Low oil on brand-new A4? Seriously?
 

Hey guys -

So I just bought a brand-new 2009 A4 2.0 Quattro Tiptronic in February. I have put almost 9000 miles on it. I've been looking at the on-board oil level meter, and gradually over the last few weeks, it has been getting lower and lower. As of a few hours ago, it showed totally NO OIL at all, and now when I go to the meter, it gives me the message, "There is currently no information available about the oil level."

WTF does that mean?! Is it more likely that the sensor is messing up, or that the oil is actually leaking? On a brand-new, sub-10k mile car?

I figured if the oil was ACTUALLY that low, it would give me some type of warning... but then again, this problem didn't happen overnight -- the sensor did show the oil getting lower and lower gradually over many weeks.

Any thoughts? I obviously should take the car in, but I probably can't do that for a couple days, should I avoid driving it until I can?

Thanks. And sorry for all the frustration, but jeez, I just bought my first brand-new car ever because I was tired of dealing with BS like this on my old used cars.

Did you have the oil replaced at the 5,000 mile (free) service interval?

I had mine replaced @ 5k and now w/12.5k (7,500 miles later), the oil meter is down to about 10%....I was planning to pick up a quart of Mobil 1 today just to top things off until I take it in for the 15k service.

A4 runs thirsty on oil because of the Turbo just buy an extra bottle and keep it in your trunk I do on mine I have owned 3 audis and they all do the same.

First off, why in the world would you watch your oil run low and not replace what you are burning off??
Oil burn may or may not be normal for ALL automotive engines and like Ducati848 says, the turbo in the Audi can tend to blow more oil thrrough than normally aspirated engines. It is normal and may or may not get better or worse but unless you start using more than a quart in 600 miles(1000KM), you are stuck with what you have.
As long as you just dropped below the readable mark(which is about a quart low) you are not at a critcial level...yet. Add 1/2 quart ASAP and then check the level. From what you said, you will likely be about a full quart low.
I would advise keeping a check on the level and adding oil anytime you get 1/3 or 1/2 quart low.

The B7's 2.0T FSI (and German A6 2.0T) also have a thing with oil burning, some more some less. I always check and top off if needed.

Did they actually take away the dipstick? I mean, a simple way to double check, no?

New motors usually will burn some oil while its still being broke in. It should settle down soon.

another tip: during the summer use the thicker 5w-40 oil. during the winter use the 0w-40. i think the thinner 0w-40 oil doesn't stand up to the hot months as well as the 5w-40.

I ran into this issue a while back. I wound up putting a quart of Mobil 1 in to top off the oil however the MMI dipstick was still not registering. After a few days and a few unhelpful calls to local dealers the issue resolved itself. I was concerned that I may have over-filled the oil so you may want to add 1/2 a quart to be on the safe side.

Computer Will Not Reset
 

On my 2009 A4, at 11,000 miles (first oil change at 5,000), the computer notice said low oil, and to add a small amount, but that I could keep driving until I could do the add. After adding compatible synthentic oil and running the car, the message "There is currently no information available about the oil level." will not go away.

The manual says two mintues wait is all that is needed, but apparently not.

Has anyone else had this problem?

I have had this happen quite often...it is unfortunate that Audi took took our dipsticks and gave us an unreliable replacement.