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Mine is being replaced on my Audi now, but I have over 60k miles on mine.
C.Strickland
I hope we can help you with the actual issues with your cars, but please don't post attorneys' names and contact information.
Thanks.
Does anyone have a good suggestion that has worked for them?
Don
Vehicle is 2001 A4 1.8T quattro with low mileage. All ignition coils were originally replaced in 6/03 at 12400 miles under the legendary "service action."
Did that fix the problem? Following a recent "check engine" light episode, dealer (Fred Baker, Bedford, OH) replaced all coils and spark plugs in March 2007 at 31400 miles at my cost. A unique problem? The dealer mentioned that the parts for my repair were being cannibalized from another customer's repair for the same problem.
12k miles was a joke; 20k miles hardly seems like "Vorsprung durch Technik." (During my years at a Tier II supplier to many auto firms, including VW Audi, this sort of product performance, regardless of warranty fine print, would have had us before a customer kangaroo quality court over our professionalism, competence, customer awareness, and commitment to continuous improvement.)
Predictably, Audi of America pretends that they have no responsibility for their vehicles and asks the dealer (which neither designed, specified, purchased components for, nor built the fabulous ignition system) to "evaluate" and complete the brush off.
I'd like to reach someone internally at Audi (US, maybe better in the EU), if such information is available.
After two weeks in the repair shop, my Audi A4 is in perfect shape again. Good as new!
I couldn't believe that I'd encounter the same problem again. I mean, my old car had troubles with its Airaid Cold Air Intake and now I got the same hassle with my Audi. I must be a car jinx or whatsoever.
But thanks a lot to the gorgeous guy in the repair shop. he really did a good one on my car.
The problem is that the CVT is a sealed, closed design and can't be rebuilt or fixed. A replacement transmission costs about $8000.
An Audi technician actually told me that the CVT issue was a "dirty secret" and he has seen way too many problems with that transmission.
I think it's reprehensible that Audi knows about this flaw and won't do anything to mitigate the problem - that kind of repair should not be almost half the value of the car just out of warranty.
I have a 2002 3.0. My radio is broke. It is constantly lit up, even when I turn the car off. It does not respond to anything, can't turn on radio, can't take out CD, etc. All the buttons and the LCD screen just glow red. Any advice? Prior to this my LCD would sometimes just die for 5 seconds. This minor problem happened for about 6 months leading up to this, but very rarely. Thank you, I appreciate it.
Also I ripped off my skip plate, accidently. I have the sport pkg. Is it worth the $200 investment to put it back on? Thanks again.
You'll have to have it scanned to read the codes. Audis do have somewhat frequent control module failures for the ABS system. This module sits under the hood. The labor to replace it isn't much, about 1/2 hour, but the part is around $500.
But maybe it's not that and only a failed wheel sensor.
However, you'll need to take it to someone who has the proper type of scanner for the ABS system for that car. A good independent shop will have this tool for Audis.
If you're ever up in the Bay Area from down south there I can recommend a shop for you.
I have a 1998 A4 1.8T. Occasionally, but not every time, when I shut down the engine, the interior dome light will "flash." That is, it will turn off for 2-3 seconds, then turn off for 2-3 seconds, and so on, until I leave and lock the car. I'm trying to determine what this means? does anyone know? I'm thinking it has something to do with the electrics in the car. Recently, I'm using a few different devices out of the cigarette lighter (iPod FM receiver, GPS, cell phone charger, etc.) Sometimes, I'll leave the devices plugged in. Does this behavior have any relationship to the light show I get? Thanks. :confuse:
The Dealer says it is the cd burner - and to try and burn at a slower speed. No change. These same cd's that give me problems in my Audi play just fine in any other car, home or portable cd player I have tried.
The result is the same whether I burn the cd's with iTunes or Dell's Music Match software.
Anyone els with a similar problem or is the dealer trying to get out of repair/replacing my cd player?
My details:
* I leased my Audi A4 1.8T new in 2004. I drive it less than 10k miles per year on weekends (I'm a CPA and travel out-of-town on business during the week). All maintenance has been done at Audi dealers on schedule.
* On a road trip with family 2 months ago, the clutch failed suddenly without warning (on gear change, pedal stuck against floorboard) 200 miles from home. Vehicle had to be towed 130 miles to Santa Barbara.
* Audi dealership in Santa Barbara dropped the transmission and told me: the clutch disk was "overheated" and "worn" in a way to indicate driver abuse/misuse--they said the friction material was completely "shaved" away and the repair would cost me $1,600.
* I energetically disagreed, provided details of how the car has been driven (kid gloves/weekends) and shared that my driving habits have resulted in my 1988 Honda Civic DX having 280,000 miles on it with only 2 clutch replacements.
