The turbo in my BMW 530d failed because it ingested a couple of plastic blades from the little plastic vortex thing BMW put an inch before the turbo impeller.
Oil change frequency & quality had zero to do with it.
I call it a design flaw but hey, it was well past the manufacturer’s warranty period and during that period BMW guranteed was it’s “lifetime” I’m sure it did something like improvetorque or throttle response or gain 0.0005 miles per gallon
Genuine replacement Garret turbo was around $2K. Genuine Garret re-cored with new core was $500.
Meanwhile my Toyota diesel turbo is still running it’s original turbo after 275,000 miles. But, wait, Toyota fanbois and reflex-euro-haters … ditto one of our other diesel BMWs.
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The OP had his Audi A8 serviced at the dealer and followed the manufacturers maintenance recommendation.
Yes, but the OP admits that she has no idea about the maintenance that was carried-out by the vehicle’s previous owner(s). Recent good maintenance is not going to un-do probable bad maintenance by the previous owner(s) of the vehicle.
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The sad thing is, the little plastic vortex thingy’s sole purpose was probably a sound cancellation device to decrease turbo whine or something silly! Ford ecoboost F150’s have something similar and I have read that when removed, the only observed difference is the turbo noise.
If it’s the 4.0L A8, labor looks to be about 8 hours, which in Audi-Dealer land probably runs $2000. Then you have 2 turbos, where the parts can run from about $1500 (aftermarket) to $4000 genuine Audi.
So, I see a dealer as minimum $6000 (and they will always include lots of additional things), and independent minimum around $3500.
Given that Audi genuine is failure prone, I see zero advantage to going with that.https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2017/MC-10133362-9999.pdf
I watched a $120,000 Audi burn to the ground due to turbo coolant line failure. I googled it and it’s a known issue with Audi’s.
That is the chance you take when you buy a used car.
Yup!
That’s why used cars have not been on my agenda for ~40 years.
Buying the most expensive model of a luxury brand, used, without an extended warranty, with not one but two turbochargers, what’s wrong with this picture?
I agree wholeheartedly about cooling down a turbocharged engine. I would add to that by saying I would open the hood and leave it open for as long as possible but I don’t see the demographic buying an A-8 doing that. Secondly, a thing I think is strongly related to longevity is the long interval between starts where the oil has drained down completely, leaving just a rather dried up film on bearings and seals. Or just short drives during which the oil never gets up to full operating temps for any appreciable length of time to boil off contaminants properly.
For myself I just bought an EV, love it. Generally speaking, if I would get another ICE car, turbocharger would definitely not be in the list of components, I kid you not.
I was listening to a “Best of” podcast posted mid 2020 the other day. One caller said while he loved the look and feel of his very expensive Maserati , it wasn’t a very reliable ride. Tom and Ray laughed and basically said that’s the compromise with a car like that. In other words the price of a car isn’t necessarily related to its predicted reliability.