What should I do with this repair?

[Nickberto]

Long story short one year ago I’ve got this not very brilliant idea to buy a second hand Audi.

Drove the first month I notice something strange, every 100 Km the car “ ate” 1 lt of oil. Simply insane.

After visit 5 repair shops I got the verdict, Audi completely mistake the engine design and fix their production mistake cost 100.000 thb. 
After almost one year since the repair and 15.000 km, I can say the engine eating oil problem was fixed but yesterday I saw oil leaking, took today and the mechanic agree to fix it for free as still under his warranty for the expensive job done.

In the picture you can see he put some black silicone and give a wipe to the oil leaks.

now I’m not a professional mechanic but look like he doesn’t fix anything and only postponed the problem. And I believe the reason doing that is that would be expensive to fix and he doesn’t want to reseal the engine as he should have done ( and was paid)1 year ago. 
should I take the car again and complain him? Should I keep it like that? And he if refuse, how long can last a job like that?

[problemfarang]

Im not a pro but it seemed to me he just closed the leak with some proper stuff.

 

But you are right. It will take you for a year maybe. In my opinion he should change it. Take it back and tell him you are not happy with this and ask for a better solution.

 

Or you can wait and see. Whatever happens it will be still in waranty because he repaired it. If something happens from the same place/location it means his work was not good and should do better or even change the part. Observe it every day.

 

Good luck

 

[driver52]

holy smoly, looks like a gasket leak and he tried to fix it with some sealant ????

what engine is it? you should probs post on a vw/audi forum for more expert advice

[Nickberto]

40 minutes ago, driver52 said:

holy smoly, looks like a gasket leak and he tried to fix it with some sealant ????

what engine is it? you should probs post on a vw/audi forum for more expert advice

2.0 T with 211 hp and 4 cylinder 

Today he kept the car half day and i hoped he fixed it better than that.

I will give him a call but I’m pretty sure he will say :” mai pen rai, it’s fixed ( for now)”

Edited August 2, 2021 by Nickberto

[Kwasaki]

8 hours ago, Nickberto said:

2.0 T with 211 hp and 4 cylinder 

Today he kept the car half day and i hoped he fixed it better than that.

I will give him a call but I’m pretty sure he will say :” mai pen rai, it’s fixed ( for now)”

How did you go about getting the initial oil usage repair done.? 

[transam]

That is a lash-up...????

[bbko]

Sell that money pit to some other sucker before it start leaking again.

[petermik]

8 hours ago, transam said:

That is a lash-up...????

nah trans...a sticky up....LOL

[canthai55]

6 hours ago, transam said:

That is a lash-up...????

Welcome back

[rumak]

6 hours ago, transam said:

That is a lash-up...????

must be pretty bad OP ........... the photo literally raised the dead

[driver52]

15 hours ago, Nickberto said:

2.0 T with 211 hp and 4 cylinder 

ok so it's probably an EA888........try and find out what model it is ie CAWA, CAWB, CBFA, CCTA, CCTB etc

Have a look in the boot, there might be a sticker under the carpet then go on the proper VW forums and find out about gasket problems with that engine

THEN armed with your new found knowledge you can hopefully have a decent conversation with your mechanic about it

Good luck!

[Nickberto]

9 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

How did you go about getting the initial oil usage repair done.? 

I don’t understand sorry

[Nickberto]

2 hours ago, driver52 said:

ok so it's probably an EA888........try and find out what model it is ie CAWA, CAWB, CBFA, CCTA, CCTB etc

Have a look in the boot, there might be a sticker under the carpet then go on the proper VW forums and find out about gasket problems with that engine

THEN armed with your new found knowledge you can hopefully have a decent conversation with your mechanic about it

Good luck!

