End of '04 A8 Warranty .. What should I have the Dealer do?
01-14-2008, 08:39 AM
#1
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End of '04 A8 Warranty .. What should I have the Dealer do?
Ok . .my wonderful 2004 A8 Warranty will be ending next month. Of course, I have an extended in place . .but it's not as good as the original. So, I am taking her in to get everything possible done.
Brakes, Pads, Discs, etc?
Anyting else?
Will Dealer be ready and willing . or wil they give me flack if I still have some wear left on the Brakes, etc?
Brakes, Pads, Discs, etc?
Anyting else?
Will Dealer be ready and willing . or wil they give me flack if I still have some wear left on the Brakes, etc?
01-14-2008, 09:25 AM
#2
Re: End of '04 A8 Warranty .. What should I have the Dealer do?
The dealer "ain't" going to do the brakes/pads/disc/rotors under the free MA stuff, unless they are "below" the "specs" that says they have to.
So go drive around with your foot on the brakes, but of course the engine cuts out whilst giving gas and applying brake pedal pressure at the same time, so forget that suggestion. LOL!
So go drive around with your foot on the brakes, but of course the engine cuts out whilst giving gas and applying brake pedal pressure at the same time, so forget that suggestion. LOL!
01-14-2008, 09:50 AM
#3
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The Brake light did come on a couple days ago
Hopefully they are getting to under spec .. if not .. maybe hitting the parking brake while doing 20 or so .. will inch them along ...
I do ge some noise out of the brakes on occasion . maybe this will work?
I do ge some noise out of the brakes on occasion . maybe this will work?
01-14-2008, 11:47 AM
#5
Your's sounds like they are "there", however mine squeeled for the longest time and guess..
what, it didn't need a brake pad/disc/rotor job until my 55K service. Cost me plenty then. Hope you've been a "heavy" braker and the brake light surely is a good indicator. Anyway, guess you could get a read from a Brake-O.
01-14-2008, 05:56 PM
#6
AudiWorld Super User
More ideas from normal Audi trouble areas
In addition to what has been mentioned already (especially getting up to the latest rev in MMI):
1. Go over all the CV joint boots carefully looking for any grease leakage, splits, etc.
2. Go over all the front suspension components really carefully--tie rod ends, upper and lower arms, etc., looking for any wear or cracked bushings or grease covers. Note there is a recent TSB flagging control arm wear too. Very common wear area on Audi's that can add up to lots of $$ later if a shop does it.
3. Look at each shock assembly for any signs of any oil leakage.
4. Pull off both belly pans (front and tranny) and go over the car front to back looking for any leaks of any fluids at the seals--oil at the oil pan, tranny fluid at the tranny pan, any leaks at the rear or side seals of the differential in front or the rear diff. Check all power steering lines, pump and rack for fluid leakage signs. Look for any signs of coolant leaks--often a powdery residue. Make sure all pumps and motors (P/S, A/C, alternator, water, etc.) aren't making any apparent funny noises.
5. Go over every accessory, every switch and every bulb to be sure all works.
6. Check function of all door, trunk electrics, sunroof, seat electrics, window switches at all doors, and key remotes.
7. If you are compulsive enough, read every TSB that applies to your car. If you don't keep up with them, my experience is they tend to identify a lot of the reliability weak spots. Typically they will do anything relevant in a TSB during warranty but not after. While you are at it, confirm all the service actions have been done. It's worth buying a subscription to Bentley on line or CD if you don't have it already for this.
8. Check for any small exhaust leaks--at joints typically or pinhole leaks developing at mufflers (doesn't seem common on newer Audi's I have had for reference).
If you spend the time on ##1-8 above (or pay an indie mechanic for a thorough check), you may find things months or a year before they become readily apparent. Many of the hits on the suspect list could be a grand, so worth a fine tooth comb review pre emptively. It's rare I have a car going off warranty--Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, Ford or whatever--where I haven't found something like these that made it worth my while.
Oh yeah, finally get your last "every two years" brake fluid change--great preventative maintenance that Audi includes during the service period.
1. Go over all the CV joint boots carefully looking for any grease leakage, splits, etc.
2. Go over all the front suspension components really carefully--tie rod ends, upper and lower arms, etc., looking for any wear or cracked bushings or grease covers. Note there is a recent TSB flagging control arm wear too. Very common wear area on Audi's that can add up to lots of $$ later if a shop does it.
