Found rust on your roof?

Mike071288

Mike071288

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Right, i found rust on the roof of my 1999 a3, its on both sides near the guttering. i read on here that it is a common place and should be covered by audi 12 year anti corrosion warranty.

So i took it down to audi chingford, they inspected it. Got a call day after saying that it was rejected as the rust had been there too long. but ive only owned the car for 2 months, so i thought i would write a letter to audi to ask them to reconsider considering the circumstances. (i addressed the letter to the warranty manager)

They got back to me a 2 weeks later (customer service dept) saying that they cannot overide the decision of the warranty dept, so i explained my story and said that i have heard that its a common issue with a3's of this age, but they didn't really care, and kinda denied the fault as there fault. And to add to the insult they tried getting out of it by saying that its a 12 year warranty and this is a 10 year old car.

So ive decided to take this further but compiling a list of people who have this issue and had it fixed and also anyone else has this problem and hasn't taken it to audi yet, with this information and enough evidence i hope to go to watchdog.

Thanks

Mike
 
Hello mate,

I have noticed very slight bubbling on where the top of the body meets the roof although nothing has broken the surface as yet. I'll take mine to the local dealer at some point next week and see what they say about it. If they agree to deal with it that's all good, but my car was abused by its last owner and needs panels respraying regardless so they may try and get out of it by saying its due to mistreatment, but I think a scratch on a lower panel has no bearing on the ability of a metal to not succumb to rusting. we shall see..If they do agree to deal with it then you can use this as a way to get your local dealership to deal with things, BTW mine is a 99 a3 1.8t too.

On a totally different note, check the bottoms of your doors as apparently this is a soft spot on our model's too.. There is a sticky somewhere on this forum about it too..

=)
 
Yer mate i know about the bottom of the doors rust but i dont think i have that, either way audi wouldm't do it as its classed as trim.
 
I noticed some bubbles appearing on the roof on the left hand side of mine towards the rear where the gutters are.

Gave Audi a call (Birmingham Audi in Solihull) and made an appointment with a chap down there. I took it in the next day and he looked at it, took a snap and sent it off to Germany for an answer. The next day I had a call back saying no worries, bring it in and we'll sort it for you. Car was booked in for the following week and I was given a brand new A4 to use when mine was being sorted.

Car came back 3 days later but I had a call not to bother going to get it as the chap at the dealership wasnt happy with the quality of the work so it was sent to another bodyshop for me. They couldnt apologise enough and gave me an ETA of 4 days. Car came back spot on and you'd never know its had the work done.

I understand from reading a few posts on here I'm quite lucky though!.

Door bottoms are fine on mine too after taking the trims off and checking.
 
Yup, had the work done from Birmingham Audi in Solihull also, no hassle at all, the guy I spoke to knew exactly what it was all about, so thumbs up from me.
 
Mahoosive thread about a 'known' problem....

http://audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=53104

...other peoples experiences are mixed too. I noticed mine a week after I bought the car while I was washing it. Gutted!! Took it to my local Audi dealer and I was booked in within a week.

Good luck mate, 12 years is 12 years so I can't see how they can get out of it unless they can prove you have had other paint in the past then it gets sticky...

<tuffty/>
 
I was just reading that same thread, some good info in there.
 
Sutton Coldfield audi are spot on. Took mine down last year with a rusty roof 1 week later my cars looking fresh with new paint.:):)
 
Nice one guys keep em coming,

If you've had the work carried out please add your name to the list:

1.

If you have the rust but not reported it yet, add you name to this list:

1.


This way we can gather together a definitive list of how many people this has affected.

Also if someone could sticky this, i would appretiate it.

Thanks
 
I had mine done recently and its a 99 A3 also,

They also did some extra work for me for free too! Where the drivers outside pillar is around the window etc i had lacquer peel from a jetwash they resprayed all that for me too top guys!

Gave me an 08 Plate polo too..

Keep hassling them!

Jason
 
mine also needs doing has anyone had theirs done around the northampton area?
 
mine has started to bubble as well its a 2000 plate s3
 
i had this on my 52 plate A3, didnt notice it myself, but when i took to basingstoke audi for a bit of work on the rear quarter(more corrosion) the guy there pointed it out to me, and told it was a common A3/S3 fault, i hope you can get sorted as a 12 year warranty should last 12 years,
 
Has anyone got any recommendations for a good audi dealer to go, as close to london as possibe?
 
I went to Hatfield Audi in Hertfordshire and they referred me directly to their approved body shop for paint depth tests. Turned out that my passenger rear quarter had been resprayed so Audi wouldn't touch it. I'm looking to get this sorted by myself now but I have had quotes of around £400
 
dan77 said:
depending what side of london your on? i`d recomend basingstoke, never had any problems always very helpful
Click to expand...


Im north london, Basingstoke is a bit far but if i dont get luck elsewhere ill bearing it in mind.

Cheers
 
Took mine to Stockport Audi... i was upfront that the car didn't full service history and had some bodywork done to the front in it's past but nothing in the area that was rusting ( roof rail and bttm of doors ) the guy that saw me said that on the basis of no full service history it would get refused... he called it "duty of care" however he said he put it through anyway as you never know... that was 6 weeks ago and i've heard nothing since...
 
I dont see why no service history should afftect the decision, service history doesn't cover rust does it?

I've never had a service done where they check paint work, some of the excuses audi come up with are pathetic.
 
A service doesnt include a rust check/repair lol. FSH should make no difference.
 
.
Mike071288 said:
Nice one guys keep em coming,

If you've had the work carried out please add your name to the list:

1.

