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For anyone considering to puchase this car please go with a Japanese car maker, they test the parts thoroughly prior to using them. My other Japanese SUV is doing very well even after 60,000 with no major problems.
Stig
With that said, it leads me to believe it may have something to do with the Texas 100 degree heat that we experience so much down here causing some materials to expand?
I am going to take it in for service on Monday but wanted to see if anyone here on the board has experienced similar problems?
It also didn't help the fact that the stealership guy I spoke to was somewhat of an anus.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
and yes, it even covers the tire wear !
My net feeedback is ...If you want high quality customer service and product go with the MDX ( or X5, Murano or Volvo )... If u have fallen in love with Q7 .. buy it ( pay below invoice - plenty of Q7s in stock ) but your set expectations VERY low on customer service and product quality and HOPE u have no problems with the vehicle.
Check edmunds on Q7 maintenance section ... I wish I had read it prior to buying Q7 i.e. Q7 MMI
Net is AUDI makes a good product BUT they are ARROGANT and will not admit mistakes...
Make sure to fight any suggestion of u paying to fix MMI due to a spill... go to AUDI USA HQ if the dealer pushes back....
this is a visiible cutometr sat issue ... no new news to them so if they feign ignorance call them on it
GOOD LUCK
That being said, I still love my Audi.
Is there some sort of trend that people with severe brake pad/rotor wear issue would live in northern states, i.e. in snow and ice during winter months?
It would be nice if people would mention this in their postings.
I'm thinking about this because from the car manual I understand that the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) uses brakes for slip control, i.e. there is no differential locks. I'm not sure but I think this really is the case. This would mean that in areas with snow and ice in winter time brake pads and rotors would wear much faster because the slip between wheels is controlled by applying brake on the wheel which is slipping. And the driver would probably even notice this, just wonders how nicely the Quatro work on slippery surfaces.
Manual also states that if you drive over certain speed with wipers ON the system makes brake pads to periodically "touch" rotors to keep then clean. Manual also states that the driver wont even know this but as the pads touch they will experience a little bit wear. This would also add to brake wear.
Just my thinking...
Arrie.
Get to the dealership and the service tech pops the hood. Starts clearing away some leaves and says "there are alot of leaves in here. this could be causing a backup which may be why water is coming into the passenger footwell. This would not be covered under warranty". IMy response was dont tell me a couple of leaves is going to create an issue to a 50K+ SUV. I dont want to hear it. So he says well It may just be coming in from the sunroof but we will check and let you know. The follow up call i received was to confirm the water was in fact coming from the a-piller and was covered under the warranty.
Next log a complaint with AUDI HQ. This is a WELL KNOWN problem with MANY posts here ... They even had a audi shill in this blog argue why electronics under a cup holder. do not need to be sealed ... like the MMI ... almost FUNNY if it did not cost me $
Also mention the Q5 has the MMI on the dash which is the only reason I stayed with AUDI when I got rid of my '07 Q7
AUDI USA has poor customer services and their dealers are arrogant (although my service guy is good) BUT AUDI makes a great car ..
They should hire a Customer Service Exec from Toyota
Lastly you paid $50K + and should NOT take any of their nonsense so complain until they relent
GOOD LUCK !!
All this whining about what you expect from a $50-60k vehicle too; I paid $135k for mine (4.2 TDi S-line, loaded) and that included a 15% discount. You get what you pay for and I have had no problems or glitches. Brakes are going strong still at 30k miles (in 1.5 years), summer tyres have been replaced (continentals that came fitted) and winters still have at least this winter left in them.
If you have the diesel available then buy the 4.2 TDi S-line if your budget runs to it. Much more torque than any of the petrols, faster across the range and reasonable economy. Q7 makes my company X5 look and feel very second best, ML is gutless unless you can run to ML63AMG and who on earth would ever compare a Japanese plastic pursuit ship to a premium German mile-muncher?? Next someone will recommend an Escalade as an alternative. The only car that I enjoy as much for the long trips is the new RS6 avant, but the fines are boring...
