So I was notified today about the issue below that there was a bulletin released Feb. 26, 2007 regarding a 'tiptonic switch' causing ALL auto/tip 2003-2005 Audi A4's (3.0's & 1.8T's) to go into an emergency running mode, causing the car to have no power. The symptoms are described below. Despite having the car since 8k miles and having it serviced at the local STealership, they won't honor the bulletin. They say it isn't a recall, therefore they weren't obligated to let me know of the potential problem. He also said they probably get 40 bulletins a month on Audi's with specific problems, but they aren't recalls. It didn't affect certain vin numbered A4's...it lists ALL A4's for the three year period. The car is no longer under warranty. The smaller VW/Audi shop I first went to gave me the printed bulletin (which I assume is only available to mechanics because there's no website described) and they said the dealership should at least help w/ the costs because of not disclosing the bulletin. How the hell would I know otherwise? Does anyone else have this issue? Any suggestions? Do I stand ground for legal action?

Here's the problem:


I've recently been having trouble with my transmission in some way. My gauge clusters are black background with red lighting. The middle cluster under the air temp, mileage left on tank, diagnostics, etc where it says park, reverse, drive etc is in red, with a black background. Basically (from time to time the last week or so) when I start the car (it's a tip) and have it in either auto or tip mode, the entire section of P,R,N,D,S instead of the 1 I'm in at that point is highlighted in red, and the letters are black. Same thing when I'm in tip mode with the 5,4,3,2,1. Instead of the gear I'm in being highlighted in a red square with the number/letter in black, the entire 5 gears are highlighted in the red squares and letters are black.

That's the cosmetic difference; the big thing is the damn car doesn't drive when that happens. If I turn off/on the ignition again it's usually fine. But I had that happen this morning leaving the house, had it in reverse rolling down the driveway (without foot on gas) and when I went into drive, there was no power. Happened again leaving work on lunch 30 min. ago. All was highlighted, and I kept the car in neutral and revved the engine...no power..car just sat there idleing. Anyone know what to do and to what extent the seriousness is?

I've also had trouble off/on the last few weeks with the car starting..had the mass air-flow sensor cleaned cuz a code came up through a friend/mechanic's VERY good diagnostics machine..not something you find at a cheap autoparts store. Won't always turn over right away..especially if there car's sitting for a few hrs.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Mark

 

A TSB and a recall are two totally different things.

In general, TSBs are INTERNAL documents to the manufacturer to advise dealers of known/possible issues. They fix these things under warranty as it is part of the warranty contract to provide a vehicle "free of defects" during the warranty period. From a pure legal viewpoint they are under no obligation to do anything for free, or partially subsidize it, after warranty has expired. Whether they notified you or not is irrelevant.

Even under warranty, you will not usually receive a notification about a TSB unless it is a major public relations issue for the manufacturer. When you take the car in for warranty service, they will work on TSB items ONLY if you complain about that symptom, or if the manufacturer has instructed dealers to repair ALL vehicles that come in.

Why? It's all about $$.

In most cases, a recall is a defect that could directly or indirectly cause injury or death, and if the manufacturer does not do it voluntarily, the government will force them. In a few rare cases the manufacturer will do a recall that is not a safety item, again because of bad public relations.