As he speaks Thai only I let my wife talk.
So I ask him to do a proper repair and he told me the spare parts for my Audi ( 10 years old already) aren’t available anymore. Sounds a <deleted> as 1) he let me pay the same part 1 year ago and now unavailable?2) if I give him a car without leaks and he turn out to be a car with leaks it’s not ok. 

he send me a picture of what he uses and that would last around 2 years maybe less. Put this silicone again would cost 2/3.000 thb.

I spoke with my Thai uncle who used to work for Toyota here and he told me that’s pretty normal to fix a leak like this here.

 

I will let him search for me the code of this parts and try to get in Europe and shipped to me. Then I would let him put it again for free. Let’s see if I can do it 

Edited August 3, 2021 by Nickberto

[Nickberto]

9 hours ago, bbko said:

Sell that money pit to some other sucker before it start leaking again.

That was the idea as I :” invest” in 1 year over 200.000 thb and still not change the 4 tyres which are 20 inch (9000 thb per tyre).

 

thai people really dislike Audi and the few interested they told me I should arrange finance for them but I’m not a second hand car dealer so I can’t.

the only one real interested agree a price and after a few days just before delivery tell me he was interest but for 100.000 thb less and you can imagine where I told him to put his discount.

Prices online for the few Audi available in Thailand with same age and km ( not over 4/5 cars)aren’t far from what I paid ( and surely km aren’t real or maintained same mine)but advertised online I got only calls from dealers that offer 50% or less than retail price.

I’ve also tryed to exchange it for a new Benz, dealer offered me again 50% less than what I paid a few months earlier and again I walk away.

 

 The question is :”What am I going to buy if I can sell it?”. Another second hand car with the risk to get more expensive problem to fix?
I drove 15.000 km and the only cost was 5.000 thb for change oil and filters.
water pump, timing belt, shock absorber and half engine is new so car should be ok for many km.
In one year pay only that amount for standard maintenance and the gasoline it’s not too much Imho…until something else broken down probably lol.

[Kwasaki]

37 minutes ago, Nickberto said:

I don’t understand sorry

Well if Audi paid for the initial oil engine fault then whoever carried out the re-call work would be responsible for the work they did as it was paid for by Audi.

So contact Audi and complain about the guys garage that did the so called repair, he sounds like a con-artist e.g. you don't get a competent engineer putting black mastic or black oil sealer to fix something like the oil leakage that you got after so called previous call-back work was done. get it.

 

[Nickberto]

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Well if Audi paid for the initial oil engine fault then whoever carried out the re-call work would be responsible for the work they did as it was paid for by Audi.

So contact Audi and complain about the guys garage that did the so called repair, he sounds like a con-artist e.g. you don't get a competent engineer putting black mastic or black oil sealer to fix something like the oil leakage that you got after so called previous call-back work was done. get it.

 

No it’s not like that.

Audi, worldwide and not only here( I read many forums already) never take the responsibility for completely mistake the design of the cylinder that eventually burn huge amount of oil, Audi also write in the maintenance book that use 1 lt of oil every 5000 km is completely normal. 
My bad I didn’t know it happen anything about this but was a big scandal especially because in Europe, if you wanted to fix this problem in an official Audi repair they asked an astonishing 5.000 or more euro.

Problem that was their fault 100% but they simply don’t care or accept their wrongdoing.
Some people involved lawyers but mainly Audi get away without any re-call or compensation also because happened only for this gasoline engine and for a couple of years, probably also not a top seller if you compare to the same engine but diesel.

So ten years later the few cars still around or they to pay for fix( nobody) or still not fixed and move the problem from one owner to another. I’ve bought a car that used more oil than gasoline and I was so <deleted> of with the seller( that surely knew the situation but didn’t warn me)that he agreed to pay for half of the repair.

a nice first purchase in the Los…but at the time I thought was the car that i was looking for and I probably rush too much.

