You may well be blameless regarding the multiple breakdowns of this car, so unlike some others in this thread, I am not going to go out on a limb by trying to make you sound responsible for any of this ongoing angst that you are suffering. What I will fault you for is not doing your due diligence prior to buying this car.
While Audi quality has improved recently, back in the '01–'05 period, Audi had one of the worst reputations in the industry for engine, transmission, and electrical/electronic problems, AND Audis tend to be more difficult than average to diagnose and repair. Put it together, and you wind up with a car that tends to be VERY expensive to keep running, especially when compared with Japanese makes. Before you buy your next car, be sure to study the reliability ratings in Consumer Reports and on Edmunds.com, so that you can avoid another money pit like this one.
As to getting compensation from Audi, just be sure that you approach them from the standpoint of REALLY wanting to buy another one of their cars, but that you are dissatisfied with your current Audi, and that this is giving you pause. Conversely, if you tell them that you are so angry that you will never buy another Audi, you are giving them no motivation to give you any financial assistance. That being said, I don’t think that they will dip into their corporate pockets, but there is no harm in trying, as long as you approach the situation strategically.
I see little in the OP related to AWD as the problem.
Interestingly enough I looked up the car on Consumer Reports, the only spot that does well above average for the repair record is the drivetrain aka AWD.
I agree AWD can be very complex on some vehicles using computers and basically brakes along with clutch packs and electronics to make it all work.
However Audi and manual transmission Subaru use a very simple AWD that is pure mechanical bliss using fluid shear with no electronics. They are both bullet proof.
I can add that the AWD system in automatic transmission Subarus is also very durable, as evidenced by the absolute lack of repairs on that system on my two Outbacks ('97 Limited and '02 H-6 3.0 VDC). People tend to run into problems if they don’t rotate tires and/or if they run the car with mis-matched tires. Just as with so many other issues, when car owners fail to read the Owner’s Manual, or see fit to ignore the advice contained in it, that is the frequent source of problems with their car. And, of course, they invariably blame the car and its manufacturer, rather than looking in the mirror and confronting the reality that their own shortcomings were the source of the problem.
I should also point out that the VDC model utilizes a different AWD system–the Variable Torque Distribution system (VTD) that is not sensitive to differences in tire diameter. This system does not even have the facility to disable the AWD system by inserting a fuse, simply because there is no need to go through that procedure with the VTD system. Also, the “normal” torque split on this system–40% front/60% rear–gives more “sporting” handling on turns than the other Subaru AWD systems. Since this system was put into so few cars, most people are not aware of it, but it is a truly superior AWD system, and it has been bullet-proof through 92,000 miles so far.
Anyway–to summarize–most of the problems with the AWD system on Subarus is the result of owner negligence. As ok4450 said in another thread, most of the repair issues that people face are the result of their own doing.
I’m definitely not laying all of the blame off on the OP here; only saying that there is a huge amount of unknown story behind these failures.
The fuel pump quit at 32k miles so the questions are:
Was the fuel filter replaced at that time? It should have been.
Was the fuel filter partially clogged? It should have been inspected for this.
It only takes one tank of faux gasoline or contaminated gasoline to kill a pump and if this is the case then it’s not the car’s fault.
We had a customer who bought a new Subaru, took off on a vacation to Corpus Christi, TX. and that’s where his car quit due to a load of bad gasoline. The vehicle had a paltry 1000 miles on it at the time. (He called us irate over being stranded and the Subaru dealer in Corpus not applying the warranty to this problem; which of course it will not apply on something like this.)
The ignition module quit about 10k miles later so the question posed would be:
Did prior poor running of the engine during the fuel pump incident cause the ignition module to be weakened?
See where the fuel filter scenario can lead to other problems?
The valve/pistons/gasket thing is obviously the big money ticket and there has to be a huge story behind this.
The ONLY way gaskets would damage valves and pistons would be if a head gasket was leaking coolant into the cylinder(s) or there was a huge vacuum leak and the engine continued operation. This would of course lead to the CEL being illuminated and would take more than a mile or two to accomplish this kind of damage.
The reason I asked about when this occurred because I was wondering if during the timing belt replacement (assuming no belt breakage here) someone may have mistimed the belt, cranked the engine over leading to engine damage, and then the blame was laid off on something else.
And I should have added in regards to the fuel pump business that if the filter was contaminated the owner of the car should have been made aware of this and even cautioned that this could lead to a pump failure in the future.
Bad way to phrase that. Not “in the future”. They should have been told that the filter was likely the cause of the current pump failure if the filter was clogged. The in the future would apply if the pump was still operative at the time.
