nightmare of a day

[rich164h]

Well, I left early for work this morning for a very important meeting and managed to get just over a mile before I pulled over and discovered I had a puncture. So at 7am and minus 1 degrees I changed the wheel but couldn't find anywhere that was open to give me a new tyre (the crappy space saver limited to 50mph doesn't help on a long motorway journey). Needless to say I had to cancel the meeting, work from home and sort out the new tyre during the day.

I've just got home from collecting the new tyre and realised that where I have proped the car up with the jack to remove the flat tyre I must have had the jack in the wrong place (despite checking several times against the manual). As a result the sill at the front is now bent up and now lies higher (~5mm) than the wheel arch directly in front of it. Also there is now a much wider gap between the door/sill and the front wing. Lastly I've notice that when you open the passenger door fully it now catches on the sill causing a horrible graunching sound.

Does anyone know if a sill can be bent back? how would I get access to it? or will it need to be replaced? As far as I can tell there is no damage to the paint, door or wing. Any idea how much it might cost to fix?

I think a bottle of wine is in order for tonight

 

[mattandrew]

Sorry to hear about your bad day. Any chance you can post a quick picture it will be easier to help sort the problem

 

[rich164h]

Ok, try this....

 

[Twizzler]

You would be advised to open a bottle of brandy rather than wine. Then go to the thread on Page 2 of the forum entitled 'Ouch'.

 

[Kontraband]

Oh no... not another jack problem!!

 

[Matt]

Hope I never have to use this marvellous Audi jack

 

[rich164h]

£1400!!!!


Well at least in my case the jack didn't fail so the sill isn't punctured, just bent. I'm hoping that I can find someone that can bend it back. What about one of those dent removal people? I guess access will be the hardest part.

 

[bacardi]

Hope I never have to use this marvellous Audi jack

depends on your wheel bearings - if they're as "quality" as mine, there'll be no need, Audi will be taking the wheels off for you instead

 

[grathies]

£1400!!!!


Well at least in my case the jack didn't fail so the sill isn't punctured, just bent. I'm hoping that I can find someone that can bend it back. What about one of those dent removal people? I guess access will be the hardest part.

So long as it was done properly I cant see why it couldnt be teased out with a slide hammer and a competent body worker

 

[Von Maximo]

So long as it was done properly I cant see why it couldnt be teased out with a slide hammer and a competent body worker

Think the damage is way past that I'm afraid. The only way I can see this being repaired is to Hammer out the part thats rubbing against the door and using filler to fill out dent, then obviously paint

Paintless Dent Removal is only good on deep dish dents, and dents smaller than a golf ball.

 

[grathies]

I wasnt talking about chips away or some other numpty PDR, was talking about a proper bodyshop

That crease and surface should easily pull back into shape with a small slide hammer, and a small bit of working with some soft blows, maybe a quick check on the jig and thats all it should really need

 

[I'mRonBurgundy?]

Got a puncture myself yesterday (near-side rear). Thing is I didn't notice for about 20 odd miles so completely destroyed the tyre. Sounds odd I know, not knowing, but it wasn't until I had a bit of sideways movement from the rear under braking that I got any indication. Just glad I didn't total the rim!

Anyhow whilst jacking the car on the hard shoulder I remembered the threads about jack problems so made sure I had the right position and have to say it worked fine.

Just got to buy a new tyre now. Cars only done 1k and I'm already in for a new tyre!

 

[Ian_C]

Rich - go check my thread "Ouch".

I can't beleive this, lol - this happened to me a month ago.

Put it this way - a new sill will set you back approx £1400. I managed to get Audi UK to pay for 60% of it, and got the Glasgow Audi guys to take £200 off their estimate.

So after all that i am going to be £500 lighter next month.

Its no laughing matter though, these jacks are *****.

Call Dan McCabe at Audi UK warranty, if only to get his reaction - just wait till he hears this.

 

[marriedblonde]

I managed to knacker my sill as well when the Jack collapsed. I argued it with Audi and in the end paid to get it repaired as I was selling the car. I paid £200 to get it sorted.

J.

 

[steveg9]

blinkin' 'eck - I'll check in daylight to see where to put th ejack before I ever need it in anger

I looked at the 'Ouch' thread a while ago and the jack in my A3 looks just like those in VWs (Passat B5, Golf 3, Golf 4, Touran) all of which I've used without problem to whip odd wheels off. But never at the side of the road in a hurry with traffic about I guess. Are they different?