If you have the rust but not reported it yet, add you name to this list:

1. AS3TOM got the rust starting to appear, not yet gone to audi!


This way we can gather together a definitive list of how many people this has affected.

Also if someone could sticky this, i would appretiate it.

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
I took mine to the dealer last week for this issue too. Appearently it has been resprayed at some point.
 
Only a camera phone pic but you get the idea. Waiting for an answer from cheshire oaks audi, who have been very helpful thus far!



rustonroof1.jpg
 
mine was done last year by Listers Bodyshop Coventry
word of advice for people thinking theres is not affected,run your fingers along the roof rails without looking as that is exactly how mine was found out (mate works there :))
and you could not see it.
 
i had exact the same problem and took it to cheshire oaks audi, and the refused saying exact the same that the rust had been there too long. in my opinion rust is rust no matter how long it has been there for, there anti corrosiond policy should mean that they are confident there cars wont rust.

very interested to see what you get back!
 
I was up front about my car details, it had all the mods fitted below when I turned up, FSH but not all Audi, I even told them it had the complete one side resprayed in the past, they stil put it through! Maybe I was lucky.... :)
 
jojo said:
I was up front about my car details, it had all the mods fitted below when I turned up, FSH but not all Audi, I even told them it had the complete one side resprayed in the past, they stil put it through! Maybe I was lucky.... :)
Click to expand...


Birminghanm Audi in Solihull, whilst complete stealers for paid work are very good with warranty stuff. Nice show room too, plus the girls on reception are very easy on the eye :icon_thumright:
 
took mine to hereford audi this week thy will be sorting mine too v soon for the roof :rock:
 
Hello All,

Mine is a 2001 and I noticed the rust this week. I probably clean the car twice a week so it can only have bubbled up this week or so. I'm taking it to reading audi this morning. Will let you know.

Cheers

Brian
 
audi upgrades
I noticed it on 2 S3's I viewed but luckily nothing on my S3. Not quite sure what are the contributing factors but I think my cars allways been garaged.
 
Got the week off next week so im going to take it to another audi dealer, then wait for reply, if its a no then im just going to go to the next one, and so on.
 
Took mine in to Norwich Audi today.They took it in and took photos of it and the service lady said there shouldnt be any problem with it going through although i dont necessarily trust her word as she isnt a paint expert but apparently the tech said it needed doing.
Apparently they test the paint thickness to see if its general wear and tear or if the paint is un-naturally thin ie if you tcut too many times which would make it more susceptible to rust. We'll see i guess!
 
kaizokuninja said:
Took mine in to Norwich Audi today.They took it in and took photos of it and the service lady said there shouldnt be any problem with it going through although i dont necessarily trust her word as she isnt a paint expert but apparently the tech said it needed doing.
Apparently they test the paint thickness to see if its general wear and tear or if the paint is un-naturally thin ie if you tcut too many times which would make it more susceptible to rust. We'll see i guess!
Click to expand...


No one checked the thickness on mine, the service manager looked at it, commented on how tidy the car was for its age and then took a couple of snaps of the rust. He told me he needed to compile a report to send back to the factory and he'd be in touch. Couple of days later the car was booked in.

It seems to depend on what dealer you take to it as its the same problem on all the cars, it just depends on how nice the dealers are.

Personally I cant see any amount of washing etc would cause it to rust, its clearly a fault they know about but dont want to put their hands in their pockets for.
 
i went to watford audi today, the bodyshop guy seamed to not have a problem with doing it but would have to let the warranty guy have a look at it, iv had a quote done, just got to get warranty guy to take pics and put it through to audi MK,
the bodyshop guy was saying how nice my car was and saying i need to mop it and it would look like the R8 that was next to it,im sure they are diffrent whites so not sure how that is poss!
 
Just got mine booked in for next tuesday to have the roof sorted. Gonna have a look at the bottom of my doors at the same time too. Also gonna see if they can tell audi the whole panel needs respraying as they could do with it =D Awesome core.
 
L0WRiDE said:
i went to watford audi today, the bodyshop guy seamed to not have a problem with doing it but would have to let the warranty guy have a look at it, iv had a quote done, just got to get warranty guy to take pics and put it through to audi MK,
the bodyshop guy was saying how nice my car was and saying i need to mop it and it would look like the R8 that was next to it,im sure they are diffrent whites so not sure how that is poss!
Click to expand...


took mine to preston audi today and said the same thing. its down to the people at mk audi to decide on if the job is guna get done!
 
AS3TOM; i will be taking mine to preston audi this friday for the slight corrosion on the roof sill, bit on the boot, and a slight patch on the bonnet. Were they helpful at preston audi?

what conclusion did they reach?
 
campbell said:
AS3TOM; i will be taking mine to preston audi this friday for the slight corrosion on the roof sill, bit on the boot, and a slight patch on the bonnet. Were they helpful at preston audi?

what conclusion did they reach?
Click to expand...

hiya mate. i just went to the reception desk, said i was enquiring about the "anti corrosion warranty" they then rang some guy to come down and have a look!
2 minutes later he shown up, thought i'd best butter him up a bit. :kiss: :friends::kiss: asked how his day was, plans for the weekend etc etc :thrashi::beerchug:
Then all he did was take a few pictures, took mine and my cars details, REG, Milage and such. He then got some pretty nifty tool out that measures the thickness of the paint.

Told me he had to send everything to milton keynes audi and they make the decision because they dont have a bodyshop at preston so ya car gets sent off. but things looked good he said to have the work carried out. So i'm hoping to hear back from them either end of this week, or end of next because of the bank holidays!

Good luck with yours! where ya from?
 
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