Here is some information for the commitment it entails after purchasing a used 2008 S6 with approx 50k miles on it.
In December 2012 I bought a used 2008 Audi S6 in Phantom Black with the Technology Package, and 46k miles. I bought it online, without ever test driving it (from 10000k miles away), because I knew after doing the research this was the car I wanted, needed, and deserved.
I knew that there were virtually no after market parts to set my wallet on fire, and I knew that it was big, powerful, safe, and ate through gas like nobodies business.
But there were problems. No used car purchase is perfect, especially one prone to high amounts of carbon build-up. When I was finally able to drive the car in April 2013, the first week I drove it, a CEL came on. After taking it to the dealership, they said it had popped for multiple misfires. Which was no surprise with all the research I had done previously. I had made sure to change the oil, and all 4 tires as soon as I bought the car, and run octane booster and fuel cleaner through a few tanks of gas (no dice with the CEL).
So this prompted my first visit to the Audi Dealership: I mentioned carbon build-up, but no one there was really taking me seriously, or wanted to spend the time to do the cleaning, so I just let them do their thing.
1. Carbon Buildup: I knew this would be my main problem with this car, just because it was a previously leased car, probably driven by someone who didn't appreciate that this car was built to be driven hard and taken care of. They probably didn't know that you should only use top tier gas (preferably without ethanol (which is impossible to find)), get oil changes every 3k miles (even with synthetic oil), and run octane booster and fuel cleaner additives through the gas every other tank or so. The dealership said that this was one of the worst cases of carbon buildup they had ever seen (after they finally bore scoped the engine). So here we go...
2. Oil Separator: This is what the dealership came back to me as the cause of the problem for the first visit. Which is understandable due to all the sludge from the carbon buildup going back through and gunking up everything. But I knew that wasn't the real culprit.
I got the car back, and it threw another CEL on the way home from the dealership... not unexpected. So I took it back again.
3. Fuel Injectors: I knew these were bad just due to the nature of the carbon build-up on the valves, ports and intake.
So this time, I had a sit down with the Audi Service guys, and told them I wanted to do it big time. I wanted to try and get everything fixed at once. So I finally convinced them to bore-scope the engine for carbon deposits and anything else messed up. I also had them walnut blast the intake manifold, valves, and ports for carbon build-up. Later on some other things popped up as well...
4. Starter: After getting everything back together while doing the carbon cleaning and replacing the injectors, the techs fired the car up, and promptly blew the starter. They tried to act like it was no big deal, but do to it being their fault, I had them spend the 2k in parts, and 20 hours in labor to fix it. So check your starter... before it blows up in the shop.
After getting the car back, I drove it home... and low and behold, another CEL popped on. Again back at the dealership, and doing mountains of my own research, I felt like I knew what was going on.
5. Spark Plugs and Coil Packs: After this CEL came on, I switched service managers at the dealership to a much more personable and knowledgeable person. He said he was tired of having my car in the shop, because it was such a pain to work on. So I asked him to do everything in his power to make sure he wouldn't see it again (and bought him some awesome Vodka). So after replacing the Spark Plugs and Coil Packs, again checking for any missed carbon buildup, looking for any missed software updates, or additional problems, it appeared my car was in tip top and healthy shape... but not just yet.
After driving around for about 3 days without a CEL, it came on again... but not in the usual fashion during mid-range RPM acceleration. This time, it just popped on... but after having my car in my hands for about 2 weeks of the 3 months I had been able to drive it, I said "F" it, I am just going to drive it for awhile, and that's precisely what I did. There were no problems, no lags in acceleration, no warbling or stalls during a cold start-up, or flashing of the CEL in the mid range RPM acceleration. But I was still uneasy. BUT, before I could do anything about the CEL, my passenger side tail light went out.
6. Tail Lights: At around 50k miles, apparently both LED tail light assemblies like to blow out. BUT NEVER FEAR! For it's not the WHOLE tail light assembly, it's just the board behind the red case, that holds the bulbs. So don't let anyone rip you off in saying that it's 450 dollars for a new tail light, when in reality, it's only $136 for the bulb holder, where the prongs burnt out. I forgot to mention... but the drivers side tail light had went out 2 weeks after getting delivery of the car, and my wife got ripped of by having to buy a whole new tail light, which was probably the same exact problem. It pays to give Vodka to your service representative.
Anywho, at the dealership, I had them run the code for the CEL, thinking for certain it would be another misfire code... BUT IT WASN'T (Hooray?!); It was actually a deficiency in the right bank catalytic converter. I was slightly puzzled by this, but after some digging, found that the cats are probably not up to par due to the amount of fuel that was not ignited because of the misfires, and was leaking down into the cats, causing damage when ignited there, or if it just sat there.
7. Catalytic Converters: I haven't taken my car in yet, but I will next week, and hopefully I will get the cat replaced and not have any problems for a while... I will keep everyone posted. (UPDATE: The cat was replaced under warranty, but apparently a $350 O2 sensor was not covered... Yay me).
