Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action!

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 12:52
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - WJG

Audi have written telling me that I can have a "service action" applied to my car by the local Audi Centre free of charge. This consists of a software update only for the EA189 2.0 litre diesel engine to fix NOx emissions.

I rang Audi who say the only benefit from this fix is to stop the car giving false readings when tested for NOx emissions. Aparently the fix dosen't reduce NOx emissions. It just stops it reducing emissions under test conditions. Unlike in the US, NOx emissions are not tested as part of the annual MoT test in the UK.

As far as I can see, this "service action" is being offered by VW Audi purely for political and PR reasons and it does nothing to help the environment or the performance of the car. Indeed there may well be many cases where cars have performed worse following this change.

Why would anyone want to risk having this change made to their car? It seems shameful for VW Audi to be encouraging owners to have this update? Please tell me if I have got my facts wrong.

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 13:25
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - SLO76
I recently had it carried out on our Polo after promises aplenty from the service dept that I'd notice no difference. A work colleague also reported noticing no change to his Seat Toledo 1.6 post fix too so I let them carry it out and can tell you that it does make a difference, certainly low speed turbo lag has noticeably increased on our 1.2 Polo which can catch you out when pulling into traffic. Once up to speed there's no difference and fuel economy doesn't seem to have suffered.

Edited by SLO76 on 15/03/2017 at 13:27

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 13:38
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - gordonbennet

Not an owner of any of the groups' marques and won't be, from what's been written i'd be wary of having the update applied, but i'd try to be as canny as possible here so may be worth speaking quietly to your service manager out of general earshot.

A good solution for me would be to leave the thing alone until i wanted to sell, then have the update applied only if the private buyer (or trader if part exing) so wished, whether the dealer charged with doing the updates will play ball and defer the job to suit i have no idea, hence suggestion of quiet word in shell like.

It might yet come to pass that private buyers would be happier to buy a car that hadn't seen the update, it's still early days yet though and pressure to comply might yet come via VOSA or whatever they call themselves this week, so i'd be keeping my options open if poss.

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 15:46
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - 72 dudes

No first hand experience, but a few weeks ago on the forecourt, we had a Tiguan which wouldn't start after the owner re-fueled it. I asked what the problem was: "Just been and had the emmissions fix done" was the reply. We pushed it off the forecourt while the owner telephoned the VW garage to send out a technician.

If you have the choice, leave well alone!

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 16:20
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - Stanb Sevento

Dont do it WJG, there is a serious risk your car will suffer from it. I have a VW with this engine so have been watching and searching on this subject for months. You dont say how old your car is but in general the older higher mileage cars have more problems than newer models, the smaller capacity units up to 1.6L are worse than the 2.0L. Thats just my estimation from reading hundreds of posts.

The service update removes the cheat but also retunes the car so that it can pass EURO5 test without it. Every variation of every model needs a different remap so its hard to predict for any one car what the effect will be. VAG have admited more soot is produced and the DPF regenerates more frequently due to greater use of the EGR valve. This has implications for the life of these expensive parts.

VAG are using a whole range of "tools" to achieve the NOx reduction, fuel timing, injection patern, injection pressure, turbo boost, EGR flow and possibly changing emissions sensors trigger pionts. If like mine your car has a SCR and AdBlue tank I believe the other changes may be less drastic than cars without this because the AdBlue can drasticaly reduce NOx on its own but will use more fluid.

Personaly I would like to get the fix done but will wait till I have confidence its not going to harm my car. If I cant get into that position I will get it done the day befor I part with it

Just for your information I phoned VW when I got the letter about 4 weeks ago and asked them directly if my car would suffer a reduction in low rev torque and power after the fix but they refused to answer saying " you dont have to get it done its not compulsory"

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 17:49
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - bazza

Most owners I know are leaving well alone. There appears to be only potential downsides and no gain to the owner. Largely a PR exercise as the OP says.

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 19:59
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - Manatee

A cynic might say that if they could make them work properly and pass the test without the cheat, they would have done it in the first place - especially if, as seems to be the case for most vehicles, it is only a software change.

Edited by Manatee on 15/03/2017 at 20:26

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Wed 15 Mar 2017 22:12
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - coopshere
Another cynic might say "Why would anyone want to buy a used VAG Diesel engined car now"?

You just won't know whether you are buying one that has been modified or not and if it has what problems might occur in the future due to it.
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Thu 16 Mar 2017 08:03
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - Stanb Sevento

Another cynic might say "Why would anyone want to buy a used VAG Diesel engined car now"?

Thats the way I see it. Why would you? A test drive will tell how the car runs but there are huge question marks over durability and future costs. VAG need to give a warranty on these cars like they have done in the US. Newer cars 2013 to 2015 seem to fair better with some even saying their car is better, smoother better pick up, its a mixed bag. I dont understand why used prices are staying high, strange.

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Thu 16 Mar 2017 09:25
Audi A6 - Shameful VW Audi EA189 Emissions Service Action! - bathtub tom

dont understand why used prices are staying high, strange.

Because the general public don't follow current affairs and even less when it involves specialist items like motoring. They still believe the very successful VW advertising slogan "If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen". How else would you explain the high number of drivers you still see using hand-held mobile phones at the wheel, other than they're not aware of the new penalties?

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