Niggly issues thread

I will get shot for saying this on an Audi forum but the more "sophisticated" you make something the more it will go wrong but and here is the but. In my experience Audi who like all manufacturers have seen their costs rocket with the fines for producing petrol cars, have cut corners. You only have to look inside the base model A3 and an S3 now to see they are almost identical,. I look at my old S3 with piano black and polished alloy trim round the gear stick, a nice sliding shutter over the cup holder, polished alloy paddles and flat bottom steering wheel etc and its all gone now on a new S3. People are paying premium prices but they are not getting a premium car. We saw this years back with Mercedes, even now they still trade on a reputation built 40 years ago but the cars are poor., just look at the used prices., I mean a new vorsprung RS3 which is still just a 3, starts at over £72k....really ?
 
It's the same with every car manufacturer now. More regular makes look less poor since the starting point was lower than on premium marks. But go check the new BMW X3, absolutely ridiculously bad quality details in that interior. Plus the exterior looks like a hippo. They say it drives very well but that's not the problem with Audi or Merc either. Thank God for that at least.

But worse than the drop in build quality is they are beta testing the cars on customers. I had so much issues with my first 8Y A3 that I had to get rid of it, it was some of the first cars off the production line. Now it seems clear it's the same with the A5, except that as it's a more complicated car, also the issues appear even more ridiculous. No reason to trust the other new models would be any less troublesome. I'd like to hear if they are though.
 
JKP said:
It's the same with every car manufacturer now. More regular makes look less poor since the starting point was lower than on premium marks. But go check the new BMW X3, absolutely ridiculously bad quality details in that interior. Plus the exterior looks like a hippo. They say it drives very well but that's not the problem with Audi or Merc either. Thank God for that at least.

But worse than the drop in build quality is they are beta testing the cars on customers. I had so much issues with my first 8Y A3 that I had to get rid of it, it was some of the first cars off the production line. Now it seems clear it's the same with the A5, except that as it's a more complicated car, also the issues appear even more ridiculous. No reason to trust the other new models would be any less troublesome. I'd like to hear if they are though.
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Maybe this is why i was told by an Audi mechanic when i picked mine up after a repair, never never never keep an Audi outside its warranty :)
 
I'm afraid it's more like never keep a post-2020 car outside its warranty...

Also one of the main reasons I changed the second time, this time there was a warranty extension available. Basically we have just two years warranty in Finland, as well as in most European countries, and you can buy one, two or three years more. Funny enough, price for 2 extra years costs double the one year, but the third extra year is double the two years! This kind of tells you straight that there will be repairs after four years...

And ironically, a month after I had bought the car and paid for the extended warranty, Audi Finland launched a summer campaing of full three years extended warranty for free for all the new orders.
 
To be fair Audi warranties have never been much good even when i bought mine in 2011 the rear diff went at 40k miles and they were not interested . its wining again now so looking to replace again with number 3. Again to be fair Audi dont make diffs but they are the same on the Ford Kuga, Volvo X60 and number of other cars so its worth shopping around as prices vary quite a bit for the same item.
Bottom line is i need to replace the car now, which is fine, its done well but it cost me £30k new and a to replace it will cost £60k new for a lesser car............so maybe i will buy anther Diff :)
 
There seems to be huge differences between how they deal with the warranty cases. Looks like I'm in a good place since I've never had to argue anything with the dealer, they've done everything without any objections and every time I've got the courtesy car at no charge.

I had a 8P A3 some ten years ago. In proportion to its time it was the best car I've ever owned, but I wouldn't call it exactly reliable either. It never totally failed or left me by the roadside but it tended to come up with some major breakdown once per year, mostly something related to electrics. I've thought maybe I should have just kept fixing it, but I guess in the end I would have traded it in anyway and most likely ended up with the same exact 8Y's I've now gone through. :sweatsmile:
 
Having had a Mazda CX-60 since its first year it was brought to market, and suffering for almost three years, I can ensure everyone that it isn't just Audi, even the super reliable Japanese brand rushed the car to market, and made its early adopters the beta testers, and spent three years gaslighting us claiming we were making up faults, only to release 'fixes' and 'recalls' for them a few months later. Its been horrendous.

I have been looking for a decent F Pace D300 but the prices have shot up. I have ordered a new Q5 Vorpsrung in the meantime as I got a massive £11k off one and no cost cancellation...but worried about the longevity of it, as this will be the only chance I ever get to buy a brand new car again (after three years I managed to get 85% of the price of the Mazda back from the dealer/Ombudsman)..and is it going to be a money pit outside of the extended warranty period...
 
