What is this - A6 shark fin

mcwharam

mcwharam

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Hello - I am into the 3rd week of ownership of my new A6. I am having it ceramic coated in the next week or so, so have held off washing until last night.

Found the below on the shark fin aerial - it is not anywhere else on the car? Any ideas what it is and best way to tackle it - normal shampoo didn't touch it.

Thanks

Martin
DSC 0066a
 
It looks like a paint fault to me.
There's a detailer on the group that could probably help you. Think he's under the sponsored tab.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk
 
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mcwharam said:
Hello - I am into the 3rd week of ownership of my new A6. I am having it ceramic coated in the next week or so, so have held off washing until last night.

Found the below on the shark fin aerial - it is not anywhere else on the car? Any ideas what it is and best way to tackle it - normal shampoo didn't touch it.
Click to expand...

From the photo it looks like water marks. If that's what you think it is, you could try CarPro Spotless.
 
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Thanks both of you for the replys.

The more I look at it the more it looks like the mould you get on bread. I presume that they would wrap cars on leaving the factory with some sort of protection? Could this be glue that they have not removed? as the rest of the car to my utrained eye looks perfect?
 
Had the car down to my local Audi (first and last time). 4 chaps from the body shop had a look and a try with some polish. their conclusion was water etching or acid rain!!!.

Response was you will have to go back to the supplying garage, they will have to do the repair/ the supplying garage is 255 miles away.
 
Scotty - purchased - bit pricey - came to over £41.00, I found myself unable to not look at other products and purchase whilst there.

I am still hoping that the supplying garage will arange something to rectify the paint. Does anyone know whether the aerial is painted at the same time as the rest of the car? If it is then it can't be the acid rain or the rest of the roof would be in the same state as well. If they come ready painted then it is a fault in the paint process for that particular part.
 
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mcwharam said:
Had the car down to my local Audi (first and last time). 4 chaps from the body shop had a look and a try with some polish. their conclusion was water etching or acid rain!!!.

Response was you will have to go back to the supplying garage, they will have to do the repair/ the supplying garage is 255 miles away.
Click to expand...

What a rubbish response. Its not on the rest of the car. Did the body shop guys explain how the acid rain had fallen just on the shark fin?

Its obviously a fault in either the material or the Audi suppliers paint process. Any Audi dealer of any repute would fix this under warranty for you.
 
Steeve - I did make your exact point, but got a shrug of the shoulders.

I am awaiting a response from the supplying garage as to what they are to do about it. But won't be using Leeds Audi (my local dealer) for anything in the future.
 
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Just catching up with this. On first look I thought it looked like salt marks, the sort you get in the winter when sat behind a gritter and there's nowhere to go and you get battered by it. But it would be elsewhere! These fin's are hardened plastic, could be a manufacturing issue with the coating. They'll more that likely simply swap them out. Only held in by a couple of wee screws if they're anything like other cars I've had. Shouldn't take them long, apart from your long trip! Would make more sense for your local Audi dealer to order in the fin and fit it.
 
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scotty76 said:
No luck with the Spotless then?
Click to expand...

Scotty - it seemed to take the top off, but dulled the finish on the aerial.

You could have warned me though - my much better half thought I had been doing a Joachim Low as my fingers stunk horrendous afterwards. Thanks anyway, the other purchases from Slims were spot on and the service faultless
 
Scottyg said:
Just catching up with this. On first look I thought it looked like salt marks, the sort you get in the winter when sat behind a gritter and there's nowhere to go and you get battered by it. But it would be elsewhere! These fin's are hardened plastic, could be a manufacturing issue with the coating. They'll more that likely simply swap them out. Only held in by a couple of wee screws if they're anything like other cars I've had. Shouldn't take them long, apart from your long trip! Would make more sense for your local Audi dealer to order in the fin and fit it.
Click to expand...

Lots of Scott's on here. - not a bad thing though!!

This is my first brand new car that I have ever had. I spent loads of time and money on my previous cars trying to make the most out of other peoples neglect. I have a slight OCD - mainly light switches showing on when the are not. So with a brand new car I wanted all the imperfections to be my neglect and no one else's. The aerial just nags away at me. Having just retired, this I hoped would be the car that my kids drove to my funeral in , I wanted to keep it that long.

