Water pump OEM Audi or Saleri

Currently own a ‘15 S3 with 130k+ miles. Nothing really major to report for me outside of some known common issues with this generation (water pump, PODS, etc). Car has been great and honestly easy to maintain if you can DIY oil changes, brakes, and DSG fluid changes.

I got a saleri installation was very easy and it spun nice.

I quite enjoyed our 2.7t, it was stock and trouble free for all 200,000km. Not a single coilpack, turbo, nothing, oil changes and a timing belt/water pump service at 160,000km.

I had a Saleri pump. I changed it at 100,000 in 2013 and bearing was good at around 145,000 in 2021. I inspected it with a camera. It appeared to be leaking at the gasket.

I remember on my S4 the water pump had a plastic impeller that was guaranteed to fail at some point. The aftermarket made one that was metal.

I got lucky and found out my VIN was part of the class action lawsuit for water pumps, got that replaced for free.

The Saleri started leaking at the shaft so it wasn't an issue with the gasket. The Saleri had a plastic impeller while the OE had a metal impeller.

Just turned 51K miles and threw an engine light for the first time. Took it straight to the dealer, low boost fault code due to coolant migration from water pump failure. At 51K miles I’m out of warranty with a $7,500 repair bill.

It was the water pump in my case, thankfully under warranty.

I recently had to have my water pump replaced. I had the vehicle diagnosed at the dealer and then had an indie mechanic do the work. Saved me a bunch of cash. Mine wasn’t overheating, but it had leaked coolant into the vacuum system which caused my turbo to not build enough boost.