HELP have i bought a lemon??

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bennibs123

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Hello I am new to the forum and new to audis altogether so excuse my ignorance/ knowledge on the cars. I recently bought (10 days ago) a 53 plate a3 bkd 2.0 tdi 140.
love the car apart from I noticed the coolant light come on. so I topped it up to just over half way and is very slowly going down its also struggles to start when its left for a while and the needle on the revometer fluctuates yet the idle seems quite normal bar a little judder but nothing to serious. :unsure:
checked for external leaks which I cant seem to find any then got worried about it being a more serious problem so did some reading on various forums and come to the conclusion its likely to be a pourus/ cracked head?!?. the trader I bought it from says it has a 30 day warranty but the buyer has to go half on parts and labour?! is this right?
Anyway just wondering if anyone's had any experience or suggestions? Also if it is cracked how long can I drive it for before it goes bang? maybe also with some k seal? , it is a very slow leak but never the less a leak is there.

What should I do!?!?

any suggestions/ help is would be much appreciated
Thanks Ben
 
No ring trading standards he has to fix it at his cost fully and its within 6 months as well
 
don't use k-seal take the car back and get a refund or normally if no leaks showing looking at a new head .

probs looking at £1000+

did you buy from a dealer or private ?
 
Ive tried but they arnt open until tomorrow morning. So I shouldn't have to pay anything for the repair even if it is the cylinder head?
 
Thanks for the fast reply's. Ill ring the dealer and trading standards first thing tomorrow. shame as I love the car
 
when doing cylinder head new cam belt etc should be used also new injector seals etc

tbh id get my money back because if its not done properly its going to be a night mare

you don't want a second hand head either you will need a new one.
 
ive got a feeling he will take it back and try and fob me off that its something else , which tbf it could well be but from what ive read its likely to be a crack, im reluctant to buy another of the same car now as it seems they are all doomed to crack :(
and yes it was from a dealer
 
don't let the dealer bully you, your covered under trading standards, i can't remember which one to quote him though, but if you go on google and find your consumer rights print it off, read it and take a copy of it with you when you go over if he gives u lip, let us know how you get on too! but you are covered for 6 months, second hand dealers do not tell you this though
 
as said, statutory 6 months sales regulations warranty applies, I'd go about getting my money back and get a 56 plate or newer if cash allows
 
It might not be as bad as you think, i had a coolant issue on my 2006 BKD 140 golf, and it turned out to just be a leaky rad, the rads where renowned for failing on the top and bottom edges where they are crimped. Cost me about £150 all together for a new rad fitted from my local garage!
 
6 months is often given as a general timeline, but officially its essentially deemed as fit for purpose! Its dependant on the cost and so on.

If you laid £50 for a car then you get what you pay for and so on, but if you laid half reasonable money, which I'm guessing you did then it has to be fit for purpose, is if it breaks down within 200 miles then the garage will have to repair etc! But if you paid say 1k and since racked up several thousand miles, then you might struggle more to force the issue etc, if that makes sense!

Best bet is CAB or local solicitors that offer free sessions, I had something similar, went to local solicitors on a free hour and they said they wouldn't get involved as costs to hire them would make it not worth while to me, but they did write me a letter clarifying the law and essentially strengthened my position so garage could not argue. So the garage had to repair it essentially!

All relative though, so be careful etc!

Good luck!
 
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AudiA3V5 said:
6 months is often given as a general timeline, but officially its essentially deemed as fit for purpose! Its dependant on the cost and so on.

If you laid £50 for a car then you get what you pay for and so on, but if you laid half reasonable money, which I'm guessing you did then it has to be fit for purpose, is if it breaks down within 200 miles then the garage will have to repair etc! But if you paid say 1k and since racked up several thousand miles, then you might struggle more to force the issue etc, if that makes sense!

Best bet is CAB or local solicitors that offer free sessions, I had something similar, went to local solicitors on a free hour and they said they wouldn't get involved as costs to hire them would make it not worth while to me, but they did write me a letter clarifying the law and essentially strengthened my position so garage could not argue. So the garage had to repair it essentially!

All relative though, so be careful etc!

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Spot on!:applaus:
 
So when they say the give a 28 day warranty on engine and gearbox its actually 6 months?. if repairs are required whatever the repair is should I have to contribute?. The coolant leak is very slow and may take a while for it to actually lose any if they have it so they may just say theres nothing wrong.

id love a 56 plate but I don't have the funds available:sorry:
I bought the car for 3500 and its done 120k miles not really sure where I stand ?!?
 
Mine had this problem, turned out to be a leaking rad. Don't always assume the worse!
 
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take it to garage and tell them its losing water and they can pressure test it .

possible - radiator / water pump / egr cooler / head
 
tdi-man said:
take it to garage and tell them its losing water and they can pressure test it .

possible - radiator / water pump / egr cooler / head
Click to expand...


will they be able to tell if its the head without taking it off ?
 
I would imagine they would get it under pressure then work round all the pipework etc, if they can't see any leaks then they would probably suspect head and then have to pull it. They would check all the normal coolant system first though before doing anything drastic.

That said, you're best getting the guy you bought from to take it in and make sure he is going to pay etc first, as otherwise you may not be able to get any money back that you have spent yourself.

Not ideal I know, but I had no car for 2 months when I had a problem and had to fight the seller to repair etc.
 
Did he pay for it in the end?
What was his arguement for not paying?
 
Mine you mean? I did get them to pay. My issue was different to yours though.

I paid 5k for a Vectra 1.9d, only had about 50k on the clock. I'd done not even 200 miles and the water pump seized, threw the belt and knackered a piston etc.

I did the whole research, spoke to a local solicitor etc, who as I say wouldn't take the case as it would not be cost effective to me, but did write me a nice letter etc to support my claim and clarify the law.

The guy tried to argue that the waterpump was a wear and tear part or something stupid, insinuating that it could go at any time and he wouldn't know etc. I argued if you say so but the law states a car needs to be fit for purpose, and paying 5k for less than 200 miles is not fit for purpose. He has insurance for things like that etc.

Said if he wanted to go to court then let's go, he then offered to have it repaired as a "good will gesture"!
 
Yeah I have a feeling this dealer wont want to pay . But nothing has actually broke or seized up on mine its just loosing coolant. Suppose its still not fit for purpose tho
 
do you have any smoke / steam out the exhaust ?
 
Sometimes when its left ill get like a few puffs of smoke but not a lot really. Would It not constantly smoke or run poorly if it was cracked ?
 
The revs fluctuate slightly when the engine gets hot so that could be related to a rough start maybe a timing issue?
 
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