The deal I got through Orange Wheels was amazing with no effort on my behalf needed. The pay off was the distance from London to Leeds. I was incredibly disappointed by Leeds Audi (who could have got every penny I would ever spend in service / repairs etc in the future before I shuffled off the mortal coil.

Hoping that Crawley Audi will just sort this by telling me to drop it off at ? then pick it up a couple of hours later. Thanks for confirming that it would be a straight swop out as it is a very common colour.

Martin
 
mcwharam said:
Scotty - it seemed to take the top off, but dulled the finish on the aerial.

You could have warned me though - my much better half thought I had been doing a Joachim Low as my fingers stunk horrendous afterwards. Thanks anyway, the other purchases from Slims were spot on and the service faultless
Click to expand...
Odd. I've only used it on paintwork but had no dulling. Thoroughly rinsed and washed the area after use.

If you think that smells bad wait until you smell Iron X.
 
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With the person who sold me the car away for a week and a bit of email too and from I got the below response yesterday, to say that I was disappointed is an understatement. The contact is away for the weekend, requested a email response on their position asap Monday.

"Hello Mr Wharam,

Your car left me in perfect condition and looking at your handover form you have signed it to say the car was checked.

Have you put any chemical on the car at all?

Many Thanks

(Named and position stated in email) Crawley Audi | Maidenbower Business Park | Balcombe Road | Crawley | West Sussex | RH10 7ZJ"

Pondering what to do. I wonder if a wheel had fallen off the car on the way home from the garage if the same response would be forthcoming.

If the response comes back the same what next steps should I consider?

Thanks

Martin
 
A bit extreme, maybe, but I'd take the car back to the dealer and tell him to stuff it where the sun don't shine, after all, you've only had if it a short time. Surely this will change their stupid minds!
JG
 
JG51 AUD said:
A bit extreme, maybe, but I'd take the car back to the dealer and tell him to stuff it where the sun don't shine, after all, you've only had if it a short time. Surely this will change their stupid minds!
JG
Click to expand...
Just having a read again of the agreement
 
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A mate of mine had issues with his A6 Allroad where he had a tow-bar fitted by a dealer who properly messed up the installation and resulted in the rear bumper rubbing against the tailgate. He was using a different dealer to try and fix it but they kept on saying the original dealer should fix it, he now lives 400 miles away from them... After months of toing and froing his wife eventually had enough and wrote to Audi Head Office who got hold of the dealerships and the original dealership was told to pay for repairs that the local dealership will have to do... you might want to consider a similar approach.

hope you get it sorted
 
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Thanks Jakes2514 for the reply. I think that is the next reasonable step to take, hoping that should get a resolution - it is not as it is a full re-spray or anything equally substantial.
 
So sorry to hear this. What an awful response from the dealer.
 
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Going to Audi direct is a great shout. They will sort out any issues for you on your behalf, kinda like going to the main man at a small business. Without going into detail I've done this twice now and had 1 very complex issue handled for me y little input.

Best part is you'll probably get a dedicated person to speak to from start to finish.
 
I had a similar issue when I bought my C6, it was only a couple of days later that I noticed kerb damage to one of the sills, I had to take it 220 miles back to Portsmouth so that they could fix it

I'd never trust a used car check list again, whoever ticked the "underside clear of damage" box was probably having a cup of tea in the customer lounge - shocking
 
Thanks Andy, Lukas

I gave up on this months ago now. Went Audi UK when the original dealer started playing games, all they did was act as a 3rd party, passing messages from dealer back to me, which only added days to the process. I thought I had it sorted with Crawley Audi agreeing to pay for the respray, only for them to renege when they received the quote from Bradford.

Audi UK then stated that they could not force the dealership to keep their word. Finally Crawley spoke with warranty man at Bradford, who then agreed a time and date for me to attend for third time at Bradford. Arrived at said time and date, to find the man who would adjudicate was on leave for that week and the next.

At which point I told both Audi UK and Crawley to stick it up where the sun don't shine. Suffice to say will never go to Crawley again regardless of how good a deal Orangewheels gets you. For an extra £650 on cost I could have camped outside my local Audi until they sorted it.

It was causing me stress and the constant back and forward wasn't good for my fragile health.

Thanks anyway for the messages

Martin
 
yeah i decided to stick to my local dealership, you get a lot better customer service if you've paid them a lot upfront lol
 
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