My Audi A6 disaster story.

I purchased a while ago an Audi A6 2.0 TDI 2008 model. The car was beautiful. Full leather interior, satellite navigation, all the whistles and bells. The car had 64000 miles on the clock and I had never driven such a quiet and comfortable car before.  Sounds wonderful doesn't it? Unfortunately I will tell you a story which will make you cry... Certainly did that to me anyway.

I polished the car regularly, drove at every opportunity and spent more than I could afford to own the car so my family wouldn't have to think about another vehicle for many years to come. Within 8 months the car was gone and in those eight months I had spent a fortune just trying to keep it on the road. Let me explain:

I was driving the car around my home town of Portsmouth when I started hear a clonking sort light mechanical sound coming from the engine bay. What was that I thought to myself as I knew anything clonking of metallic in nature was not a good sound. Its seemed to be when I depressed the clutch but it wasn't that obvious for me to be sure. I continued for a month until the noise really started to worry me. The car had a full Audi service history so I knew it was not a replaced dodgy part...this was something failing. I started looking online for possible causes. This is something normally I wouldn't recommend as everyone has got your car written off before you begin. Paranoid nation out there... Or is it?

Anyway, the common consensus was that it could be an oil pump failure. A design fault that Audi refuses to recognise. This started to worry me greatly as people were talking about complete engine failures and blown turbos. Expensive stuff. I found my nearest Audi specialist and took the car to him. He listened to the car closely and decided that it would be rare for an oil pump to go and checked my dual mass flywheel. Sure enough that's what it was. I booked the car in and had a new dual mass flywheel and clutch fitted. Big job by the way on the A6. £1200 it cost. The chief mechanic showed me the failed dual mass flywheel and why it was clonking. Springs were broken and it was flapping forward and backward in its housing.

Okay that hurt the wallet...but now the car is finally sorted and Audi are bullet proof so I was lead to believe are they not? Not as I soon found out. My driveshaft bolts snapped only 2000 miles later. I was very lucky not to right off the gearbox casings as the driveshaft wedged itself up into the box. Anyway, a long wait for the AA and towed back to my Audi specialist. He repaired this in a matter of hours and kindly left me a small affordable bill for new bolts.

So I had some pleasurable months of driving when another sound started coming from the front left of the engine. This was just after spending £550 on tyres for the car. I was broke and couldn't deal with the expenses of this money pit. The noise was a churning rattle when the car was idle. I listened for days at this noise and knew what it was. It was the oil pump. The thing that Audi claim never happens but the forums say always  happens. This had to be rectified. Okay this is going to hurt a little but won't be as bad as a blown engine. So I took the car back to my Audi specialist garage and they confirmed it was coming from the oil pump.

I gave the green light to the mechanics to replace the oil pump. Audi, with their amazing technical skill had built a very heavily oil dependant engine but put a little hex drive in the oil pump which spins and drives the cogs to pump oil around the engine. We are talking about  a £4 hex bolt. This hex bolt sits unevenly off center in Audi's poorly designed oil pump and soon rounds off and no longer spins. Oil doesn't get distributed and pop goes your turbo and throws all its inside's in your engine. So replace this bolt as soon as possible then..not that simple. The whole unit needs replacing due to the hex bolt seating is also worn due to the rattling and excess play. The oil pumps don't come apart either. These cost £1500. Oh yes. And to fit them a further £2000 as the engine has to come out. New belly pan fitted. New drive cogs and oil pump. Audi say they have never heard of this happening but the forums are full of this very issue. People hit 80k and this happens. REGULARLY!

Okay..so I bit the bullet...the car is now 6 months old to me and has broken my wallet and my enthusiasm for driving. I drive and listen like a hawk for what's going to happen next. Soon enough weird electrical things start to happen. Nothing serious...  Things like the radio turning itself on or off or display screen on the HUD fading out. So I look at new huds or a LCD fix as it was bothering me. Okay £250 a company fixed the LCD and once again said "common problem on these Audi's".... Paid the money and had a working g LCD again. I could live with the radio weirdness.

In between then I had to replace my front discs and pads at £600. Okay I can't complain as this is wear and tear of any motor vehicle today. Expensive being Audi though and it is a heavy car. Best buy the genuine parts.

So even more broke my wife and I couldn't afford a holiday but needed to get away. We decided to to Cornwall to visit some very dear friends with our 1 year old. We drove down in comfort but not really feeling that comfortable as we did not know what would happen next with the "money pit". When we were down we went to the beach. Down some very tight one way roads when all of a sudden the car shuts down. It won't start either. It was like at ran out of fuel. Nope the tank was full. Finally the car started and we drove back to our friends gingerly. Before we left Cornwall the car had one more episode like it. Just didn't completely cut out but nearly spluttered to death but then coughed back into action.

My faith in the car was finished. I spoke to my specialist again and he confirmed that I may have injector problems. I looked up on the forums about injectors for Audi. Hahhhhh.... Another common fault for such a reliable bullet proof car. £1000 each. Okay I couldn't take it anymore. I have a one year old, a wife that needs the car but doesn't drive and I needed reliable transport too. This Audi was a joke. It had to go. I couldn't live with the fear and heartache this peace of junk was causing.

I sold the car and felt a weight leave with it. I lost a lot of money. Grew many grey hairs and never had such a horrible experience in all my years motoring. Audi as a garage were unhelpful and continuously pretended that they have super reliable cars and all of these KNOWN faults have never been heard by them. I will never recover from my experiences with them even although in 2009 they totally rebuilt their 2.0 engines and made them common rail and totally redesigned their oil pumps. Interesting that they felt the need to make such vast changes to such a reliable engine.

Anyway thus was my story. My sad story of how I bought an Audi to protect our future car requirements and save money in the long run and ended up being crippled by the decision. Anyone owning a 2005-2008 Audi I strongly suggest you bin it...before it bins you !

Below the parts only bill for an oil pump.........