ZT-T gone, now an Audi w@nker. Piaggio Porter still poorly.

[Wibble]

I feel a bit guilty for alerting you to the Audi now. But it’s still a low mileage car and I’d be tempted to just get it done, rather than buy another cheap unknown car, which could shit itself in a couple of months. For the time you’ve had the Audi, a hire car would have cost more, plus I got to meet you and @bramz7

[Sigmund Fraud]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

the question is do I spaff £1,100 on this 24 yo car or get a couple of hundred back to put into another mistake  a cheep bargain.

Thing is, unless you do your own spannering, most repairs on a sub-£1000 car will not make economical sense.

To use the Audi as an example : A home mechanic would buy a £15 bag of universal ball joint boots and spend the best part of a day dismantling the front suspension to replace them. A garage would never replace just the boots, they would quote for four upper arms and 4 hours of labour to be on the safe side - that's already equal to what the car was bought for !

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Wibble said:

I feel a bit guilty for alerting you to the Audi now. But it’s still a low mileage car and I’d be tempted to just get it done, rather than buy another cheap unknown car, which could shit itself in a couple of months. For the time you’ve had the Audi, a hire car would have cost more, plus I got to meet you and @bramz7

No need to feel guilty, it's a good car. Rubber deterioration is shite. Meeting you both was great, to be repeated, hopefully. 

[Wibble]

10 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

No need to feel guilty, it's a good car. Rubber deterioration is shite. Meeting you both was great, to be repeated, hopefully. 

Hope so mate

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Thing is, unless you do your own spannering, most repairs on a sub-£1000 car will not make economical sense.

To use the Audi as an example : A home mechanic would buy a £15 bag of universal ball joint boots and spend the best part of a day dismantling the front suspension to replace them. A garage would never replace just the boots, they would quote for four upper arms and 4 hours of labour to be on the safe side - that's already equal to what the car was bought for !

Yup. 40/30 years ago I was more hands on. Have some knowledge, less enthusiasm, or facilities now. Those bolts look evil tho

[Matty]

8 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Thanks. as I say, I've never had reason to doubt them before. Don't have the time to go touting it aroud to save a few bob, the question is do I spaff £1,100 on this 24 yo car or get a couple of hundred back to put into another mistake  a cheep bargain.

I'd never look at it like that. The days of cars with a ticket and 300 max bills are long gone. If you like the car, and the bones of it are right then mend it. There's a lot of massive bills out there for much more complex cars that you already have a rake more money tied up in.

[Sigmund Fraud]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Yup. 40/30 years ago I was more hands on. Have some knowledge, less enthusiasm, or facilities now. Those bolts look evil tho

Those bolts are evil, though this being a low mileage London car may have limited the corrosion that usually gets them stuck.

There is also a special tool for the job - it's basically a drift that fits on an air hammer and drives the bolts out fairly easily. So if you have a local VAG specialist, it may be worth giving them a call on Tuesday as labour costs may be lower ?

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

There is also a special tool for the job - it's basically a drift that fits on an air hammer and drives the bolts out fairly easily. So if you have a local VAG specialist, it may be worth giving them a call on Tuesday as labour costs may be lower ?

We do have a main dealer, but I'd guess their higher hourly rate would negate any time saving. No harm in asking, though, thanks.

[High Jetter]

After much deliberation I bit the bullet and chucked the Audi at the garage.  2 new  arms, 2 wishbones, one rear spring - and the dearest part was an O2 sensor at £127 + VAT. Labour came to £390 odd, parts £390 odd, total including the MOT and VAT was £985. Picked it up on Monday, it's driving nicely.

It's got a weird habit of very occasionally turning the hazards on when started - and the only way to stop them is turn off and start again - hitting the hazard button does nothing. Any ideas?

MIL is still on, I'll just have to live with that I think. ABS light comes on occasionally but I've been told that's the brake light switch.

Oh and I'm covering for my delivery driver this week as he's on holiday. I was in the van calling at one of my customers, a car main dealer, when I had a DOH! moment. I should at least have had a word with them, they're an Audi dealer! Though it's probably way too old for them to know much about it, TBH.

 

[RoverFolkUs]

2 hours ago, High Jetter said:

It's got a weird habit of very occasionally turning the hazards on when started - and the only way to stop them is turn off and start again - hitting the hazard button does nothing. Any ideas?

Sounds to me like the alarm going off? Perhaps someone has disconnected the siren? 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Sounds to me like the alarm going off? Perhaps someone has disconnected the siren? 

That's good thinking, but I have accidentally triggered the alarm and the siren worked then. I'll check it again though.

[High Jetter]

Not had the hazard issue for a while, thankfully. Things are falling off though, last night this happened:

Cluster fell off as I turned right - thankfully, on a quiet road and I was able to retrieve it. A few scuffs from bouncing over the tarmac but otherwise intact - except for the clip where the fixing bolt goes.  Nae bother, thought I - I have a roll of transparent tape previously used to hold the NSR window up on the ZTT and, more importantly, I knew where it was! Taped it into position and only then thought to check the bulbs were OK. Of course, 2 of them weren't so off it came again and I headed for Halfords as I had no 5w side bulbs in stock, though I did have a 380 for the brake & side. 

