Maintenance time...
Looks like i have the "infamous" oil cooler - coolant leak, and it would appear at first glance that there is oil leaking from my transmission (very very small trace amounts) - but that would make me suspect that the main seal from the engine needs to be replaced.
and need i say my car just hit 83,000 miles... so here comes the big service!!
luckily i have an extended warrenty, so they will be doing the main seal and the oil cooler leak on the warrenty, but $2300 for my 85k mile service... damn!!!
- ordering one front driveshaft to cure a vibration, then deciding it was from the other side, then that it was normal.
Yes, they are generally friendly and want to get it right. I realize two anecdotes may not describe fairly their overall quality, and that all shops have their glitches, but I wish the accuracy of their diagnoses had matched the confidence with which they were delivered.
Autohaus Vick was good when I lived in the area, and they look after enough high mileage A8s to have learned some of their quirks. When my 2001 put oil in the coolant at about 110,000 miles, Autohaus Vick on the phone said without head scratching that the 5V oil cooler will do that when its O-rings get old, and that it's the most common cause.
Tom