Looking at the pics unprepared by the dicsussion one would think 'what dope would do that?' but evidently it's all too easy.........

Consider me warned

But ?trading standards, ?fit for purpose etc.??????

 

[steveg9]

blinkin' 'eck - I'll check in daylight to see where to put th ejack before I ever need it in anger

I looked at the 'Ouch' thread a while ago and the jack in my A3 looks just like those in VWs (Passat B5, Golf 3, Golf 4, Touran) all of which I've used without problem to whip odd wheels off. But never at the side of the road in a hurry with traffic about I guess. Are they different?

Looking at the pics unprepared by the dicsussion one would think 'what dope would do that?' but evidently it's all too easy.........

Consider me warned

But ?trading standards, ?fit for purpose etc.??????

Hmm.... the reinforced section of the sill is muuuch further underneath on the A3 than Golf 4 or Touran. I guess it would be easy to assume the undersill itself was the point

 

[Ian_C]

Rich, let us know how this ends up - would be interesting.

Mine is the same kind of damage, but more severe!

Car is in next week with Audi for a new sill. You wouldn't beleive the amount of labour involved, ridiculous.

For what its worth a.n. otehr bodyshop said he could just load it with filler, and no-one would know, but clearly i'd rather get it done properly - although maybe its a solution for you?

I have to be happy with getting £800 help from Audi and £200 discount from Audi Glasgow bodyshop.

 

[rich164h]

Rich, let us know how this ends up - would be interesting.

Will do :thumbsup: I am going to try and take it to a few places tomorrow for some quotes.

I'm assuming that audi (as with most dealerships these days) won't even entertain the idea of fixing it, and will prefer just to replace the part so I won't bother with them.

Can any one recommend a bodyshop either around Southampton/Eastleigh/Winchester, or around Farnborough?

 

[auroan]

That is not the jack failing, its just the wrong place to put the jack. The ridge behind the sill (underneath) is the re-inforced bit.

 

[Amchlolor]

Pardon me for asking, but how can you get it wrong?
My jack has a 'U' shaped bit, that the lip pictured above clearly slots into.
Are some jacks different, leading to ambiguity?

 

[rich164h]

Well I do feel stupid but in my defence, it was 7am in the morning, it was -1C, I was rushing to get to an important meeting dressed in a suit (so I couldn't crawl around on the floor), I had to park with only a small gap between the car and a ****** great bush due to the amount of other traffic in the petrol station where I had parked so I couldn't get down and have a proper look.

Previous cars I've owned have had markings precisely where the jack needs to go so there can be no mistakes, but that's not the case on the A3. So I got the manual out and matched up the diagrams and made sure that I read the text to avoid any damage (at the time I was thinking more about the risk of the jack slipping that this sort of damage). I tapped the sill and it sounded fairly solid so I proceeded carefully and everything seemed fine.

It's only in proper day light that I've realised that clearly I got it wrong and can now see where it should have been. Remember that it was only in the afternoon when the wheel was being refited that I noticed it. As it had obviously slowly deformed there wasn't a large bang as the sill collapsed, or a creaking to let me know that something was under too much stress. the correct point is a lot further under the car than you might expect and certainly further than on other cars. I wouldn't have even thought about using a point that far under.

Don't get me wrong, there is no one to blame for this but me, but under the circumstances and with no clear help from Audi (either on the car or in the handbook) about the precise location, I ended up making a mess of it.

The jack itself may have a groove in it but it also cupped around the sill perfectly, hence why it didn't puncture the sill or damage the paintwork. So yes I guess it is ambiguous.

 

[Amchlolor]

My sills have got little 'indents' on them, about 3 inches back from the front wing gap and 6 inches forward of the back wheel.
I always assumed these were the jacking points.
You're going to tell me I'm wrong, aren't you?
You're going to tell me I've been lucky to get away with it, aren't you?
Gulp...

(we get a lot of punctures here, we have our own crating company)

 

[auroan]

From the pic, looks like you've bent the side skirt not the sill. The sill is the bit underneath the car with the weld ridge running along it.

A lot of people get this wrong, thinking the sill is the outer body work of the car.

 

[rich164h]

That's exactly what I was looking for and expecting to see! The car was clean as well as I'd done that the day before. Very strange. I'll check again.