* 2 months later (I still don't have the car back) after repeated correspondence with Audi of America, no deal has been reached. Audi of America has said they stand behind their dealership's assessment, and would not replace the clutch due to driver abuse.
* I'm scheduled for an arbitration hearing with the Better Business Bureau on June 11, 2007. I hope to have the clutch assembly replaced under the Audi Advantage Maintenance Protection program and my rental car fees of $222 paid for by Audi.
I'm flabbergasted that despite being well within the warranty period, I'm in a position to have to PROVE that I DIDN'T abuse the clutch. I mean, shouldn't Audi have to PROVE that I DID in fact do something wrong!
Does anyone know whether a case can be made on the fact that the clutch failure was sudden and without warning or indication of any kind....ie., no slippage, grinding, warning light, etc.
I hope as the 20th or so poster on this issue, I will be able to report back something fruitful from the arbitration. If not, I'm ready to follow Shom1 and empginam to court.
pls. share your know how, how to correct this problem. thanks.
We recently had the same experience with our 2004 A4 clutch at about 25000 miles. It was a sudden failure, with symptoms of clutch not disengaging, and difficulty engaging ang changing gears (ie crashing gears). Clearly out of the same scriptbook, we were given the song and dance about the overheated clutch and how we had abused it by continually racing the car and dropping the clutch. This is nonsense, of course. My wife is a teacher, 59 years old. They showed us a damaged clutch. I have no idea whether it was our clutch. We will have to pay $1500 to get the car back.
Not sure what to do. We are thinking of engaging a professional engineer to investigate their claims. We may also inform the State Attorney General, and the NTSB.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Regards
athornton
Minnesota.
Thanks
DO NOT BUY AN AUDI!!!!
its the break light switch which can be bought for 8 pounds sterling at audi.........
very tricky fitting got to be gentle with it as switches are easy to brake
Subsequent to the Smokey’s fiasco, the car has been making a loud noise at the top of cold starts. After a couple of trips to the dealer they were unable to determine and chalked it up to what they called a normal noise when starting.
Fearing getting stranded once again, I purchased a recorder and recorded the noise on several occasions. As a result, Audi is now (6/23/2007) going to replace the starter, which I have been waiting over a week for the phone call to come in and fix.
I love everything about the Audi except for the aforementioned and the time lag accelerating. The car is for sale when the warranty expires. Too bad, cause I would stay with Audi’s if they got their act together. And, what’s this I hear about engine noise and cylinder problems with the 2007s?
I feel your pain. I was just stranded yesterday under similar conditions. I finance a 2004 A4 1.8T Quatro Audi and the clutch went out without warning at about 36K miles.
After crawling to a stop in San Francisco my passengers jumped in a cab while I called Audi Emergency Road Service. The service was horrible. I had to wait over 2.5 hours for a tow truck to arrive (they told me it would be 45 minutes or less) while watching other tow companies drive by every 30 seconds.
The dealer just called me and said it would be either zero (if covered by warranty) or $3,100 if there is evidence of abuse such as overheating.
Hearing your stories, I am not expecting a positive result.
I will keep you updated.
Any news on your end?
Got the call yesterday my starter was in. Figures I receive the call after I blasted the dealer during their follow-up customer service survey.
Hope the warranty covers the clutch!
Thanks to those who responded to my original post regarding my premature clutch failure. Two and a half months after my car broke down, I finally have a resolution through the Better Business Bureau's Auto Line arbitration program. In a nutshell, I won my case but still managed to lose financially.
Prior to the case hearing on June 11th, a third party mechanic from the BBB went to Audi of Santa Barbara to inspect the vehicle at my request. The third party technical expert concluded that there were "no signs of abuse" and that I was "not responsible to any degree for the failure of the clutch" (what I have been saying all along!). This report from the third party mechanic, along with the testimony of two witnesses who were in the car with me at the time of the clutch failure, formed most of my argument at the hearing. The representative that Audi sent to the hearing seemed ill prepared and basically just reiterated their original assessment that the damage was not due to normal wear and tear and that therefore the warranties do not apply. To support this assertion, he provided a document that was barely legible which had been printed from some internet site showing various clutch failures and possible causes for each type of failure. The arbitrator himself picked the document apart, and was annoyed that Audi waited until the hearing itself to produce any documentation. In the end, the arbitrator awarded me repair of the clutch and towing to my local dealer to have the repairs performed near my home. The arbitrator's conclusion read:
"I find that the failure of the clutch is a substantial nonconformity because it is a safety problem that can result in a condition that is likely to cause death or serious bodily injury if the vehicle is driven, as well as substantially impair the use and value of the vehicle."
