Cat and turbo... Oh boy!

[AudiSport]

Just found out the Catalytic Converter is nakered on my car and the turbo is leaking oil... I have only just bought it! The car has covered 81k miles and is an 02 1.8T, should I get the work done by the garage I bought the car from, or just give it back and walk away?

Is is normal for a cat to go on an 02 plate car with 80k miles? How much is it to replace?

 

[Niknak]

How have you found out the Cat is knackered and the Turbo is leaking oil?

I would give it back and ask them to carry out the work FOC

 

[AudiSport]

Car was making a rattle at certain revs, so took it to Audi to have checked out and they have told me;

- The Cat is nakered
- The Turbo has an oil leak
- The rear Anti Roll Bar bush is split
- The air-con is not performing correctly
- The rear disks and pads need changing

Now I bought the car from bristal and I live in bournemouth, so after two days of me refussing to drive all the way back there and telling them to come and get it - the garage has offerd to pay a local indipendent garage to do the work...

So - do I take them up on their offer and have a nice fixed car, or walk away and brush my hands of a car that has not been looked after?

Are these problems normal of an 02 car with 80k?

 

[Nickynibbles]

Car was making a rattle at certain revs, so took it to Audi to have checked out and they have told me;

- The Cat is nakered
- The Turbo has an oil leak
- The rear Anti Roll Bar bush is split
- The air-con is not performing correctly
- The rear disks and pads need changing

Now I bought the car from bristal and I live in bournemouth, so after two days of me refussing to drive all the way back there and telling them to come and get it - the garage has offerd to pay a local indipendent garage to do the work...

So - do I take them up on their offer and have a nice fixed car, or walk away and brush my hands of a car that has not been looked after?

Are these problems normal of an 02 car with 80k?

My '02 A4 3.0 had one of its cats changed in Feb last year, thankfully under the warranty I got with the car as the bill was £700 on that! It'll be less on a 1.8T though im sure! I also had the rear arb changed because the bushes had worn, and needed the aircon regassing last year. Your suffering things that can go wrong on cars, and dont forget it is now 6'ish years old so brakes can go, rubber suspension grommets can rot & with 81k on the clock you can get turbo oil leaks. Dosent mean the car hasnt been looked after, more that the dealer sold the car without really checking the car over properly! Now if a main dealer has been over the car & thats all they've found, and the dealer you bought it from are going to pay for it all i'd keep the car and get it fixed. It'll take you time to find another for your budget & who's to say thats going to be any better?

 

[AudiSport]

Thanks for the info, I REALLY appresiate it!

" it's good to talk" - or at least hear other peoples thoughts as I don't know the right thing to do. I agree with you, there is nothing to say the next car I buy will be any better, and these are all things that need doing on cars of this age / mileage!

I guess the thing that is playing on my mind is the car only has two owners prior to me. The first had the car up till 04 and had it service by Audi main dealer up to 60k, the second had it service once in April of 05 and never serviced it again - just traded it in.. and he only did 6k miles a year too! Did he just not use the car much and not bother to get it serviced / stamped. Or, did he do lots of miles and have the car clocked..?

The HPI ( that I did with RAC) has not reported any issues with the mileage, I guess the thing at the back of my mind is; is this car going to be troube - or just in need of some TLC and I should make the most of the fact I bought it from a garage and they are paying?

 

[AudiSport]

Anyone fancy guessing what the quote will come in at from my local Audi specialist to do the following work?

New Rear disks and Pads
New Cat
Fix (new seals) or replace turbo
New Rear Anti Roll Bar
Fix / Re-Gas Air-con
Sort Tracking


??

 

[quattrojames]

What Specialist are you going to use mate? I know of one in Poole if its any help?

 

[AudiSport]

Was going to use the 'Fair Trade Centre'. What is the company you know?

 

[quattrojames]

Kartechnics on Nuffield Ind Estate in Poole. I have never used them personally but have given their name to someone else who used them and was pleased.

They are German car specialists. If you have any experience good or bad with them please let me know cos it would be nice to know a good local specialist should the need ever arise!

Where are the Fair trade Centre? Are they Audi specialists too?

