As a long time Audi owner I never thought I would have to go through this, but was hoping that someone might have some advice regarding this situation:

My wife purchased an 05.5 Avant 6 speed (Our fourth Audi) $40k w/options and we have had nothing but problems with it.
She ordered the car, waited 3 months and when she picked it up (Towards the end of April) it had 50 miles on it. When she asked why it had that many miles the dealer told her they did a random 'quality control' check on the car - which is ironic since it has had engine trouble since day 1. On the way home the engine started idling really roughly and the car was shaking. While it didn't do this all the time, it happened frequently enough to be of concern. The issue persisted, with the car vibrating and the idle ranging from 500-1250 rpm irratically. It even would do it while driving (not just idling) causing the speed of the car to vary slightly and creating a safety concern. Then after driving on the highway for a little while, the check engine light came on (and stayed on). She called the dealership and they said since it wasn't flashing it wasn't dangerous to drive, but they wanted to see it to make sure everything was ok. She dropped it off and while they saw multiple codes, they couldn't figure out what was wrong (the check engine light had gone out at this point). After holding it a couple of days they assumed everything was fine, and returned the car on Thursday evening .

On Saturday morning the check engine light came on again and the engine again ran very erratically. This time we had the service supervisor come out and hear the car (he said "that sounds terrible") and see the tachometer jumping around. They held the car for another 5 days and finally thought they had found a problem with a loose hose (again it had sent multiple codes but service didn't know what they meant). They test drove (Combined between diagnosis and test driving they put another 70 miles on it - and the car only had about 600 miles on it at that point) and were sure that the hose was the problem.

When my wife drove it home Wednesday night it was fine. The next day on the way to work it drove worse then ever. The dealership said they again needed to see it and the car was returned to them Thursday evening for a third time. This time we also called Audi of America, and they told us that they had recently heard of a sparkplug problem that caused these problems, and would contact the dealer to work through it. Since we were very frustrated about having a brand new car in service more than at home (It still has less than 750 miles on it), and we were concerned that they didn't know what was wrong, we told them the car was defective upon deliver and IF the sparkplug solution didn't work they should
a) give us another car or
b) give us our money back

Friday morning they figured out it wasn't the sparkplugs. They still don't know what is wrong and are literally holding the car trying to figure out what to do - with us getting more frustrated each day. They have run all imaginable tests, spoken with the engineers at Audi, and still can't fix the thing. We have a not very nice loaner from the dealership that can't carry things (I had to borrow a wagon from a friend this weekend), we are paying car payments, and the best Audi can tell us is they are looking into it and can't tell us whats wrong with it or when it will be addressed. The dealership keeps saying they are waiting for info from Audi of America, and Audi of America keeps saying they are waiting for info from the dealership. We have had to chase everyone down - Audi of America won't even let me speak to a supervisor (They tell me they are following all required procedures and someone will contact me in 24-48 hours). We just can't believe that they are treating a loyal customer this way (I previously purchased new a '98 A4, a '01 S4, and most recently a '05 S4 Cabriolet. I also have recommended Audi's to many).

I keep trying to tell them that I don't want to deal with service on a brand new car that was defective at delivery (If it had a couple of thousand miles on it and had a problem I could understand, but this car was literally new) - but we now have no faith that this car will ever be reliable and feel like we are stuck with a $40k lemon. We have wasted alot of time and energy and the most we can hope for is that the car will run like it should of when we bought it . But the biggest dissapointment is how Audi of America and the dealership have handled this. If anyone has any suggestions as to what to do (besides wait & pray, or pursue the lemon law) I would appreciate it.

 

the whole defective upon delivery argument should be all you need...i guess this is the risk you take in getting a completely redesigned car...i think your best bet is to call audi of america and ask (read 'politely demand') to speak to the regional manager..they're usually pretty good at handling situations that should otherwise be handled by your dealership (not sure why they're slacking off on this)...you may also want to consider taking your business to a different audi dealership

 

Do you know if you apply for the lemon law? They vary by state to state.

