New A3 170 owner in Kent, Problems already - Smoke, ECS, Knocking, Please Help!!

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Hi guys,

New A3 owner here based in Kent, just picked up my car on Friday and got some issues that Im very concerned about so Im looking for some advice for a newbie. This forum was a huge help for me when I was looking for a car (thankyou) and Im hoping you can help me out again.

So, I picked up my 2007 A3 2.0TDI 170 Quattro on Friday, very excited as you can imagine.
When I test drove the car it seemed almost perfect, the only 2 things I noted were a clicking window sound & a slightly noisy turbo which the dealer ensured me is normal, and after hours researching I wasn't too worried.
The car comes with a 6 month warranty, which includes EVERYTHING, so the way I saw it was there was no major risks.
They ensured me that any issues i noticed would be fixed before delivery.
The dealer is part of Bosch Car Service so as part of the package I paid for I got 4 new tyres, a service, mot with no advisories, and the 6 month warranty as mentioned above. They also replaced the cambelt and fitted a new DPF sensor.

BUT, over the last 2 days I have already started having problems and Im starting to lose faith in the dealer/bosch/car..

My issues are:
- Clear/white smoke on startup, no smoke at all when driving. (not present before they serviced/inspected the car)
- A knocking sound has appeared from the drivers side somewhere, i think in the wheel arch area. (also not present before)
- Electric windows intermittently not working properly. (clicking before, now they're not working after they 'fixed' it)

- And now the ECS light is on, im guessing this confirms my worries about the smoking exhaust.

I've checked over the car and they've overfilled the oil and coolant levels too which seems like a pretty crappy mistake when preparing a car for sale.

Iv already searched a lot on here as much as possible for advice on what the issues could be, but Im thinking with all these problems from the first day should I just bear with it and talk to the warranty company, or do I seriously need to talk to the dealer about compensation, extending warranty for free or even returning the car.

The sales person hasn't replied to me yet, the warranty company phoned me back pretty quick and are deciding what to do as the car has only just been purchased, or Audi will diagnose each issue for £75.

The car is beautiful and for the first 2 hours was perfect for what I wanted, but I've barely driven it and Im already having to fix things. I just wanted some opinions from other owner and users of this forum as Im not very experienced with issues like these.

Are these issues likely to keep re-occuring?
Should I check for any other related issues or causes?
Should I trust Bosch and the work they've done?
What would you do??

Thanks for reading the long story, any help or advise would be appreciated so much!

Dave

 

[NHN]

As its under warranty, that's the 1st port of call.

Clear smoke on startup could be something like cam timing, which they could easily check & since its been done, I would be checking this 1st.

Window issue could be a dicky motor or door module, doesn't sound major issue.

The dash light could be a dpf issue given its a 170, needs on vcds to ascertain why its lit up.

All these things sound like they can be resolved easily at 1st read, get dealer to look at it or let audi look at it if its for free.

If its not covered then either return car or maybe ask us to scan it for you to see what we can see.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

All these things sound like they can be resolved easily at 1st read

Thanks for the really quick reply, this is the main thing I was hoping to hear from someone

The main concern I had was that the dealer is in Cambridge and I don't want to be driving all over the place if i could be risking more damage or issues to the car.

 

[NHN]

Well you need an answer from them 1st before you make any move I'm afraid, any scans etc taken on by yourself would be at your expense, we're happy to do this but unfortunately mate it wouldn't be free.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Just had the car scanned - DPF

Now do I fight to return the car or pursue getting the DPF replaced al together.
They replaced the DPF sensor before collection already..

 

[NHN]

Well didn't the scanning person force a regen or check the levels?

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Well didn't the scanning person force a regen or check the levels?

My local audi specialist was fully booked until Tuesday, but they gave the car a very quick scan for me to give me an idea.

Going to ring the warranty company AGAIN and see what my options are.

Im just worried about keeping the car if Im having to go through this from day 1..

 

[percymon]

Supplying dealer needs to collect car and fix it, this is not a warranty item several days after sale. Any warranty company will have an initial period with no cover to prevent clients taking out cover only when issues arise. The fact the dealer changed a sensor for the dpf says there was an issue they tried to resolve but failed.

the 170 engines are notorious for PDF issues especially if used for short journeys; perhaps dealer shuffled it around their pitch a bit, perhaps they used it themselves for a short commute home whilst in their possession ?.

either way the dealer is your first port if call not the warranty company. The dealer supplied car not fit for its intended use.

