Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
But really a top notch bodyshop can make the car right I think---and since you are leasing you don't have to worry about the diminution of resale value that comes from a history of major accident. You'd be much worse off here if you had bought the car, if that's any consolation.
If they don't total it, it's not the worst thing in the world---but of course when you get the car back, test it out and if you hear any untoward noises, thumps, rattles, etc., bring it RIGHT back to the body shop.
But modern hi-tech body shops are amazing in what they can do, if they are really really pro.
t Peterson
Any Audi members in south florida area? Please share your experiences. Any recommendation are highly appricated.
Som.
Please help; if you have any advice for me I would appreciate it.
Jason
Please help...
RW
Its worth a shot.
We are moving from New Jersey to Portland, OR. I had my 50K maintenance last week, two days before starting our trip. Sunday evening, the transmission stopped working outside of Des Moines. Using Roadside Service, we were towed to a local Audi dealer. Customer Service got them to pay attention to us (they and Roadside Assistance have been very helpful and nice) -- but they could not find anything wrong and the car ran perfectly on Monday. We did not make up hearing clunks, having the car suddenly start to "stutter" and then stop moving in the 75 mph+ lane on I-80, surrounded by semis.... The Tiptronic manual got us off the road, and then the "check engine" light turned on.
Now, several months ago, my car lost all power on a major highway during rush hour. I had it towed to my original dealer, and they, too, could not find anything wrong, but switched out the new fuel pump they had installed a couple months earlier (that time, the car stopped running during rush hour also).
The "check engine" light came on a bit after this second problem but they also couldn't find anything wrong, although when it stayed on they switched out the catalytic converter.
This is ridiculous -- not to mention dangerous and life threatening. Unfortunately, Lemon Laws don't apply to cars as old as mine, but the &^$^ thing is still in warrantee, just under 50K. Your experience in small claims court reinforces my new-found negativity.
What gets me is that THEY CANNOT FIND ANYTHING WRONG after my A4 has stopped working in a dangerous situation, twice. What in blazes is going on?
Hopefully, we will make it the remaining distance to the West Coast....
:confuse:
www.thesqueakywheel.com
http://www.autosafety.org/article.php?did=557&scid=98 (good info here)
Good luck and if you would like more information or any help to get Audi to get your car fixed I will share with you all the info that I have.
Michelle
The CEL can be triggered by any number of events other than sludge. Virtually any mechanic can give the oil a gross visual inspection for sludge.
The sludge issue is not not an engine design flaw. It is the result of Audi stretching the oil change intervals excessively, owners/dealers using non-synthetic oil, owners running the engines with low oil levels, not changing the oil more frequently when the driving condidtions are severe (i.e. short distances, very low or hot ambient temperatures, dusty air, etc.).
Byron
Will Audi replace these if the failure occurs within the warranty?
Or do they declare any clutch wear within the DSG is a "user expense" item?
I did contact "Ask Audi" but their responses never offered an answer. In fairness, some other manufacturers I queried regarding potential wear parts were no better in their responses.
I wrote an eloquent detailed email, but the system just lost it. So this time I will be to the point.
The Audi dealership in Des Moines, when they finally got to check my car the next day (it broke down on Sunday), reported that there was absolutely nothing wrong except a minor 02 sensor fault, that it ran 100% per manufacturer's specs, that there was nothing wrong with the transmission.
So we completed our journey to Portland, OR. There was a very hairy stretch just past Cheyenne, WY on I 80. The season's first blizzard came in, so we stopped overnight in Cheyenne and continued the next day after they had reopened the highway. Passed 53 dead semis on the side of the road and a nine mile long chain of semis moving at maybe 1 mph going east. The road was slick and not always free of ice chunks or coating. My wife, a very experienced auto mechanic type, thought that maybe the car wasn't adjusted to the altitude, as it was a mite sluggish. Also the transmission clunked once the next day, in Utah.
Here's the punchline.
On Saturday, I planned to check with the local Audi dealership to see what I could get by way of leasing a new Audi (this time I would not be so dumb as to buy it), but we first stopped by a Toyota dealership, to check out a Highlander hybrid SUV. Loved it.
The Toyota folks had one service tech appraise our car. He came back saying that there were some body issues, but that the transmission did not seem right. I said that I just had it serviced ten days earlier. They had a second person check it out and he said, well, maybe the transmission just needs a minor adjustment. It seemed to hesitate going into higher gears. How come the Toyota shop immediately picked up a transmission issue two Audi dealerships could not find?!
This pissed me off enough that I decided to hell with Audi and proceeded to accept their trade-in offer ( a few thou lower than I had wanted, but they got me mainly on body issues -- a fender scrape and some dings).
My wife then went to collect our stuff from the car. She tried to start it, and there was a horrid noise, then everything went dead. She tried twice more. Nada. There was a CD stuck in the CD player we wanted to retrieve, so I went out and tried to start the car. No response the first time I turned the ignition key. The second time it hesitated a moment and then started up -- but the "SAFE" message now appeared in the audio screen, so I could not operate the CD player to eject our CD!