 

Yeah, the lemon law states they have 3 times to try & fix or 15 days - then they get a final warning and have to resolve the issue within 7 days or you get a refund. The service manager told my wife that going through the lemon law procedures is a big pain, and the sales manager said he didn't know the specifics of the lemon law (He claims they have never had to go through it or buy a car back from a customer). I indicated to them (and Audi of America) that I would hope they wouldn't make me go through the lemon law, but it seems at this point that they will.

Since this is the 3rd time (& 11th day in counting) they seem to be holding on to the car trying to make sure the problem doesn't happen again (At least not within the 1st year)- but since they don't know what is wrong I don't know what they are going to do - but with each day the frustration increases. They claim they are trying to get the technical rep in to look but that can take 24-48hrs (and they couldn't give me any other info)

I will try to talk to the regional rep - thanks for the suggestion

 

I hope you aren't getting discouraged with the brand though. Your situation is VERY rare.

 

I have to admit I love the cars Audi makes but after this I really am not sure that I can stick with them.....
The supervisor at Audi Customer Relations called me back and told me that they are still "Evaluating my concern, and cannot provide a date as to when it will be resolved, but will update me daily" - I asked again for them to provide a replacement vehicle since they can't fix this one (Which would still be an inconvenience, but at least I would feel they are working with us) but he stated that at this point they are not willing to do so, and their goal was to "work with the dealership to make sure it is working to technical specifications" - I asked how long they would make me wait (since they can't fix it) and he said he didn't know. He said the dealership is working with Technical support (Which is a separate division) so at this point all he could do is wait to hear from them. He kept saying over and over "We are evaluating your concern"

I asked if he thought it was right that I am paying insurance and making car payments on a car that doesn't work, and he woudn't answer that. He kept asking "what do you want Audi to do for you" - I told him that the manufacturer should be telling me what they are going to do to make this right, not asking me what I want them to do (Especially since they won't give us a replacement car which is what we have asked for originally). He kept saying that Customer relations only got involved last Thursday and is doing everything it can. I told him that if that were the case they would have committed to providing a replacement vehicle and he replied "and you expect us to just scap this one?" Some of his other comments were just as strange, especially coming from a supervisor.

I also asked if it made any difference to him that we had purchased a number of Audi vehicles since '97, and he said everyone gets the same high level of service (So basically it didn't matter) - I told him if they considered this a high level of service then their organization is in trouble. We were very patient and worked with them the first 2 times we brought it in, but now we are getting really frustrated. I know this stuff doesn't happen often, but when it does the expectation is that they will go out of their way to fix it and make it right. In this case they haven't done so and I am very dissapointed in how this has been handled.

Is there anyone at Audi of America itself (Not Customer Relations- they don't seem to care) that I can write to let them know of my experience?

 

"you expect us to just scrap this one?".....are you serious???? that's insulting...have you tried contacting the regional rep yet?

 

bc where you from? I might be able to get you a direct phone number to the regional rep.

 

Audi Customer Relations said they couldn't give me the rep info (it would come from a dealer) so my wife called the dealer and asked to get it - we are in Massachusetts. The woman at the dealership asked if instead the owner could help, so my wife explained the situation. She got a call back pretty quickly from one of the higher ups at the dealership who acknowledged this should not have happened (especially because we have been loyal customers and it is a safety concern). He said he will get the issued resolved (likely either another car - if they can find one, or a refund) within 24 hours. It is the first time we have felt like someone is serious about our concerns (Although to be fair to service, we have never had a problem with them. They have been very nice and I think they really tried - I don't blame them for the issues since the car was defective on delivery) - so we are now cautiously optimistic . Seems like asking for the rep info definitely helped move things up the ladder - appreciate the advice.

 

no problem....yea, they don't like it when issues have to make it to the rep, i'm guessing audi usa doesn't like it too much, and the dealerships don't want to be penalized for giving audi a bad name....lol, deep down, they're a great company.