3. Look at each shock assembly for any signs of any oil leakage.
4. Pull off both belly pans (front and tranny) and go over the car front to back looking for any leaks of any fluids at the seals--oil at the oil pan, tranny fluid at the tranny pan, any leaks at the rear or side seals of the differential in front or the rear diff. Check all power steering lines, pump and rack for fluid leakage signs. Look for any signs of coolant leaks--often a powdery residue. Make sure all pumps and motors (P/S, A/C, alternator, water, etc.) aren't making any apparent funny noises.
5. Go over every accessory, every switch and every bulb to be sure all works.
6. Check function of all door, trunk electrics, sunroof, seat electrics, window switches at all doors, and key remotes.
7. If you are compulsive enough, read every TSB that applies to your car. If you don't keep up with them, my experience is they tend to identify a lot of the reliability weak spots. Typically they will do anything relevant in a TSB during warranty but not after. While you are at it, confirm all the service actions have been done. It's worth buying a subscription to Bentley on line or CD if you don't have it already for this.
8. Check for any small exhaust leaks--at joints typically or pinhole leaks developing at mufflers (doesn't seem common on newer Audi's I have had for reference).
If you spend the time on ##1-8 above (or pay an indie mechanic for a thorough check), you may find things months or a year before they become readily apparent. Many of the hits on the suspect list could be a grand, so worth a fine tooth comb review pre emptively. It's rare I have a car going off warranty--Audi, Toyota, Chrysler, Ford or whatever--where I haven't found something like these that made it worth my while.
Oh yeah, finally get your last "every two years" brake fluid change--great preventative maintenance that Audi includes during the service period.
01-15-2008, 06:25 AM
#7
Here is a recap on my issues...
My 04 now has 51,000 miles on it and is out of the original warranty. I am on the extended plan now. But here is a recap of all the things that went wrong since buying the car at 21k.
1. Replaced brakes
2. Replaced trunk hinges ( will not shut properly )
3. Brake button broke ( dealer broke it )
4. Thermostat
5. Short on wiring for my vanity mirrors
6. MMI acted up ( dealer looked at but no service ).
Overall I only paid $200 in maintenance issue items and that was for alingement. You must seriously check everything on your car, including lights and all the speakers. Heck, tell them your brake squeeks.
1. Replaced brakes
2. Replaced trunk hinges ( will not shut properly )
3. Brake button broke ( dealer broke it )
4. Thermostat
5. Short on wiring for my vanity mirrors
6. MMI acted up ( dealer looked at but no service ).
Overall I only paid $200 in maintenance issue items and that was for alingement. You must seriously check everything on your car, including lights and all the speakers. Heck, tell them your brake squeeks.
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01-15-2008, 09:16 AM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
See the above post about the overheating and thermostat diagnosis; and here are more tips:
Note one of the service campaigns has buried in it some cooling system tweeaking--what appears to be a chemical cartridge inserted into the overflow bottle on a one time basis. Make sure your car has gotten that one done.
Audi also went to G12+ recently (the purple stuff) instead of the next older pinkish red stuff, to further reduce chemical interactions I think. My 2006 has purple stuff. I don't know when cut over was. Doesn't really matter much, just know there is a difference. The pinkish stuff is already well regarded compared to the old bluish stuff (which looked green with any use) that Audi/VW phased out about 10 years ago.
As far as checks, the ones that can be done at home are:
1. Fill bottle to the appropriate lower fill line when cold. Then monitor water level. If it drops over say a week, something is up. If not, all of the follow on leak related checks I flag are irrelevant.
2. Visually inspect all accessible hoses, especially at any clamp points, either for leaks OR for general weakness. From prior experience, the pinkish/red fluid leaves a dry pinking residue when it burns off as a telltale sign. I'm guessing so does the purple stuff. Pulling off the lower belly pan can be quite helpful actually in detective work, not just to inspect from below, but to look at the pan to see what has dripped on it on the upper side if anything, and generally from where.
3. Pull off the rear cowl trim--where the HVAC filter is, and look at the heater related hoses and related components back there. On mine for example, just from some chalk type marks and other signs, I at least get the sense the dealer has been poking around back there (I bought CPO), which tells me to keep close track of any cooling and HVAC issues.
4. The obvious of course: any weird smells in the HVAC from inside, suggesting a heater core leak. Similarly, any unusual fogging of the inside of the windshield, particularly when it is warmer. Any sign of water in the oil (almost unheard of among modern Audis), suggesting blown head gasket, cracked block or head, and other nightmares. Same thing when exhaust steams on a warmer day after the usual cold warm up. All of these by definition need to be tied into a coolant level drop, so if no drop, no worries.
