My 2016 Audi Q5 is using 1 quart of oil per week.
The vehicle is currently at the Audi dealership fof this issue.
Oil use is measured in quarts per mile, not time.
Five year old car, have you been faithfully changing the oil every 5000 miles or six months, which ever came first?
Have you been checking the oil routinely and adding as necessary?
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Based on the national average, thatâs about a quart every 260 miles. Thatâs a guess since you didnât specify how many miles but itâs obviously not good even if youâre driving twice that. Itâs probably no longer under warranty so have your checkbook handy. If youâre real lucky, itâs leaking the oil rather than burning it.
Have you been using the proper VW/Audi spec oil? And changing it as often (or more) as recommended by Audi
Why is it that people got away with using whatever oil was available, and/or doing lax maintenance on their cars 20 years ago, but now all of a sudden you need special oil or else accelerated engine wear will occur? I remember back in the 2000âs, I knew many people who owned cars from the early to mid 1990âs and generally treated them like crap, but they kept running and did not consume oil or coolant.
For the record, I have never owned a car, or been assigned a work truck which consumed a measurable amount of oilâeven with over 200,000 miles on the odometer. My current work truck, a 2005 Toyota Tundra has close to a quarter of a million miles on it, and I check the oil every two weeks, and it has never consumed a noticeable amount of oil. Even my Daewoo, which was apparently overheated by a previous owner (according to the machinist who reconditioned the cyl. head for me) does not consume any oil. This was literally the cheapest economy car you could buy in the U.S. in 2002. How can a âluxury carâ not compete with that?
It CAN compete with that IF the proper oil is used AND the proper change intervals are followed. Modern engines have tighter clearances, greater function, hp and efficiency than 20-30 years ago. And I have answered this before for you in other posts. Did you not read it? Or believe it?
Owners seem to ignore the maintenance schedules as well as take their $70k cars to Quickie Lubes to be filled with whatever white barrel oil they sell.
I, too, have never had an oil burner even with high miles. I doubt youâve owned or been assigned any modern cars or trucks with direct injection turbo variable valve timing engines.
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If it is not leaking then itâs burning it. The miles, oil change regimen, type of motor oil, and that always nagging question ; how often does that car operate with a low oil level?
Thereâs also the possibility of a PCV/oil separator issue.
Any or all of it can affect oil consumption.
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I have not looked back at the many posts about excessive oil consumption or low oil, but my gut recollection is most folks with this problem say something like âI always had the dealer service the carâ or âI never got a warning lightâ , yet they never state they checked the oil between oil changes. I do recall a few legitimate problems where the dealer was going to perform an oil consumption test, but most that I recall are folks who were unaware that checking the oil regularly was a normal part of car ownership. My daughters 2012 RAV4 manual says 1 quart in 600 miles is considered excessive, her car does not burn significant oil between changes, neither does my 2015 Corolla or 2016 Caravan. I also check the oil at least every other week. Once my Corolla dropped 1/2 quart @ about 3,000 miles, I topped it off and held @ full till 5,000 miles when I usually change the oil.
As the Car Talk Communityâs resident luddite, you know he doesnâtâŠ
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I agree, 260 mile per quart seems high.
Audis are at the top of the list of oil burners, for some reason. Iâm guessing this one has an oil level indicator, not a dip stick, correct?
Edit - I deleted my comment on oil use, since it was based on a guess. We need a number.
I am sure it does have an electronic level indicator. Our '14 does so a '16 Q5 should as well.
Like a dipstick, you only get a good level read before the engine starts. I have never run the oil level low but I expect it would run a check before starting.
I have an oil change due, Iâll key-on but not start when it is empty to see if I get a message.
The OP has not responded with miles per quart usage.
Why guess he is using a quart every 260 miles?
As long as we are guessing it might be a pint per 1000 miles.
Because that is what Dave does most of the time.
260 miles a week is the national average. Itâs simply a working number in the absence of further information from the OP since âa quart a weekâ doesnât mean much if anything. Itâs an attempt to address the problem vs. trolling, which seems to be the default response for some posters.
Such as using national averages.