I went to see A5 at the authorized dealer. It does not have MMI, which require additional RM 11k and 3 months delivery lead time. So, you won't see the turning knot such as this picture.

Grey importers are catching the psychology of the buyers, who want to differentiate themselves on the roads.

But, in view of the price differences are not so big, I think it is safer to get from the authorized dealers just for that 4 years warranty. No doubt, their service levels might not be fantastic, especially for those outside Klang Valley. But, better be safe than sorry.

If the grey importer's price is 60 - 100k difference, then I think it is worth to risk.


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Hi Kicimiao66cc,
It's terrible. I don't know whether it's down to the age of the car, I.e. 5 years or above that's making it so bad... But I can tell you this.. I bought my 2010 Q5 Quattro Japan Spec in Aug 2015 for 182k. One year later, Aug 2016, the market price is 115k. Some are even selling the local spec 2010 for 108k.

It's nice to drive, comfortable, fast, smooth and economical. But in hindsight, I wouldn't have bought it. I don't know if the same applies to post 2011 Q5, but 2.0 TFSI engine pre-2011 is problematic. High engine oil consumption. You're talking 0.5 litres every 1,000km. On top of that, there's already 4 versions of Timing Chain Tensioner. The latest version should be the good one. Mine failed only after 30,000km. This is a part that should be inspected or replaced at maybe 100,000km. Not failed at 30,000km. When it fails, it destroys the engine. Mine cost 14k to rebuild. So if I could turn back time, I'd buy something else.

It's possible that the dealer may have dialed back the mileage of car making you think that the tensioner failed at 30,000km when in fact it was in service much longer.

well, if it is 2010 unit and bought at 2015, it is 5 years old and usually, the equivalent mileage age is 100,000km
there's a reason why warranty and service requirements has a mileage and duration requirement, whichever comes first

Ginny88,

Of course you can never tell what the actual mileage was. All Dealers mess with the odometer. But 2.0 TFSI engine has a known issue. Similar failures are common on VW TSI engines. Of course I only found out about this infamous issue after I've suffered the failure. Heaps of videos, blogs, articles on these 3 issues on Audi and VW:

1. High Engine Oil consumption
2. Timing Chain Tensioner failure at mileages as low as 20,000km. Audi/VW has revised the part 4 times already.
3. DSG Gearbox issues

Just go on YouTube and you'll see what I'm getting at.

Electron,

Your point is?

I bought a 5 year old Audi with 11,000km on it. Judging by the thickness of the brake pads I figured it probably had actual 30,000km on it. Opal Automart Warranty checked the car before giving it approval for Warranty. The Warranty states 20,000km a year limit, which it did not exceed at the time of failure.

This post has been edited by moosang: Aug 9 2016, 07:23 PM

Brake pads could have been changed any number of times. If it is 5 years old and using a typical usage of 20,000 km a year that would be 100,000km. I think that is what electron is getting it.

A more reliable way to gauge mileage is to look for wear of the pedals or seats

You didn't research the car before buying?

This post has been edited by Ginny88: Aug 9 2016, 06:48 PM

Being a Japanese car, they usually don't drive a lot. Seats were mint, pedals, carpet and all usual signs looked like it's been very little used. Having lived in Japan for a good number of years, I know luxury cars in Japan are rarely ever gets lanyak-ed by the owners and they don't drive a lot. Public Transport are so efficient and traffic are so bad in major cities. 100,000km on cars like these are too few and far between.

Like I said, these 3 failures that I mentioned occur on even brand new Audi. That's where I'm getting at. I made a foolish mistake thinking the car I bought is not part of the statistics.