Hello,

I bought a 2016 Audi Q5 3.0T about a month ago from a used car dealer in Canada. The car was owned by one owner, well taken care of and had low mileage (~107k km). The car performed well on the test drive so my wife and I decided to buy it. On the drive home, the “add 1L of oil” light came on the dash. There was a sticker on the windshield showing that the oil needed to be changed. So, I thought no biggie, I’ll just get the oil changed by my mechanic, so I did. A few days later, the “add 1L of oil” light comes on and long story short my mechanic changed the oil pan because it looked corroded and a wheel bearing needed to be done. $1200 later, I got my car back. My mechanic said that when he drained the oil from the oil pan it was “very dirty and there was some metal glitter in it”. He recommended doing an engine flush after 1000km of driving. But I was not sure about this. He ended up reusing the oil so maybe the pan that he collected the oil in was a little dirty?

I was very concerned about this and called the dealer I purchased it from. He was nice about it and thought it was unusual since the car was well maintained and cared for. He found the corroded oil pan unusual as well since they did an inspection and oil change before he put the car on sale and didn’t find anything wrong with it. I thought the sticker on the windshield was for the mileage the oil was due, but it was the mileage at which it was changed.

Now, I drove a couple hundred kms and the “add 1L of oil” comes on the dash again. I added 1L of oil and I noticed it only filled to about 3/8 or ˝ of the level on the MMI. At this point I was checking the oil while I was driving. Which I understand now is not accurate.

So, I got in touch with the dealer and he asked me to bring the car to his mechanic. I brought it there and his mechanic thought the PCV was the problem (and so did I) after lots of research. His mechanic said he’d call me back because he had to find where to source the PCV.

I drove the car a bit that week and I took a little road trip and drove about 300-450km before the oil light came on again, so I added more oil. This time I noted the mileage that I added oil.

A week passed and I didn’t get a call back from his mechanic. I called the dealer and asked what was going on. He said he spoke with some Audi techs and other “specialists”, and they said that these cars just burn oil and that the PCV is not really an issue on this car. I found this VERY odd since a quick google search shows that the main culprits for oil consumption are PCV and carbon in the piston rings. According to them, because these engines are supercharged, the oil just gets pushed out of the seals and the cars have a large oil capacity to account for oil loss. The add 1L of oil light says you may cont. driving, as if the engineers accounted for this.

He spoke with the previous owner and she said that yes, the car consumed oil and she would add it as needed and she even said that I was being a baby, no joke.

In an effort to remedy the situation, he gave me a few options.

1. He’d give me 600$ to cover the cost of oil and Id keep the car.

2. He’d look for another car and we can trade this one for it.

3. I could just return the car.

He said this is a very reliable engine and that he knows some Audi techs that will buy the car if I end up returning it because they love this engine.

He said I can have some time to think about it and decide. I told him I want to drive it for a few hundred km to monitor the oil consumption. So far, I drove about 200km somewhat spirited, and the oil is still showing full if I measure it with engine warm and off after a few minutes. If I measure it with the engine on, it shows about 7/8, but I don’t think this is accurate. My plan is to drive it for the next 2 weeks as much as possible and if the oil level stays ok, I think I’ll keep it.

Apparently, Audi says that 1L/1000 miles (1600 km) is “normal” but that sounds crazy to me. But I guess this is part of owning a car with a performance engine.

I’m just curious, what would you guys do in this situation? The car is well maintained, water pump was done at Audi 20k km ago and the timing chain only has a .5 second rattle on start up when sitting overnight and I think besides the oil issue, it’s a great car for our young family.

Should I maybe try a piston soak? Maybe Valvoline restore and protect oil? Is the PCV really the culprit here? Should I try to push the dealer to change that? Just looking for some help here.

 

If you really like the Q5 and bought it at an extremely low price I would take it to the Audi dealer for a proper diagnosis. If bad news return it. You can get a PCV valve with ease, they need to remove the supercharger that is most likely what is stalling them. If the dealer you bought the Q5 from and your mechanic don’t really understand an Audi you will be throwing away money.

A PCV valve change at the dealer could cost $3K(US).

Start adding it up $1200, $3K, plus you don’t know if the piston rings are shot $$$, a 10 year old Q5 may need front suppension changed due to just aged bushings about $5K at a Audi dealer, maybe just return and look for a better one.

I’m shocked that your mechanic drained the oil, saw metallic particles in the drained oil, and dumped it back into the engine distributing those particles in the upper portion of the engine.

 

Thanks for the response Bob. I think we got a good deal for it, but unfortunately I don't think I have the stomach to deal with these kinds of headaches. So I'll return it. I just wanted a fun, reliable car and I think this one is going to give me lots of trouble in the future. It sucks, but I think its the smart thing to do.