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Looks like mine is back to the dealer again. My adaptive cruise control is now refusing to work. it was working post KD2 update.
It just kept referring me to read manual.
 
Collected mine this morning after faults shown prompted the software update installation. Unfortunately first attempt failed on mine plus two others in the workshop (no surprise there then!). Informed last night it would be ready for collection this am. Nothing untoward of note thus far and like others on here have commented only difference seems to be mirrors included on HRW icon.
 
So just got a call from the wife.

She was driving along, then all the doors started locking/unlocking and hazards flashing.

She got home and the safety tags were hanging out of all the door handles.

Audi assist coming out Saturday to sort it. No faults displaying on dash.
 
My wireless phone charging started playing up today. Kept dropping the charge and then reinstating with the announcement.

Switched phone on and off. Kept doing it.

Another niggle noted. I just plugged it in !


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So it's my turn again to have a serious fault. This time electrical system fault, followed by fatigue fault, immobiliser fault, suspension fault etc. and the door releases popped. Had to call out the AA who disconnected the battery and reset loads of unknown errors. He thinks it tried to do an update and failed. Off to the dealer tomorrow, if I can.
 
TimTFSI said:
So it's my turn again to have a serious fault. This time electrical system fault, followed by fatigue fault, immobiliser fault, suspension fault etc. and the door releases popped. Had to call out the AA who disconnected the battery and reset loads of unknown errors. He thinks it tried to do an update and failed. Off to the dealer tomorrow, if I can.
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Because the AA guy had cleared the codes there wasn't much Audi could do, other than retract the door handle nubbins. Seems ok at the moment.
 
TimTFSI said:
Because the AA guy had cleared the codes there wasn't much Audi could do, other than retract the door handle nubbins. Seems ok at the moment.
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The same for us.

Audi assistance came out last Saturday. Scanned and no faults. Put the handles back in.

He said a TLB had been released the day before. The issue is becoming more common across several ranges. They do not know the cause of the issue.
 
Another trip to the stealer. Cruise control refused to work

Was due to the bumper being off to replace the flap motor and it all needed calibrating and another software update.

This time a fault of the dealer so not really a niggly issue as it’s self inflicted.

Just waiting on another issue. I hope these door handles don’t pop out like you have been reporting


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So tonight the door release nubbin popped out again. No dash errors yet so back to the dealer it goes.
 
TimTFSI said:
So tonight the door release nubbin popped out again. No dash errors yet so back to the dealer it goes.
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Funny that, ours popped a week after the first event.

Yet again the wife had to call Audi assistance as the dealer refused to answer the phones or return calls.

Hey came straight out, but there is now a problem with LHS rear door.
He did say that if the car is locked, no one can gain entry. The car has to be unlocked for the tags to operate the mechanism.

I think discussion will have to be had about getting out of this car and back into previous gen A6.
 
lgooch said:
Did it get sorted ? See my last comment


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Nope it still not working, dealer just keeps telling me no fault and it blaming poor lighting. Yet it was sunny outside and she still told me it was dark outside and the alarm keeps going off still.
 
Baron02 said:
Nope it still not working, dealer just keeps telling me no fault and it blaming poor lighting. Yet it was sunny outside and she still told me it was dark outside and the alarm keeps going off still.
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I am done with mine. Just waiting on Audi UK now to see what they say.

Starting looking yesterday. Literally no Audi I want anymore.

I am probably just going to get a Golf. GTI club sport looks enticing but not sure I can deal with those heater controls. At least the wheel has proper buttons on it !


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lgooch said:
I am done with mine. Just waiting on Audi UK now to see what they say.

Starting looking yesterday. Literally no Audi I want anymore.

I am probably just going to get a Golf. GTI club sport looks enticing but not sure I can deal with those heater controls. At least the wheel has proper buttons on it !


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Guys, trust me on this one, get the cars rejected now.

I've just had three years of absolute hell with a brand new £55k Mazda CX-60, it ended up going to the Motor Ombudsman, their waiting list is over two years long and you will come up with some of the biased and incompetent handling of your case and the facts.

I won my case, but it was not easy and getting the evidence the Ombudsman required was like becoming a private investigator and working it as a full time job. It was an horrific process with untold levels of anger and stress, and Mazda UK still knocked me for £4k by threatening to ignore the TMO's ruling and telling me to take it to Court unless I accepted their low offer for the car buy back.

I had similar gaslighting from Mazda and their dealers over the past years that I am hearing from you guys...one of my favourites was going for a drive with a technician, him pointing out the things that were not working (before I said anything) only for the report to come back as 'no fault found' when I collected the car a week later, and all those problems he pointed out (and more)being still present and they amount of times they blamed a dashcam for a fault was comical if not so annoying.

