Dear All,
I thought I'd share this rather unfortunate tale with you all, and would welcome comments or advice from anyone else out there who has experiences of, or concerns about the AVS (Audi Variable Servicing) programme.
Since buying my first Audi (2001 B6 A4 1.8T quattro Sport, warranted mileage of just over 26,000 miles) in July it has been a pleasure to own and drive, and fault free as I would expect. The only time it has seen the inside of a workshop was to have two outstanding recall jobs done: coil packs and handbrake grommets. These were taken care of by Millhouse Audi in Bath. However, last week a very serious problem arose which came as a very unpleasant and unexpected shock.
In September I visited the Audi Driver International event at Castle Combe, during which time I attended a Q&A seminar chaired by informed people from various tuning companies and the magazine itself. One of the subjects discussed was that of AVS, and the fact that there are seemingly widespread concerns that these 'long life' oil service intervals can have an adverse effect on engine health. Scott Evered from AmD recounted several instances of customers' TTs with the 225 1.8T engine on AVS having oil which looked like "sludge" after it was drained during servicing, which is obviously far from ideal. The general consensus of opinion was that fixed service intervals of 10,000 miles/12 months were preferable, and someone from the assembled group (who seemed to know what he was talking about) claimed that Audi UK were now acknowledging this problem and that there was actually a recall going out on 1.8Ts on the AVS for this very reason. However, when I booked my car in shortly afterwards for the recall work to be done, I asked about this and the operations manager at Millhouse knew of no such recall.
As my car's three-year Audi warranty has now expired, I'm free to use independent specialists for servicing etc., as prior experience with them has always been better than that with dealerships for me, not to mention cheaper. Therefore, having decided to revert to fixed intervals for peace of mind, I booked my car in at AmD for the work to be done last Wednesday, as I would be in Bicester anyway. My car had its one and only oil change under AVS at just over 14,000 miles, with 33,000 or next March as the maximum allowed interval until the next one. Sure enough, the service indicator was showing 4400 miles until the next service, with about 29,300 on the clock. AmD duly carried out an oil and filter change and reset the car's computer from AVS to fixed intervals. After driving the fifty or so miles home I noticed a loud rattle coming from the engine bay at idle, so after calling Craig at AmD (who heard the noise over the phone) I left the car to cool down for an hour or so, and then checked the oil level which turned out to be fine. After reporting this back to Craig he insisted I bring the car back immediately, which I of course did. Upon inspection it was unanimously agreed that the rattle was a sign that the cam chain tensioner was in need of replacement, and that the car should not be driven further until this could be done. As you can appreciate, this came as quite a shock and apparently the simple process of changing the oil had been enough to reveal the problem. I left the car at AmD, and Craig kindly drove me home that night. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
The following day Craig contacted me to tell me that closer inspection had revealed excessive carbon deposit build-up in the engine, which he felt was typical of a car which had covered 129,000 miles and not 29,000. He said that this had been seen before quite often on relatively low mileage cars which had been on AVS. He was also concerned about a quantity of swarf found in the sump after its removal. The strainer on the oil pump was found to be clogged with these carbon deposits, and this could've led to the cam chain tensioner's premature wear due to oil starvation. It is not clear at this stage whether or not the swarf is a result of that, or something more serious. AmD are currently waiting for parts to arrive: a new oil pump, con rod bearing shells and a new cam belt (which isn't due until 40,000 but may as well be replaced while it's accessible.) After the parts are fitted, they intend to run the engine for a while and then flush it through again to properly assess the severity of the swarf deposits. This should be happening today or tomorrow. Digital photographs have been taken at each stage of the strip-down, as evidence of the problems found.
Naturally I am gravely concerned, as obviously this is NOT what one expects after buying a low mileage Audi. Prior to owning the A4 I clocked up over 40k miles in two 1.8T Passats, both of which had well in excess of 100,000 miles on the clock when I sold them. Neither of those cars ever even sneezed. I am currently looking at a £1700+ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif bill from AmD for the replacement parts and labour, and I cannot believe that Audi UK are standing by the AVS programme if owners are experiencing these problems at such relatively low mileages, as this is obviously not an isolated incident and the car has been 'properly' serviced - by an Audi centre - at the correct interval. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
They (Audi UK) basically didn't want to know when I contacted them about this. The car's warranty expired in July, and the three-month 'grace period' just over a month ago. Having decided against taking out an extended warranty, I guess I can't expect otherwise. However, I will be writing to Audi to see what they have to say about the matter. Having owned four high-mileage Passats in just over ten years, without experiencing a single significant problem with any of them, surely one can expect peace of mind when moving up to the premium sector - and paying the price of admission. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Any comments or feedback would be very welcome.