Well, Toyota bought the car by that point. And it is still 300 miles within warrantee.
And thank goodness the car did not act up on the stretch of I80 in Wyoming -- we would probably have been crushed by semis or rolled on the icy shoulder, sustaining major injury while emergency vehicles couldnt get to us.
I still want Audi to cover the lousy $35 rental we got in Des Moines, which they are now balking about as the car was up to manufacturer's specs...
And that's the story.
Roger :mad:
I.e. my daily driver is a Mazda 3.
I had no problems with the Audi until about 60k.
I had to replace both the clutch and pressure plate.
The additional repairs I had at 60k probably have as much to do with the car's age as with mileage, since the car is an '82 original Urquattro.
I had to replace a drive shaft on the driver's side, since the boot seal was torn.
Unfortunately a couple of the synchronizers also had worn to the point where I could no longer shift into first and second. So I had to buy a rebuilt tranny.
"Moral": If you still love your Audi (and can afford it) keep it as a second car.
Wow, that is quite a story. Well, praise be to God that you and your family were not hurt or stranded on that trip. I am so fed up with Audi. Like you, I just want them to stand behind their product. If I purchase what they call a luxury car, then stand behind your product like it is a luxury car. I am hoping to sell my Audi, if I am unable to sell it to an individual, then I will trade it in as well. I do not ever want another Audi and I will never recommend Audi to anyone. It is ashamed that you did not have the info about Audi's sludge in the engine problem. How dishonest of them, but I should expect as much. A local television station is doing a report on this issue, hopefully it will force Audi to begin to do the right thing. Have a great day.
Michelle
Has your problem been corrected? If so, how?
I would have thought the problem was with the CVT versus the engine.
Hope you have found a solution.
Bets
VW/Audi 502.00 oil specification or the better 503.01 spec. oil (preferably fully synthetic).
Anyone else have any ideas?
thanks
VEHICLE SHUDDERS WHEN ACCELERATING AT 10 TO 50% THROTTLE FROM A STATIONARY POSITION, SOMETIMES WITH FLUCTUATING ENGINE SPEED. *TT
According to my technician, Audi recommends replacing the entire CVT transmission and updating the control logic with new firmware settings. If you are experiencing the same problems, you are well advised to get it repaired if the car is under warranty. I'm waiting on an estimate now, but I know it won't be pretty.
Well, maybe, maybe not. The odds on bet is that while you can prove that your oil was changed at the proper intervals, you probably cannot prove that the oil used was up to the minimum spec required by Audi.
A couple of years back (I'm thinking somewhere between 2002 and 2004) Audi retroactively changed their oil requirements for the 1.8T engine. The new requirements called for engine oil to meet the VW/Audi 502.00 oil spec (at the very minimum, 503.01 spec oil is far superior and absolutely what I would recommend). If your dealership didn't use that oil (and many didn't preferring instead to buy bulk/cheap Quaker State or Pennzoil crap) you might be able to coerce your dealership into putting a new engine in for you. Your oil-change receipts should show what kind of oil was used.
The other side of the coin is that if you used non-dealership oil change places and they didn't use oil that met the 502.00 oil standard, you are probably out of luck.
FWIW, 502.00 oil is typically a full synthetic oil (and the 503.01 is definitely a full synthetic such as Mobil 1 0W-40 or German made Castrol Syntec 0W-30) and the oil changes typically run from $60 up to about $100. If you were paying less than this, it is almost a guarantee that you had conventional oil in your oil pan.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I am the original owner with just over 50k miles. It has been behaving this way for a while, but started to worsen within the past 2-3k miles.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has an on-line database to track defects, e.g. Office of Defects Investigation: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/recalls/recallsearch.cfm
Check it out.
From this experience, I've got several recommendations for people driving an Audi A4 with CVT:
1) Obey fuel octane requirements. Try not to put anything under 93 octane fuel. Doing so could result in engine/transmission problems.
2) Allow the engine to warm-up a bit, especially on cold mornings before driving off. I recommend letting the engine idle no higher than 1100 rpm before engaging the transmission.
3) Insist on snythetic motor oil, especially if you live in a hot climate like Texas. The 10,000 mile service interval is probably too long, so I would recommend getting the oil changed every 5k miles during the summer months. This is especially important if you have the 1.8L turbo 4cyl engine. It only carries 3.5 quarts of oil. Audi is well aware that natural oil burns up within 10k mile service intervals.
4) The CVT transmission does require some maintenance. An Audi specialist recommended getting the fluids replaced every 20k-25k miles. The transmission control module in the '02 CVT ran firmware that wasn't necessarily designed for driving conditions in the US. Audi flashed the module with all new firmware in subsequent '03 models. From what I understand, the software upgrade is supposed to ensure smoother launches from a stop as well as compensate for aging oil and poor octane fuel.
Regards,
2Tears
It was found during a safety inpection. Dealer is trying to charge 420 bucks for fixing it. I want to drive it to my mechanic who is about 600 miles away. Do you think it's safe to do that? The dealer says "large oil leak" and do not mention what category it is.
Thanks.