a5 3.0tdi 72,000 miles with no oil change for S-tronic auto gearbox???

[chrisy t]

Hi guys,

I am looking at purchasing a 10 plate a5 3.0tdi auto (s-tronic) it has 72000 miles on it only it turns out the gearbox has never had an oil change! It has full service history but has never had the oil changed in the box. Should I be concerned about this and is it worth walking away? It is a private sale. Is it that important that the oil be changed in these boxes?

would really appreciate some advice on this.

Cheers
Chris

 

[cpbrad]

If it has fsh from reputable garages then I would have expected them to changed it if it was necessary.. As they haven't changed it I would have thought that it was not necessary, yet. C

Call a main dealer tomorrow and ask when/ if it needs to be changed?

 

[chrisy t]

Hi cpbrad, thanks for the reply, I phoned Audi today and they said it is every 40,000 miles it should be changed, apparently they had advised the owner to change the oil but it was never changed! I just wondered would this affect the gearbox much?

 

[Swanny356]

S Tronic's can be costly to fix if not looked after. You may be lucky but to be honest too big a risk for me unless you're getting a fantastic bargain.

Think the oil change was about £200 and I'd get it done soon as possible.

Good luck.

 

[desertstorm]

I would ask the owner why he decided to not bother changing the oil. If the car had an issue with the gearbox then then Audi would have been well within there rights to refuse any warranty work.
If the owner didn't want to spend the money servicing the car correctly what else hasn't been done?.
These gearboxes are incredibly complex and expensive to fix when they go wrong. The fact that the oil needs changing every 40K miles should tell you something about how sensitive they are to gearbox oil quality.
Changing the oil every 40K miles doesn't guarantee you won't have issues but it will certainly help.
Why is the owner selling the car ?? . Maybe he has started to notice issues with the transmission .
I would expect the car to have a good discount on the price and the first thing you would need to do is get the oil changed. If problems develop with the gearbox then a mechatronic unit would probably cost you £1500-£2000.

Karl.

 

[chrisy t]

Thanks for the advice guys,

the car is on a 60 plate and is a a5 3.0tdi Quattro s line special edition with 72000 miles on the clock fully loaded, B&O, heated leather, fully electric memory seats, push button start with keyless entry, sat nav 3g mmi Hi, DVD player, AMI with Ipod usb and aux leed, front and rear parking sensors, Bluetooth integration, DAB radio. Cruise control and smart key. Phantom black, the guy wants £15500. Do you think that is a good enough deal? It is the 7 speed s-tronic.

I am so torn but don't want to find the gearbox is no good because it hasn't had the oil changed.

 

[cpbrad]

That sounds to me like a ****** good deal... If your like me and you have made your mind up about the car then I would decide whether or not to buy it on the body language, along with the area it is in (because of type of car etc), and also condition. Some people would call me nasty names for saying that but I see it as how do they look after them selves and their other property and also I have had two bad experiences when looking at buying nice expensive cars from rough estates.

I'm not a **** btw but because of what has happened it just always enters my head now!

 

[Shrek5]

From experience (3.2 V6 Mk1 TT) it's expensive if the gearbox fails. As mentioned above I was quoted something like the 1500-2000 for a replacement mechatronic unit but it wasn't guaranteed to fix the problem, replacement gearbox would have been in the region of 5-6k as I recall.

The early DSG's were notorious for failed mechatronic units - I believe they are on top of this now but I would personally shy away from anything that hadn't had a full service history inc. the gearbox. The TT I had not been serviced correctly (overrun by time not mileage) and I convinced myself it would be OK. Got it serviced and checked over straight away.

Everything was OK for about 9 months until the above - effectively cost me £1k a month once I'd got rid of it. No chance of good will and warranty wouldn't cover it.

IMHO - walk away...

 

[Swanny356]

As DS states if someone won't spend £200 changing the oil on one of the most complex parts of the car what else has been compromised?

Not having the oil change doesn't mean you'll have problems and vice versa.

Sounds a good spec, perhaps consider a full AA type inspection and a private warranty?

 

[Shrek5]

Sounds a good spec, perhaps consider a full AA type inspection and a private warranty?

Not a bad suggestion but be careful with the warranty - due to the incorrect servicing they wouldn't cover the gearbox on my old TT. Appreciate different policies may be more tolerant just bear it in mind.

 

[chrisy t]

Thanks a lot for the advice everyone, after a long hard think about it, I have decided to shy away, ok the spec is perfect for me, but its worthless if the gearbox goes boom! Also on another disappointing note, it seems the owner has ticked both the service boxes for the gear oil on 2 occasions, therefor saying it has had a service, however I have had confirmation from Audi that this isn't the case. That im afraid I find very deceitful and I've completely lost trust in the owner, therefore will not be buying this car. I'm sure another one will come along... I hope im not on my own here and im making the right decision!

Thanks a lot for the advice guys, it is much appreciated.

 

[Shrek5]

Good call IMHO. Always difficult to walk away from something you really want but the lack of service and the fact the seller seems to be lying (or at worst committing fraud) then you are best to walk away. If they haven't done the gearbox/forged some ticks then I think it's even more the right thing to do.

 

[Swanny356]

+1 walk away.

Too expensive and complex a car to take a big risk.