100K+ club - Who's already there and how are they holding up?
02-03-2018, 11:55 AM
#171
AudiWorld Member
This is my second audi, previous was a 2010 S4, and my second transmission issue, not sure I will be returning to the brand when I'm done with it.
02-03-2018, 01:55 PM
#172
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Columbia MD
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I'm pushing 116K on a 2012 A6 Prestige 3.0T, this is my second A6 first one was a C5 2001 2.7T 6spd that I retired last year after 220K and only changed a clutch once and several sets of tires. I ran winter and summers for 15 years. That was the third German car over 200K the other two were a 1987 Jetta GLI 16v and a 93 Passat 2.8L. Never had any major repair issues with the drive train or trans, I did blow the timing belt and bent a few valves but luckily I was shutting the engine down to get gas after driving cross country and putting 1500 miles on during the ride. All that said my 01 had twin turbos that were still blowing when I retired ole blue. My 2012 was CPO that I got with 8K miles I have never had a extended warranty. Good luck!!
02-04-2018, 10:23 PM
#173
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230k Warning
December 12 2017, while driving on a major Alberta Highway, at 100km/hr, my 2004 Audi A4 1.8t's passenger airbag spontaneously deployed after smelling burning plastic.
I pulled into an emergency lane and began recording via cell phone. During the recording 3 more airbag proppelants deployments occurred but no airbags came out.
I exited the vehicle and as I turned off the camera, I noticed smoke and fire began to eminating from the middle console. I called 911 and by the time I was off the phone the entire vehicle was engulfed in fire shutting the 4 lane highhway for an hour.
Audi followed through on investigation and claimed that malfunction occurred due to non-audi phone charger which was not even charging the phone that caused the airbags to deploy.
I pulled into an emergency lane and began recording via cell phone. During the recording 3 more airbag proppelants deployments occurred but no airbags came out.
I exited the vehicle and as I turned off the camera, I noticed smoke and fire began to eminating from the middle console. I called 911 and by the time I was off the phone the entire vehicle was engulfed in fire shutting the 4 lane highhway for an hour.
Audi followed through on investigation and claimed that malfunction occurred due to non-audi phone charger which was not even charging the phone that caused the airbags to deploy.
02-05-2018, 07:04 PM
#174
AudiWorld Member
December 12 2017, while driving on a major Alberta Highway, at 100km/hr, my 2004 Audi A4 1.8t's passenger airbag spontaneously deployed after smelling burning plastic.
I pulled into an emergency lane and began recording via cell phone. During the recording 3 more airbag proppelants deployments occurred but no airbags came out.
I exited the vehicle and as I turned off the camera, I noticed smoke and fire began to eminating from the middle console. I called 911 and by the time I was off the phone the entire vehicle was engulfed in fire shutting the 4 lane highhway for an hour.
Audi followed through on investigation and claimed that malfunction occurred due to non-audi phone charger which was not even charging the phone that caused the airbags to deploy.
I pulled into an emergency lane and began recording via cell phone. During the recording 3 more airbag proppelants deployments occurred but no airbags came out.
I exited the vehicle and as I turned off the camera, I noticed smoke and fire began to eminating from the middle console. I called 911 and by the time I was off the phone the entire vehicle was engulfed in fire shutting the 4 lane highhway for an hour.
Audi followed through on investigation and claimed that malfunction occurred due to non-audi phone charger which was not even charging the phone that caused the airbags to deploy.
This is C7 A6 forum.
03-13-2018, 03:21 PM
#175
AudiWorld Member
[QUOTE=djrx;25104633]Cool. Did't know this. Where do you guys get your oil change supplies from? I bought two 5 qt jugs of Liquid Moly from Amazon for $65 and the OE filter was $12.06 from Walmart.com with free shipping. Are the MANN filters cheaper elsewhere? Thanks for your feedback.
For those who like Castrol 5W-40, O'Reilly's is having their annual sale on 5 quart jugs and a filter for like $34 PLUS you get a $10 gift card rebate.
WalMart is usually unbeatable for Mobil 1 0W-40
For those who like Castrol 5W-40, O'Reilly's is having their annual sale on 5 quart jugs and a filter for like $34 PLUS you get a $10 gift card rebate.
WalMart is usually unbeatable for Mobil 1 0W-40
Last edited by JRomulus; 03-30-2018 at 07:03 AM.
