3.2 PLAYING UP AGAIN???

[Wes G]

My 3.2 engine light came on a month ago-went to stealers and had a temp switch replaced...2 weeks ago it came on again and the stealers then had to replace 2 oxygen sensors and the ACF valve...last night it came on again and I had a mega loss of power,also the cooling fans would not stop running,I have left it with them again but I`m getting a little tired of spending a fortune on it...are these cars generally reliable??? Any ideas as to what is wrong with it this time?...Think it might be time for a change. The car is an 04 3.2 with only 21k on it-its been looked after really well by the previous owner,serviced on time, always had V power used etc? ****** thing is driving me mad at the mo-any help really appreciated??? Thanx Wes.

 

[sat1983]

Friday car... Sorry to hear about this, as they are generally reliable.

 

[edowen]

It isnt unreliable - they just arent doing a good job of finding the fault - so you get to pay for lots of shiny parts you dont need.....

 

[dbm]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I have done over 40k miles in mine and it has been spot on.

The only less-than-perfect aspects of ownership have been that it uses some coolant and recently after a 200 mile motorway journey finished off with some very spirited driving a gearbox warning light appeared for the DSG; though it went away again when I switched back to cruising.

Dan

 

[Wes G]

Just got a call from the stealers to say the fans\ECU are at fault and will be looking around £500 to fix... Think I will keep it for a couple of month when I eventually get it back...then if it plays silly buggers again it will be traded in

 

[jasaudi]

You could always look to trade it with them immediately. You never know they may give you a good price against something in stock

 

[Wes G]

Had a look round last night while waiting for a lift home but could`nt find anything in my kind of price range as I have changed house recently...would love to chop it in for something newer but its not an option at the moment...thanx for the responses guys.

 

[edowen]

So are they going to pay you back for the parts they wrongly changed?

 

[edowen]

PS - Fans AND ECU? Dubious to me. Get a second opinion from a specialist

 

[Wes G]

OK...Update,just spoken to Audi and they have told me that the reason the fan has failed is because the engine ECU kept it on? So the £500 has changed to £986 +vat to replace the 2 .Has anyone else had a problem like this-I cant find anything on a search about one having needed an Engine ECU, the fan seems to be common`ish? I obviously have to have it done-its no good without but I`m well cheesed off as its now starting to eat into house mod fund-the other half is not impressed!

 

[jasaudi]

Right, my advice (for what it is worth) is stop them making the changes now and leave the car with them for 2-3 days while you think about it. Then I would suggest that you get onto one of the car part finders (yellow pages or online) and see if you can get the parts you need from them. They are typically less than 50% of the new parts

 

[edowen]

Hmm. Ask the dealer for the part numbers, and get some quotes. I'd def get another specialist to give you their opinion. How out of warranty is it - ask them if Audi will do a goodwill gesture....

 

[edowen]

Contact these guys.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-A3-2004-...ryZ10372QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Wes G]

Warranty ran out jan as was registered jan 2004

 

[Wes G]

I`ve got an hour knocked off labour but thats all they can do... I have now told them to order the parts as I could do with it back , that website\breakers is a good one to put in my book though thanx edowen.

 

[RobB]

Have you tried Audi Customer Services to see if they will provide some form of goodwill on the cost. Sometimes it does work. I got my instrument panel replaced on my old 1.8T Sport for free out of warranty when the DIS started playing up. A bit of courtious pleading and how you love the Audi marque etc might help. Nothing to lose?