Okay, went to pickup an 02 A6 that I bought over the internet tonight (3.0 V6 quattro w/ 59k miles). It is from a dealer that has immaculate feedback on Ebay and the car has a clean Autocheck (gonna pull CarFax now). Anyway, my wife and I pull out of the parking lot for a test drive and once we hit 15mph or so, the oil light pops up on the display - doesn't do it at idle. Crap. I bust a U-turn right away, go back to the dealer and go right past the salesman straight to the owner and ask him if he's even driven the car. He says "yes, for several days as I do all cars", says they go through a 130 point inspection, etc. He said he never would have had me come down if the car wasn't 100% - obviously - it's bad freakin business!! The car has oil and appears to have had it's regular maintenance done at an Audi dealer. The owner of the dealership swears it must be an electrical glitch, maybe a pressure sender, etc (says they just had to replace one on a 2.7T they sold). Needless to say, we didn't leave w/ the car and I got my deposit back. The owner said he has a 14-day warranty for the car at the local Audi dealer and will take it there first thing tomorrow morning for the diagnosis and to have it fixed.

Now, since I know it has oil, I can only assume two things. A bad pump / some other type of mechanical issue or a bad sensor / sender. The car is immaculate. Honestly, whoever had it took amazing car of it - not a single scratch, interior perfect except for a broken latch on armrest (common) - clearly an older person who had a garage. That's what makes it tough to walk away, but what is most likely the issue? From what I've read, the 3.0 V6 is a good, problem free motor w/ the exception of coil packs and valve cover leaks. So, are sending units common to go bad or are these motors prone to weak pressure, sludge, etc that I haven't read about? I'm gonna call the Audi dealer tomorrow and see if they'll tell me anything, but I want to know from owners - would you walk or not? Is the V6 REALLY a good motor??

UPDATE
Pulled Carfax. It was dealer maintained up until 2007. I can see that the gas tank was replaced (major plus), but it's last reported mileage in 1/07 was 57,849 - that was reported at DMV in "the villages" which is a retirement area in Florida. The car currently has 58,534!!! It sat A LOT!!! Does that mean sludge???

 

It may be this it may be that. The guy is a liar he is a salesman he has made a career out of being a liar. Find another one.
they are all over the place.

Not sludge, could be oil pump or sensor, clogged oil filter. Mileage is funny. They probably let it sit because the Oil Light came on and they didn't have the money to fix it. And MR HONEST has only been driving it around for a few weeks with a bad oil pump.

 

Well, 'the villages' is an old folk place, and the mileage is real low, so I bet it sat alot... but, they get storms there too and I seem to remember a tornado or two going through there not to long ago.

But, that doesnt mean the car isnt good, or could be. You just have to figure out if you wanna take the chance...

Besides, now you have something to bargin the price down with

 

Never heard of this....? Ask him if you can see the paperwork and pics from when he bought the car. Never hurts to ask.

 

Yeah, I never have either, but it was a dealer to dealer transaction, so who knows.

I plan on calling the Audi dealer later today and asking around about the car. I'm sure they'll tell me what the issue was/is if I say that I'm buying the car (for my pregnant wife).

As for tornados - clean Carfax and Autocheck, so I doubt it was wrecked in anyway.

 

It's not unusual for old people not to drive much and for the car to sit. My parents finally gave one of my kids their old Buick with 70k miles -- it was 15 years old. The last two years they did not put more than a couple thousand on it.

I have an A4 3.0 and it seems to be a solid engine, other than popping a CEL periodically for a misfire. It clears itself up after a week or so. Since it's intermittent and the car runs good (no stuttering or stalling), I'm guessing it's just a fouled plug or failing coilpack. When it goes from intermittent to permanent, then I'll get it in the shop and fixed.

On to the problem. If the oil is up to the correct level (check the obvious), then it is probably two things: the sensor is incorrectly reporting low oil or pressure OR the oil pressure is truly low. The Audi dealer should be able to pull codes and repair. Your dealer should be able to provide the work order from Audi and it should clearly state what was done to repair the vehicle.

At the end of the day, it's a 7-year old car with almost 60k miles, so small problems are to be expected. I would be more concerned about transmission and suspension health, as they get very expensive to fix and don't show as a "code" or light.

Good luck and let us know how it ends up.

 

I vote for a bad sensor... If it were the oil pump you would see the light at idle not while driving, but it is best to have it checked out.

 

Well, dealer called me today and said it's the oil sending unit and they had to order it so it will be ready tomorrow. As soon as I got off the phone w/ him, I called the Audi dealer they told me they were going to take it to and they told me the car never came in, but a part was ordered. So, I can only assume the dealer that has the car self-diagnosed which kinda pisses me off, but realistically, I figure that's really the only thing it could be. I read that the 3.0 has two oil pressure sensors - one for low pressure (idle) and another for high. Is this true? If so, I wouldn't doubt that one could fail - I've had to replace them on previous vehicles I've owned - just seems odd to have two. Audi over-engineering again?

 

That's good though at least they're fixing it. Just make sure that the light illuminates when you turn ignition to on. Just in case they pull the bulb.

 

I believe I saw on Shopkey that there was two.. one low in the engine, and one going to the heads.. I think. Looked at a lot of engines and might be wrong. I do know theres at least 5 oil pressure check valves.