What follows is the complete, unedited set of emails I exchanged with AudiUSA CEO Johan deNysschen. Make certain to read the last few paragraphs of his final reply on Dec 28, 2011.


Mr. Johan de Nysschen
President, Audi of America
3800 Hamlin Road
Auburn Hills, MI 48326
Johan.deNysschen@audi.com
*

*
9 May 2011

Dear Mr. de Nysschen-

A little more than ten years ago, I purchased a new Audi 2000 S4. I found the vehicle to offer superb design, engineering, and performance, and looked forward to many years of using this vehicle as the complement to my 2-seat Mercedes, which I use as a city vehicle and “daily driver”. As such, I expected the Audi to receive more occasional use, with gentler highway miles (as opposed to city driving). Over the years, this is precisely how my Audi has been used.

However, despite being driven fewer than 10k miles per year, most of which were 400-mile round-trips from my home in the city, along I-80 (a major interstate), to my home in the mountains (where the S4 may be necessary due to occasional snow), my Audi S4 has been the most trouble-plagued vehicle I've ever owned. I've purchased new first-production-year vehicles from manufacturers Japanese, American, and German. None of them has exhibited the spate of recurring problems as my Audi – many of which seem to be well-known among other Audi owners, and yet seem entirely unaddressed by the company.

Allow me to catalog some of the problems my vehicle has had over its 100,000 mile life:

near-complete failure of the LED dashboard info display
airbag sensor failures
six (!!) wheel hub replacements (and they don't even salt the roads here!)
repeated tie-rod and bushing failures
multiple headlamp and foglamp component failures (9 in all)
headlamp transparency loss
substantial paint degradation
horribly-uneven tire wear (despite many alignments & alignment checks)
electrical noise in audio system

The surprising elements are that, despite how common (almost ubiquitous) the LED display problem has been, the company seems to have done nothing to address it for current owners, and that I have had so many drivetrain (suspension & hub) failures, despite un-aggressive highway driving composing most of the 100k miles.* As happy I have been with the engine performance and reliability, I should state that I have never experienced any engine problems in any vehicle I've ever owned.

When I compare the failure issues with my Audi to the reliability of my 2001 Mercedes (which now has 130k miles), the difference is striking. Despite more aggressive, primarily city driving in the Mercedes, combined with many of the same trip routes I make with the Audi, the only components I've ever needed to replace have been shocks & tie-rod ends (only once). No hub failures. No head/fog lamp problems. No electrical problems. NO PAINT PROBLEMS (despite encountering the same degree of road sand – as judged by windshield degradation).

Despite this lengthy introduction, I am not writing this letter to complain. I am writing because I consider it time to consider another new vehicle purchase – perhaps to replace both the MBZ and the S4 with a single vehicle. I am greatly concerned that, despite the splendid design and (for most systems & components) engineering, I would be very likely to consider buying another new Audi if I had some solid indication that the company has addressed the reliability failures from the recent past, and that, somehow, the company is now more inclined to address widespread problems on its own volition (instead of addressing known problems only as the result of a lawsuit resolution, as with the tire and sunroof issues).

Thus, I have this serious question to ask of you: Respectfully, given my less-than-stellar experience with my first new Audi, why should I consider purchasing another?

I await your considered reply.


Best wishes,

An..... P.....



Good evening Mr. P.....,
My name is Barry Hoch, and I am the A4 Product Manager at Audi of America.* Thank you for taking the time to write and provide us with an opportunity for redemption.* I can understand your frustration given the issues you have listed; anyone would be.* Since your last purchase with us over a decade ago, our quality has improved by sixty percent on the A4 / S4 carlines.* The A4 and S4 are now recognized by a leading consumer publication as “Recommended,” and numerous accolades have been bestowed upon the 8th generation A4 and S4 making this our best A4 yet.* I encourage you to scrutinize the B8 A4 alongside our competitors.* We work tirelessly to improve our products and customer experience, never resting on our laurels.* I hope you will see the improvement also.
*
With my regards,
barry
*
*
Barry Hoch
Product Manager, A4 / A5 / Q5 / Q7
*
Audi of America, Inc.
Product Management
2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive
Herndon, VA 20171
United States of America
office +1-703-364-7418
mailto:barry.hoch@audi.com
Audi of America > Luxury Has Progressed