The spec on paper were good:

one only owner with not many km ( I let later the mechanic check if they were real and he said yes), a few problem ( shock absorber to change and some nasty scratch on the side)that helped me to get a discount ( every other car I went to check or had 4/5 previous owner, too many km,sketchy or no maintenance, seller didn’t want to discount 1 thb even with the parking full of cars and covid 19 situation and didn’t let me try the car or let me take a mechanic here for check)

 

Another problem that I didn’t know was that the car was grey market import ( I’m not sure 10 years ago have already an officiali Audi Thailand) so I couldn’t  take it to repair at Audi Thailand or buy any spare parts from them ( Porsche has the same policy here in Thailand)

A quick research and I found 3 shops specialized in Audi with positive review ( and at the one that I eventually choose, doesn’t matter what day of the week you go, he always have one or more of my specific model for fix… not a good sign).

So i start to take the car there and I let him fix for me everything, until yesterday I can’t complaint him too much.

Others shops I found who can deal with exotic cars or take months for a repair  (they need to order the parts but him has a stock ready available)or ask 3/5 times more than him for the same job.
I am aware this car it’s a money pit and I would never see that money back so i’m not avoiding any fix but trying to keep the cost sustainable.

 

I’ve learn many things in 1 year that I would prefer knew before buy it and I would never expect a German brand so difficult or so expensive to take care. Lesson learned 

Next time sure I would buy a  Japanese car same the wife’s Suzuki Swift that almost every shop can fix for few thb and have cheap spare parts.

 

sorry for the long post but maybe can help somebody in the future to make a reasoned choice.

[canthai55]

7 hours ago, Nickberto said:

 I would never expect a German brand so difficult or so expensive to take care. Lesson learned

Sorry for your trouble.

It is not just Audi - BMW and MB are well known to be very poor build quality and very expensive to fix.

BMW I know from experience, with their use of plastic for most underhood parts, are a real problem.

In Canada they are very cheap to buy second hand for this reason.

Only way to go there is to lease one, or be able to fix it yourself. But the parts prices are out of this world too.

 

[sezze]

You are in Asia , anything imported costs a lot of money . Why is every car on the road a Toyota , Nissan , Isuzu , Mazda ? Everybody got them , locally made , easy and cheap spare parts , and not to forget , many shops do have experience working on it .

[bojo]

So, OP, the 'engine oil eating problem' that you mention initially by the sound of it, could possibly be different from your current problem of a leaking sump gasket (couldn't tell exactly from pics) which he has fixed with a sealant. Nothing wrong with that, quite common in older cars.................Personally I have bought and sold loads of Audis and one model in particular burns sooooh much oil (google it). The A1 1.4 TFSI 185bhp, 2011/12, a rare model that can burn about a litre every 1000 miles. There was a fix (under warranty) for some lucky customers, but it's generally accepted that this model just burns a load of oil. It is an extremely fast hatchback and Audi is renowned anyway for high engine oil consumption.............................regardless of what your issue is, if it solves the problem for now, great, and if it starts leaking again, consider selling it on as posters have suggested or just keep fixing it if you are attached to it...............................

[Kwasaki]

10 hours ago, Nickberto said:

No it’s not like that.

Audi, worldwide and not only here( I read many forums already) never take the responsibility for completely mistake the design of the cylinder that eventually burn huge amount of oil, Audi also write in the maintenance book that use 1 lt of oil every 5000 km is completely normal. 
My bad I didn’t know it happen anything about this but was a big scandal especially because in Europe, if you wanted to fix this problem in an official Audi repair they asked an astonishing 5.000 or more euro.

Problem that was their fault 100% but they simply don’t care or accept their wrongdoing.
Some people involved lawyers but mainly Audi get away without any re-call or compensation also because happened only for this gasoline engine and for a couple of years, probably also not a top seller if you compare to the same engine but diesel.

So ten years later the few cars still around or they to pay for fix( nobody) or still not fixed and move the problem from one owner to another. I’ve bought a car that used more oil than gasoline and I was so <deleted> of with the seller( that surely knew the situation but didn’t warn me)that he agreed to pay for half of the repair.

a nice first purchase in the Los…but at the time I thought was the car that i was looking for and I probably rush too much.