I think you realize that a premium car has nothing to with reliability. It does however influence the repair costs.
I am unclear when your timing belt snapped. But it is known by independent mechanics that the Audi/VW 1.8t belt should be changed every 70-80k not 105k miles. I have no idea why it is so expensive as a friend has a VW Passat 1.8t 4motion(rebadged/streched Audi A4) and they are spending $1500 for maintenance at 70k.(nuts!). The engine is awful too, anemic I don’t get it with the car.
People on this board are against extended warranty’s however on a premium car it does make sense and then you dump it.
You asked for “Any advice on how I can fight for compensation?” Your anger with Audi is strong, and you have good reason. If you want to fight this out start with a letter to Audi from a lawyer. If you have a lawyer friend who will do it for free even better. Get the addresses from the owner’s manual. Copy all the service reciepts and attach them to the letter. This shows them you are serious and have the documentation. In the letter give any information you have that supports Audi’s knowledge of the problem(s), service bulletins, etc. Request a meeting with an Audi “Zone Rep” or equivalent person. If you show them you are not going away easily you may get some relief from the service charges.
You either got a “lemon” or Audi is making a poor car. Either way fight the fight and good luck.
The OP certainly has spent a fairly large sum of money on this car after the purchase. And, if we take the OP at his (or her) word, it is the car that is the problem. But the issue is not about the car, but instead whether the OP is being reasonable in expecting Audi to provide compensation for any of the repairs not covered under the warranty.
Come on folks, we all know that warranties expire based on time or miles. It doesn’t matter how many problems the OP might have with the car, once the warranty runs out, it’s done. After that, you are counting on the good graces of the manufacturer if you want help. But, you aren’t entitled to this assistance. There aren’t that many who will provide it, nor were there ever many who would.
The idea of forcing somebody to help out after the warranty expires is troublesome. If you were a manufacturer and you sold products with a 5 year warranty, would you expect to pay for repairs at the 6 year mark? I doubt it.
The only reasonable approach here is for the OP to politely ask for help. If none is given/offered then walk away. Because that’s about all you can do.
I know several people that are very happy with their Audi’s, many have more than one of them. My father had one, my co-worker has two, my boss has one, and they all love them, expensive repairs be damned. I don’t expect to ever see any of them driving a toyexus, hodacura, nissfinity, USA brand X. Of course, they haven’t had the “bad luck” you’ve had with your car…
Can we get away from the “Premium car” moniker please? An Audi A4 (with the base petrol engine) in germany isn’t a great deal more premium than an Opel, volkswagen, skoda, ford, etc. Cloth seats are even standard in this car aren’t they. You bought a german small sedan, not a premium luxery sedan. A premium sedan would be the series topper in the A4 line (RS4, S4), or would be a range topping A8, 7 series, rolls, bently, maseratti, etc. The A4 is a german peoples car, for regular people, and we pay more for it because it drives better and/or perhaps makes you feel more special than your bottom of the line GM.
Sure, 10k is a lot of repairs, but… Well, that is a lot of repairs regardless of manufactuer. But face it, our car is out of warrenty, you didn’t spring for the extended warrenty, and there is no reason why you should have expected this car to be as reliable as a toyexus when you bought it. In the words of one of my favorite forum comments, swallow some cement and harden the buttercups up!!
If you divide out the $10k by 6 years that is $1700/year. Yes quite steep but did this tab include maintenance and repairs or simply repairs?
That being said I have pricey Japanese vehicle (2004 Subaru WRX) to maintain and over 5 years have spent about $600/year(dealer) in maintenance(no unexpected repairs yet). This includes oil changes, tires, brakes and scheduled services. Thankfully $500/year is from coupons from a credit card. I expect with a non-dealer to spend about 2/3 of that.
Just thought I’d bump this back up in case the OP is still around and would like to provide some actual detail behind these failures.
Not for one minute do I believe this vehicle incurred 10 grand worth of Audi-caused problems.
Fuel pump at 32k miles. Fine. Was the fuel filter ever changed? Even once?
Even the dimmer switch may not be an Audi-caused problem. How you ask? Because a fair number of people “slam” the controls; no matter if it’s headlight switches or heater/AC controls.
As an example many SAABs used a driveshaft with a couple of flex joints to operate the heater control valve. If one operated the control “normally” there was never a problem with this. Twist it hard and quickly like a knee jerk reaction and one end or the other may pop off; necessitating the removal of the stereo and normally leaving a few scars on the hand that had to reinstall it.