John Carter
I thought I'd share this rather unfortunate tale with you all, and would welcome comments or advice from anyone else out there who has experiences of, or concerns about the AVS (Audi Variable Servicing) programme.
Since buying my first Audi (2001 B6 A4 1.8T quattro Sport, warranted mileage of just over 26,000 miles) in July it has been a pleasure to own and drive, and fault free as I would expect. The only time it has seen the inside of a workshop was to have two outstanding recall jobs done: coil packs and handbrake grommets. These were taken care of by Millhouse Audi in Bath. However, last week a very serious problem arose which came as a very unpleasant and unexpected shock.
In September I visited the Audi Driver International event at Castle Combe, during which time I attended a Q&A seminar chaired by informed people from various tuning companies and the magazine itself. One of the subjects discussed was that of AVS, and the fact that there are seemingly widespread concerns that these 'long life' oil service intervals can have an adverse effect on engine health. Scott Evered from AmD recounted several instances of customers' TTs with the 225 1.8T engine on AVS having oil which looked like "sludge" after it was drained during servicing, which is obviously far from ideal. The general consensus of opinion was that fixed service intervals of 10,000 miles/12 months were preferable, and someone from the assembled group (who seemed to know what he was talking about) claimed that Audi UK were now acknowledging this problem and that there was actually a recall going out on 1.8Ts on the AVS for this very reason. However, when I booked my car in shortly afterwards for the recall work to be done, I asked about this and the operations manager at Millhouse knew of no such recall.
As my car's three-year Audi warranty has now expired, I'm free to use independent specialists for servicing etc., as prior experience with them has always been better than that with dealerships for me, not to mention cheaper. Therefore, having decided to revert to fixed intervals for peace of mind, I booked my car in at AmD for the work to be done last Wednesday, as I would be in Bicester anyway. My car had its one and only oil change under AVS at just over 14,000 miles, with 33,000 or next March as the maximum allowed interval until the next one. Sure enough, the service indicator was showing 4400 miles until the next service, with about 29,300 on the clock. AmD duly carried out an oil and filter change and reset the car's computer from AVS to fixed intervals. After driving the fifty or so miles home I noticed a loud rattle coming from the engine bay at idle, so after calling Craig at AmD (who heard the noise over the phone) I left the car to cool down for an hour or so, and then checked the oil level which turned out to be fine. After reporting this back to Craig he insisted I bring the car back immediately, which I of course did. Upon inspection it was unanimously agreed that the rattle was a sign that the cam chain tensioner was in need of replacement, and that the car should not be driven further until this could be done. As you can appreciate, this came as quite a shock and apparently the simple process of changing the oil had been enough to reveal the problem. I left the car at AmD, and Craig kindly drove me home that night. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerchug.gif
The following day Craig contacted me to tell me that closer inspection had revealed excessive carbon deposit build-up in the engine, which he felt was typical of a car which had covered 129,000 miles and not 29,000. He said that this had been seen before quite often on relatively low mileage cars which had been on AVS. He was also concerned about a quantity of swarf found in the sump after its removal. The strainer on the oil pump was found to be clogged with these carbon deposits, and this could've led to the cam chain tensioner's premature wear due to oil starvation. It is not clear at this stage whether or not the swarf is a result of that, or something more serious. AmD are currently waiting for parts to arrive: a new oil pump, con rod bearing shells and a new cam belt (which isn't due until 40,000 but may as well be replaced while it's accessible.) After the parts are fitted, they intend to run the engine for a while and then flush it through again to properly assess the severity of the swarf deposits. This should be happening today or tomorrow. Digital photographs have been taken at each stage of the strip-down, as evidence of the problems found.
Naturally I am gravely concerned, as obviously this is NOT what one expects after buying a low mileage Audi. Prior to owning the A4 I clocked up over 40k miles in two 1.8T Passats, both of which had well in excess of 100,000 miles on the clock when I sold them. Neither of those cars ever even sneezed. I am currently looking at a £1700+ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif bill from AmD for the replacement parts and labour, and I cannot believe that Audi UK are standing by the AVS programme if owners are experiencing these problems at such relatively low mileages, as this is obviously not an isolated incident and the car has been 'properly' serviced - by an Audi centre - at the correct interval. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
They (Audi UK) basically didn't want to know when I contacted them about this. The car's warranty expired in July, and the three-month 'grace period' just over a month ago. Having decided against taking out an extended warranty, I guess I can't expect otherwise. However, I will be writing to Audi to see what they have to say about the matter. Having owned four high-mileage Passats in just over ten years, without experiencing a single significant problem with any of them, surely one can expect peace of mind when moving up to the premium sector - and paying the price of admission. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Any comments or feedback would be very welcome.
John Carter
