A6 Auto Box Reliability ?

[rdlh]

I have recently been offered a '53 plate A6 estate, 1.9TD Auto with 60,000.

However, I have heard poor reports concerning the reliability of the multitronic auto box & wondered please what opinions / advice you could give me please.

Many thanks.
Richard

 

[Maggot]

Have you got proof that the multitronic gearbox oil was changed at 40,000 miles ?

 

[rdlh]

Er, no. I assume that's important then .... ??!!
I will have to check with the seller.

 

[Maggot]

Yes, I've discovered to my cost that there is some sort of inherent problem with the gearbox and Audi specify that the gerabox oil must be changed every 40K miles. I bought my car at 36K miles and a "full service" was thrown in. Howevre, now that my car has reached almost 70K miles the car judders at between 1200 and 1400 revs. The Audi dealership has daignosed a problem with the input shaft and quoted me £1400. They have offered to pay half the cost and I have inferred from what they have said that 100% would have been covered if the g/box oil had been changed at 40K ............ but I can't prove this and the Audi dealership that I bought the car from has since changed hands and the new dealership can't/won't help. So, my advice is proceed with caution viz a viz themultitronic gearbox.

Quotes from similar thread ending May last year that I found when researching my problem include (most recent being May 06 from someone called Rich Paddock ) :-


I've got a 3 year old A6 Avant with a 2.5TDi engine and an Multitronic gearbox. It has started juddering when pulling away and it feels like the clutch isn't disengaging quickly enough when stopping. Has anyone else had this problem, or know what might cause it?


Same problem bummed out by Audi over service history, The gearbox oil has never been changed. I have it serviced on a variable service and the garage did not advise me that i ha to bring it in specifically to have the gearbox oil changed at 40K. I would have thought that at its 43K variable service they would have done it, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif!

Did you find the problem, did you have the Gearbox changed ?


Hi
Yes I'm just experiencing this problem with my three year old 2.5 A6 Avant TD1 (71,000 miles). The dealership seemed to have come across the problem before but didn't explain it nor give me a ball park figure for repair. Would be very interested in the outcome with your A6

 

[rdlh]

Many thanks indeed for this, will indeed proceed with great caution. Am now quite put off by the auto with multitronic box.
By the way, they want £11 / £12k for the car .... a sensible price ?
Richard

 

[Maggot]

Mine's a 2.5Tdi with almost 70K miles on the clock and the dealership last week offered £8K on a PX deal. Plus you have to add the £1400 repair so they valued it at £9.4K but privately I reckon I would get around 10K/11K for it. So, if the car you're interested in has a full Audi dealership service history and proof of gearbox oil change then the lower of the two figures would not be far off. Although remember that you have to change the cambelt at around 70K miles I think and that's another £750. Good luck.

 

[mickey_a6]

Yes, I've discovered to my cost that there is some sort of inherent problem with the gearbox and Audi specify that the gerabox oil must be changed every 40K miles. I bought my car at 36K miles and a "full service" was thrown in. Howevre, now that my car has reached almost 70K miles the car judders at between 1200 and 1400 revs. The Audi dealership has daignosed a problem with the input shaft and quoted me £1400. They have offered to pay half the cost and I have inferred from what they have said that 100% would have been covered if the g/box oil had been changed at 40K ............ but I can't prove this and the Audi dealership that I bought the car from has since changed hands and the new dealership can't/won't help. So, my advice is proceed with caution viz a viz themultitronic gearbox.

Can't believe that Audi can get away with this. Here is a clear issue with the MT gearbox that absolutely requires changing the oil every 40k - I take it you have never been told this by the dealership you bought the car from or where you have had it serviced since? This should be an integral part of the service schedule (variable or otherwise) just like changing the engine oil or air filter, not some "optional" extra that you only find out about on a forum like this. If you are keeping the car, mate, I would take it up with Audi UK - clearly the stealers know there's an issue or they wouldn't be offering you 50% off up front on the repair.

