I think my S3 is trying to kill me and Audi don't care!

Hi All

Apologies in advance for the long post. This takes a bit of explaining so please bare with me

I've been having an issue with my '61 S3 over the past few months, am having a nightmare trying to get Audi to sort it out and not sure how to go about resolving the issue.

I got the car from Worthing Audi in April last year and the top up warranty covers me until 13/5/15 so I need to get it fixed before then. It had covered 16k when I got it and has now done about 28k.

The main issue is with the S tronic box. Intermittently in slow moving traffic (when the car has been running for a while and is hot) the clutch disengages causing loss of drive when in manual mode but automatically downshifting (when engine speed for third gear is too low under engine/normal braking). There were a lot of recalls for this problem in 2009-2010 with early DSG/S tronic boxes and this is well documented in the media (VOSA recall here: http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...CBA2B1ECF1802576500030A7E6&freeText=Blank&tx=). Additionally, the up/down shifts from 2 -> 3 and 3 -> 2 are sometimes very harsh and jerky (only when the car is cold).

The car was due for a service around September last year so I booked in it at Slough Audi and asked them to check out the gearbox issue. They said they road tested it (managing 11mpg and logging 14.4s 1/4 mile times in the process) but could not find an issue with the box yet still upgraded the S tronic software in the hopes of fixing the issue.

Since then the issue has got worse and almost landed me in 3 potentially major accidents, two while pulling out at a roundabout and one on the M4 where the car had no drive for about 5 seconds in which time an X5 doing about 70/80 narrowly avoided me and about 3 other cars while trying to get around me. This really scared the life out of me and I gave it in to Reading Audi last week (12/3/15).

There were a few issues with the car which I bought up when booking it in. They said the VOSA recall reference is not valid at all for my car as mine is a MY2011 and the recall only covers MY2009-10. I told them I was aware of this but hoped it could help them identify the fault. Aside from this, the car sometimes doesn't start when parked up for a few minutes after a 20ish minute drive and sometimes the cruise control does not engage (this is resolved by turning the car off/on). The final issue was with refuelling, every time I have filled the car up, the pump clicks and continues to click at around 3/4 tank. No matter what I do I cannot prevent this so I end up trickle filling the last 10ish litres of fuel (sucks in winter). Audi advised me they would investigate but as the faults are intermittent there is no point going on a road test with me. They advised as there are so many faults to diagnose they would have to charge me £240 diagnostic fee if no fault is found (£120 diag fee x 2).

I got a call from Audi yesterday telling me they found the cruise control fault to be caused by a faulty battery which needs replacing but is not covered under the warranty (fair enough) but the cost of a replacement is £260. I advised I would try and source one cheaper myself (Varta E44: £68 posted!). They filled the car up with fuel and it filled all the way to full with no issues (I must need refuelling lessons). They also said after road testing and sending diagnostic information to Audi Germany they found there to be no fault with the gearbox and no fault codes have been logged for it. Despite me explaining the exact conditions the fault occurs under they will not accept it as a fault until a technician has experienced it themselves. I told them the car is dangerous to drive and giving it back to me is putting mine and others lives at risk so I want them to keep it until the fault is found and resolved. I said I don't care if the technicians need to take it home or put 100miles on it but keep driving it long enough and the fault will surface. They agreed to keep it for another 2 days and take it on long drives to try and find the issue.

Today I got a call from them again saying they could not take the car home last night as the battery was dead and they could not start the car. They have agreed to waive one diagnostic fee (£120) as they found a cruise control fault but want £260 for a battery and still want to charge me the other £120 for not fixing the gearbox issue.

As far as I am concerned they are not accepting there is a fault with the gearbox until they see it themselves and are taking the mick with not being able to start the car despite having all the equipment to do an out of car battery tolerance test!

I love the car and just want it fixed and safe to drive but Audi seem to just want my money. If they give the car back in the same condition I'll be out of pocket and still not comfortable driving it. I have PCP on the car and do not want to be paying every month for a car I am not going to be driving. I don't know what to do or who to go to for help

Thanks in advance

Thanks Gerald. I've ordered it and hopefully it'll be delivered tomorrow/Saturday. I still reckon they are going to test drive it and then give it back with a bill and a smile

Hi All

Sorry for the late reply. Right so since I posted this, Reading Audi agreed to let me supply the battery (£68 for a Varta Silver when they wanted £260 for a Varta Blue!) and fit it free of charge. They are now taking it on a 2 day 'extended test' to find the fault but I think they are going to end up coming back with nothing, ask me for £120 and send me on my way. I got in touch with Audi UK and the chap I got the car from at Worthing Audi and he had a word with the technicians down there. They said they would be happy to pick the car up from Reading, supply me with a courtesy car and take steps to repair the issue for free even if they can't see it.

mattiekane said:

not sure if its already been mentioned but once u have logged an issue that would be covered under the warrenty they have to fix the fault regardless if the warrenty runs out

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Spot on mate. They will honour it even if it drags on forever. Although by then I may have paid enough in diagnostic fees to cover the repair anyway.