The spec on paper were good:

one only owner with not many km ( I let later the mechanic check if they were real and he said yes), a few problem ( shock absorber to change and some nasty scratch on the side)that helped me to get a discount ( every other car I went to check or had 4/5 previous owner, too many km,sketchy or no maintenance, seller didn’t want to discount 1 thb even with the parking full of cars and covid 19 situation and didn’t let me try the car or let me take a mechanic here for check)

 

Another problem that I didn’t know was that the car was grey market import ( I’m not sure 10 years ago have already an officiali Audi Thailand) so I couldn’t  take it to repair at Audi Thailand or buy any spare parts from them ( Porsche has the same policy here in Thailand)

A quick research and I found 3 shops specialized in Audi with positive review ( and at the one that I eventually choose, doesn’t matter what day of the week you go, he always have one or more of my specific model for fix… not a good sign).

So i start to take the car there and I let him fix for me everything, until yesterday I can’t complaint him too much.

Others shops I found who can deal with exotic cars or take months for a repair  (they need to order the parts but him has a stock ready available)or ask 3/5 times more than him for the same job.
I am aware this car it’s a money pit and I would never see that money back so i’m not avoiding any fix but trying to keep the cost sustainable.

 

I’ve learn many things in 1 year that I would prefer knew before buy it and I would never expect a German brand so difficult or so expensive to take care. Lesson learned 

Next time sure I would buy a  Japanese car same the wife’s Suzuki Swift that almost every shop can fix for few thb and have cheap spare parts.

 

sorry for the long post but maybe can help somebody in the future to make a reasoned choice.

Thanks for your reply and sorry for your Audi horror story. 

 

Well I guess from other posters you have had suggestion as what to do. 

 

For me if I wanted to keep the car because they are a nice car and fast too so my advice would be. 

 

1.  I'd go with Castrol GTX oil and at every oil change I would keep the drained oil as top up oil. 

 

2.  Keep a eye on leaks,  there are very good high quality oil & water sealants about these days. 

 

3.  It's a nice looking car so it's possible to get say a Toyota engine swap out which is quite common with old grey import cars. 

 

4.  Finally sell it or see if you can get a part exchange deal and past the problem on. ???? ????

 

Up to you as they say here. ????

 

[newnative]

   From your post, it sounds like the car is over 10 years old.  Likely more expensive repairs in your future.  Ditch it and buy a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan.  

[malathione]

On 8/3/2021 at 10:03 AM, transam said:

That is a lash-up...????

Good to have you back, Trans.

[kuzie57]

I am no mechanic but handy around cars and bikes. That to me looks like a blown head gasket. When you had it repaired previously I hope they machined the head. Another thing you could try is to retension the head bolts. That does require a torque wrench set at the correct setting. Just my 2 bits worth.

 

[Nickberto]

8 hours ago, bojo said:

So, OP, the 'engine oil eating problem' that you mention initially by the sound of it, could possibly be different from your current problem of a leaking sump gasket (couldn't tell exactly from pics) which he has fixed with a sealant. Nothing wrong with that, quite common in older cars.................Personally I have bought and sold loads of Audis and one model in particular burns sooooh much oil (google it). The A1 1.4 TFSI 185bhp, 2011/12, a rare model that can burn about a litre every 1000 miles. There was a fix (under warranty) for some lucky customers, but it's generally accepted that this model just burns a load of oil. It is an extremely fast hatchback and Audi is renowned anyway for high engine oil consumption.............................regardless of what your issue is, if it solves the problem for now, great, and if it starts leaking again, consider selling it on as posters have suggested or just keep fixing it if you are attached to it...............................

