Myaudia8

What kind gas you been using for your car? More expensive like Shell V-PowerŽ NiTRO+ ?

landjb4u

Shell is the first choice. Exxon Mobil if not shell. Sunoco when trapped in the NJ turnpike.

AugustHorch

What I had feared, happened today: Received the call to let me know that all the parts are in and working, however to take out the fuel tank, the rear suspension had to be removed entirely and that it may take until the end of day, Monday, for them to reassemble and perform the wheel alignment. This is such a ridiculous design - my "Assembled in Germany" vehicle is now being partially reassembled in California, outside of Audi's factory. No accidents, no issues or mistakes on my part to have caused this. A bad batch of fuel sensors that is now probably costing Audi (under warranty) several thousand dollars in replacement costs, per vehicle. I'm disappointed.

RED HORSE

One of the things that really worried me was if the technician would retorque all the connectors to spec when they reassembled the frame, or would they simply use a torque stick on an air gun and screw stuff back together as quickly as they could. I used mine primarily on the road and the idea of something coming lose at 80+ was more than a little unnerving. Plus, how many tanks do you thing this particular technician has removed and replaced? This was especially true when I saw the technicians report that the alignment had to be repeated to get the car going down the road straight.

My first and my last Audi. It was probably the most enjoyable and comfortable car to drive on the road I've ever had, but no more Audis for me, back to Porsches.

MP4.2+6.0

FWIW, having been in the Ingolstadt factory in 2013, guess what? They use battery screw guns and probably torque sticks for most everything where the screw gun doesn't have a click to torque setting head to start with, even 5 years ago now. Sort of reminds you of a ginormous Makita/Milwaukee battery tool demo extravaganza...though there probably more Bosch... Nothing remotely like when I was in the same factory in 1985, when it was a lot closer to old school. Only the heaviest stuff like wheel bolts and such get air or hydraulic tools, and again it is all push a machine button and go. 5 lug bolts are automatically fed and pre loaded, and then tightened literally together, by a machine. Operator's only job is to pull the huge machine head by its articulated arm to the hub area to locate it. Literally no work station I saw on the whole tour had anything remotely like a torque wrench, or any other measurement tools for that matter. There were measuring/sighting lasers visible when the automated machine was loading and setting windshields, with literally no human being anywhere near that step. Probably similar in body build--which we only saw some of.

The D bodies are built in Neckarsulm, but that really relates to anything aluminum gets done there, from small models up to D size. Basically for the mechanical stuff it is robotized as much as possible. The precision probably comes in with the now technicians who tune the machines and such. The folks on the floor meantime tend to be doing one of a handful of things: loading parts into automated machines, monitoring the machines in action, interior assembly and some alignment of heaviest parts-whole drivetrain assembly to body, wheels to hubs, etc. There are side aisles where a lot of subassemblies are built up, which we didn't see, but I expect again as much automation as practical, plus various cross platform sharing.

My guess is for higher volume Porsche's, pretty much the same. Probably more so for any of the Porsche plants in former East Germany, which are a lot newer than either Ingolstadt or Neckarsulm--German unification tax dollars (handouts) at work. Also likely more so with the ones that have parts and drivetrain commonality with Audi, which are basically most anything front engine to my mind.

Meantime, yes pretty dumb design, more so knowing D3 fuel pumps and such would go out as they aged. They got rid of some of the saddle tank related pump complexity from D3, but still not service free. Enjoyed putting my arm deep in a Mercedes early millennium 100K road miles fuel tank for another replace exercise, though the more conventional access from above.

For OP, also know FWIW on mine (2015) where fuel gauge did not read accurately post fill for about 50 miles at times, they refreshed the ECU. Same thing was occurring with RS7's, with same fix. It has acted up once since, but generally reads fine. No CEL, whether this or anything else.

AugustHorch

I now have the same worries as RED HORSE - and I haven't even picked up the car yet. A colleague of mine had to have the entire drivetrain on his Porsche replaced (by a Porsche dealer). Within a few days, while driving on the freeway, one of the brake lines - which wasn't tightened to spec by the dealer - came lose causing him to loose his brakes. He managed to safely exit the freeway and through sheer luck (green lights) managed to keep driving until slowing down the vehicle through downshifting. I don't intend to feel uncomfortable or unsafe in a $100K+ vehicle that is only 20 months old. I've been driving exclusively Audis for the past 14 years - not sure if this experience is encouraging me to keep at it.

MP4.2+6.0

One suggestion: Typical Audi and VW spec for anything suspension, carrier/subframe or brake related is every bolt or nut that is touched gets replaced. That ensures new fit and resistance, corrosion coating intact, and so on. Various suspension and subframe type bolts are also torque to yield (TTY), which like stretch bolts are intended for single use only. At a minimum, look at the work order when you pick it up and expect to see a long list of bit parts like these. None will have prices if under warranty, but they should have the part # and basic description. If you want to go a step further, ask service advisor to have them hold the parts for you, at least to see. They may give you the bit parts; at least the bigger stuff may have to be returned to Audi to support the warranty claim. Even if you simply ask to see them, that is likely going to telegraph to the mechanic on the job to pay a little more attention and do it "by the book." Holding parts for inspection shouldn't be foreign to them. At least here in CA, for any non-warranty work a mechanic is required to give them to the customer upon request. They may tell you under warranty they don't need to give them to you (which is true), but nothing precludes them from letting you have a look see. You can also just say directly you want to confirm first person that any relevant bolts, nuts and other bits have indeed been changed per std. Audi service documentation.

RED HORSE

MP4, I wasn't worried about the factory work, I was worried about the work at the dealer.

MP4.2+6.0

My point is the tools like torque sticks or battery driver equivalents you worry at dealer are essentially there on the factory floor in D4 build era.

For more reality check, only when we asked directly did the polite tour Fraulein also confirm the German Biere taps were (2013) indeed still there. Found some later peeking into a break room on the side of the line right near final drive off. In 1985 they were on the side of the body production floor, along with the soda dispensers. ...Besides the cafeteria of course with the mugs. Part of the std. German labor contract, regardless of make. But the tour lady assured us they were "very safe."

AugustHorch

There is nothing wrong with beer taps. I think our collective concerns are with an over-worked technician who doesn't necessarily spend every day screwing D4 suspensions in-place. I'd be even more worried if he was having a beer on the job.

I've followed your advice and left a message for the service advisor to provide me with as much detail and parts, as possible. We'll see...