8. Fuel Pumps: During a routine drive back home from work, and during decent acceleration, the was a noticeable jolt and then a loss of acceleration with the gas pedal depressed. The EPC (Engine management) light popped on first. I stopped the car, turned it off, and back on to see if it would clear the code, and then as soon as I started to accelerate again the EPC popped on, this time followed by the CEL. I drove the car straight to the dealership, because I didn't feel comfortable driving the car. After 2 days, the dealership got back to me, saying that the fuel pumps were bad; They were gunked up from all the carbon in the engine. The dealership replaced both high pressure fuel pumps under my USAA extended warranty in only 2 days. Excellent!
Now the car is running fantastically, with no problems at all. With basically all new components in the engine, it pulls like Hell's Horses.
P.S. - I finally had some maintenance pop up on the car: Had to replace both front brake rotors and pads= $1k. That hurt my pockets...
My S6 is at 53600 miles now.
Another problem/Update:
9. EGR/Combination Valves: After driving around for about a week or so with a VERY rich gasoline smell wafting into the cabin and a CEL on, I decided totake the S6 into the dealership. Luckily I did, because when I started it that morning, the gasoline smell was stronger than ever, and there was smoke coming out of the drivers side headlight from the lower drivers-side of the engine bay. There were no problems on the way to the dealership. This was caused by the before said ridiculously insane Carbon Build-up.
During the week I drove the car with the CEL on before taking it into the dealership, there were no problems besides the above mentioned and a big decrease in gas mileage. I never did figure out where the smoke came from, but I figured the gasoline smell was from the engine running rich. If anyone has any advice onto why all that would of happened, please let me know.
The cost of 2 EGR valves, and the associated hardware... AND labor... is a whooping $1200.00. And the big reason for that is because apparently the majority of extended warranties (explicitly) don't cover EGR valves for some god forsaken reason. I guess you can get an extra emissions warranty or something to cover those, and o2 sensors, along with other bits and ends.
HOPEFULLY... This is the last thing I have to do for awhile that's related to fixing the Carbon Build-up in the car. Let's cross the fingers!
10. Torn front passenger CV axle boot; All 4 control arm bushings are bad (possibly having to replace all front suspension components: Control arms ect...).
The dealership is quoting me 8 hours of total labor just for the 4 bushings (4 hours each side). That may be a misunderstanding from the dealership, but I will figure it out and update the info as I go. My USAA extended warranty said they would only cover half the labor... so I am trying to figure that out as well.
The car was finished up today. To anyone, anytime, please get an extended warranty through somewhere. TOTAL: $5500.00= me paying $1500.00 for some uncovered labor and wheel alignment.
What started out as a simple alignment and wheel rotation, I felt a bit more wobbling during hard cornering... And then the O2 sensor CEL popped on and stayed on finally. Here's a list of shit I found wrong and working with the dealership, got fixed:
- All 4 front control arm bushings were replaced
- Front passenger side cv axle boot was torn... Ended up replacing whole axle (under warranty) to be safe, due to damage
- Bank 2 O2 sensor replaced
- 2 coil packs replaced because of misfires.
Since owning the car-
TOTAL OVERALL COSTS: $25,000
TOTAL COVERED BY WARRANTY: $22,500
PRICE OF WARRANTY: $4,000
11. So after being gone for about 6 months, I had some new problems heap up:
- Drivers side headlight needed to be replaced.
- 2 vaccum hoses were cracked causing bank 1 and 2 to run lean and a CEL to pop, leading to below:
- One of the throttle body valves were stuck open; and upon further investigation USAA recommended that the whole intake manifold (and the associated throttle body housings??) needed to be replaced (probably because of prior carbon build-up).
I am currently getting the diaphragm going to the throttle bodies and 1 vaccum hose replaced to hopefully stop the leak. The intake manifold and the labor is being covered by my USAA warranty (about $2k), but the hose and the associated labor for that was a bit to much for USAA... so I have to pay $565 out of pocket...
Yay me... but still, this car is redonkulous sometimes.
My dealership service guy said that the diaphragm going to the throttle bodies was going to be replaced, not the entire intake manifold... I am not entirely sure what that part entails, but he said just the part was around $1k. Luckily USAA took care of that for me, but I still owe $565 to replace a cracked vacuum hose and the associated labor; (they had to pull off the bumper to replace it).
Money: At the time of purchase I also bought an extended warranty through USAA for $4k , entailing complete coverage (except for lights and regular wear and tear) over 36k miles/3 years, with no fees or anything when filing a claim. I have spent about $5k total for: tires, oil change, carbon cleaning, and some extra labor that wasn't covered by the warranty. BUT, it the grand scheme, I paid that much, instead of paying the full amount of approximately $25k in diagnosing, labor, and parts that I would of if I had not purchased an extended warranty.
So please, use this FYI, and if you have any questions, suggestions, or pointers, please don't hesitate to let me know.
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Originally Posted by LINDW4LL
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