I'm worried about my new Q5 order but as its been out a year I am putting faith in some of the main issues being resolved, however at the first sight of trouble, the car will be rejected and I will be documenting everything with forensic precision. The longer you leave it, the harder it becomes to reject.

One little snippet I did learn through the process is that if there is an 'official recall' for the car, then the vehicle can be rejected on this basis alone, as it shows the vehicle was sold in an unsatisfactory condition. However, you must NOT have the recall performed for this to be able to be utilised, if you do, then it can not be rejected on that basis. The recalls are the EASIEST way to have a car rejected, the TMO will side with you immediately if there are recalls and they have not been performed. Sadly, due to the two year waiting list, it can be difficult not having the recalls performed as they are done automatically when it goes in for a service, and you have to service the vehicle inline with the manufacturers recommendation even if you are rejecting it.
 
I had a row with Audi Canterbury service manager in a semi polite way as she was telling me it was generic message, No fault codes will be found. She then blamed the weather conditions by saying it was poor lighting etc. I was being funny and looked out the windscreen and said that there is a yellow thing in the sky along with blue. She immediately said that it still poor lighting as it was dark in her office. She need to leave the office a bit more I think. The gearbox has a mind of its own and wants to come out of gear when put in drive. I was told by them it was because we engage drive too quick. The alarm just goes off in middle of night for no cause. Driver door sometimes wont open when you try and open it.

I'm starting to think I'm not welcome at the dealer now as the car is in there most of the time. I do have a case open with Audi Uk, they were meant to call me on Monday just went no call. I sent him a email asking to call me ASAP.

I'm now starting to look at getting Skoda Suberb Sportline as this is a joke
 
Baron02 said:
I had a row with Audi Canterbury service manager in a semi polite way as she was telling me it was generic message, No fault codes will be found. She then blamed the weather conditions by saying it was poor lighting etc. I was being funny and looked out the windscreen and said that there is a yellow thing in the sky along with blue. She immediately said that it still poor lighting as it was dark in her office. She need to leave the office a bit more I think. The gearbox has a mind of its own and wants to come out of gear when put in drive. I was told by them it was because we engage drive too quick. The alarm just goes off in middle of night for no cause. Driver door sometimes wont open when you try and open it.

I'm starting to think I'm not welcome at the dealer now as the car is in there most of the time. I do have a case open with Audi Uk, they were meant to call me on Monday just went no call. I sent him a email asking to call me ASAP.

I'm now starting to look at getting Skoda Suberb Sportline as this is a joke
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Sounds very common to my experience.

My Mazda dealer actually 'banned' me from having courtesy cars when the vehicle that they sold me was in for more repairs, this was clearly an attempt to'wash their hands' of the car while still honouring the manufacturers warranty process. However, I enjoyed sitting in their recepton for eight hours a day waiting for things to be fixed talking to all their customers or would be customers about my experience. Each sale I lost them was a victory - this is how sad it ended up becoming.

From my experience, the first cars never ever got all of their faults resolved even with the newer ones having less and less faults, this is something that may also happen with your A5's. Three years on and mine was 'close' to being 'fine' but still with inherent issues from the first weeks I bought it and the extended warranty didnt cover parts that already been replaced (over 30 in my case).

Eventually the manufacturer and dealer wanted to rid themselves of the car entirely, they seem to do this as they get older and closer to warranty expiration...an example, a major gearbox issue that was reported within the first few weeks, and that had eventually had a whole engine and box out for a gearbox replacement and still presented the same issues (basically it was flywheel related but Mazda UK/Technical would not authorise a new flywheel even with the gearbox being out) and when presented back to Mazda UK for a solution by another main dealer, Mazda UK ignored them, five months of ignoring them, this essentially helped me win my case, but in the process Mazda UK went on 'lockdown' and refused to reply to emails and refused to release any documentation relating to it (I had to begin a SAR request, and even then, they dragged it out and still are) and the dealer was forbidden to talk to me about it further.

The longer you leave it in the 'hope' things will get resolved means the mission to reject becomes infinitely harder as all involved close their doors and batten down their hatches.

What I found with mine is despite some 'issues' being resolved, more kept appearing, and the 'oh its another problem' because a daily occurence.
 
Cruise control now started working but EML is still on.

It’s a bit like a train driver this car. Just works when it wants to and strikes if it doesn’t want to be used on certain days.


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lgooch said:
Cruise control now started working but EML is still on.

It’s a bit like a train driver this car. Just works when it wants to and strikes if it doesn’t want to be used on certain days.


