Jacked the beast up yesterday, to do an oil change, went to put an axle stand under - and found a sea of plastic!

There is a circular removable plug which covers an area of metal approx 5 or 6 cm diameter - is this where you are supposed to put an axle stand on this thing?

Also, of course my axle stands are absolutely not the right shape to support this - anyone have an example of a good axle stand (or an adapter which might fit?)

Thanking you in advance!

GrumpyMike.

I think that maybe you now need to find a seller of pads/blocks to fit in each of the 4 lifting points - and that will work for you.

Typically these strong points were for moving the body around in the assembly plants.

My wife's 2002 VW Polo ended up with me fitting Audi TT jacking pads to the 4 lifting points - I couldn't remove them quickly before changing that car for a new 2015 VW Polo, so I bought another set of 4.

My 2011 Audi S4, yes, I was a lot concerned when I first got it home and looked under it, for that one, I used the internet and scatter cashed on a set of 4 JackPoint jack stands and they work very well, even on our younger daughter's 2019 SEAT Leon Cupra, my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI and our younger daughter's 2019 SEAT Arona Ex, though for the last 2 cars, I needed to make up blocks as these 2 cars are higher off the ground to start with.

Typically, there will be commonality between your car and some other VW Group products, and maybe one of the "poly bush" providers provides a suitable jacking pad kit that can even be left on the car.

Edit:- just to make it clear, my solution that I bought for the 2011 Audi S4 does not involve jacking through plastic covers, it jacks and supports on the 4 sill strong sections, ie where you use the emergency jack. That was an expensive option, but it has worked very well for me over the passed 12 years.

Edited 7 December, 20257 Dec by rum4mo

Cheers @rum4mo .

My only issue with using the strengthened sills for the axle stand point, is how to jack it, then insert the axle stand. I refuse point blank to stick my head under a car which is just up on a jack!

Or maybe I'm being dense (happens regularly) and I'm not getting you!

Okay, well these seriously pricy JackPoint jack stands are quite clever - I can't say why there are not many similar jack stands available to us in UK.

Anyway, they are designed in 2 parts, the top part/platform/table top, is placed on a suitable trolley jack, I have 2 similar trolley jacks, so I jack up one side at a time using these 2 trolley jacks with the jack stands on the top of the jacks, then when at the correct height, slip the bases or tables that are the lower part of the jack stands under the jacked up top part/platform/table top, then lower the 2 trolley jacks back down - so the top is located securely on the base of each jack stand - then do the same for the other side. That leaves the wheels off the ground.

What I'd think that you would do if you can get suitable jacking pads for all these 4 body jacking points that hopefully you can find is, jack up under them and place your axle stand, maybe with a suitable protective notched block on each, under the strengthen sill jacking points.

Edited 7 December, 20257 Dec by rum4mo
changed "have found" to "can find"

Draper Expert 24173 might work for you at the inboard jacking points - if these 4 points will support your car without causing any body damage - I'm mentioning that as years ago VW Passat owners found out about the Audi TT jacking point protectors - and used them on the B5 etc Passat, but some of these areas of the body could not take that load without distorting. It was later said that at least on early cars, these 4 points were only meant to be strong enough to support a lightly loaded body during initial assembly. Times have moved on and I'm that on some Audi/VW like Golf R etc, and on same age SEAT Leon Cupra, jacking adaptors can get fitted after removing covers, so that was why I was suggesting that you look into similar set up for equivalent Audi and VW models to your car - as a creative way of getting round this issue. Okay a lot of home diy service work can be done if you just use ramps, but for lots of jobs you need to get wheels off.

Edit:- idealy you would need to confirm from checking an official workshop manual, if there were 4 inboard jacking/supporting points on your car.

Edited 7 December, 20257 Dec by rum4mo

Do you have a pic on the locations where you put your axle stands? This could help me.

I've read the workshop manual and it says, no other lifting point shall be used but those designated for the jack...

But I assume I'm not the only to struggle with putting an axle stand at the same location as the one already used for the jack... 🤪