Once I accepted the decision (binding Audi to its terms), I then had to fight Audi a second time over the towing part of the decision. They tried to assert that they didn't have to pay for the towing of the car. I had to request a clarification of the arbitrator's decision, but then a few days later Audi offered to pay for a rental car so that I could pick-up the vehicle (120 miles from my home). Beaten down, I agreed. My car should be ready any day now.
In the end, while I feel a definite sense of vindication--it was not (at all) worth the effort and trouble for a ~$1000 repair. Plenty of people warned me that this would be the case. In my defense, when I started this fight I thought Audi of America would come to their senses after just a few letters. Still, I learned a lot and I'm thankful for the good folks at the Better Business Bureau. Anybody interested in knowing more can e-mail me.
Good Luck,
Christian78
Many thanks for the update, and congratulations on your persistence and overall success!
I am collecting posts such as yours in preparation for an approach to the State Attorney General's Office with a request to investigate the practices of Maplewood Audi, Minnesota, and the Audi Corporation of America.
Thanks
Regards
Arnold T
No, it's simply a complete waste of money, just keep using factory filters. Period, full stop, the end.
"...and should I have gone with a thicker oil?"
Nope, the Mobil 1 0W-40 is perfect for your car.
Best Regards,
Shipo
I bet if you put the Audi filter in, your noise will go away or diminish.
Thanks for the results of the story...it brings back memories. I have a few posts here related to my Audi experience which they called "unique", but reading all of the complaints, etc it seems many of us are enjoying these "unique" experiences.
It seems it is not the car but the company. Audi seems unable or refuses to take ownership for the failures and fault(s) of their vehicles as well as dealers. It appears to be a common behavioral trait with them.
I also contacted the BBB after my car was in the shop 45 consecutive days. Audi responded by offering some lease reimbursement though it never happened. I of course followed up and the smoke screen began to grow. I then emailed and called Audi's PR and Marketing team (info can be found on the web). Amazing how quickly Audi management called me, apparently I got people above the normal customer service group and they promised to help me - they told me they were the part of the team that steps in when issues are not being resolved via normal customer service channels. I admit I was relieved, but unfortunately, as most of you experienced, nothing materialized but more stall tactics and fluff. I wanted so much to believe in them and the brand but after two more months of excuses and the car failing it was over.
I did not hesitate any longer, I got an attorney (ignored Audi's disappointment in that act - yes disappointment - who is the customer?) Went to court, before arbitration Audi quickly presented a settlement (they made an offer and met my counter). The whole thing seemed pointless since all they had to do over a year ago was fix the darn car.
My point is do not hesitate with Audi, their tactic is to stall you, like their cars. Going after Audi is a horrible thing to go through and takes a lot of hours and work on your part, but we are talking principal here. We are the customer, we are paying for an expensive car, we deserve a little respect. Audi brags about increased market share, a report came out the other year that showed a % of repeat customers among makes, Audi was near the bottom, very telling.
Some advice: always go through the proper channels first with the dealer and Audi Customer Care and document everything - it will help you later. I discovered Audi customer service reps keep horrible records. When you negotiate with Audi and you have a copy of an Audi document and they do not it helps you a great deal.
Good luck to all in similar situations.....as a wrap up, I had further dealings with Audi, the car was still under warranty and I was pushing for a fix, Audi said they would only repair what was covered by warranty. What I did was call Customer Service each and every time I had a failure (got to know everyone pretty well) plus I took the car to the dealer at least twice a week and Audi paid for the loaner and warranty repair - I followed their procedures. Audi's team that dealt with me before the court experience called me and arranged an expert from Germany (no kidding) to look at the car. Apparently the expense of warranty claims and my failure claims via the Customer Care line was getting to them . The experts had it for two weeks and the car came back with 30 plus pages of repairs. After I still experienced about 50% of my issues until returning the car at lease end last year.
many thanks
shannon
Went to a shop today and asked a question about the clatter situation, they said Audis have a tendancy to creat sludge and the oil screens need to be cleaned to maintain oiling and oil pressure. If you go to a picture of the cam chain tensioner you will see a small oval hole that is critical to oiling, this hole has a screen in it and the clatter is due to chain noise untill the oil starts flowing and quite often it starts to sludge up. They seemed to be pretty knowledgeable on this and said it was due to sludge. If you can clean the cam tensioner screen its supposed to help the problem. Then I guess you go after the pickup screen if the first screen does not help. They said even if you are excellent at changing your oil it will still sludge. Good reason to NEVER put in regular oil.
Another friend of mine suggested I put a quart of Marvelous Mystery oil in it and drive it for 30 or 40 miles then change the oil. He has built many exotic car engines. I will give that a try in the next few days.
Thanks for your help.