13 May 2011

Mr Hoch-
*
Thank you very much for your thoughtful reply.* I will indeed investigate any improvements in reliability you have made in the A4 line, plus the TT line, which I would seriously consider.
*
However, I am rather disappointed that you did not even mention, let alone address, my concern regarding Audi's lack of responsiveness to widely-known problems in the production of the S4 I originally purchased.* It concerns me greatly that the only thing I've observed, from my purchase date until now, is that Audi responds to or corrects well-known and widely-experienced defects only when prompted by litigation.*
*
I can research and (hopefully) observe any reviewed improvements in product quality.* But, from my perspective, I have*witnessed **zero** improvement in the "customer experience".
*
If there's anything you can offer in this vein, I would genuinely like to give Audi the fairest consideration.* As I'm certain you understand, convincing a buyer, like me, to purchase again, when that buyer's initial purchase was the most unreliable automobile he'd ever owned, can take some doing.
*
Best Regards,
*
An..... P.....
*


9 June 2011

Mr. deNysschen-
*
It is difficult for me to succinctly express my profound disappointment with your response -- or more appropriately, your non-response --*to my letter.
*
I took the time to catalogue the difficulties I've had with my first new Audi purchase, both with the vehicle and with Audi (corporate) itself.* I offered you the opportunity to re-earn my business.
*
Your failure to even demonstrate a serious attempt at valuing my continuing business was nothing short of pathetic.* First, you shuttled my email off to a product manager for the A4 line (I'm not considering a new A4/S4 at all), who replied to me with a bunch of unverifiable and non-responsive pablum* Neither he, nor you, nor anybody else took*any time to address the specific concerns I had, despite my follow-up email to both you and Mr Hoch.
*
A new TT/S would have been in leading contention for my next new vehicle.* Your actions following my letter have me soundly convinced that Audi is not a company with which I should ever do business again.* And believe me,*as you can tell from my initial letter, I am quite specific in articulating why -- which is exactly what everybody I know will hear when they ask me about my experience with my S4 and with Audi in general.* Further, they'll hear this story -- of how I contacted Audi to ask about improvements in their cars and in the company, and received a dismissive brush-off by a company who clearly had no interest in my business.
*
Most sincerely,
*
An..... P.....
*


27 December 2011

Mr. deNysschen-
*
I just thought you'd like to know -- my Audi S4 has now mandated its own replacement, in a fashion befitting its behavior as the most unreliable vehicle I've ever purchased:* it, without warning, shredded its timing belt and bent most of its 24 valves, creating engine service costs which approach the present value of the vehicle -- still thousands of miles before its scheduled mileage for timing belt replacement service.
*
Of course, due to the exemplar this vehicle has set for Audi's reliability, and your non-responsiveness to my inquiries, its replacement will not be from the same manufacturer.
*
Regards,
An..... P.....
*


(28 December 2011)

Dear Mr P.....

We regret to learn of the incident regarding your MY 2000 S4.

I take exception to your allegation that either Barry Hoch or I have been unresponsive to your previous communication.

In fact, quite the contrary.

Your earlier communication inquired about what reassurance Audi could offer you regarding technical and quality advances since the year 2000.

I personally responded to you, advising that one of my colleagues would elaborate on these advances in a more detailed reply.

As a Product Specialist, Mr Hoch is well qualified to answer your inquiry. Your questions pertained to an S4, a model manufactured on our "B" platform. You did not indicate you wanted information regarding a TT. Had you done so, we would have been pleased to provide* information on this model as well. Regardless, the essence of the information provided by Mr Hoch, applies universally to all Audi models.

I also wonder how many times you have received a personal response from the president of any large corporation. The sheer scale of large enterprises makes this impractical. Consider that there are more than one million Audi vehicles in operation on US roads today. If 1 percent of these valued Audi customers write to my office, that amounts to over 40 customer cases per working day. That doesn't even consider communication from non- customers, potential customers, or dealers.* It is not possible for me to directly respond to each individual- I have a company to run. I read, acknowledge, and forward the correspondence to colleagues who have the opportunity to investigate and resolve customer concerns. That is the obvious reason why there are specialist functions within a corporation to deal with such matters. But nevertheless, here you once again receive a personal response, despite the absence in your email of the customary civil discourse which normally one may expect to characterize formal communication of this nature.

The tone of your communication, including your various postings,* has consistently been unpleasant, filled with uncalled for sarcasm and acid commentary.* In short- your correspondence is rude and abusive.* Many may well choose to ignore communication so lacking in courtesy.* Yet we did not- we responded in a polite, factual and civil manner. You may not have liked our responses, perhaps because we are unwilling to repair for free or replace a 12- year old car.

I'm not sure what you expect of Audi, but I can assure you, no commercial consumer product carries a lifetime guarantee.

I can confirm to you now, that we will not consider warranty or goodwill support in the case of the alleged timing belt failure. The vehicle is well outside the warranty term.

It seems we have to agree to disagree, on this occasion. Your expectations are not reasonable.

