Selling my Audi for a focus! am I nuts!?!

[jonbaker]

Hi, first post, great site.

I have a black Audi 2001 (y) A4 1.8t quattro sport, full leather interior, bose system etc etc, fully loaded, I love her! Recently, the mrs got pregnant again and we started to think about economising by down grading. Mainly becuase a few things are starting to go wrong and fixing an Audi is far more expensive than say a Ford Focus! she's only done 53,000 miles (the car, not my mrs!) After driving a few Focus's today, i just cant bring myself to do it so stuff the damn focus's!

Problems:

Engine management light. I had this turned off on a service with my family friend mechanic, but the damn thing came back on again a week or so later.. something to do with the air flow or something.

Dent in tailgate. Relied too much on the sensors and bumped into a tree sticking out in the road at night, dent size of fist, just over £300 for repair.

Drivers window. Got stuck in the wound down position, works fine now but when it's wound down you can hear it shaking about inside!

Electric wing mirrors. Left one doesn't work (except when cold!) right one works sometimes. Also, when the left one doesn't work and the button is selected to the left one it moves the right one on occassion! gremlins!

Clutch. Although this doesn't slip the biting point is high and has been since i got her just over a year ago, is this normal on an Audi as i have never driven another one?

Coolant. This was the final straw yesterday my coolant rapidly leaked out. Took it to my guy and he couldn't pin point the leak there and then but said the cap had wear and wasn't keeping the pressure in, he sprayed it with some sealant etc and it has been fine since so fingers crossed. He also turned out that damn engine management light again and told me that it 'could' be the head gasket causing this air problem, I'm not a mechanic so alot of what he was saying was going over my head! but i do know that a new head gasket is gonna stuff me in £ department, surely a car like this on only 53,000 miles wouldn't have a head gasket problem, would it!?!?!

Anyway, as you can see these problems got to me but stuff it, i'd rather fork out at the audi repair centre than drive a Focus!

[nickynibbles]

Good choice sticking with the Audi, even with some repair costs. Im very dubious also of a head gasket needing replacing after only 53k, unless the car is given a lot of right foot! Does the car seem to of had a hard life before you got it? Might be the previous owner drove it very hard and caused some premature wear. It might all be down to a sensor giving you a problem. My suggestion would be to tell us where you are in the country & ask for someone with Vag-Com to meet up with you and see whats going on with the car, im sure there will be a few faults found given the list above you've mentioned! Once you know what the problems really are you can get them sorted properly and be done with them for good.

[Fettler]

Stick with the Audi, and good luck with the repairs.

[jonbaker]

Good choice sticking with the Audi, even with some repair costs. Im very dubious also of a head gasket needing replacing after only 53k, unless the car is given a lot of right foot! Does the car seem to of had a hard life before you got it? Might be the previous owner drove it very hard and caused some premature wear. It might all be down to a sensor giving you a problem. My suggestion would be to tell us where you are in the country & ask for someone with Vag-Com to meet up with you and see whats going on with the car, im sure there will be a few faults found given the list above you've mentioned! Once you know what the problems really are you can get them sorted properly and be done with them for good.

Cheers, I dont think it was driven hard at all, I give it some welly now and again but the majority of our journeys are about 10 - 30 mins, dont do many long drives. What's Vag - Com? is that the machine you rig up to the car that lists the faults? my mechanic did that yesterday and i'm not sure exactly what comes up but its something to do with air flow or something, anyhow, he reset the faults and the light is now out, but i gaurantee it will come back on in a week or so as that is what happened before. I'm in Romford, Essex. I want to take it to Audi to be sorted when it comes back on but they charge £150 just to look at it! shafting!

[onzarob]

Don't expect the Focus to be anymore reliable. Fix the Audi you'll end up with a better car

Clearing codes is not really the right thing to do, they are there for a reason. if you have a laptop VAG-com can be downloaded for free and a cable bought for around £30.

It will enable you to read the codes and if you do a bit of searching you may find the faults are relativly easy to fix.

look here

www.ross-tech.com

www.gendan.co.uk

If you post up the codes users on the forum will be more than willing to give advice.

Rob

[docurley]

I would stay with the Audi for sure have it chipped and it will be even better on fuel.

As for problems I would say you need a new door switch for the mirrors and may be a MAF for the air flow problem if I was to take a guess the rear window may just need a bolt tightening up or something.

Parts can be sourced from www.vagparts.com and Eurocarparts.com plus breaker for things like door switches.

[makemineamythos]

I would not even consider a Ford over an Audi !!!

Can anyone please tell me what vag-com is ?
Thanks

[nickynibbles]

I would not even consider a Ford over an Audi !!!

Can anyone please tell me what vag-com is ?
Thanks

Its a VW Audi Group (VAG) diagnostic program allowing you to plug into your car & check for faults like a garage does. Check out www.rosstech.com for details.