Honestly thats what I'm thinking too

I decided the same! Going to keep this machine on the road!

hi there. its not unheard of milage fot this 3.0 tdi. it can be said it pretty normal for tdi. car clearly have timing chain issue but, something odd. 3.0 tdi starts suffering this on 400.000km (close to 250.000 mile) that timing chains should be changed much earlier. i shared smilar engine chain stucture (2.7 tdi very close to 3.0tdi chains) its not an easy job but it can be done. kzfaq.infoC9hsvjcPVkg

Thanks so much! Feedback really helps!

Do you know any other web like lifetimeaudioarts for other cars

Small world and cool group! Thanks for the subscribe!

That's the plan! New video soonish, she’s gotten surgery!!

Stay tuned! Working on that today actually -- she drives again!

@@danielcars367 would love to watch a segment breaking down each service item and the mileage it happened at. Including any notes from the shop made along the way. I just scanned car gurus for all A7’s nationwide and there were like 700 gas options, and 13 diesels… that’s my biggest problem with getting one.

@@danielcars367 like the premium one must pay for diesel over gas might not pay off unless they simply will not depreciate nearly as much as gas over the next 5 years and require less maintenance in the process. Some gas A7’s can be had for $10-12k while I don’t see a diesel selling much under $20k.

There was a 16 on CarGurus very similar to mine with 173k miles that listed at $17,990. It had been lowered but otherwise looked nice! I would imagine most of the 10-12k options are 12-13 models, I would go for 14 at minimum - when I was still at the dealership we had a few 12's come through with weird timing issues (gas). I don't see the diesels depreciating on the same curve as the gas ones, and I think maintenance on both will be pretty hefty. Diesel will be more expensive just because of the emissions stuff, deleted will probably be a lot less than the gas one. Will definitely include service history in my next video!@@zanetaylor7

might as well get an s7 then

@mrk2938 a lot more expensive, not as good of a story... way worse, reliability and fuel economy.

3.0tfsi is a horrible engine with reliability. thats why they so cheap. s7 v8 is way better. @@danialkhan8012

If I was in Europe my life would be so much easier in multiple ways!

He ain't mad about dealing with issues. He is mad about lazy/useless service from the repair shops that just rip off money from u, without even checking the damn car.

I had a Model S a few years ago! It was an early one so the range was only about 200 miles on a good day. Honestly I like electric just fine, but there were days where I forgot to plug it in at night that would’ve really thrown me off if I didn’t have another car! Also one particular trip I remember where I was SO worried about making it to a charger. Idk, I’m sure it’s the future but I love my TDI!!!

That’s exactly what I did. It was cheaper to put a used motor in it than to pull this one out and tear into it. Will cost about 5k all said and done but could be much worse and honestly, not too upset by it! Only 100k on the engine now so that’s good 😅

I’m leaning towards the engine strongly. I’m not even the kind of guy who keeps cars for years and years, but right now at least I love the car and the uniqueness. I’ve always loved diesel and this is a car that’ll just never exist in America again. Maintenance definitely won’t be cheap (we can see what the previous owner had to spend there!) but I knew that going into it and I imagine any future owners of this car will too!

​@@danielcars367 It's really interesting to see different approach depending on the place we are. In Europe, especially the Eastern part, diesels are still common thing as well as old Audis. That's why I don't have such feelings towards this car. However aesthetically first generation A7 is one of the sleekest designs in last years. Hope it'll not end up as parts donor and the mileage will keep rising soon.

@@JeremiBulakowski Totally! If I could easily replace this car because diesel A7's were common, I would! But just not the case here - in fact theres so few that the TDI Audi/VW models are still selling for quite the premium over there gas counterparts This is not to say that I'm some huge diesel guy. I think they both have their pros and cons. Most of my cars are gas and will continue to be, but the torque and fuel economy of these 3.0 VW TDI's are incredible! I think it's a shame that regulations are tightening down on them. I know the EU is as well and I'm pretty sure I read the other day VW is planning to phase out diesel worldwide over the next few years as well.

Tbh, even if I scanned and for a history code for the oil pump, I would’ve assumed since it wasn’t actively throwing a code it wouldn’t have been something to worry about. In retrospect, I definitely heard a little chatter, but engine overall sounded and pulled healthy. I made a judgement call and was wrong and now I’m kinda buried in it, but honestly I enjoy the car so whatever 🤷‍♂️

I totally agree - the interior is fine but it's just missing something exciting!

I did the motor swap! Working on an update video now as she’s driving beautifully. Reeeaaalllyyy wish I had read this before doing it because you’re right, I could’ve got a lot more out of the old engine than my $100 core charge!

