Full service history vs Audi extended warranty

[yarrick]

Hi all, forum newb here, be gentle

Just got myself an beautiful black S4 saloon 2004 about 3 weeks ago with about 75000 miles. Unfortunately, I have had to spend £600 off the bat to fix things which I didn't spot at the time of sale (two leaking cam gaskets, serpentine belt and guide replacement ) , I was hoping that would be it but I have become fixated on the chain! It rattles on start-up for about 1 second but there is a slight dry noise to idling (which I may be imagining!) - I think it will be ok for a while.

anyway cut a long story short, i read audi extended warranty covers the chain, however their phone reps if my "full service history" meets their expectation and neither will my local audi dealer tell me, i was wondering if someone could let me know if the below looks good?

my service book shows:

21/07/06 / longlife / 13802 / audi
31-10-07 / longlife / 25540 / audi
8-9-9 / longlife / 43547 / audi
8-3-11 / longlife / 62757 / 3rd party
17-3-13 / longlife / 66305 / 3rd party
9-16-14 / longlife / 73492 / 3rd party

[HYFR]

No
Needs to be audi main dealer

[cobraBLACK]

Also S4 and longlife don't go together.

Find yourself a good local specialist to help you check for any issues. Where are you?

The B6/B7 S4 is a car which requires research and inspection before purchase so you know what you're in for. Unfortunately a lot of us don't properly (myself included).

B6s are pretty much guaranteed guide wear/breakage, leading to failure. There are things you can do to slow the problem (good oil, frequent changes and a pre-oiler system) but eventually they will fail. The B7 had updated guide construction so they last longer but they'll need replacing eventually as well. Unfortunately the extent of the issue can only be determined by removing the engine and opening the back up.

There are other major concerns like cylinder wall scoring which can cause excessive oil consumption but I think that's a result of mistreatment by a previous owner. Things like that can be identified with a leakdown test or the use of a borescope.

Audizine is the best place for technical research. The forum Sponsor, JHM in California, are on there all the time too and they've done a huge amount of R&D on the platform.

[yarrick]

Cheers for that great answer

I have taken mine to A for Audi in Glasgow who seem to get good reviews and were doing a chain service for an old Rs6 when I went in. The owner said it would be about 3-4k to get my guides etc done and that he wasnt overly concerned with the noise mine was making. Also from reading your link tonight, it seems like a transmission flush around 70k miles would be a good idea, there is a bit of creaking (mines is tiptronic) when i select R so hopefully this will address that.

One thing I would be concerned about is getting the chain done and then something else wonderfully expensive breaking, would the next most expensive item be the tiptronic system?





Cheers

[cobraBLACK]

No idea about autos. If I see an auto-specific thread I don't usually read it. I can't say I've heard about any particular issues the system has but maybe someone with more experience can assist. Despite Audizine having mostly American contributors they also favour manuals. There are still plenty of auto-owners on there though.

As long as the noise is very short and doesn't continue whilst idling you should be fine. Audi describe it as a 'character' of the engine. Sounds like an excuse to me. Unfortunately it tends to be a fault which doesn't slowly get worse - suddenly the timing will be out and you'll get a bunch of misfires. If you're unlucky it could damage your engine beyond economical repair too - which is why people are starting to do preventative maintenance. A lot of money can be saved by doing it yourself.

Personally I don't have the patience, room, tools or expertise to do it but I probably will pay my garage to eventually as I can't see a car I'd rather have for this price level out there - might as well spend a bit to keep it going strong.

The next big thing is the clutch but I guess that's of no concern to you.

There is the odd expensive component - such as the A/C pump which also works the PAS (and some stupidly over-engineered parts like the wiper stalk) - but generally prices are okay.

Overall, don't worry too much about the scare stories on forums - people generally post for help with issues or to moan about something. They don't post to say their timing components are fine today. Admittedly I've had to do a lot more to this car than my previous two Jap imports (I had an Impreza for three years and only had one small repair in that time) but Audis are far more advanced technologically, mechanically and in terms of luxury so there are more variables.

[Sharkfan]

We cured a chain rattle with a switch to 5/30 oil and a fixed mileage service regime - it has now gone from a slight rattle at 40k miles to virtually no rattle and just trickled over 100k miles. The gearbox had a recent oil and filter change and all was pronounced good and I change the oil and oil filter at every 5-7k miles.

The longlife oil is/was 0/30 and it drains out of the tensioners too quickly when hot so you get the rattle - the 5/30 has worked for our 2004 cab and (touch wood) it has given us no headaches through 60k miles of driving.