Bürgermeister

At 3,800 mi, I got a warning about being a quart low. While unexpected, the manual for the 2014 Q5 allows that "...oil consumption can be up to 1/2 a quart per 600 miles ... [and] ... may be higher within the first 3,000 miles."

redherring

My 2010 A4 2.0t has always needed oil every 3-4000 miles; my 2013 Q5 2.0t (with 5k miles) still shows 3/4 full.

Mrchntmarine

my oil light has come on only once in 28k miles - 1 qt low.

Redd

I sure hope the oil problem was fixed, as widely reported. If I needed a liter every 1000 miles I'd be very disappointed. A liter every 5000 miles in normal in the US market in general.

But then again, the fine engineers at Mercedes used to say that a liter every thousand miles was correct and proper, because consuming oil allowed them to have looser rings which would get better engine life and less internal friction. They used to swear high oil consumption was simply excellent engineering.

It's something in the water in Germany, isn't it? Drives all the engineers to a point just slightly past perfection?

madcrazy10

Well I went in for the oil consumption test pretty much exactly 3,000 miles ago. They replaced some type of seal & topped it off with oil & was told to contact them again when the oil light comes back on.

Well, I got the light again yesterday and like I said it was almost at exactly 3,0000 miles. I made an appointment with the dealer in 2 days for them to check it however he said the car can go through a quart per 1,000 miles and still be within spec. He's just going to have it checked just to make sure there are no leaks.

Anyway, thought I'd share my experience. Is there anything else I should say when I drop it off or am I just going to have to accept putting oil in my 2.0T Q5 every 3k miles?

Redd

You can do a web search and decide who you believe, but a lot of folks would say that using more than 1/2 quart in 3-5000 miles is excessive. I'm used to seeing "no" consumption in 5000 miles on other cars.

How much is your car consuming? One quart? two? Two would definitely be excessive, one might be arguable.

In any case if you are not happy the options are to sell it, or to pursue the engine repairs with the dealer. Since this is probably not at the dealer's discretion, that means pursuing it with Audi-US (unless there is an intermediate "zone office" ?) and that will probably mean some effort. Shop rebuilds may or may not be worse than oil consumption and Audi is unlikely to replace the entire engine. But there are many places to look into (state and federal consumer affairs, etc.) if you need to put pressure on them.

IIRC VW had a problem with oil consumption from bad valve seals 10? 20? years ago on one model that badly impacted sales, and words like "class action lawsuit" and "recall" were tossed around. Some research, some diplomatic gentle pressure, and exactly how much oil is being consumed, will all be important.

Redd

BTW there *is* an objective way to get an answer on oil consumption, although it may require a court order to obtain it. Every engine has a designed oil consumption rate, and Audi, like every other manufacturer, has engineering logs showing what the measured oil consumption on each engine design is. Among other things the oil consumption affects the emissions, and the emission control systems, and another question might be whether excessive oil consumption is causing emissions control problems (worn out catalysts, or high emissions, or higher emissions than designed).

Audi *could* tell you what the designed consumption rate is, but I would expect most manufacturers to hold that information closely. OTOH a simple court order could also force them to disclose it, in order to prove what "normal" is for that engine.

And again, "normal" consumption figures may be available from industry sources, or perhaps from sources at universities, etc.

Just a thought, in case they don't want to play nicely.

Bob Petruska

...is considered acceptable and covers Audi from legalities.

I have a 2014, 2.0T and it hasn't used any detectable oil (I have an oil dip stick since day one). I also didn't break-in my engine according to Audi guidelines. I ran my engine to high revs on most drives from the minute I left the dealer. Now I have a 2014 and this engine has different rings than previous 2.0T's so that helps. I have owned 2 previous A4's and two GTI's and always ran them hard from day one and not one burned any meanigful oil, a half quart or less in 10K mile oil changes.

Redd

"I have a 2014, 2.0T and it hasn't used any detectable oil (I have an oil dip stick since day one). "

Bob, can I ask which dipstick you got and from who? I've seen conflicting posts to two different ones online, and I've been told not to believe everything I hear on the internet, that I will never ever need one of those incorrectly fitting parts on my car because there are no sensor problems.

(You don't think...maybe I shouldn't believe everything I hear OFF the internet too? <VBG>)

I'm tempted to try one of the $6.95 Dorman universal dipsticks just to see if Audi sends a team to take my car away from the abusive owner.

madcrazy10

Well, just an update on my car. It was consuming 1 quart of oil every 2,400 miles. Not a crazy amount but enough to have me concerned.

The verdict is new rings & pistons. I guess I'm OK with it since it's all under warranty but kind of stinks I have to deal with this in the first place. They can't get it in until Jan 6 so went ahead and made the appointment.

Oh well.