5. Really heat soak the car--hard to do in winter--but basically get it as hot as possible and confirm cooling system can handle it. Normal ways are idle it up to temp, do NOT run heater, lots of acceleration and greater revs, not high speed driving that lets it cool. Still very hard to get it there if it isn't warm outside. The old fashioned way was temporarily block the radiator with a piece of newspaper (while parked) and revving the motor to a few thousand RPM, but if you go there, know in general what you are doing and watch the temp very carefully. If you aren't familiar with it, the basic shadetree mechanic approach was to get it heated up with the newspaper blockage in place, get the fans and everything to kick in, then promptly pull off the paper with it running and make sure the cooling system promptly brings the running temp. back down without struggling, that the booster fans kick off (and on in the first place) in a sensible way, etc. Repeat a feww times to ensure consistency, being careful to never overheat the car though by leaving the newspaper on too long. What you are doing conceptually is similar to stop and go driving under high temp conditions. The part it is still missing is the outside air temp in winter allows a much faster cool down and hood open allows some underhood heat to escape. Before starting, check to see if any fan runs with the HVAC off at lower temps; I don't know off hand. When it is hot, all the fans will have kicked on at full speed, at least some will shut off or step down to lower speed when temp. falls. Unlike most of the others, this one gets at the electrics side of the system function too--sensors, valves, etc., plus the thermostat. For reference, I would not normally do this newspaper induced test as part of even a pretty detailed inspection unless I already thought something was up.
Audi also went to G12+ recently (the purple stuff) instead of the next older pinkish red stuff, to further reduce chemical interactions I think. My 2006 has purple stuff. I don't know when cut over was. Doesn't really matter much, just know there is a difference. The pinkish stuff is already well regarded compared to the old bluish stuff (which looked green with any use) that Audi/VW phased out about 10 years ago.
As far as checks, the ones that can be done at home are:
1. Fill bottle to the appropriate lower fill line when cold. Then monitor water level. If it drops over say a week, something is up. If not, all of the follow on leak related checks I flag are irrelevant.
2. Visually inspect all accessible hoses, especially at any clamp points, either for leaks OR for general weakness. From prior experience, the pinkish/red fluid leaves a dry pinking residue when it burns off as a telltale sign. I'm guessing so does the purple stuff. Pulling off the lower belly pan can be quite helpful actually in detective work, not just to inspect from below, but to look at the pan to see what has dripped on it on the upper side if anything, and generally from where.
3. Pull off the rear cowl trim--where the HVAC filter is, and look at the heater related hoses and related components back there. On mine for example, just from some chalk type marks and other signs, I at least get the sense the dealer has been poking around back there (I bought CPO), which tells me to keep close track of any cooling and HVAC issues.
4. The obvious of course: any weird smells in the HVAC from inside, suggesting a heater core leak. Similarly, any unusual fogging of the inside of the windshield, particularly when it is warmer. Any sign of water in the oil (almost unheard of among modern Audis), suggesting blown head gasket, cracked block or head, and other nightmares. Same thing when exhaust steams on a warmer day after the usual cold warm up. All of these by definition need to be tied into a coolant level drop, so if no drop, no worries.
5. Really heat soak the car--hard to do in winter--but basically get it as hot as possible and confirm cooling system can handle it. Normal ways are idle it up to temp, do NOT run heater, lots of acceleration and greater revs, not high speed driving that lets it cool. Still very hard to get it there if it isn't warm outside. The old fashioned way was temporarily block the radiator with a piece of newspaper (while parked) and revving the motor to a few thousand RPM, but if you go there, know in general what you are doing and watch the temp very carefully. If you aren't familiar with it, the basic shadetree mechanic approach was to get it heated up with the newspaper blockage in place, get the fans and everything to kick in, then promptly pull off the paper with it running and make sure the cooling system promptly brings the running temp. back down without struggling, that the booster fans kick off (and on in the first place) in a sensible way, etc. Repeat a feww times to ensure consistency, being careful to never overheat the car though by leaving the newspaper on too long. What you are doing conceptually is similar to stop and go driving under high temp conditions. The part it is still missing is the outside air temp in winter allows a much faster cool down and hood open allows some underhood heat to escape. Before starting, check to see if any fan runs with the HVAC off at lower temps; I don't know off hand. When it is hot, all the fans will have kicked on at full speed, at least some will shut off or step down to lower speed when temp. falls. Unlike most of the others, this one gets at the electrics side of the system function too--sensors, valves, etc., plus the thermostat. For reference, I would not normally do this newspaper induced test as part of even a pretty detailed inspection unless I already thought something was up.
