How do you tell your Audi dealer about your poor MPG?

[jackyaudi]

I am struggling with this issue. I get about 12 MPG in 90 to 100% city driving, which I think is still very low even in city driving. Its an A4 1.8TQ 2002 Revo flashed, mostly driven under 3000 RPM, and very carefully.

How would you guys approach the dealer about this? They will tell me like last time that they have to drive it for like 60 miles (100 KM) before they decide if its having a bad MPG or not, and even if, good luck getting them to do that. They will come up with 100 excuses that its all because of your driving habit that your car has low MPG. In reality, its not my case, but it could be for other people who floor their cars :)

I am trying to VAGCOM it to check for errors (O2 sensor, etc etc), hopefully I can find someone in Montreal who can do me a favor with that (if you have one and live in Montreal, please let me know). An Audizine fellow who lives here is also trying to get hold of one as well.

Thanks for any feedback.

[audipotential]

I am struggling with this issue. I get about 12 MPG in 90 to 100% city driving, which I think is still very low even in city driving. Its an A4 1.8TQ 2002 Revo flashed, mostly driven under 3000 RPM, and very carefully.

How would you guys approach the dealer about this? They will tell me like last time that they have to drive it for like 60 miles (100 KM) before they decide if its having a bad MPG or not, and even if, good luck getting them to do that. They will come up with 100 excuses that its all because of your driving habit that your car has low MPG. In reality, its not my case, but it could be for other people who floor their cars :)

I am trying to VAGCOM it to check for errors (O2 sensor, etc etc), hopefully I can find someone in Montreal who can do me a favor with that (if you have one and live in Montreal, please let me know). An Audizine fellow who lives here is also trying to get hold of one as well.

Thanks for any feedback.

Have you maintained the car properly?

How are the spark plugs?
How is the fuel filter?
What are your shift points?
Do you have a boost gauge? Knowing your vacuum will aid your mileage.

[ehfour]

Walk into dealer

"Hello, Sir and/Or Madamme. My car has not been getting Audis Advertised fuel mileage. Would you be able to book my car into your shop?"

Thank dealer
leave

[Molotov]

ugh, x2. unless you're putting water in it, then I don't know why you'd be asking how to ask your dealer.

[80CID]

Walk into dealer

"Hello, Sir and/Or Madamme. My car has not been getting Audis Advertised fuel mileage. Would you be able to book my car into your shop?"

Thank dealer
leave

or call.....that was tough

[jackyaudi]

Have you maintained the car properly?

How are the spark plugs?
How is the fuel filter?
What are your shift points?
Do you have a boost gauge? Knowing your vacuum will aid your mileage.

Sorry I should have answered all those questions in the first post. I have owned the car for a year now, and the following was completely changed last week or so by the dealer:

- Turbo, cat, alignment, oil change

For the past year, I have not changed the spark plugs, O2 sensor, fuel filter or air filter. I shift Tip Tronic at around 2000 to 2300 RPM. Almost never go beyond 2900 RPM.

No boost gauge available.

I have the 17" if that matters.

[audipotential]

Sorry I should have answered all those questions in the first post. I have owned the car for a year now, and the following was completely changed last week or so by the dealer:

- Turbo, cat, alignment, oil change

For the past year, I have not changed the spark plugs, O2 sensor, fuel filter or air filter. I shift Tip Tronic at around 2000 to 2300 RPM. Almost never go beyond 2900 RPM.

No boost gauge available.

I have the 17" if that matters.

Change your fuel filter, change your spark plugs.
Might want to go for new coil packs and then re-assess your mileage.

[audipotential]

Sorry I should have answered all those questions in the first post. I have owned the car for a year now, and the following was completely changed last week or so by the dealer:

- Turbo, cat, alignment, oil change

For the past year, I have not changed the spark plugs, O2 sensor, fuel filter or air filter. I shift Tip Tronic at around 2000 to 2300 RPM. Almost never go beyond 2900 RPM.

No boost gauge available.

I have the 17" if that matters.

Your shifts seem fairly low. Get off the manual shifting and see if it makes a difference

[A4ringedONE8T]

haha yea, why manual shift an auto in traffic?

[jackyaudi]

ugh, x2. unless you're putting water in it, then I don't know why you'd be asking how to ask your dealer.