Well I can’t exactly say how much oil was burned as the check isn’t with a gauge but electronic through the Mmi. Anyway after drive it for 100 km the level on the screen was half ( done this 5 times in a month start to be a major concern for me as I use the car daily)… insane 

and I am aware many people here they don’t care so much to keep putting oil inside the engine( Audi forum in thai)but going around with a tank of oil in the back was not feasible for me. Now I just change the oil yearly and not add one drop in 15.000 km/1 year…so I think the problem is solved.

[Nickberto]

5 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Thanks for your reply and sorry for your Audi horror story. 

 

Well I guess from other posters you have had suggestion as what to do. 

 

For me if I wanted to keep the car because they are a nice car and fast too so my advice would be. 

 

1.  I'd go with Castrol GTX oil and at every oil change I would keep the drained oil as top up oil. 

 

2.  Keep a eye on leaks,  there are very good high quality oil & water sealants about these days. 

 

3.  It's a nice looking car so it's possible to get say a Toyota engine swap out which is quite common with old grey import cars. 

 

4.  Finally sell it or see if you can get a part exchange deal and past the problem on. ????????

 

Up to you as they say here. ????

 

this was the first car I bought in Thailand and was not a nice experience. I was fond of Audi but now I am pretty sure would be the first and last one.

 

sell it fast,it’s the logical thing to do, but lose 300.000 thb for one year of usage sounds a bit too much. 

right now the oil used is Total brand (5w40), in the different forum i check everybody advice one or another brand so I just stick to what the mechanic use ( as he put on 100 of Audi’s should to be ok I hope).

 

I will just keep an eye and get ready for some other deal… wife told me she loves the new Great Wall Haval but a new Chinese car sounds a bit risky too lol

[Nickberto]

5 hours ago, newnative said:

   From your post, it sounds like the car is over 10 years old.  Likely more expensive repairs in your future.  Ditch it and buy a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan.  

10 year sharp last month 

[Nickberto]

1 hour ago, kuzie57 said:

I am no mechanic but handy around cars and bikes. That to me looks like a blown head gasket. When you had it repaired previously I hope they machined the head. Another thing you could try is to retension the head bolts. That does require a torque wrench set at the correct setting. Just my 2 bits worth.

 

My mechanics swear did the same fix on over 20 cars already and of course mine is the only one with oil leaks. I’m trying to find the invoice for Check if he change the gasket or not, open the engine and change half of it and then don’t change the gasket is criminal!

as I wrote before he told me yesterday that no have anymore the gasket for this car, sounds impossible to me but I will look onto it.

[Kwasaki]

20 minutes ago, Nickberto said:

My mechanics swear did the same fix on over 20 cars already and of course mine is the only one with oil leaks. I’m trying to find the invoice for Check if he change the gasket or not, open the engine and change half of it and then don’t change the gasket is criminal!

as I wrote before he told me yesterday that no have anymore the gasket for this car, sounds impossible to me but I will look onto it.

You could still get hold of head gaskets there not rocket science. 

[transam]

26 minutes ago, Nickberto said:

My mechanics swear did the same fix on over 20 cars already and of course mine is the only one with oil leaks. I’m trying to find the invoice for Check if he change the gasket or not, open the engine and change half of it and then don’t change the gasket is criminal!

as I wrote before he told me yesterday that no have anymore the gasket for this car, sounds impossible to me but I will look onto it.

What Audi is it, engine size etc....

[thaipara]

20 hours ago, bojo said:

So, OP, the 'engine oil eating problem' that you mention initially by the sound of it, could possibly be different from your current problem of a leaking sump gasket (couldn't tell exactly from pics) which he has fixed with a sealant. Nothing wrong with that, quite common in older cars

Those wanting more info can see the concise summary here: http://casestudies.atlanticmotorcar.com/audi-engine-oil-consumption-correction/

 

In short, the original problem was internal, the current problem is external, and there seems to be no reason to believe that the 100K baht was ill-spent. If the sealant fixes the consumption rate (for now), then there is no reason to think that the original internal repairs were badly done.