We now consider this matter closed and will not maintain further dialogue on this issue.*

Sincerely
Johan de Nysschen
President
Audi of America, Inc
2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive
Herndon VA 20171

 

wow. very impressed with the fact that the president of audi na personally responded to you!

was this the original timing belt that you had on the car?

i understand your disappointment in the car, but its ten+ years old. there are a ton of aftermarket companies who have addressed and fixed most of the problems these cars have. look at any 10 year old fiat, alpha, bmw, jaguar, porsche, etc and you'll see issues along the same lines.

i've had my s for about six years and apart from the turbos going shes' been pretty good to me. all the issues with these cars has been well documented. outrageous maintenance issues and price tags come with the territory.

 

Interesting... My response would have been more like:

Mr. P.

Go buy a Honda.


It would be interesting to know when the last time the timing belt was replaced...

 

Help me out.....which was my "unreasonable expectation":

1) that Audi indicate that it is attentive to known reliability problems, and is likely to address them BEFORE getting sued......

or

2) that critical components shouldn't catastrophically fail well in advance of their scheduled maintenance interval (especially under gentle use).

 

near-complete failure of the LED dashboard info display- audis fault
airbag sensor failures- audis fault
six (!!) wheel hub replacements (and they don't even salt the roads here!)-install error
repeated tie-rod and bushing failures- install error
multiple headlamp and foglamp component failures (9 in all)-10yr old electrical
headlamp transparency loss- you cracked the housing
substantial paint degradation- car cover or garage would have avoided this
horribly-uneven tire wear (despite many alignments & alignment checks)- see tie-rods
electrical noise in audio system- bad connection or need new radio-$30 @ecs.

i'm just gonna assume that you were on your first timing belt. shoulda been changed at 80k miles. your bad.

take brads advice and get a honda. you're out of your league.

p.s. was this car ever in a front end collision?

 

If you read his first letter he never changed a serpentine/v belt let alone timing belt/tensioner on either one of his cars. So his mb will die a harsh death just like his audi did.


An I love how the pres says he did infact respond yet the op didn't post that.


As we all know/agree the op is a tool and waste of space, but he is part of the majority.... Most car owners don't do regular needed maintenance, why? Only thing I can think of is the think it's a gimmick for dealerships/shops to make money. Or cause it cost too much.

 

Guess again kraut .... diligent maintenance performed (including replacement of serpentine belts when indicated). Owners manual directs timing belt replacement by 105k. I "didn't post" CEO's response? Wrong again. I posted every aspect of our correspondence (except my full name). CEO deNysschen never provided the response he claimed to have, and actually indicates that his "response" was to have his product manager contact me (all such correspondence included). Last, (showing just what you know), my MBZ doesn't use belts for its cam timing.

Fonzo: I didn't say "fogged" regarding the lamps -- I said transparency loss. That's due to plastic degradation, due to the soft plastic used for the headlamp shells. Also, not every failure was after 10 years (where'd you get the idea that they all happened all at once?). Last, s4 was garaged at both homes, and not parked outside during the daytime except during days spent skiing. Try asking instead of guessing -- you'll get farther in life.

And no, I've never driven into anything. (Why?)

I understand that you're "impressed" by the fact that deNysschen replied himself, but note that you make no notice of his overt hostility to his customer (not the way to earn business). Perhaps you'd also like to remind yourself that the way large corporations, with many customers, are structured today, there are only two ways "in" -- at the very bottom with a low-level functionary who is trained to answer "how to I check my tire pressure" -- and at the very top. I didn't expect a direct response from deNysschen; I expected him, or his assistant, to direct my (initial) inquiry to somebody who could be thoughtful and responsive, which some guy trying to sell me an A4 was not (and not even close).

 

An S4 is not supposed to be a "project car" unless you decide to make it one. You're supposed to be able to maintain it as-scheduled for its service-able life, and not endure catastrophic failures. If you want to insist that 100k is the end of its service-able life, that's one thing (putting the Audi S4 in the same class as a '74 Chevy Nova).

How do you account for the Console Display or Airbag Sensor failures that nearly every S4 owner has faced, but which Audi has ignored entirely? Just another owner project, that every purchaser of a new $50k Audi should expect?

 

How many forums have you posted this on? Do you think you've swayed the decision of even one person yet? I doubt it. So, your ranting and raving is truly falling on deaf ears.

 

Brad - you're an acolyte (and that's ok). You're just not my target audience. It is those who might believe that Audi values its customers and acts reasonably-ethically in its interactions with them, and who could benefit from seeing AudiUSA in its own words.

But, as an acolyte, you are expected to come to Audi's defense (since it makes you feel better about your choices in life). I challenge you to cite one time you've taken Audi to task for (something like) unethical conduct (like berating a past customer who was interested in becoming a repeat customer).