Well, last time I told them about it, they came up with 100 excuses to prove that its not the car. Then they were like we have to drive it for 60 highway miles and measure the MPG. I figured on the highway, almost all cars do well as far as MPG. Its the city MPG that sucks, and they would not drive it in the city and take that as a measurement...! So I gave them a list of things to check (air filter, fuel filter, O2 sensor, etc) and they said that if I get no CEL or other errors, they cannot do much about it.

I guess I will try the "as advertised" point as mentioned here and see where that goes... but knowing them and how cheap they are, am not expecting much...

EDIT: I will try the other Audi dealership here in MTL, they seem much better and more reasonable than the one I bought the car from. Lets see what they say.

[jackyaudi]

Your shifts seem fairly low. Get off the manual shifting and see if it makes a difference

Actually, I used to only use Automatic, but since it sometimes shifts at like 2500 RPM, I decided to give the Tip a try, and I think the car likes it better and its giving better MPG in the city with the Tip.

[audipotential]

Actually, I used to only use Automatic, but since it sometimes shifts at like 2500 RPM, I decided to give the Tip a try, and I think the car likes it better and its giving better MPG in the city with the Tip.

One thing im going to say is, youd be surprised at how sloppy your driving skills are until you have a boost gauge. It helps with gas savings. At 2500 RPM I wouldnt really worry about shifts.... I shift a 3000, on highway when I rip it open a bit , usually 3500 to 4000. I get about 700kms a tank which im happy with.

[FourRings80]

What dealer do you go to? Lauzon , Niquet, Prestige or Park avenue

[jackyaudi]

One thing im going to say is, youd be surprised at how sloppy your driving skills are until you have a boost gauge. It helps with gas savings. At 2500 RPM I wouldnt really worry about shifts.... I shift a 3000, on highway when I rip it open a bit , usually 3500 to 4000. I get about 700kms a tank which im happy with.

Dang. I get only about 320 KM in the city. I guess if I do highway I could get 400 to 450 at least. I never had the numbers you are mentioning :)

[jackyaudi]

What dealer do you go to? Lauzon , Niquet, Prestige or Park avenue

I got it from Lauzon, and thats what they mentioned to me in my earlier post when I told them about my bad MPG.

I took it for my last repair to the Audi Popular (on Saint Hubert, not far from Saint Denis) and they seem much better. They changed like 20 parts (Turbo, cat, etc, etc) which Lauzon refused to EVEN repair.

I got Audi Canada to intervene and they talked to Popular and things started to get better. Lauzon have the worse service Ever. They lied to me face to face regarding my Turbo, saying its "fine" if that car smokes at 4000 RPM.. then I said: Let me try any other Audi in the parking lot and see if it smokes at 4000.. at that point they said, you have a problem, and never called me back for 3 weeks and thats when Audi canada sent me to Popular instead.

Thats why am trying to find the best way to approach the "new" dealership about my bad MPG.

[dirtybrd]

Your MAF or primary o2 sensor would be the main things to check, other then plugs.

[FourRings80]

320km a tank is horrible. I get around 550~600km with APR stage 1+

[jackyaudi]

320km a tank is horrible. I get around 550~600km with APR stage 1+

Do you drive city only or mix of highway and city? You know how it is in downtown MTL, traffic is crazy and there are 100 red lights all over the place. But I still think there is some MPG problem there.

Whats the A4 advertised as for city driving? 18-20 MPG?

[FourRings80]

I do about 40% highway, I go to place ville-marie every day , and if your're flashed and have bigger injectors your fuel consumption is off. You can adjust it via vag-com

[jackyaudi]

I thought to give you guys an update on this issue. I called a different dealer here in MTL, and they mentioned that since there is no CEL, or a part that is not malfunctioning, the following parts are considered as part of maintenance work and therefore *not* covered by *extended* warranty:

- Fuel Filter
- Air Filter
- O2 sensor (unless there is a CEL)
- Spark plugs (unless there are problems with the car)
- Coil packs (same thing)

They even might charge you for checking the car and if they find "nothing" with it, for the amount of time it was checked.

hmmmm. Not a good start. I mentioned the as advertised point this time, he said they will check into that, but then reassured that if there are no parts malfunctioning, they will not start replacing parts and see if it helps MPG..