 

[Maggot]

Thanks for this Mickey. No, I was never previously told about the need to change the gearbox oil every 40K miles. When I was informed about this last week by my local Audi dealership (different from the one where I bought the car) I pointed out that the car was "fully serviced" at the time I bought it when it had 36K miles on the clock and as I bought it from an authorised Audi dealership, Whites of Camberley (as it was called at the time), surely they would have changed the gearbox oil. However, because I have no proof (the service manual simply states Oil Change and then two boxes for ticking yes or no - doesn't specify gearbox oil change) and the new dealership who took over from Whites say that they can't find the records on my car ............... so, I'm stuffed !

 

[enda1]

i thought that all the audi dealers in the UK enter the cars service history on a network so it can be checked at another Audi garage prior to them doing any work. You should check this out at another audi garage and then go back to the local dealer

 

[Bascule]

Its not just the Multitronic that needs the oil change at 40k - thats Audi's reccomendation for the more conventional tiptronic boxes too.

It is however vital to have this done - they won't honour warranty repair unless it has been. Mine needed a warranty repair to a sensor in the gearbox (still needed the box to come out) at 47k, they replaced the ecu at the same time, so I was v glad it had been done.

My car had had a service at about 35k, at which point they said they ought to do the gearbox oil change now, as it won't be back before the 40k mark - I was happy they had mentioned it, so went along with it!

 

[enda1]

I was worried that mines would need replacment fluid as the car has 80k on it with full history upto 70K.
From the correspondance I've had with the Audi dealer here in Ireland and from the importer the tiptronics are filled for life.

 

[Maggot]

i thought that all the audi dealers in the UK enter the cars service history on a network so it can be checked at another Audi garage prior to them doing any work. You should check this out at another audi garage and then go back to the local dealer

Thanks v much for this Enda 1, I will check it out and also write to Audi. In reply to Bascule, I'm glad you have had such a satisfying experience but many, including me, were never told of the need, let alone the absolute critical need, to ensure that the gearbox oil should be changed every 40K miles. When I bought mine with 36K miles on the clock nothing was said to me about this at all, even though a "full service" was thrown in, and now I'm looking at a bill for £700 !

 

[enda1]

Maggot.

This is from Audi UK's website. So you should be able to check with them. as your car was bought with a full service then they should give it to you.

As another strand of our commitment to vehicle provenance, we'll provide you with a Service history certificate at the time of vehicle handover, detailing all routine servicing work that has been done within the Authorised Audi Centre network. The certificate also verifies the following:


Vehicle registration number
Vehicle chassis number
Vehicle description
Colour
Engine number
The status of the vehicle's warranty

 

[Maggot]

Maggot.

This is from Audi UK's website. So you should be able to check with them. as your car was bought with a full service then they should give it to you.

As another strand of our commitment to vehicle provenance, we'll provide you with a Service history certificate at the time of vehicle handover, detailing all routine servicing work that has been done within the Authorised Audi Centre network. The certificate also verifies the following:


Vehicle registration number
Vehicle chassis number
Vehicle description
Colour
Engine number
The status of the vehicle's warranty

Many thanks ENDA1. I'm writing to Audi today and when I get their response I'll let you know what it was. Thanks again.

 

[adamd]

Hi folks. Noticing a few threads about the place concerning A6 auto gearbox. I got a 2002 allroad about 6 months ago from Audi dealer here in Ireland. 72K miles and Audi FSH. 4 months in and the dreaded gearbox reading digits starting flashing etc with loss of power. This cotinued for a few weeks until it came to the point of warming the car up on drive for 15 mins before she would 'settle' back into normality. Then the day came when no normal. Had been in contact with dealer a few times but was monitoring it. Car went to dealer and they initially replaced gearbox oil thinking possible related to heat of oil and voscosity etc. No luck. They were meanwhile contacting Germany by their internal email linked to their diagnostics. Replace the ECU for the gearbox was the instructions. Garage believed this to be in gearbox assembly so ordered gearbox and fitted it, with new clutch because gearbox altered design. No luck. Then Germany realised that ECU for box separate item under front passenger seat. This was ordered and hey presto ok again.

By looking at this thread and other sites similar threads it would appear to be a known fault, as to what percentage of cars this happens to I don't know. Mine had all dealer stamps were car was bought originally so don't know about 40k oil change. Hope this haelps a wee bit.

Adam