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This is too unpredictable, Should just get in and drive it, Not have to think what is going to work or not.
 
Baron02 said:
This is too unpredictable, Should just get in and drive it, Not have to think what is going to work or not.
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You can say that again. EML has now gone off after doing 400 miles. I stopped at some services and switched engine off but left ignition on. Restarted after 5 minutes and it went out.


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I spoke with Audi uk yesterday regarding my issues with the a5. They want the car to be looked at another dealer which they are meant to be doing. I will chase them tomorrow if not heard by lunch time.
 
Audi UK contacted me and have said they have raised a case and a customer relations manager will contact me in 2 days.

Taking it to another dealers not going to do anything in reality

Stereo went funny yesterday. Just started playing heavily distorted sounds. MMI reset seemed to have fixed it. It’s done it three times over the life of the car so far


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lgooch said:
Audi UK contacted me and have said they have raised a case and a customer relations manager will contact me in 2 days.

Taking it to another dealers not going to do anything in reality

Stereo went funny yesterday. Just started playing heavily distorted sounds. MMI reset seemed to have fixed it. It’s done it three times over the life of the car so far


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I dealt with Audi UK customer relations when I had the serious issues with my car. They were very efficient and helpful in getting me compensation.
 
To be honest, I'm finding Audi UK not being that efficient at all. I spoke to customer relations manager on monday and he not called back despite the promises he made (done this on 2 occasions now), I've had to do the chasing so far. The complenstation is a little bit off a farce, They offered me £700 but to be spent on Accessories.
 
Baron02 said:
To be honest, I'm finding Audi UK not being that efficient at all. I spoke to customer relations manager on monday and he not called back despite the promises he made (done this on 2 occasions now), I've had to do the chasing so far. The complenstation is a little bit off a farce, They offered me £700 but to be spent on Accessories.
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Oh that wasn't my experience at all and I got more than that as cash in my account.
 
So I decided not to wait for Audi and was able to push the emergency door nubbin back inside. It may pop out again but at least I know I can fix it it. The Audi tech took the door panel apart, and couldn't do it. What a dunce lol.
 
I just came off the phone to Audi UK , Car got to be go back to Canterbury Audi, They have agreed to replace a sensor which one I don't know but I have a feeling that KD2 update has borked it but I should know more on monday when he has spoken to the dealer in a conference call. I was also told that KD3 update is now under review for these cars.

I have said they got this a final attempt to resolve it, otherwise it rejection and solicitor time.

If they fix it, I will then seek compensation as a cash sum not vouchers to spend in the dealer. It should never have got to this stage in my opinion
 
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Baron02 said:
I just came off the phone to Audi UK , Car got to be go back to Canterbury Audi, They have agreed to replace a sensor which one I don't know but I have a feeling that KD2 update has borked it but I should know more on monday when he has spoken to the dealer in a conference call. I was also told that KD3 update is now under review for these cars.

I have said they got this a final attempt to resolve it, otherwise it rejection and solicitor time.

If they fix it, I will then seek compensation as a cash sum not vouchers to spend in the dealer. It should never have got to this stage in my opinion
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Surely Audi must be reeling from all the complaints of the B10 generation? I've seen dozens of reports of issues worldwide. It must be costing them a fortune.
 
They got to be reeling from this to be honest, Across the Q4, Q5,Q6,A5 and A6 + But what I don't get is Audi UK is not letting on that there is so many issues. They are getting complaints daily and across the world and they are acting as if it the first time they heard of it.

They are a nice car when it works but it just has lots of bugs that really should never made it to the final production car.
 
Baron02 said:
To be honest, I'm finding Audi UK not being that efficient at all. I spoke to customer relations manager on monday and he not called back despite the promises he made (done this on 2 occasions now), I've had to do the chasing so far. The complenstation is a little bit off a farce, They offered me £700 but to be spent on Accessories.
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700 quid for accessories !

I want to get rid of the car not buy a roof rack for it.


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As a matter of interest how many miles have you stuck on your cars and over what period ?

Just trying to compare problems with mileage / duration for when I speak to Audi Uk


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lgooch said:
As a matter of interest how many miles have you stuck on your cars and over what period ?

Just trying to compare problems with mileage / duration for when I speak to Audi Uk


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8000 miles since January 2025. It was off the road for 6 weeks.
 
My failed HUD apparently requires KD3 to resolve which Customer Services say is planned for Q2 2026. In the meantime, I have requested a good will gesture as, in all fairness, that's the only issue I've experienced. My car was a September build and already had KD2 installed. Currently considering 2 years free servicing, permanent activation of two Function on Demand services and a Audi approved tracker with 3 years subscription.
 
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