Dimitri

This past weekend at a family get together I met with a member of my family who is an Audi/Porsche chief mechanic in Maryland and has been working there for many many years. I recently purchased a 99.5 1.8TQMS and here is what he told me:<p>I. Engine info<p>a. Changing the oil involces (as most probably know) a bit of work to get around the engine cover. A VW/Audi oil filter has a spring in it which allows the car to have the oil filter bypassed if it ever clogs. So filter wise he recommended a VW/Audi filter... although he admitted that he uses Purolator and Fram on his 4000 series Audis.<p>b. When the oil is changed, the engine cover underneath should be removed. He recommended Mobil 1 15-50 Synthetic oil after initial 5k checkup (7500 miles or so). He also recommended that the oil be changed in between increments, and that the Audi owner buys the oil filter when Audi is not changing the filter (ie 10k check). Audi is just trying to cut costs... His logic was that synthetic will help your engine, and since Audi is changing the oil for you why not pay for synthetic and save on the labor....<p>c. They have had to replace some Turbos on some cars but no extravagant #. Chipping depends on the problem. A bad cigarette lighter is not chip related.... What I understand from that is that it has to be obvious it was from the chip. Also people with aftermarket components are a lot more vulnerable to have a stricter look by the dealer.<p>II. Wheels/Tires<br>a. Tires are rotated at 5k by Audi. Audi, will not pay dealer for tire rotation after that UNLESS the consumer states in the 10k, 15k etc... that he/she has felt a misbalance and jiggling on the wheels. <p>b. Audis need to be aligned by an Audi dealer. The alignment process is non-standard and you must make sure that it is aligned properly. It makes a world of difference how you align the car!<p>c. Audi owners must be careful when parking in parking spaces with cement wheel stops. If you go up too far the cement wheel stop or the curb might very easily grab the bottom cover of the car and as you back up it will rip it off!<p>===<p>99.5 1.8TQMS - finally broken in 1,250 miles in 1 week....<br>

Shabbis

Thanks for the info. Wow, it took me three weeks to rack up 1,300 miles on my 99.5 2.8QMSA.

Mike J

I have over 2500 miles in just over 3 weeks. Several trips between Houston, Austin, and College Station is the culprit.

B

Would this be the Audi/Porsche dealer on York Rd-Timonium, MD?