B8 S4 Ownership

[Forze]

I have a 2012 Audi S4 B8(DSG) i average 13mpg round town & im struggling to hit late 20's on the motorway,
even if you nurse it like an old man, i challenge anyone to get more than 18mpg round town & 30+mpg on the motorway.

I knew what i was signing up for as my previous car was a BMW M3 E46(SMG) which was similar in consumption but i
expected much better mpg from the latest more efficient Audi's & based on their mpg claims, which are always bs tbh.

My issue with the S4 is the oil consumption, im going through 1LTR of oil every 3-4 weeks!
I complained to Audi about it from day one & they claim the cars fine, when i ask them about oil consumption they
claim it shouldn't need anywhere near that much oil, yet they say the cars fine? ...nice contradiction Audi.


Overall issues with Audi & car...
Out of 5 cars in 5yrs all being performance BMW & Audi's i've never had any issues with any car other than this one, i had
2 incidents within a fortnight of each other with the EPC light coming on & the car stuttering along at 15mph, the first time
Audi had it a few days & claimed it was fine, i got the car back & 2 weeks later same thing again, this time they took it
away for a month! got no courtesy car for first 2 weeks (in which time they hadn't even looked at it!) then i got a 3rd party
enterprise car some crappy basic non Audi in exchange for a brand new S4, after pulling the engine apart they still couldn't
find the fault & i got it back stinking of oil, steering wheel scratched/scuffed & all covered in oil, the wheels had been badly
kerbed one of which was 6" long right up the spoke & about half an inch wide, it went in without a mark & smelling factory new
as i cherish my cars, i dnt drink/eat/smoke in my cars & i don't let letterers near it, as i detail it myself, yet i got my
new S4 back damaged & with no explanation or solution to the problem, their customer service & engineers are joke.
I also had it in a couple of times regarding a knocking on the front, again they couldn't find it over several visits spanning
12 months or more. (although im sure not all Audi dealers are like this, nevertheless this was my experience.)

The whole experience with Audi has put me right off, even head office were involved & monitored the situation & did nothing
despite agreeing the service & issues were unacceptable, so much for valued custom despite spending over 80k in under 2yrs
with them.

Im sure many people have enjoyed their S4's but i've had a bad time with my S4 & Audi themselves, wouldn't buy another Audi now.

Edited by Forze on Wednesday 20th May 09:57

[DoubleSix]

Sounds like a pretty grim experience

[fastgerman]

That really is annoying and make sure you keep complaining to Audi HQ and keep track of who and when you spoke to people.

Worth starting a thread on PH or similar (don't mention names otherwise it will be removed) and send them the link.

Sounds like Audi are the new Mercedes for Dealership aftersales/servicing.

I've ordered a brand new S4, I'll give Audi the first service but if they do a bad job, it will go to my specialist who I've used since 2006.

The FSI engines do seem to drink lots of oil as does my MK5 GTI. I'm advised 1000km per litre of oil is within the tolerance.

Different grades of oil can help.

Strange that some engines use very different quantities. My Golf uses 1 litre per 2k miles. I know of others that use almost none and others that need 1 litre every 750 miles. Oil consumption on my Golf hasn't changed in 20k miles so it's just its 'character' :-).

MPG could be related to lots of things. Go to a VW/Audi specialist for your next service but get Audi to resolve damage.

Edited by fastgerman on Wednesday 20th May 12:33

[fastgerman]

http://uk-audis.net/topic/3852-audi-uk-customer-se...

[e-mail]

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/ifyouare...

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-...

Edited by fastgerman on Wednesday 20th May 12:40

[silentbrown]

fastgerman said:

I'm advised 1000km per litre of oil is within the tolerance.

Audi spec for most engines is 'up to' 0.5 litres per 1000km. 2.0 TFSI engines using more than this are typically getting free rebuilds (rings, pistons, rods) even if they're well out of warranty.

It's pretty pointless figure, because as 0.49 litres you're likely to be told it's "within spec", while at 0.51 litres you'll need a major rebuild.

[troc]

I drive mine like I stole it and it never seems to use any oil!

[Hol]

I have just done a year/5000miles in mine and no low oil light.

It goes in for the first service next week, so I will ask how close it is/was.

[Tuscan Wil]

I can't agree more about the so call official Audi service. Very disappointing. I pay top dollar for 3 year service package. They only change the oil once for long life. Took it to MRC for service and remap. They knew it straight away that the car has been serviced by Audi. As Audi basically did F all. only change the oil, possibly the pollen filter. The air filter was dirty, spark plugs were well over due. Why bother!!!!

[Dr G]

Forze - what was the outcome of the oil consumption test? S4s don't don't normally use very much oil and certainly well within Audi's suggested usage.

Were there a piston ring or blow-by issue this could well be linked to poor fuel economy as that level of oil contamination would surely affect fuel mixture. Equally an over-fuelling/bore wash issue could have a similar effect.

[FUBAR]

I must be the lucky one then. My main dealer service department have always been exemplary.

[fastgerman]

Hi Guys,

Any recommendations for service packs? As in paying a certain amount to cover servicing for 3 years or similar?

Thanks

[Adrian E]

£399 gets you 1 major and 1 minor service - we're having the minor in a couple of weeks but paying for the 3+ year old service pack as it works out cheaper as long as the major service includes something like plugs.

I'll be changing the cabin filter myself so the clips don't get broken - it's not part of the plan. Also having the s-tronic service at the £169 fixed price

[bungle]

Adrian E said:

as long as the major service includes something like plugs.

Plugs were replaced on my major service recently, part of the free 2yrs servicing.

[lemonslap]

bungle said:

Plugs were replaced on my major service recently, part of the free 2yrs servicing.

Well played mate, having replaced them myself they are expensive! I have just become VAT registered so I can perform my own servicing and retain both MOT protection and any warranty on vehicle I own, I can't stand the blank look I get when asking a technical question to service advisers. I sent the wife in for its last MOT and they were confused when my wife asked for the emissions results!

[Tuscan Wil]

FUBAR said:

I must be the lucky one then. My main dealer service department have always been exemplary.

Where did you go?!?
Based on my experience the service plan is a rip off. They charge me £30 something for each month over 3 years. If I knew the amount of stuff they do. I won't bother. It is partly my fault. I did not check with them what was involved. Learn my lesson now. But still I would at least expect them to tell me the spark plugs or other components are due. Very disappointing for the amount of money I pay for how little they have done.

[fastgerman]

I have 2 more boring questions :-)

1) what settings should I use for the best steering/comfort/performance on B road hooning and long motorway drives?

2) Audi are trying to sell me wheel kurbing insurance... Most new cars seem to be fitted with tyres that stick out further than the alloys or should I invest in some of those wheel gator things (rubber barrier over wheel rims)? It won't always be me driving it ;-).

Thanks

[s4tronic]

Motorway just put everything into comfort, B roads I have steering and suspension in comfort and gearbox and rear diff in dynamic

[fastgerman]

Thanks, sounds good and I assume I can setup some memory items for these so I don't have to stop, go to the the menu and change settings before I join the motorway? :-)

[s4tronic]

fastgerman said:

Thanks, sounds good and I assume I can setup some memory items for these so I don't have to stop, go to the the menu and change settings before I join the motorway? :-)

There is individual setting but unless you change in vcds car always defaults to Auto when started

[jimmyjimjim]

Unless you have a B8.5, in which case it'll revert to D instead of S, but it'll remain on the last selected mode.