All back together, job jobbed bodged. Oh and the 4 rings of success* fell of a couple of weeks ago:

that's the residue of the previous glue. What is best to re-fix it with and clean the old gunk off? I'm more used to badges with proper fixings.

[High Jetter]

Replacement tail lamp £66 on the bay. Oh for the days of a local scrappie where you could just pull one off.

(ooh er...)

[Sigmund Fraud]

How on earth did this happen ? There's supposed to be a long screw (ooh... erm...) in addition to those clips that hold the rear lamp in place !

 

 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

How on earth did this happen ? There's supposed to be a long screw (ooh... erm...) in addition to those clips that hold the rear lamp in place !

 

 

No idea. I had to change a bulb a while back and noticed that one of the pins had broken off in it's socket. The other used to slip out a little sometimes, I just pushed the unit back. The long screw (fnarr) is there, still attached to a smoll white piece of plastic which has broken off from the main part.

[Sigmund Fraud]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

No idea. I had to change a bulb a while back and noticed that one of the pins had broken off in it's socket. The other used to slip out a little sometimes, I just pushed the unit back. The long screw (fnarr) is there, still attached to a smoll white piece of plastic which has broken off from the main part.

Modern* cars, eh ?

There's one on thiefbay for £40, with the option of an offer and a current discount code. I reckon you could get it for £35, which is better than £60-odd.

[FakeConcern]

This pic

Needs to go in the That should fix it thread!

 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Modern* cars, eh ?

There's one on thiefbay for £40, with the option of an offer and a current discount code. I reckon you could get it for £35, which is better than £60-odd.

Thanks, that one didn't come up in my searches - have offered.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, FakeConcern said:

This pic

Needs to go in the That should fix it thread!

 

Yeabut it's 'actually' working? It's very strong, has held door mirror cover on wife's Auris for many months

[Lord Sterling]

On 16/11/2025 at 14:17, High Jetter said:

Cluster fell off...

This happened to me when I was taking a Range Rover up north. It must have happened as I was passing Manchester, so from then on up to the Scottish borders:

[High Jetter]

13 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

Modern* cars, eh ?

There's one on thiefbay for £40, with the option of an offer and a current discount code. I reckon you could get it for £35, which is better than £60-odd.

Offered £30, he countered with £34 and it's on the way to me. Many thanks.

[High Jetter]

Sorted.

 

[High Jetter]

On 06/09/2025 at 14:50, RoverFolkUs said:

Sounds to me like the alarm going off? Perhaps someone has disconnected the siren? 

Went out today and noticed both front windows down again - not fully, about 90% of the way down. The doors were still locked though, flashing light in the door as usual and doors physically locked. Sounds like it's not me sitting on the remote, then.

[Sigmund Fraud]

5 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Went out today and noticed both front windows down again - not fully, about 90% of the way down. The doors were still locked though, flashing light in the door as usual and doors physically locked. Sounds like it's not me sitting on the remote, then.

It would be worth checking the door harness for damage (a common fault), and also using VCDS to scan the CCM for faults (another common fault).

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Sigmund Fraud said:

It would be worth checking the door harness for damage (a common fault), and also using VCDS to scan the CCM for faults (another common fault).

Thanks. I'm going to email the service manager of our local Audi dealer - a customer of mine - when he's back from a few days off to ask him the same question. I don't have VCDS but I bet they do.

[Wibble]

Just a thought, no experience personally but if things look likely to get a bit spendy, what about a remote battery isolator? Don’t know if that would cause radio code issues but just a thought.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

I don't have VCDS but I bet they do.

There's a free 'Lite' version of VCDS, you'd just need the appropriate cable and a laptop. You'll be able to scan for fault codes in modules, but it won't let you re-code or modify module data beyond clearing codes.

[High Jetter]

41 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Just a thought, no experience personally but if things look likely to get a bit spendy, what about a remote battery isolator? Don’t know if that would cause radio code issues but just a thought.

That's a good thought, if I can't solve it swiftly. It's pretty safe at home on the drive, less so if on road to let Mrs out early. Had THE FEAR today when parked in town tho

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

There's a free 'Lite' version of VCDS, you'd just need the appropriate cable and a laptop. You'll be able to scan for fault codes in modules, but it won't let you re-code or modify module data beyond clearing codes.

Interesting, thanks

[High Jetter]

The A4 started to play upat lunchtime, running (even more) unevenly and vibrating. The EML (which is on due to a Laamda sensor wiring fault) is now flashing. The HT leads seem firmly attached. Earlier on I did fill up with E10 from a garage I haven't used for this car before - might be connected or coincidence?