I guess I could check half of the list and start by replacing the cheapest items like a fellow Audizine member mentioned, and go up the list if MPG does not improve. Will start with the air filter and check the car for errors with VAGCOM. Next is Fuel Filter, etc etc

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[dirtybrd]

I'm not sure how a fuel filter will cause poor MPG but, won't hurt to change.

[Maverick]

clean your MAF first!

[Splattj]

clean your MAF first!

X2

Go the the parts store and buy the following:

CRC Mass Air Flow Meter Cleaner
http://www.crcindustries.com/auto/co...x?S=Y&PN=05110

New Air Filter

New Spark Plugs

You should spend less than $40.

Check the pressure in your tires and replace those things.

a4mods.com has a couple good writeups.
Remove the MAF from the housing to clean it.

[Kamin]

You are shifting way too low. My 1.8 actually gets much better mileage around 3000 rpm than at 2300. It is a small motor and the sweet spot isn't where it might be on a larger engine.

[jackyaudi]

You are shifting way too low. My 1.8 actually gets much better mileage around 3000 rpm than at 2300. It is a small motor and the sweet spot isn't where it might be on a larger engine.

But would not that get the Turbo involved EVERYTIME you shift your car? More Turbo zone, IMO, means more Fuel consumption, therefore worse MPG. I dont know, am talking from common sense.

[fitch303]

ehhhh kinda, Throttle pressure has alot to do with it. Bogging your motor down sure wont help though.

[jackyaudi]

Here are some prices from Audi dealer as quoted on the phone:

O2 sensor: $262 + tax (am sure its cheaper elsewhere)
Fuel Filter: $52 + tax
Air Filter: $30 + tax
MAF sensor: $170 + tax
Oil Filter: $14.67 + tax


EDIT: Sounds like Auto-rx helps with MPG as well: http://search.freefind.com/find.html...&n=0&query=mpg

[drmarcj]

Jacky I have a similar problem (400 km per tank of 91, equals about 15 L/100 km). I have changed the air filter and spark plugs, and am also about 2000 km into the first Auto-RX cleaning cycle. So far I've seen only a small improvement in mileage that is probably because I'm driving a bit more carefully now. My next step is to clean the MAF, but I have to say in my vagcom runs the readings seem within the normal limits. We'll see if the Auto-RX ends up working (should see something change after the flush cycle?) otherwise I'll try changing the O2 sensor. The O2 sensor is my last resort - it's so expensive that it'd take 1-2 years of poor gas mileage to offset the cost.

Let me know if you end up getting to the bottom of this.

[Kamin]

But would not that get the Turbo involved EVERYTIME you shift your car? More Turbo zone, IMO, means more Fuel consumption, therefore worse MPG. I dont know, am talking from common sense.

It might get the turbo involved, but for me, at 3k or a little less, you need less throttle to keep the car going than at 2k or 2.2k, and from experience, throttle pressure has more effect on the mileage than rpm.

[kwimberly]

One thing im going to say is, youd be surprised at how sloppy your driving skills are until you have a boost gauge. It helps with gas savings.

x2 I just installed a gauge, and I somehow went from 19 to 21 mpg in all city driving. I'm not even trying to drive differently, but apparently I'm reacting to what I see on the gauge. It's kind of weird actually.

[DELUX]

What the guy said above. You're shifting too early and choking your car in such low RPMs all the time. Stick to regular automatic mode. You're using premium unleaded yes? 12mpg is way way way off. I get 400+ miles per tank highway and 340+ city driving and I don't have to drive the car under 2800rpm to do it.

[davidlizard]

maybe you forgot to release the parking brake ....

[jackyaudi]

What the guy said above. You're shifting too early and choking your car in such low RPMs all the time. Stick to regular automatic mode. You're using premium unleaded yes? 12mpg is way way way off. I get 400+ miles per tank highway and 340+ city driving and I don't have to drive the car under 2800rpm to do it.

I used to drive it in Auto mode before I try the Tip, trying to see if it makes a difference.

Am starting to think its related to the Revo chip I have. Might look into that.

[DELUX]

It could very well be related to the Revo software. Ensure you're running the right software first, then try having it flashed back to stock. If you're just chipped, your mileage should be better than stock.