AirGibson

Vehicle: 2015 Audi A4
2.0T Premium Plus 4dr Sedan 2.0L 4cyl Turbo CVT

I bought my A4 brand new about 2.5 years ago, and it has had significant oil consumption issues ever since we started driving it. At first, I attributed it to the new engine break-in, but now at 25,000 miles, we are well past that.

- Audi service performed an oil consumption test which confirmed the car was consuming 0.61 quarts per 1000 miles. They refused to do anything to the vehicle unless instructed to by Audi warranty. They were told that the manual states that up to 1 quart of oil per 1000 miles is considered normal. These vehicles go roughly 10,000 miles between oil changes, so that translates to adding 10 quarts of oil between changes as "normal".

- I next reached out to Audi Customer Experience as well as the general manager for the dealership to press for them to take the next steps in the inspections, and they did so.

- The service technician (who is supposedly the top inspector in the southeastern US) checked everything he could think of, but found nothing to explain the root cause of the oil consumption. They used a bore scope to check the cylinders, crank case seals, checked the turbo charger, spark plugs, etc...but claim they could not find the root cause.

- They re-administered the same oil consumption test (with them driving the car for 620+ miles, not me) to confirm the original result, and they again measured 0.57 quarts of oil consumed per 1000 miles (virtually identical to the prior test).

- After confirming that their results were accurate, this was reported this back to the area after-sales manager, and he has advised that nothing is to be done at this time and that I just need to drive the Audi into the service center every two months to let them add a quart of oil to it.


I am so disappointed. I have fought and fought to get them to address this, but I am getting nowhere. Hours upon hours of calling, complaining, typing e-mails, etc... Everyone I've spoken to said that this sounds wrong and that the A4s haven't had oil consumption issues like this with any of the newer generation engines, but here we are.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go from here other than "keep complaining"?

Sepang15_S3

AirGibson

Sorry Sepang, but I have no good news to share. They were unable to find any issues. As a result, they pointed to the manual and said this was considered acceptable (which is disgusting, since the manual basically says burning up to 10 quarts of oil between changes is ok). I was very disappointed, to say the least. My '71 383 magnum Charger burned less oil than this.

After this all fell through with no satisfactory result, I called the dealership in Atlanta to find that the dealer had a new manager and my salesman was also no longer with the company since the 2 years prior when I'd purchased the car. I expressed my disgust with the problem to the new manager and wondered if they'd be able to give me some kind of deal on a newer 2016 model since 99% of the A4s do not have this issue. Instead, they offered me an extension on my engine warranty if any issues ever resulted from the oil consumption, and they extended my Audi Care package out to the Audi Care Select plan. That is better than nothing, but I am still having to either stop by the local dealership for oil top-offs and ride around with an extra quart of oil in the trunk in case it is needed. I love everything about the car other than this, but this is a huge negative and has convinced me that I should not buy Audi ever again if this is what they consider acceptable.

AirGibson

And by the way, this was after a year of my constant and repeated efforts to call corporate and the dealership to get them to address it. You will see some individuals say that you just need to "stay on top of them" and "keep calling until they give you what you want", but it didn't work here. I have burned untold hours talking, persuading, detailing, and arguing with Audi, but all it got me in the end was the better Audi Care Select plan. I hate to be pessimistic, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

Sepang15_S3

That's really disappointing to hear. Perhaps I should have stayed with my '17 GTI that I traded in on the S3 . It's a shame as I do love the S3, but, like you, I'm not at all happy about having to add quarts of oil all the time, and I can put 15-20k miles on a car in a year easily. I wonder if any folks who work for Audi (from dealers to corp) would at all be satisfied and content if it were one of their personal cars needing so much oil...I would highly doubt it.

SMac770

Air, which dealership here in ATL? I have my own hatreds for AoA and their disregard for customer ownership experience. But seeing as the only 300+hp AWD non-trunk car in the 185"-190" range (no idea what the EPA calls that these days) sold new in the US is going to be the Audi S5 SB, BWM 440ix GC, and the Volvo V60 T6, they stay relevant to my car replacement plans once I get reemployed. Kia Stinger GT is the only Asian consideration (or do we need to start calling Volvo an Asian car now?), and the US companies have 0 product of interest.

andrewmr

Air,

As you said, have them put a quart or two of oil in the trunk for when it's needed.

Another idea would be to change the oil to a conventional oil and see if that helps allow the rings to seat better.

jagtoes

Air I'm a little bit surprised at the oil usage you are getting . My kid bought a new 2015 A4 and so far after 40K miles it doesn't show any appreciable oil loss on the e-dip stick. But then we change the oil every 5K miles and use the 5 quart dealer trick. So we don't know how much this would use in 10K miles but my bet is some but not as much as you are losing. It's to bad that AOA is backing away as they have the bad history of the class action suit behind them.

all(over)road

The oil consumption problem on the 2.0s was finally fixed for MY2015 as I understand it....

SMac770

The oil consumption issue as a result of the rings/pistons poor design/parts was addressed with the change from the B8.0 CAEx TSI motor to the B8.5 CPMx TSI motor. But that's not to say there aren't other bad design or part quality decisions on Audi AG's part with the CPMx. High (relative to a normal person's expectations) oil consumption is expected with an unfixed CAEB, but it seems to be a rare exception with a CPMx (2013 US A4 got the 211hp CPMA, 2014-2016 got the 220hp CPMB, I believe).