Hello All,
Went to view an A7 black edition 3.0 TDI 272 at the weekend. Car is good spec with HUD and bose - FSH and only 30k on the clock / 65 plate. Car is for sale by Williams Select in Manchester and has been a trade in for a new Beemer at another Williams branch. All good so far....
Inspected the car but could not take it for a test drive on Saturday since it hadn't been subject to the mandatory Williams inspection and as such would be un-insured. Started the car up and here is where my worries start...a very strange 'cyclic' rattle could be heard at tickover. The noise was more audible with the bonnet shut.....the noise was random and didn't repeat with any regular sequence - it would come and go. I have had similar noises in the past on previous vehicles and think it turned out to be alternator bearings and a cam belt tensioner. I tried to check the oil level by the MMI and it would not play ball stating the car needed to be running for 2 minutes (which it had been).
Williams pledged to sort the noise for me and if they couldn't I could back out of the sale. I left them 500 quid deposit.
Fast forward to today (test drive) and I arrived and asked my customer service contact about the noise. He stated that the car had been in the Jaguar workshop - had passed its MOT. The technician had connected to a computer and found no faults. He added a quart of oil (approx 1 litre) and the noise has now gone! (Which I can confirm is true). Now, historically I have done loads of work on cars and I cannot buy into their story.
On the test drive the car drove really well with no noises or rattles. On return to their forecourt the oil level was checked on the MMI and initially it didn't want to play ball....finally I got a reading that was almost full level.
This car comes with 6 months warranty and is a good spec / low mileage example. This noise issue has blown my mind and I simply don't know whether to proceed. I have a 2.7 TDI A6 and my wife has an A5 3.0TDI quattro- so I do know how these engines sound.
Has anyone out there had a similar noise from the front of the engine?
Any advice appreciated and apologies for the essay!
Cheers Tony
Went to view an A7 black edition 3.0 TDI 272 at the weekend. Car is good spec with HUD and bose - FSH and only 30k on the clock / 65 plate. Car is for sale by Williams Select in Manchester and has been a trade in for a new Beemer at another Williams branch. All good so far....
Inspected the car but could not take it for a test drive on Saturday since it hadn't been subject to the mandatory Williams inspection and as such would be un-insured. Started the car up and here is where my worries start...a very strange 'cyclic' rattle could be heard at tickover. The noise was more audible with the bonnet shut.....the noise was random and didn't repeat with any regular sequence - it would come and go. I have had similar noises in the past on previous vehicles and think it turned out to be alternator bearings and a cam belt tensioner. I tried to check the oil level by the MMI and it would not play ball stating the car needed to be running for 2 minutes (which it had been).
Williams pledged to sort the noise for me and if they couldn't I could back out of the sale. I left them 500 quid deposit.
Fast forward to today (test drive) and I arrived and asked my customer service contact about the noise. He stated that the car had been in the Jaguar workshop - had passed its MOT. The technician had connected to a computer and found no faults. He added a quart of oil (approx 1 litre) and the noise has now gone! (Which I can confirm is true). Now, historically I have done loads of work on cars and I cannot buy into their story.
On the test drive the car drove really well with no noises or rattles. On return to their forecourt the oil level was checked on the MMI and initially it didn't want to play ball....finally I got a reading that was almost full level.
This car comes with 6 months warranty and is a good spec / low mileage example. This noise issue has blown my mind and I simply don't know whether to proceed. I have a 2.7 TDI A6 and my wife has an A5 3.0TDI quattro- so I do know how these engines sound.
Has anyone out there had a similar noise from the front of the engine?
Any advice appreciated and apologies for the essay!
Cheers Tony
