Asking on behalf of a friend, she has an Audi A3, '54 reg. 2.0 TDi, 80k miles.
We believe the head gasket has gone, amongst other things!
She has taken it to my very reliable mechanic, who has said it's beyond him and will cost thousands to put right!
The question is, what should she do with it now.
She bought it two years ago, from some garage on the side of a road, and paid £13k for it.. It sounds to me like she's been done.. But obviously as it was 2 years ago, she has no come back..
In current state car is pretty much worth scrap i guess..
Any ideas welcome????
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 26/03/2009 at 19:07
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Need more detail. What 'other things' did the mechanic identify? Was the car serviced as per VAG schedule and proper oil used? Was there even a service history available when she purchased?
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I don't think she's been done. If the car's worked fine for two years, it's highly unlikely it had any significant problem when she bought it.
As per above, need more information. If it's a head gasket, it's no more involved or expensive to do than on any other 2.0 diesel engine. Not a cheap job, but shouldn't be "thousands".
What happened to the car?
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I would expect it might be worth more than scrap!!
I wouldnt think that a 4 cyl diesel is going to cost thousands for a headgasket either - its not a V6!
Are you sure that the headgasket has gone as its not particularly common - what symptons is it showing? - has it overheated due to something else?
I would change the mechanic as well if he thinks he cant fix it - wouldnt fill me with much confidence. There are plenty of VAG specialists littering the country that will charge reasonable labour rates if you need any repairs doing.
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Sadly, it would seem that in common with many other mechanics, yours has little knowledge of your particular car and the thousands of pounds is his way of saying 'I don't understand it and don't want to get involved in it' Try and find a mechanic who has had a lot of experience of VW/Audi.
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This isn't really a technical question.
Tell us the symptoms eg:
does it start?
If so how does it run.
If not does it turn over?
does it splutter and try to start?
Has it overheated?
are there any leaks?
does the ignition come on?
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Sorry for the slow reply.. As i said, it's my friends car, so this is all second hand info etc. .. She's a 27yr old girl, with little knowledge of cars, as am i..
To the first reply, yes it does have a full service history and she has been using the correct oil.
Symptoms.
Does it start, No.. Answer to that at the moment is because the starter motor is dead, The starter motor was fairly new (second starter motor), so at a guess it died due to over use in trying to start the car..
Before starter motor died, i'm not sure but i guess it would keep turning over untill it did start..
Re. overheating, not sure, will find out.
Mechanic mentioned above was worried about re-calibrating the fuel-injection system.
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£41,500was £41,750Details
£36,500was £39,000Details
£39,000was £40,000Details
£39,786was £40,529Details