03-25-2018, 02:28 PM
#176
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Well, at 183k I've finally has what I consider my first moderate issue. Something in the coolant system let go on me this past Tuesday morning as I sat in traffic. Thankfully the leak wasn't real bad an I was able to get out of traffic an into a parking lot. In he 20min it took me to get to the parking lot I only lost 3/4 of the coolant in the reservoir and the coolant temp never went above normal (keep this in mind, it becomes relevant later). I let the car cool down and refilled with straight water as I didn't have any coolant with me. Here's the rub. Normally, I do all my own work, but my current work schedule has me working long hours almost 7 days a week and I just don't have the time to tear into the car for this. I limped her to the nearest Audi dealer which I've never been fond of, but they are the closest. dropper the car there and get my wife to sing by and get me back home. Thankfully I have a few other modes of transportation because this dealer doesn't offer loaners unless the car is under warranty or if you bought your car from them/actually schedule the maint.
That night I looked into engine tear downs and such to get a better idea of where the leak was coming from. I had squeezed the upper rad hose and could hear an air/water sucking/gurggle from somewhere right behind where the host connects to the front of the engine. Looking more into that I found it connects to a plastic hard line that connects to the block right behind that area and also runs over to the other side of the engine and connects to the block there as well. being that it's plastic I I figure for 183k miles and all those heat cycles, thats not bad and has lasted a good long time. Not too bad to swap out though the SC prollie needs to come off to deal with it correctly. more research shows it's about a 3-4 hour job, no different than replacing the T-stat/water pump. I factor parts and Audi current labor rate at $177 an hour for my area and I should be somewhere around 800-900 in cost. i'm not thrilled, but the price you pay to have the dealer do the job when you don't have the time.
3 days after I dropped the car off, I finally get some info back from the dealer (I had been calling to check). They think its the T-stat (which had been replaced under the recall at 95k) and quote me a repair bill of $1,700. After I had a mental WTF moment I asked how the figured the Tstat. They said they ran a pressure test. I asked if they did this with the car at temp, to which the said no because of the leak. So I then asked how you can run and propper pressure test on a cold car with an obvious leak and figure the tstat is at fault when it stats closed when cold? I got a lot of silence. I also asked for a breakdown of the cost, to which I couldn't get a straight answer there either. At this point, I told them to leave the car alone and let me think about it.
Now I'm not a master mechanic. An maybe Audi has some odd bypass system to help with pressure tests that I'm not in the loop on, but maybe somewhere here knows if I'm wrong on my thought process here? Any takers?
Either way, my wife and I reached out to another dealer and a German repair specialist in the area of the dealer the car is at. we got a lower quote from the other audi dealer by about $600, which in my book is significant. However the German repair shop we also called knew the engine and system very well. I felt far more comfortable talking with them that I ever have speaking with Audi's technicians. The German repair shop quoted me $650 total if it's the T-stat and a bit less if it's just that coolant pipe. So the car is getting towed over there and we will see how this goes. I hate not doing the work myself, it's really bothering me having someone else's hands in the engine bay, but I feel a bit better letting this place doing the work. At this point I at least don't feel like I'm being bent over in the process. However, we will see once the work is done.
The real down side to all this is that I'm just a few weeks out from parting ways with the car as it is. I've enjoyed my last two audi's and my wife is still loving her 2nd audi (A3 E-tron), but I'm looking for a change. I'm going to go after some raw V8 muscle before they no longer being made. I need to scratch that itch as I grew up with them all around, but never owned one myself. Not to mention, I'm looking for something that will be much easier to maintain for the next 180k miles which will only take me about 5-6 years at my current driving rate. Simple push-rod engine fits the bill nicely and will be a welcome break from 2 hours of tear down just to get to simple things.
I have no doubt that once I have this out of my system that I'll return back to Audi though. I see another A6 or maybe and A8 in my future. Just gotta get this V8 craving outta my system while I'm still young and stupid enough to enjoy it. I am going to miss the interior quality something fierce though.
That night I looked into engine tear downs and such to get a better idea of where the leak was coming from. I had squeezed the upper rad hose and could hear an air/water sucking/gurggle from somewhere right behind where the host connects to the front of the engine. Looking more into that I found it connects to a plastic hard line that connects to the block right behind that area and also runs over to the other side of the engine and connects to the block there as well. being that it's plastic I I figure for 183k miles and all those heat cycles, thats not bad and has lasted a good long time. Not too bad to swap out though the SC prollie needs to come off to deal with it correctly. more research shows it's about a 3-4 hour job, no different than replacing the T-stat/water pump. I factor parts and Audi current labor rate at $177 an hour for my area and I should be somewhere around 800-900 in cost. i'm not thrilled, but the price you pay to have the dealer do the job when you don't have the time.