Anyway- Who in the hell would buy a $50K-$70K car and then SLOSH liquid everywhere? No one.... And yay for you having tons of money to throw down on a car. You must be so proud! By the way - $50-60K on a vehicle is a LOT of damn money. Get in touch with reality pal!
I have my Q7 3 weeks old now and have been very interested to read all the horror writing about MMI shorting out from just a small water or other drink spill on it. This all seems to be a result of very poor design and I think there is an understandable yet not acceptable explanation for this.
In Germany where I have driven a lot of different rental cars it is not normal to find cup holders at all. It is not customary on German (or Swiss, Austrian, French,Spanish...) roads to see driver to eat or drink while he is driving. This is why most cars don't even come with cup holders. If you want one you need to special order your car with it. 4 weeks ago I rented a MB S350 in Dusseldorf and it did not have one cup holder in it but I'm quite sure you can get one if you order your car with one. Not sure with MB though...
From everything in Q7 cup holder design you can see that it is a poor adaptation for people who insist having one, i.e. mostly for N.A. market. What makes it poor is that the front edge of the middle arm rest that holder is built in to must be kept low so that the MMI can be used without overly bending your wrist. There is no room to make holder deeper because of the room AMI takes underneath it. Obviously normally so superior German car engineering missed important point here, the MMI moisture sensitivity. They would have been better not to supply cup holder at all for the front middle console.
Now, someone with a lot of money or other vice thinking people are stupid if they spill coffee or other drinks in their car and get mad when $1000 damage is easily caused when they are not warned about it should think about it a little bit. If Audi would have a big sticker inside the car warning people of the danger with spilling something it would be a different story but they do not have a sticker. Wonder why? Is it that some people would not buy the car if there was one? Perhaps.
Personally I do not know any other vehicle that has so expensive component positioned in such jeopardized location as MMI in this Q7 is. Audi should have made a better design for this as cup holder really is in very stupid position and when there is a cup holder spills can be expected. It is not if it will spill, it is only when.
Would be interesting to see some poor victim of the spill take Audi in a court over this. And I think Audi would loose. If they had a big sticker warning or some other way informed potential buyer of it before buying the car then they would be covered.
I have also seen posts that Audi repair says something was spilled on the MMI that shorted it out when people say they did not spill anything on it. How can you prove you did not spill as this now is an easy way for Audi to avoid paying repair under warranty by just claiming there was a spill.
How about moisture from condensation? I live in Louisiana and during some winter time months there can be very severe condensation moisture inside the car. Does warranty cover if this shorts out the MMI? This clearly would be poor design damage again.
For the cup holder need in U.S. is a good reason. We, or some of us anyway, are used to drive very long distances (or times). Personally I travel sometimes driving 10 hours straight (yesterday 6 hour drive) only stopping for gas and for that drink that I need to be able to keep going. I have never stopped at any gas station and drink or eat at location. In that easily lasting half hours drinking/eating time you loose 35 miles of travel so I choose to drive and drink my coffee or soda in my car while driving. This is very normal in the U.S. and this is why cupholders are found in every U.S. made (and most U.S. sold) cars.
If you want to get in the game then do it correctly, i.e. if you "half [non-permissible content removed]" add cup holders in the vehicle in location where they should not be to be able to sell cars in this market area then at least inform / warn your customers about it. Audi did a very poor job with this.
Even knowing about the sensitivity of the MMI to moisture I still love this vehicle. It drives by far better than anything I drove before, including the MB 350S and Audi A6 Avant S-line. This vehicle is something else. Of course I have not driven my Q7 at 155 MPH as I did with the A6, which probably would change my opinion but for the 80 MPH and lower speeds this is the best so far.
Arrie
The modern car's environment is by definition *hostile* to electronics as it is, even in areas where the driver cannot reach.
High tech plus good engineering.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
In some ways, you know better, but they (designers) should have considered the possibilities (we Americans DO drink and eat in our cars) :surprise: . I guess the lesson is don't use that cup holder. :P
i was given incentives to stay with audi when my Q7 lease expired... I bought a Q5 and love it
GUESS WHAT even though they claim Q7 MMI is perfectly designed they changed it on new Q5 .... the MMI in Q5 is in the DASH and as a result not vulnerable to spills etc....