I know, I know. No one on Earth would do anything like this or fail to maintain something as simple as filters.
This mysterious “engine destroying gasket that Audi knew about” still has me curious. How about some detail on this so it can be determined exactly what has been going on?
like most people said the lemon law probably wouldn’t get you any satisfaction. the exception being if you have had some recurring issues that were not taken care of. i had a similar problem with my 3rd and last saab. i embarked on a letter writing campagne. i was able to utilize the lemon law to some degree. because the car was 2.5 yrs old (1 yr warranty) and just under 50k. they were not forsed to replace the car but saab america did agree to give me any future repairs for free. i did have to pay sales tax. hope that helps.
Agree with OK that this is a complex issues with too many unknowns. In airplane crashes there is an exhaustive investigation to determine the cause(s). Was it a design fault, poor maintenance, pilot error, or weather (acts of God)?
On OP’s case we would need a detailed chronological history of events to be of meaningful help.
Having said that, the sqeaky wheel often gets the grease! A person in our neighborhood had one of those mythical Audis that suffered from “unintended acceleration”, you remember the car just took off by itself and went through the garage door! Audi took his car in trade, and gave him an extremely attractive price on his new Audi. This cost probably went into the public relations budget rather than the warranty budget.
When do you cut your losses and buy a new/used car? I was talking to an old friend last night–he is 89 and still driving. I asked him how his Plymouth Hy-drive was running. This friend bought a new Plymouth in 1953 that was equipped with the Hy-drive transmission. The car was an absolute disaster. The car went through 5 transmissions. Each time he thought the repair would be the last. When the car finally stopped on his wife in 1958, he got rid of the car. When he talked to one Plymouth dealer about his experience, the dealer informed him that “John Deere also makes manure spreaders”.
At the time, the Hy-drive transmission was a technologically advanced feature for the Plymouth. It was a torque converter between the engine and clutch and manual transmission. One could start in high and not have to shift. However, the torque converter and the engine shared the same oil–I think it required 10-12 quarts for an oil change. The centrifugal force on the oil by the torque converter was supposed to keep the oil clean and one only had to change the oil half as often as with a regular manual transmission set-up. Well, the Hy-drive never really worked out. I would suspect that the technologically advanced features of your Audi just aren’t working out. I would be attempted to abandon ship. My 89 year old friend does have the satisfaction of outliving the Plymouth nameplate and never purchased another Chrysler product.
I did get “warranty” service on my 1978 Oldsmobile that, at the time, was 24 years old and had gone 225,000 miles. The left door hinge was worn so that the door sagged. An independent body shop told me that they would only fix the car if I found a replacement hinge. I then went to the Oldsmbile dealer who also had a body shop. The service writer got the manager of the dealer’s body shop. She came out and said that she was certain that she couldn’t get a part. I told her that I was really disappointed–when I had purchased the car new in 1978 the salesperson assured me that they would always be able to repair the car no longer how long I kept it. The body shop manager said, “Well, I don’t think he meant 24 years or 225,000 miles”. She went back to the body shop and came back with one of the men. He was carrying a long wrench, a big pin and a sledge hammer. He loosened the bolts holding the hinge to the body, put the pin against the hinge and pounded on the pin with the sledge hammer. He tightened up the bolts and the door worked (and still does) perfectly. When I asked about the charge, he said “No charge. We guarantee these babies 25 years or 250,000 miles”.
If all GM dealers were that good, their market share and viability would certainly be better. I had an experience with a 1976 Maytag Washer. The transmission shaft snapped, a very rare occurrence. I phoned the president of Maytag and explained, although out of warranty, this type of thing should not happen.
He had the service manager send out an entirely new gearbox and shaft to the local dealer. I had to pay for the installation, but kept the faith and bought another new Maytag 8 years later.
Thanks for the response. We just had the steering rack fixed – 2K. We are going to try the letter writing campaign. I do not think that we are being unreasonable in thinking that there have been far to many MAJOR repairs for the car. We did get it new, and do a lot of long distance travel as well as errands. We are both excellent drivers and have performed ALL the required maintenance. There are a myriad of reasons for not having sold the car yet. And, since we both have plenty of integrity, we will not sell until fixed. And, we feel bad selling a car to someone without disclosing the issues. And, what kind of price does that get us?
We should be so lucky to get a new car. We need an Audi person to recognize that this is an unusual circumstance. However, as you read in the comments, there are mixed reviews on the car. I have had contact with several Audi owner’s at the dealer where they had their car in AGAIN to fix and all were very unhappy. One rental car employee told me that he is very busy renting cars at the dealer. What does that tell you?