3 days after I dropped the car off, I finally get some info back from the dealer (I had been calling to check). They think its the T-stat (which had been replaced under the recall at 95k) and quote me a repair bill of $1,700. After I had a mental WTF moment I asked how the figured the Tstat. They said they ran a pressure test. I asked if they did this with the car at temp, to which the said no because of the leak. So I then asked how you can run and propper pressure test on a cold car with an obvious leak and figure the tstat is at fault when it stats closed when cold? I got a lot of silence. I also asked for a breakdown of the cost, to which I couldn't get a straight answer there either. At this point, I told them to leave the car alone and let me think about it.
Now I'm not a master mechanic. An maybe Audi has some odd bypass system to help with pressure tests that I'm not in the loop on, but maybe somewhere here knows if I'm wrong on my thought process here? Any takers?
Either way, my wife and I reached out to another dealer and a German repair specialist in the area of the dealer the car is at. we got a lower quote from the other audi dealer by about $600, which in my book is significant. However the German repair shop we also called knew the engine and system very well. I felt far more comfortable talking with them that I ever have speaking with Audi's technicians. The German repair shop quoted me $650 total if it's the T-stat and a bit less if it's just that coolant pipe. So the car is getting towed over there and we will see how this goes. I hate not doing the work myself, it's really bothering me having someone else's hands in the engine bay, but I feel a bit better letting this place doing the work. At this point I at least don't feel like I'm being bent over in the process. However, we will see once the work is done.
The real down side to all this is that I'm just a few weeks out from parting ways with the car as it is. I've enjoyed my last two audi's and my wife is still loving her 2nd audi (A3 E-tron), but I'm looking for a change. I'm going to go after some raw V8 muscle before they no longer being made. I need to scratch that itch as I grew up with them all around, but never owned one myself. Not to mention, I'm looking for something that will be much easier to maintain for the next 180k miles which will only take me about 5-6 years at my current driving rate. Simple push-rod engine fits the bill nicely and will be a welcome break from 2 hours of tear down just to get to simple things.
I have no doubt that once I have this out of my system that I'll return back to Audi though. I see another A6 or maybe and A8 in my future. Just gotta get this V8 craving outta my system while I'm still young and stupid enough to enjoy it. I am going to miss the interior quality something fierce though.
03-27-2018, 11:30 AM
#178
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Join Date: Aug 2014
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I feel ya, I also really wanted a V8 so traded the A6 for an S6... Just sayin’ 
Joking aside, can’t really go wrong with a Mustang GT or Camaro/Chevy SS either.
Joking aside, can’t really go wrong with a Mustang GT or Camaro/Chevy SS either.
03-27-2018, 04:54 PM
#179
AudiWorld Senior Member
Cal best of luck with the new direction you are headed. It has been good to have the benefit of your reports as miles have accumulated -- helpful to all of us here. I'd say that at 183K the A6 has served you pretty well and at this point in time owes you nothing. I feel this way about my daily driver trusty 04 Acura TL with 164K on the clock which has been extremely trouble-free and reliable. Everything has a finite life and I'd say you are there on the A6. IMHO a good time to move on to something newer. Take care.
Best,
Jeff
Best,
Jeff
03-27-2018, 07:30 PM
#180
AudiWorld Member
Thread Starter
Tinbad - Don't think for a moment that I didn't start out looking at S6's. However, the noise it makes just isn't what I'm after. I'm looking to pick up a 2018 Challenger ScatPack or SRT. Either way, I'm after that 392ci motor and NA 485hp. Is it the greatest car out there, nope. Is it simple to work on, you bet your **** it is.
Acuransa - I appreciate the kind words and agree that the car has done a wonderful job and I'm not even mad that she finally had an issue. I'll still be around. Wife still has her Etron and I'll lurk here and speak up when I feel I can add to the conversation. I still lurk in the C5 A6's forums as I had a 2001 2.7t A6 that had 230k on it when I let it go. Now you talk about a PITA to work on.
I see this as a temp break from a long time relationship. I've been driving and working on VW's and Audis for over 20 years an I just need short hall pass to try something else out before coming back to what I know and love. Oh, along wit the etron, we still have an 89' VW Cabriolet and a 88' VW Scirocco in the stable. So the challenger will be more like a sidechick.
Acuransa - I appreciate the kind words and agree that the car has done a wonderful job and I'm not even mad that she finally had an issue. I'll still be around. Wife still has her Etron and I'll lurk here and speak up when I feel I can add to the conversation. I still lurk in the C5 A6's forums as I had a 2001 2.7t A6 that had 230k on it when I let it go. Now you talk about a PITA to work on.
I see this as a temp break from a long time relationship. I've been driving and working on VW's and Audis for over 20 years an I just need short hall pass to try something else out before coming back to what I know and love. Oh, along wit the etron, we still have an 89' VW Cabriolet and a 88' VW Scirocco in the stable. So the challenger will be more like a sidechick.
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