 

[STIG]

Hi mate who's the specialist you were thinking of using?

 

[smurfworth]

dpf delete and remap = smiles all round

Would never have the problem again

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Thanks for all the advice,

Car's booked in for diagnosis at a fairly local Bosch garage to save me driving back to cambridge.
Getting them to check everything I've noticed - ECS light, smoke, DPF, knocking sound, windows, turbo.

Hopefully these are just teething problems and I can get back to loving my new car!!!

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Update:

Took car to a fairly local specialist, fault code read and cleared, dpf efficiency below threshold.

ECS light - advised DPF clean and regen.
Knocking sound - roll bar, quoted £45
turbo - noisy but working fine.
Also note that the windscreen wipers don't park correctly - doesn't know how to solve this lol.
Didnt notice and excessive smoke or performance issues.

But here's where it gets worse,
I phone the dealer who advised me to wait until the light comes back on, then they will have the car back to address the DPF and roll bar issues. They were unwilling to let me get anything done at the local garage and insisted they do the work themselves to save labour costs, despite the inconvenience to me and my travel costs.
They assured me the car was fine to drive until then and that the issue were going to be sorted without issue.
I agreed to take the car back to Cambridge and was waiting for them to organise the parts and time.

BUT.... Today it didn't start and now displays ESP fault!!!!

Im phoning them tomorrow, but I don't know what to do, been reading about consumer law and rejecting the car as its not fit for purpose, but I think this is going to be a nightmare to resolve either way.

Any advise always appreciated.

 

[bennyball]

sounds very similar to problems I had with mine following the injector recall. The injectors hadn't been seated correctly.
The 'overfilled oil' could in fact be fuel in the oil, leaked past the injector seals.
The white smoke at start-up could be unburnt diesel as the injector timing is incorrect. I would run a VCDS scan of block 4 to check the torsion value, from memory the value should be between -0.5 - +0.5 at warm idle

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Waiting for the warranty company and/or dealership to call me back.
Car still wont start, frustration is rising..

Also, reading through the VCDS printout that I got done 2 weeks ago when the ECS issue first happened, its showing Torque: 176.0Nm.
Is that the amount of torque in use during the scan, or the maximum achievable value? Sorry if thats a dumb question, remember Im new to this!

Thanks

 

[MacrosTheBlack]

Sorry to hear about all the problems and hope they are fully resolved for you soon.

Just a note on your report that the wiper blades are not parking properly. Question exactly what they mean by that? The Audi wipers park at slightly different places each time and will occasionally twitch to adjust themselves too I believe. This is by design to prevent rubber sticking to the window.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Sorry to hear about all the problems and hope they are fully resolved for you soon.

Just a note on your report that the wiper blades are not parking properly. Question exactly what they mean by that? The Audi wipers park at slightly different places each time and will occasionally twitch to adjust themselves too I believe. This is by design to prevent rubber sticking to the window.

Yeah not the best start ha.
I read about that the other day, but sometimes the wiper parks as high as the tax disc!

The good news is that the not starting issue was a just drained battery so the car is drivable again.
The AA were incredibly helpful and understanding of my situation, advised I get the garage to check the EGR valve as there is a slight hesitation every so often, which is what I've been reporting but the garages have ignored so far during the last diagnostics.

Waiting for a call to organise the DPF clean now and going to attempt to get them to agree in writing to fit to a new DPF if issues remain after the DPF clean.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Here's a photo of what I mean..

 

[NHN]

Just adjust the position when all is turned of.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

Left the car for 1 day, battery's gone dead again
Waiting for the AA now, 2nd callout and only owned the car 1 month.
It's booked in for a DPF clean tomorrow so hopefully they will diagnose this as well without charging me anymore as this is getting ridiculous!
Started to document all the issues, calls and emails now incase this ends up in court.
Im wrtiting a letter to the garage expressing that its not of satisfactory quality or fit for purpose.

What a headache..

 

[drnutta]

If your taking it to Cambridge Audi on Babraham Road... they are not very good!

I no longer trust them to do any work on my car. They diagnose problems which are not related to the original problem.

I found Stansted Audi far better.

 

[MyMateDaveDJ]

If your taking it to Cambridge Audi on Babraham Road... they are not very good!

I no longer trust them to do any work on my car. They diagnose problems which are not related to the original problem.

I found Stansted Audi far better.

Brought the car from Reed Audos, part of the Bosch garage chain and based in Cambridge. So far I can't say Im impressed with their product or customer service lol