Hi, I bought (leased) a brand new Audi Q5 in April 2015. It was a really jerky ride and did not switch gears well between 1st and 2nd and we complained to the dealership and they said nothing was wrong. Then 5 months later when I was 100 miles away the transmission error lights came on and I had to be towed back to the dealership. They replaced the transmission and it does seem better but I am nervous and pxxxed off because its a brand new car and should have to have a transmission changed at less than 5000 miles.
What would you all suggest that I do. Should I try and get another new car from the dealer?
As this is a leased car, more than likely the new transmission–IF defective–would fail before the end of your lease. As to “getting another car from the dealer”, unless the Lemon Law in your state is unusually lenient/generous/liberal, I can’t see where that would be permitted under the circumstances that you describe.
Warranties and Lemon Laws are both designed to address demonstrable mechanical/electrical/electronic problems that materially affect the operation of the vehicle. Being “nervous and pxxxed-off” is not something that either warranties or Lemon Laws will address.
If the car is currently performing normally, there is a strong likelihood that it will continue to do so, at least until the end of your lease. IF you detect a problem, bring the car back to the dealer’s service department and–more than likely–the warranty will provide the necessary repairs, at no cost to you.
You will not get another car. They replaced the transmission under warranty and if you read the manual you will know what your warranty covers and for how long. You should be covered for the entire lease period. Also mechanical things do break.
It is time for the OP to accept the reality that a new transmission has been provided at no charge under the terms of the warranty, and that is ALL that he/she is entitled to at this point.
If the second transmission fails, then warranty coverage will kick-in again.
That’s the way that things work in the real world, where mechanical devices do occasionally break down, and where ethical manufacturers provide coverage under the terms of the warranty.
If the manufacturer honored the warranty–as it appears that they did–then the OP has no recourse at this time. Time to move on…
They owed you a transmission and put a new one in. That’s what warranties are for. Many here advise not keeping a VW or Audi beyond the warranty period since they seem to be more prone to high cost repairs. So something to think about next time.
European cars typically have wonderful driving dynamics and they frequently treat their passengers to greater creature comforts than American, Japanese, and Korean marques. However, those European marques frequently suffer from atrocious reliability, and many owners wind up ditching those cars once the warranty has ended.
I think that the OP should be very glad that he/she is leasing this Audi, rather than having purchased it. In 2 or 3 years, he/she will be able to walk away from it, and–hopefully–select a new car with better reliability. Until then, the warranty should provide the necessary protection for the OP.
In agreement with the comments previously posted. Sounds like the requirements under the guidelines of the warranty have been satisfied. Hopefully, your confidence in the product will be reestablished. I’m optimistic that the dealership personnel handled your initial complaint responsibly, since they’re in business to satisfy the customer, and any negative response on your part to a survey seriously impacts their CSI score. Modern electronic transmissions set “fault codes” within the on-board diagnostic systems, and if there were any present during your initial complaint it should have been recognized. It’s also possible that your initial complaint was within the parameter that Audi states as an initial break-in period and that no correction is advised until x number of miles are recorded on the vehicle. Hope you have good results going forward.
Reminded me of my folks and their new 1978 Volaire that was a disaster. Not only air conditioning problems but the whole engine was torn down and over-hauled in the first few months. Then they were out in Montana (from Minnesota) and the transmission went out. I think it had something like 8,000 miles on it. Closest dealer was 100 miles away and got towed to it. So they were delayed 3-4 days while a new transmission was shipped in and installed. They were treated very well by the dealer (who maybe was seeing the writing on the wall by then), but outside of getting a loaner car, and some meal script at a local hotel, the rest was on them.
Of course that was just the beginning and traded a year later. No leases in those days. So you just suck it up keep the cell phone charged and some snacks in the car.
Keep track of repairs/receipts/etc. If/when you have another breakdown, write a letter to Audi USA complaining of the car quality and its being out of service & how you did not lease a high end car to be behind a tow truck. The state lemon laws vary, but even if it is not a lemon, sometimes they might reimburse you some for you pain & suffering if you sign a waiver. Depending on your lease payments, this could be substantial.
Heck, 1 bad internal part could have been bad. A cut o-ring, cracked piston. Even a sketchy valve body. I bet a simple part failed to cause loss of internal fluid flow and trans went into shutdown. About 7 different pressure sensors need to be happy for computer to shift right. Cars are made by man.
Should I ask for a new car from the dealer after my initial car had to have the transmission replaced after only 5000 miles even though I complained that it did not drive right. This is an add on to my other post.
Even if you had purchased the car, they replaced the tranny under warranty and you have been “made whole”. You have zero recourse. “Lemon laws” apply only in cases where the vehicle is not repaired after repeated tries.
When the lease ends, I recommend that you turn the car in (NOT purchase it) and move on to a more reliable vehicle.
Your story seems very frustrating. Sorry you had this experience. One bit of advice if this sort of thing happens again, you notice some unusual symptom and the dealership says it is “normal”, ask them to come with you for two short test drives, comparing your car to one they have there on the lot. You’re more likely to convince them something’s wrong.
I’ll pile on with the others. The transmission has been repaired and everything is presumably working okay now. There’s no way you’ll get a new car out of this if nothing else happens with the transmission.
Although you correctly say that this shouldn’t happen on a brand new car, I’ll point out that you’ve bought one of the less reliable brands, so this honestly isn’t a complete surprise. In fact, I once test-drove an Audi immediately after they rolled it off the truck. During the test drive, the engine started losing power, the check-engine light came on, and the radio never worked from the start. That gave me a good idea of why Audi often ends up on the lower end of the reliability scale.
^
Quite a few years ago, Car & Driver (which is rarely critical of any cars in a really substantive way) was using an Audi for a long-term test in which they track repair and maintenance costs, along with the usual driving impressions.
It seems that the audio system on their test car crapped-out after a couple of months, and they posted the photos of the disassembly that was necessary in order for the dealership to repair the audio system. In addition to disassembling the dashboard, they actually had to remove the console and the seats in order to do the job properly. Just imagine how much that labor would have cost an Audi owner if it hadn’t been covered by warranty!