - 100 000km.

CVT's are great but the ones from Nissan seem to die at just over 100 000km. Audis ones seem better but is moer expensive if valve bodies or the steel drive belt/chain goes. Toyotas CVTs overheated. For long term ownership a proper Auto or proper manual 'box is what I go for. If I'm only keeping it for 5-7 years DSG baby.

Don't skip gearbox fluid changes and on the most part they last the life of the car.

 

Sent from my SM-A510F using Tapatalk

[Long Wheel Base]

This is not so much a maintenance question but does entail it. We are looking at getting an automatic as a second car but cannot decide which automatic is best.

 

We have seen that majority are CVT or Semi Auto with few DSG out there. looking at the cons, the CVT can have a drone due the revs being kept fairly constant and the Semi may not always change gears when it needs to or get stuck in a gear and expensive to fix if it goes wrong.

 

Reliability seems pretty ok for most but not 100% on this.

 

Anyone got any experience with different automatics and whats best?

DSG is lekker BUT I wouldn't touch it out of warranty. My wife had an A3 sportback with DSG. The mechatron(brain of the gearbox) died after about 50 000km. Left us on the side of the road with a box of neutrals. Luckily AUDI paid as it was still under warranty, I saw the invoice and lets say I wouldn't have been able to pay. The dual clutches also didn't last long, They went shortly after the new mechatron. Other than that it was awesome to drive. Sport mode with the paddle shifters was just a gimmic TBH. Used it plenty when she first got the car, but the novelty wore off. Otherwise when in sport mode I would just let it change gears itself. Sport mode was heavy on tyres and fuel   

[Kalahari Vegmot]

DSG is lekker BUT I wouldn't touch it out of warranty. My wife had an A3 sportback with DSG. The mechatron(brain of the gearbox) died after about 50 000km. Left us on the side of the road with a box of neutrals. Luckily AUDI paid as it was still under warranty, I saw the invoice and lets say I wouldn't have been able to pay. The dual clutches also didn't last long, They went shortly after the new mechatron. Other than that it was awesome to drive. Sport mode with the paddle shifters was just a gimmic TBH. Used it plenty when she first got the car, but the novelty wore off. Otherwise when in sport mode I would just let it change gears itself. Sport mode was heavy on tyres and fuel

 

Would it perhaps be possible that the driving style had anything to do with this 'unreliability':whistling:

 

Serious question. Ours gets driven really nice, and very seldom in sport. This might play a role...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Regular auto FTW. Manual FTW. DSG & CVT = expensive when things go boom. 

[Blokman]

I got a very clean lower mileage Gen 1 CRV, 2.0L. Incredible how well made they are, some crazy voodoo in Hondas, like the seat fabric that never tears and hardly wears, engines at 300k that can be near as smooth as the day they were bought. The Gen 1 use the B series engines, which were very widely used across Ballades and Civics etc, aftermarket spares are cheap and plentiful and they are also easy to work on.

 

Actually a hubber mentioned how great the Gen 1 CRV's are so I went and did some research and then hunted for a nice one for months, they still sell for pretty high prices considering they are coming on 20yrs old.

I wonder if that was me? I had one that I bought with 180 000 kms on the clock. I took it up to 500 000 before selling. Those seats just didn't wear.

My wife now drives a 2013 2.0 litre . The new shape. Spares, I think they are expensive. But that is a general problem with " genuine " parts. I am lucky to have a mechanic that trained at Merc and Honda to work on mine out of warranty. He also knows when to stick with the real thing or not. Timing belt for instance - always original.

Not a sexy car at all I agree . But it will seldom, if ever let you down.

[Long Wheel Base]

Would it perhaps be possible that the driving style had anything to do with this 'unreliability':whistling:

 

Serious question. Ours gets driven really nice, and very seldom in sport. This might play a role...

Could very well be the case, how else are you meant to drive it? Have you heard the noise it makes when it changes gear in an underground parking lot? Also if you switch the ESP off and gooi sport on a smooth cement floor its really good fun. Our's was an S-Line with sports package, The exhaust was a little bit less restrictive than standard but not as loud as a GTI or S3. Vrrrr Phaaa

[AlanD]

Regular auto FTW. Manual FTW. DSG & CVT = expensive when things go boom.

By regular auto, are we talking about the semi auto/auto clutch manual?

[Kalahari Vegmot]

By regular auto, are we talking about the semi auto/auto clutch manual?

He is probably talking about a torque converter auto, which is what a 'regular auto' usually is. Edited February 12, 2018 by Kalahari Vegmot

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I'm not sure what a 'semi-auto' is. He is probably talking about a torque converter auto, which is what a 'regular auto' usually is.

 

 

By regular auto, are we talking about the semi auto/auto clutch manual?

No, see above. 

 

Torque converter auto FTW. IE those ones that are standard fare in yank-land. And on old bimmers, mercs and so on. 

 

No semi-auto claptrap. Manual or Auto. The end. 

[Kalahari Vegmot]

Could very well be the case, how else are you meant to drive it? Have you heard the noise it makes when it changes gear in an underground parking lot? Also if you switch the ESP off and gooi sport on a smooth cement floor its really good fun. Our's was an S-Line with sports package, The exhaust was a little bit less restrictive than standard but not as loud as a GTI or S3. Vrrrr Phaaa

Not sure how else. But using the launch control excessively and having a jol with any car is usually not good for it...

 

But then again, Audi knows that's what people are going to do with the sportier models.

Edited February 12, 2018 by Kalahari Vegmot

[Kalahari Vegmot]

Alan, what cars are you looking at?