.....losing my sense of humour
 

okay so the oil trf box leak was sorted and just expected a few days for the oil to burn off the cats and all would be good.................but life just isn't that simple. Turns out I have discoved ANOTHER leak, not sure if it was doing it before or just bad timing but the damn sump gasket is gone and is merrily pumping oil all over the cats again.:(

To make matters worse its another cheap part but the cats etc have to be dropped off the car again (basically re-run of getting to the trf box) so I'm looking at another £400 in labour.:mad: (the garage swears they didn't see any leak from the sump as they assured me they double checked everything - as I asked them too)

To cheer myself up and try and get the 8 to stop misbehaving I clayed (first experience of using clay and have to say it makes a BIG difference) and re-polished it this weekend, so whilst in smells horrible it looks great (whilst stationary, otherwise its obscured in a cloud of smoke!)

Surely the garage has to take some responsibility as they really should have seen the other gasket leak at the same time,especially as you specifically asked them to look for any other issues?

Also you say another £400 - is that how much they charged you just for the output flange seal? if it is then it sounds extremely expensive to me. . . the part would be approx £117 from memory of mine and no more than 2 hours labour :Confused:

Hope you get it sorted anyways, and start to enjoy the S8 fully :D

When you say sump, which sump do you mean? The gearbox sump pan can be removed without removing the cats; see here for the process.

If that is the sump you are talking about you might as well have the filter and ATF changed as they are going to have to drop the ATF to get the sump off.

The engine sump is easy to remove without special tools.

A full ATF and filter change should cost no more than £180.

Ummagumma! Your cars obscured by clouds. Don't let the animals meddle with it or they'll drive you to the wall.
Sorry. Couldn't resist. Twas a Momentary lapse of reason.

I think there's some sound advice in the preceding threads. They should have noticed. That's their job. That's what they take your money for.

That's a collection of great dance songs :D. You're really on the Pulse there

I could get Division Bell in anywhere :ROFL:

the saga continues.....
 

Okay so had a rather heated exchange on the price they charged for the trf box seal AND the fact the sump gasket was F****D but they didn't notice.

Eventually came to a gentleman's agreement that they wouldn't charge for the labour on the sump. (he assured me getting the l/h cat off to get at the trf box was a real pain - ended up taking the wheel liner out apparently???:Confused:).

So I pick the 8 up again and all is well with the world.........for about 15mins as the engine management light comes on whilst driving home. Next morning its off, then on, then off, then on (you get the picture) and is running rather 'lumpy'. Phone garage and they said bring it in so they can stick it on VAGCOM, but make sure the light is 'on' when I do otherwise it won't detect the fault. Anyway turns out every time I plan to drop past the garage the light goes off - its as if it knows I'm taking it back and is so scared it pretends to 'fix' itself! Finally, manage to get the car in this morning and guess what, VAGCOM says:

1. Coolant sensor reading abnormal - intermittent fault
2. Misfire on 2
3. Misfire on 4

FFS this is starting to get a bit much now and even second guessing buying the car (but I do still love it sooo much, just wish it would bloody well work for more than 2 days without a problem!)

Even worse I have precisely ZERO options in terms of garages - £65 p/h at the only independent for Audi OR £130 p/h (and equal incompetence) at the ONLY dealer..................:mad:

You really don't have to take the Cat off to get the sump off. The wheel arch liner dosn't need to come off to take out the cat either!

Also, and I may be wrong. The light shouldn't have to be on should it? Doesn't the ecu just log the fault and it stays there untill cleared?

I will second this, they did my 2002 S8 without removing the cat. it has just been in for a new L/H cat and it took the guy longer to do that than to do the gearbox...

great, so basically they are incompetent and possibly even complete con artists - or both. Either way the whole experience has left me thinking I'm just going to have to suck it up and go to the main dealer. Whilst the hourly rates maybe crippling, assuming they know what they are doing, it will actually work our cheaper!

We bought the Tiguan new from them, as well as our previous 2 cars for her (VW Polo and then a Mini Cooper - both new as well) so we are considered reasonably good customers - hopefully that means I won't get the run around.

Anyone spot the trend - wife keeps getting new cars whilst I buy used??!! Thats it - I'm going to buy something extravagant for my 40th - maybe not new but a 2 year old Quattroporte is actually within reach financially (if I save very hard and the 8 doesn't continue to be a money pit in the meantime).