Gearbox Problem - 2008 2.0 TDI Sline Automatic

Hi all

I recently bought a 2008 Audi A6 2.0 TDI Sline Automatic transmission (7 gear).

This is my first Audi and my dream car actually, but it has a problem.

When I park the car and put the gear into the P mode, the gear is stuck in the park mode. When I want to drive it again, I need to reset it from a hole, just under the ashtray. In someone else's words,
'If your car is stuck in park and won't shift out, ... look under the ashtray and you'll see a hole, into which you can stick something to disengage the lock (white button) that prevents the car from going into drive when it's in park.'

By the way, It is stuck 5 in 10 times. The problem does not exist all the time.

I do not know any mechanics around here and I am not good at understanding car problems. I will go to a local garage this Wednesday, but I do not know them.

May I ask if anyone had a similar problem before? I will be very happy if you give me an idea about how much it will probably cost.

Looking forward to hearing from you very soon.

Many thanks,
Lut

marsmail said:

Hope not teaching to suck eggs, but, your first Audi and automatic.
To release from "park" you MUST have your foot brake applied before it will release the shift from Park. This might be the problem, not always pressing hard enough or at all?

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Thanks for your reply, but that is not the case I am afraid.

marsmail said:

Possibly a very long shot but, when I first had my A6 (many years ago now) I had a problem. Pulled up at traffic lights, set off again, car refused to change out of 1st gear! after something of a struggle it did start changing up again, only to repeat the problen later in the journey.
Under warrenty so called out mechanic who said "Oh! I know what that is, your brake light switch is not working properly" I had to ask how that could possibly have any effect on gear change? to which the answer was "The car thinks you are braking, even though you arn't so you need all the help it can give you, so stays in low gear"
Could your intermittant problem be related in some way to this?

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Many thanks for your reply. That might be the reason, I will ask my mechanic to look at it.

I went to Audi service in York to exactly understand what the problem is. After a full diagnosis, the technician told me that there was not any mechanic problem with the gearbox and everything was working properly, but the battery might be the reason for the issue. They suggested me to change the battery because power cut happened several times while diagnosing the car.

I bought a new battery and fitted it, but the gearbox releasing problem continues. It is strange to not to hear the exact problem even in Audi service. There is not any problem with the gearbox while driving, no power loss while driving, but pressing that release button sometimes annoys me. A local mechanic is suggested by a friend, if there will be no solution, maybe I will sell the car even if I hate to think about selling it.