Ask the Guide

Whether this is a problem or not all depends on how much oil you consider to be too much. There’s an old school of thought that says an internal combustion engine shouldn’t use any engine oil. That’s not actually accurate. A small amount of oil is scraped past the engine’s piston rings and burned every time the engine turns over (which it typically does at anything up to 7000 times a minute). So some reduction in the level of oil in the sump is pretty much inevitable.

Some modern engines also use low friction internal components to make them more fuel efficient and, in some makes and models, this has had the effect of increasing oil consumption. Again, this is perfectly normal and the pay-off is you use less fuel.

Rather than just a drop in oil level, you should be looking at the drop compared with the kilometres you’ve covered. A car that consumes, say, a litre of oil (or even two litres) between its 10,000km oil changes is not a problem at all. Some manufacturers even say a greater level of oil consumption than this is still within acceptable tolerances. Anything up to 1.5 litres per 1000km can still be within a car-maker’s specification.

What you’re really looking for when checking your oil level is any change in the engine’s oil sipping habits. A sudden increase in the amount it normally consumes is when you need to start looking more closely.

That said, if the car is using too much oil, then it’s either being burned in the engine (suggesting worn engine parts) or it’s escaping the engine somehow (otherwise known as a good old-fashioned oil leak). A big patch of oil on the ground where the car is normally parked means you need to go hunting for a leak.

Actually, it’s none of those things. This model Pulsar came with the option of a six-speed manual. But if it was an automatic Pulsar, it was fitted not with a conventional automatic, but with a CVT or Constantly Variable Transmission. Instead of a series of gears inside it, the CVT uses cones of different diameters linked by a flexible belt. By altering where on the cones the belt rides, the gearbox can produce different 'gears'.

The idea is that by providing an infinite number of ratios, the engine can always run closer to its most efficient speed, therefore improving fuel efficiency. It’s a great theory, but not all drivers like the sound and feel of a CVT which can feel pretty alien, especially at first. Some manufacturers, in an attempt to make the CVT feel more familiar, electronically engineer in fixed `ratios’ but, in reality, this removes some of the CVT’s efficiency-boosting potential.

The dual-clutch transmission in your Touareg is a wet-clutch design and, therefore, much more robust than the dry-clutch version that caused VW so much angst when it was introduced many years ago. However, even the wet-clutch unit has been known to have its problems, and the symptoms you’ve described tend to point towards worn clutch packs or the electronics that control them.

Any time a dual-clutch transmission shudders or thumps, is cause to have it scanned to check the operation of these clutch packs. It’s also likely that a cold transmission will amplify these symptoms. A VW dealer can carry out this test and the results will give you a much better idea of what’s going on inside the transmission.

If it is a fault with the transmission, it should be covered by the new-car warranty. But make sure the dealer logs it with head office. That makes it a pre-existing condition so that, even if the warranty runs out, it’s still VW’s problem to fix as the problem first occurred during the warranty period.

You could be looking at an engine that has a fuel-system problem. A lack of fuel pressure or volume (or worn injectors) can play havoc with a turbo-diesel engine at higher speeds thanks to the higher loads being placed on it. You may also have a worn or damaged turbocharger or perhaps an inlet manifold that is partially blocked from fumes and soot that are part of the vehicle’s emissions system. The problem could even be due to a blocked DPF in the exhaust system which could require manual cleaning or even replacement.

But this is another example of a car that’s still under warranty being the responsibility of the manufacturer to put right (provided the vehicle has been serviced correctly). Give the dealer very chance to fix things, but if they throw their hands in the air, then Kia Australia’s customer service department is your next stop.