DeckedS3 said:

I think the battery could be the cause of the other problems too. If the box doesn't get the voltage required the pump applying the clutch pressure may be disengaging. I've never experienced this and it's just a thought. Good luck.

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I really hope so. I have my doubts though as battery issues only surfaced in December yet the box has been playing up since last Summer and it only happens between 3rd and 2nd gear. I read somewhere it may be something as small as a faulty temperature sensor on the box but then it could also be the mechatronic unit

S3 AEX said:

Log a complaint with Audi uk. Your problems just cement more why I would never take my car back to Audi ever. Hope you get this solved mate.

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I wanted to keep everything main dealer as it has only been to Audi since new and I just thought they would fix all this stuff for free as the car is still under warranty. I won't be making that mistake again! Can anyone recommend a good Audi/VAG centre in Berkshire?

Cheers

Just to update on this,

Reading Audi released the car to me this morning and only charged me £40 for wiper blades in the end (filling up the fuel tank and 2 diagnostics free).
Worthing Audi are going to take the car hopefully tomorrow and take steps to repair this ****** thing.

After driving a 2.0TDI A5 for 2 weeks, I really missed S3 power! Gutted I'm going to be without it again

Varta only offer a 3 year warranty on their batteries but I have never experienced a battery dying so quickly. My old car battery lasted 5 years and that ran a 2500 RMS amp off it! The S3 has tech to protect the battery from draining too low to start the car by cutting off auxiliary systems as power levels drop and the battery itself was chosen by Audi and considered able to handle the demands of a tech heavy car so I would expect it to last much longer than it has! The new one works a treat though, the car starts quicker and I sat in it parked up with music and the fan on for 30 minutes yesterday without the car turning anything off so that's a plus and it's my first mod I guess

Audi UK didn't end up being much help in the end. Reading offered the goodwill off their own backs and I got lucky with the guys at Worthing in that they are decent people that actually care about their customers. The agent that called me said he could do nothing to influence Reading's decision, it's good that I seem to have everything in hand and he would call me yesterday to follow up (still waiting). God help me if I actually need them to sort something out!

The gearbox issue reared it's ugly head again yesterday as I turned a corner at approx 12mph in 3rd expecting the car to take care of downshifts but instead it handed me a 5 second neutral and plenty of revs. My dad was a mechanic back in the dark days before dual clutch transmission but after hours of putting our heads together on a possible cause he suggested it may be something to do with gearbox fluid as I was turning a corner. I can't remember every instance this has happened but I do know a few were definitely after turning. Could this be a potential cause? The big 2009 DSG recall was down to a faulty temperature sensor but that affected all gears and happened without any pattern. Everything I can think of with my limited understanding of the technology always fails because of the fact this issue only happens when the car is downshifting from 3rd to 2nd.

Anyway hopefully Worthing will get on top of this, they are doing the 135 mile round trip next Tuesday and delivering me a shiny new Q5 in the meantime. Testing out Audi's fleet is one advantage of all of this!

pluves1 said:

Hope you get it sorted. Whilst I believe the DSG is very good on Audi's we went for a manual as it's one less thing to go wrong.

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Thanks buddy. I was all for a manual but made the mistake of driving an S tronic just before I signed on the dotted line and there was no looking back. When it works right it is unbelievable and even after half a tank of fuel's worth of dragging in a manual I couldn't beat an S tronic in a straight line. Not sure if that says more about me or the box

Right, after 3 months driving around in Audi courtesy cars, my S3 and I have resolved our differences and she no longer has it in for me. Worthing dropped the car back to me yesterday and boy did I miss it!

Turns out it was the mechatronic unit in the end and they replaced it under warranty. The technicians there were able to replicate the problem consistently but because it was intermittent and did not last for more than around 5 seconds each time, it did not log as a fault. They had to plug something in which analysed the car's behaviour and recorded a clutch release issue when it lost drive. They couldn't nail down a precise cause so decided to replace the mechatronic unit.

The technician told me it would have been this way from new and he noticed jerky shifts sometimes from cold and delays when downshifting also. He said it should feel more immediate and they logged 200 miles of road testing afterwards but everything came up green. After my emotional reunion with it yesterday, I'm not sure if it's the massive increase in power over the Q5 they gave me but it feels like a brand new car!

I guess this goes to show not all main dealers (Reading, Slough) are useless as Worthing were spot on with me from the start. Anyway, that finally draws this epic saga to a close...