Service and customer service Worthing Audi

[iain.davidson]

Has anyone had any experience with Worthing Audi?

I took my car in for a service on Monday which I'm now a little nervous about.
There was an advisory that I should keep an eye on the power steering fluid. This afternoon I figured I'll work out how to do it. To my shock I noticed the engine oil is still quite black (I know, wrong dipstick). The receipt states they used 9.5L of engine oil. I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure new oil shouldn't be black. Am I expecting too much?

I tried calling Audi twice this afternoon but no-one was available... I don't really want to fall out with them since they are less than 1 mile from my house. I just want to be sure my pride and joy is being looked after...

[RossDagley]

No experience of that dealer, but new oil shouldn't be black at all. In fact, 5k miles + on oil and it should still be golden basically. When was it apparently changed? Given the price of oil (castrol Edge presumably?) at £120 or so for the oil alone, you'd hope it's been done of course. More worryingly (in the worst case) if it's NOT been changed, what else hasn't been done...

Just humour me and post a photo here of the dipstick/cloth with some oil on it

I hope you get it figured out.

[PritJutla]

Do the garages remove the oil cooler lines at engine end to remove the old oil in the cooler?
I just did a oil change and removed the lines and a surprising amount of oil came out, had i not done that, that old oil would have made the new oil look pretty dark straight away

[neilparf]

...new oil shouldn't be black at all. In fact, 5k miles + on oil and it should still be golden basically.

Just humour me and post a photo here of the dipstick/cloth with some oil on it

I've changed my oil twice now with roughly 3K between - each time it's still pretty golden...

Post some photos of the stick or if I really wanted to be sure, I'd whip the oil filter out (http://www.euroaddiction.net/forum/b7-r ... hange.html) to see the state of that... good luck.

[rwilsonrs4]

you can never remove all the old oil from an engine , there will be oil as stated in the cooler and lines , in the oil galleries and lying in the castings in the head amongst the valve gear and sticking to the internal walls of the entire engine and its components , if it was really black before it was drained it will not be long before its entrained through the oil and looking a bit discoloured , however the oil is black due to carbon(soot particles) and not because its destroyed , so although i myself like to see the oil golden it isnt really a big issue , although its best obviously to drain it when its up to temperature as its thinner and drains from surfaces easier and is drained until its stopped dripping basically
if your prepared for them to drain and fill with maybe a gallon of new oils and run the engine 5 mins and drain again then fair enough
possibly it was drained when it was still cold or warmish and maybe the plug was replaced a bit too early when there was still a cupfull in there would contribute to discolouration .
just as an add , you can flush a diesel 3 bloody times and it will still discolour new oil in next to no time , tho diesel oil is literally black as ink when drained after a full service interval
so i would be pretty sure that the oil was changed as the tech will lose his job( after all whats the point in not changing it , its not money saved in his pocket ) and the dealer would have a bad rep out of it so i seriously doubt that it was not changed
ove the 20 years i was a mechanic , we have had customers come back with concerns about the oil being not changed( mainly diesels) and i have pointed out the reasons above and even took customers into the workshop when a car was being drained and showed the refill and then the oil after a few mins running and the fact that it was already discoloured and always they went away happy with the explanation once they understood

[RossDagley]

Whilst your explanation above is valid (especially on diesels) the rs4 isn't a diesel. And even if there was still oil in the cooler etc (expected) as myself and others have posted it should still be golden. Even after several thousand miles.

[rwilsonrs4]

i know that but it will only stay clean if its fairly clean in the first place and isnt doing 12k before changes or whatever his done , no oil will stay clean for 12k miles as soot will inevitably get in the from combustion and blow by as is normal in all engines, mine is changed at 4k roughly and looks not much different to when it goes in as yours does , if its done 12k and is black when it was changed it will pick up discolouration ,the OP's oil was obviously black when it was changed and may not be actually as black as the post suggests until some pics are put up

[Matt_lad]

I've not used them for the RS4 yet, actually tried to call them today to try and book but nobody was available. However I have used them for my other car and have been very impressed with the customer service there.