 

[Nickynibbles]

The 2nd owner has obviously decided to sell it as it came due another service, they may or may not of known a few things were needing doing & decided was too much to pay out. Either way if a main dealer could only find those problems i'd say your pretty safe, A4's show up mcuh the same sort of issues as you'll see by looking back over the forum but nothin too major can go wrong if you maintain properly. You havent mentioned the cambelt/water pump, might be worth getting this done at the same time and strike a deal with the garage to pay for that bit yourself. Also i'd suggest you have the oil pick up pipe in the sump changed while its in, there's been some talk in the past few months of sludge clogging this up and causing issues. J7USS on here had his engine replaced last year as a result of this little problem.

As for the other bits.........

New Rear disks and Pads - £150
New Cat - £250
Fix (new seals) or replace turbo - £100
New Rear Anti Roll Bar - £100
Fix / Re-Gas Air-con - £50
Sort Tracking - £50

My price guesses include labour by the way!

 

[AudiSport]

Great info thanks!

The cam-belt was actually changed when they serviced the car before I picked it up. It was one of the things I requested. They just missed the breaks, turbo, cat and ARB!!!

The garage I bought the car from is going to want to fit an after market Cat rather than genuine Audi.. Is this a real problem? I understand they don't last as long and sound crap?

 

[Nickynibbles]

Great info thanks!

The cam-belt was actually changed when they serviced the car before I picked it up. It was one of the things I requested. They just missed the breaks, turbo, cat and ARB!!!

The garage I bought the car from is going to want to fit an after market Cat rather than genuine Audi.. Is this a real problem? I understand they don't last as long and sound crap?

Did they change the water pump at the same do you know? These can go and for a £40 part cost a couple hundred quid in labour as the front of the car has to come off, most people get it done when they have the cambelt done as a precaution. Definately worth checking the oil pick up pipe too though.

If they're going to fit an aftermarket cat how about striking up a deal directly with them to fit a high-flow sports cat as wouldnt be all that much difference cost wise I bet & will let the engine breath a little better!

 

[AudiSport]

Hmmm, I doubt they changed the water pump if they didn't fit rear pads!

Nice idea with the CAT - what about my fuel bill though?

 

[bubstar]

Nice idea with the CAT - what about my fuel bill though?

What about it?

It'd get smaller.

 

[Nickynibbles]

What about it?

It'd get smaller.

Agreed, its a little known fact that doing stuff like remapping and other performance improvements can actually improve mpg simply because the car has more power & torque at lower revs so dosent have to work so hard to move. Obviously your more inclined to use a heavy right foot more often but if you dont you'll actually end up using less fuel an so protect polar bears!! In fact i'd recommend everyone gets remaps, sports cats & miltek exhausts asap before there's no polar bears left!!

 

[AudiSport]

Agreed, its a little known fact that doing stuff like remapping and other performance improvements can actually improve mpg simply because the car has more power & torque at lower revs so dosent have to work so hard to move. Obviously your more inclined to use a heavy right foot more often but if you dont you'll actually end up using less fuel an so protect polar bears!! In fact i'd recommend everyone gets remaps, sports cats & miltek exhausts asap before there's no polar bears left!!

man, you crack me up..

Right, the car company have said they want to do the work after my quote to get it fixed locally came in around £1000. So, they have said bring the car back to us and we will sort it - or.. Bring it back and get a full refund.

So, decision time. Get them to put the car right and enjoy the fact that they will do all the jobs for free that I'm likely to find wrong with any A4 of this age - or walk away as they are going to repair the car for as cheap as possible and it may just be the start of one big problem?

 

[Nickynibbles]

man, you crack me up..

Right, the car company have said they want to do the work after my quote to get it fixed locally came in around £1000. So, they have said bring the car back to us and we will sort it - or.. Bring it back and get a full refund.

So, decision time. Get them to put the car right and enjoy the fact that they will do all the jobs for free that I'm likely to find wrong with any A4 of this age - or walk away as they are going to repair the car for as cheap as possible and it may just be the start of one big problem?

What they'll want to avoid is the labour charge within that £1k quote. I dont imagine the bits they'd use would be any inferior to that which the local garage would. The main issue as far as I see it is the leaking turbo, you'll need written guarantee of that work for say 6 months as no doubt they'll replace the seals & not the turbo. This is a perfectly adequate fix in fairness but if it goes pop in 4 months time you want some recourse on their repairs. Stick with the car if youlove it despite its problems.