I did it! That’s actually when I noticed the knocking noise. It’s kind of a long process, it involves using an SD card to update your MMI and unlock CarPlay, 12-15 didn’t have the hardware and 17+ had CarPlay from the factory enabled. 16 had hardware but no CarPlay. The files I used were found on the audi forums and I think the software was called “most incredible bash” Honestly, the whole process was iffy at best and I’m a kind of technical guy. I think there’s people on the forums that will do it for you for like $50 or so. Also, it’s wired CarPlay only

Oh yeah, I'm not denying that at all. At the end of the day theres a bunch of steps I could've taken to prevent this situation, but realistically, I wanted the car and thought it was cool that it had unbelievably high mileage. In fact, I still do which is why I'm probably going to fix it Mechanics though? Oof. I'm not sure if it's because of the tech shortage or what, but even the mechanics I know and trust (which don't want anything to do with diesel anything) are super lazy these days with diagnostics. Maybe its because I live in a smaller part of the country, but it's a huge issue that I dealt with while I was in the car industry, and one I'm still facing. Also - maybe a million was an exaggeration, but I bought easily hundreds through the lane at manheim! Private party is a kind of new thing for me though

In progress! I couldn’t give up on her - will do a new video soon when the engine is in, planning to take advantage of the fall weather and spend some time doing paint correction and detail too!

That's the plan!

I genuinely need to learn copart because that’s an awesome idea

fuck yeah!!

That's what I thought! The guy drives it everyday - no problem. I offer to get the car shipped to me before deciding to go up there and get it, and he offered to drive it down. No issues at all. Audi dealer does an oil change three days before I pick it up and 1,000 miles later I need an engine. Unreal. I ultimately decided it wasn't worth paying to ship a knocking car back to Maryland and having to burden the previous owner with everything. Used engine with 100k miles and a 6 months parts and labor warranty for $3350, labor $1600. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. New video on the car soon hopefully!

@@danielcars367 Something has to have gone wrong with that oil change. The chunks in the oil pan didn't look like they had been building up for a while. If I were you I would be in contact with the Audi dealer that last did the oil change and asking them what, if anything, has gone wrong before it's too late. It never hurts to ask.

Is in mile not in kilometer😅 The conversion in km is 600k i think. E poi cosa vorresti dire con quel le trovi in Italia scusa? Che in Russia o da dove vieni tu le cambiate a 50k km le macchine ?

that's the joke buddy....he even talks about it in the vid at 11:00 @@simonecocco091

I paid $10k for the car, which for a running/driving facelift A7 TDI was great, I could part it for more than that. At 15k with a new engine though? Yeah I could of done better for that 😅 Still happy, still a super nice, well taken care of car! And I’m just weird, I love the fact it has miles on it. If it was 40k I’d just be “meh” about it

I went with a 100k mile engine, $2850, another $300 for 6 months parts and labor warranty

perfect @@danielcars367

Definitely worth buying - my friend just bought one with 104k and has been driving it cross country. If you live in a state where you can get away with deleting it, the car becomes a lot more reliable (and efficient/faster). You might even still have warranty coverage audidiesellookup.com/ That all being said, and older European car probably isn’t the wisest thing to buy from an economic standpoint. You will absolutely do better with a Lexus product

@danielcars367 thanks for the info I live in minnesota so I will do my research on that

Hahahaha they were like that when I bought it 😬 I was told it’s just what happens living in DC. Going to practice some wheel repair when it gets nicer outside!

I paid $5500 USD installed

For me as well

I did! I posted an update video but yes - she’s still going strong! I couldn’t let such a unique story die

That’s my bad 😬 here in the US no one maintains their cars, and honestly there’s very few mechanics who can actually properly work on these cars, and even if you find them the labor cost is insane. So rare to see a euro car in the 300s here!

Yeah, we definitely throw away cars here. Honestly now that I’m thinking about it, we throw away everything. Not really a huge repair culture! I mean if I was in Europe I’m sure I could find someone to repair the timing chains on this car and keep driving it, over here? Good luck finding someone who can do that job. Even if you did, it would be extremely cost prohibitive. From someone who has spend their entire life driving around in high mileage 90s cars just because I like them, it’s way more believable for one of those to make it to 350 than for a modern Audi. Tighter emissions, crazy engineered engines with super tight tolerances, variable valve timing, and all the other electrics all around the car.

Used motor in progress and update hopefully coming soon. Deleting this thing is a huge temptation! We don’t have any emissions testing where I’m at anyways. Would be super fun to document it and feel the before and after!

@@danielcars367 that’s great news about the emissions testing i can’t wait for the next videos I’m from morocco and we get the European spec with less emissions restrictions from the dealer and trust me when i tell you if you get the bi turbo engine and do the delete with a European remap specialist you will have the most reliable and fastest a7 TDI IN THE USA

@@danielcars367 i love the content by the way keep up the good work

Man I wish I was in Europe! It would be a whole different story I know I ended up putting a used motor in it, trying to do an update video now. It was knocking when cold, and making a pretty profound noise especially when coming off the gas. There was a stored code for oil pressure and after pulling the pan there was metal in the engine. No idea what happened but I’m guessing lack of oil pressure chewed up a bearing

literally

I believe this is by far the logical solution. Definitely the only path to profit left on this thing

@@danielcars367 I think it is. Sad, but true. Also, maybe it consumes a lot of time. If your time is more valuable, maybe you sell it as it is and go on with your life.

That’s what I ended up doing - engine replaced with a used one. Not exactly a lot of independent mechanics around me who want to tear deep into a diesel Audi engine!

I did! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z6h8eMRqu7Ksf2w.html

I know right