I'll watch this thread closely before I book my service. Although I'm not sure where else there is to take it locally?

[subtacex]

Obviously they have not changed the oil if it was only done on Monday and is still black in colour,keep a note of number of times you tried to contact them and if you have spoken to somebody,get their names.Finally confront them with this evidence and ask them to sample and test the oil particularly the viscosity

[iain.davidson]

Apparently you can never completely remove the old oil. By it's very nature the old oil is coating throughout the engine. Once run the old and new oil mixes and can discolour the new oil. Since I'm so close the car never had a chance to warm up either.
I can't argue with the logic but I bought my new clutch pedal switch from Five Oaks Audi instead of Worthing Audi.
Bit of a shame since they are so close to me.

It is a little awkward trying to call them. Often the phone rings for ages then there's no-one to help. They have taken a few notes to call back but it takes a while to do so.

Can't speak for sales and service but Gary in parts at Five Oaks Audi has been very helpfull on the last 2 occasions I've needed something. May just go for the 40 min drive up there next time I need some work done.

PS: I'm not touching the oil filter, I couldn't work out how to change the spark plugs! My dad (49 years as a diesel mechanic) is embarised to have me as a son... He's on anothe continent so couldn't help with the plugs either.

[Surrey Sam]

I've had great service from Five Oaks Audi, Daniel is really helpful in the service dept but so are the other guys. I remember just before Christmas time someone took their RS4 into Worthing Audi and were not that impressed with the service received.

[iain.davidson]

Here's a pic of the dip stick after a 5 min drive.

May have more words with Worthing to make myself feel better.

This is the first time I've used Worthing Audi so possibly not a fair assessment but I' m not taking my car back.

[neilparf]

Ian, nice sharp photos and that's a difficult one.

The oil has some transparency, and equally I imagined it to be deep black. Is the car on longlife or service interval? Nearly 10 ltrs of oil in the engine; there's plenty of oppurtunity for any residual to be mixed with the new and looking at pic 2, the top of the dipstick shows signs of newish oil.

If you've changed the oil regularly then it may be a bit more golden - hard to say. My oil took two changes to clear. Running oil through as previously mentioned then flushing and replacing will easily help clear out the old.

I'm wondering if there old residual oil is so dark, it's mixed with the new and this is the result. When was the last change?

[rwilsonrs4]

Ian, nice sharp photos and that's a difficult one.

The oil has some transparency, and equally I imagined it to be deep black. Is the car on longlife or service interval? Nearly 10 ltrs of oil in the engine; there's plenty of oppurtunity for any residual to be mixed with the new and looking at pic 2, the top of the dipstick shows signs of newish oil.

If you've changed the oil regularly then it may be a bit more golden - hard to say. My oil took two changes to clear. Running oil through as previously mentioned then flushing and replacing will easily help clear out the old.

I'm wondering if there old residual oil is so dark, it's mixed with the new and this is the result. When was the last change?

i agree the oil was changed and has the old oil remnants entrained inside , maybe it wasnt left long enough draining or hot enough to drain off as much as possible as i stated previously

[neilparf]

Ian, nice sharp photos and that's a difficult one.

The oil has some transparency, and equally I imagined it to be deep black. Is the car on longlife or service interval? Nearly 10 ltrs of oil in the engine; there's plenty of oppurtunity for any residual to be mixed with the new and looking at pic 2, the top of the dipstick shows signs of newish oil.

If you've changed the oil regularly then it may be a bit more golden - hard to say. My oil took two changes to clear. Running oil through as previously mentioned then flushing and replacing will easily help clear out the old.

I'm wondering if there old residual oil is so dark, it's mixed with the new and this is the result. When was the last change?

i agree the oil was changed and has the old oil remnants entrained inside , maybe it wasnt left long enough draining or hot enough to drain off as much as possible as i stated previously

I agree. I think it has been changed, but temp and drain time hasn't been that optimum to get the last drop out. I think the next change would see a better colour possibly. I kind of change mine every 5/6k and only now does the stick dip clear...

It's the same hour and a bit for me, but Camberley audi were very good when I had a service there...
Good luck!