Theory LONG: Audi Warranty issues, AoA was: Car fax

[SuffolkD at aol.com]

Chuck:  Good story about Thunderhill, I'm responding to a thread about Audi 
warranty claims and AoA.  I'm using a snippet of your "track" story as an 
example.

Audifans:  A theory.
The past AoA and warranty claims seem to have pretty high due to the turbo 
chargers, among other items, in most of the Audi line.
One reason why I believe AoA is trying to stick it to Audi owners for service 
claims is directly to the loses VAG must have taken from these turbo charged 
(1.8T and 2.7T) engines needing warranty work.  
Second, would be the interference engine design WRT: additional claims on 
items like timing belt failures.
Both turbo work and timing belt failures and the $1,000's in damage they 
create, seem to have Audi and their network (IMHO) to try and limit any additional 
claims made to VAG.  
Seemingly, these past claims burden Audi, which happens to affect other 
models owners whose normally aspirated motor broke under or just out of warranty.

Audi uses turbo motors in a lot of their cars.
This further exacerbates the issues of the Audi interference engine design.
The maintenance and common sense approach to treating that motor with care 
for reliability and longevity from the "general" motoring public just isn't 
there.
......and this before "tuning and chipping" the turbo motors for increased HP 
outside of their original design.
In most cases these cars ARE over engineered and CAN take it.
But who drives interstate, or in city stop and go, uses their turbo "boost" 
then cools their engine down for a minute before shutting it down?  Most 
drivers at DE's do.  Some owner manual readers do.
Most knowledgeable owners with some understanding of how to treat a turbo 
before shutting down the engine, I would guess, don't have these serviceability 
issues and the warranty claims or problems which trigger them.

If you can change your oil (IMHO : in between the Oil manufacturers ~3K 
interval and Audi's ~5 - 10K ), use a good OEM spec oil filter and the proper 
viscosity while taking care to COOL down your turbo after using it for a good 
period of time, YOU should have a trouble free long lifetime of Audi enjoyment.

COOLing down your car is the suggestion in your turbo owners manual.
Something Chuck mentions (below) in the treatment of his older 200 turbo.
This cools the turbo charger and the whole engine oil, so that high temp heat 
soak, and the "Coking" of oil in the narrow and HOT turbo passages doesn't 
happen.
Coking is the high temp "boiling away of the liquid oil" so that mineral 
deposits are left behind which in turn cause wear on moving parts.  Probably best 
shown on TV ads where they cook oil in a frying pan to show the benefits of 
synthetics.
(If some can better explain this DO chime in.................)

While, I think I've surprised very few on these lists, I'll gather educating 
the general public couldn't hurt.  Say when those neglected 3 year, gas and 
go, leases are "Offered" to the public and where most enthusiasts are looking 
for an upgrade deal.

Audi also has some issues with their timing belts and other fiasco items like 
documented Coil failure(s) on the A4 1.8T and some of the V6 motors.

AoA COULD lower their warranty claims and other problems by FIRST:

1.  Increasing their quality control on some components.
Maybe spend a little in the manufacturing step to lower future warranty 
claims.
2.  Eliminate interference on most of their motor line.
Rubber and heat don't last as long as a chain timing belt, but if there is no 
interference, who cares?  Rate the rubber belt for 90-100K, but in a 
noninterference engine.
3.  Educate the turbo owners on the proper care of high temperature shut down 
or Oil coking.
While the owners manual mentions this, the manual also mentions service life 
of Oil between changes, for longer than the viscosity life of the oil in a 
turbo environment.

AND LEARN  some customer service tact.  Treat the customer fairly.  Service 
is part of selling a vehicle.  Customer service courtesy is thanking clients 
for buying a VAG product.
Maybe this is why Audi and Porsche are separating their buildings?

Not all the warranty failures are due to people chipping their cars and 
tuning them. 
Audis' past issues have affected their more mainstream, traditional "luxury 
car" buyer in normally aspirated models.
I think some of the faults came from the factory in our cars, leading to 
warranty claims later on in their service life, like A6 N/A owners who have the 
timing belt brake at ~52K miles just out of warranty.  
Too Bad says Audi.

I think Audi/VAG has taken some of these steps (WRT: service/warranty claims 
for turbo engines) by offering High powered S cars in normally aspirated 
versions.
However, by selling more 1.8T and 3.0 interference engines I doubt their will 
be a serious reduction in claims.
But needs to address the customer relations aspect.
-Scott by BOSTON
(2) 91 200 20V turbos
99 A6 30V
99 1.8T
and a string of 4000's and 100's (family owned back to the 100LS from 1974.)
BTW:
The reason I copied Chuck's post below is that he actually takes the time to 
lower engine temperatures and cool down his turbo motor after spirited driving.

> From: Chuck  <cpxxxxxx at xxxxxxxx.net>
> Subject: Trip to Thunderhill
> to use the cool down lap to cool off the UFO's so they would 
> not warp. I found it was nice to pull out of T Hill and drive down the road 
> a couple 
> miles to bring the engine temps down, since when these road missiles sit 
> still there is no air flow through the radiator, other than the fan that 
> comes on when they are hot. 
> Chuck Pierce
>