How concerned should I be?

[SJR88]

Hi,

I took delivery of my car on Fri and I have since noticed a scraping sound going over bumps etc. I’ve driven the car very carefully due to bad weather, also considering it is brand new and has sport suspension and 19” wheels, I’ve driven it extra carefully! The scraping sound got worse, and upon looking underneath the car, closer to the front end (centre) a piece of the underbody is hanging down.

Any advice is appreciated. I plan on taking it to the dealer tomorrow.

 

[jds_sg]

That's terrible, and I'm sure the dealer will agree and get it fixed properly, very embarrassing for them as this kind of thing should be spotted during the PDI.

 

[SJR88]

That's terrible, and I'm sure the dealer will agree and get it fixed properly, very embarrassing for them as this kind of thing should be spotted during the PDI.

I’m not entirely sure it had a PDI. I know it should have but it was delivered to me on a truck and wasn’t the cleanest inside, not prepped at all. I’m wondering if it could have occurred when being put on or taken off the truck.

 

[Kondax]

This is super common on our cars unfortunately. I know a few people this has happened to, myself included.

I ended up ripping that piece off since Audi wanted £400 to replace the entire piece! I was on a dual carriageway so it had ripped the tabs off when it came loose.

 

[SJR88]

This is super common on our cars unfortunately. I know a few people this has happened to, myself included.

I ended up ripping that piece off since Audi wanted £400 to replace the entire piece! I was on a dual carriageway so it had ripped the tabs off when it came loose.

That’s so bad! How old was your car when it happened? They shouldn’t be expecting customers to pay a penny.

 

[Kondax]

That’s so bad! How old was your car when it happened? They shouldn’t be expecting customers to pay a penny.

It's coming up to three years old, it needs to catch on something for it to happen though

When the UK had the floods a month or two ago it happened to quite a few of us, water knocked it out and the tabs came off from dragging across the road.

 

[SJR88]

It's coming up to three years old, it needs to catch on something for it to happen though

When the UK had the floods a month or two ago it happened to quite a few of us, water knocked it out and the tabs came off from dragging across the road.

Ah really. That’s good to know anyway, thanks for getting back. They really should make it more durable instead of trying to charge people for it!

 

[Kondax]

Ah really. That’s good to know anyway, thanks for getting back. They really should make it more durable instead of trying to charge people for it!

Yep! I thought they would cover it under warranty, silly me.

 

[cuke2u]

I would ****** well insist it was...

 

[Kondax]

I would ****** well insist it was...

They said it's only cosmetic under the car, it's just fabric. Otherwise I'd push for them to cover it

 

[SJR88]

They said it's only cosmetic under the car, it's just fabric. Otherwise I'd push for them to cover it

Worrying tho isn’t it, surely it has some kind of purpose than just being a cosmetic thing. I’ll keep everyone updated, going to a dealer now.

 

[Audidi]

Worrying tho isn’t it, surely it has some kind of purpose than just being a cosmetic thing. I’ll keep everyone updated, going to a dealer now.

It seems like it’s purpose is to relieve you of £400.

 

[cuke2u]

Worrying tho isn’t it, surely it has some kind of purpose than just being a cosmetic thing. I’ll keep everyone updated, going to a dealer now.

Of course it has, I would have thought it was to help cleanup the airflow under the car...

 

[SJR88]

So it’s been fixed with cable ties for now but it requires a new panel to be fixed properly which apparently isn’t a warranty issue, regardless of the fact they said it’s designed to protect the engine. They kept asking if I’d been through a puddle as that can knock it out - I explained that I hadn’t and thought going through a puddle shouldn’t cause an issue - I’ll be sending an email with a link to that ad where the Audis are driving through a swimming pool.

It’s clearly a commonly known issue and I won’t be paying anything.

 

[cuke2u]

I would be asking that if it is part of the design of the car and fitted by the factory, how they can 'decide' it isn't part of warranty. Yes if it had been dislodged by driving through a flood I would expect a warranty claim to be rejected.

However I have driven my car through the same amount of h2o on the road and mine hasn't been dislodged so clearly there is either a fitting not up to scratch, or not fitted correctly in the first place, which is more than likely.

All I can say is that your dealership is totally lacking in humility and made no attempt in customer service. I've had better from ford...

 

[SJR88]

Yes I agree, and there’s no way I’d have driven a 3/4 day old car through excessive amounts of water etc. I wouldn’t even drive a 3 year old car through excessive amounts of water.

The dealer was only interested in fobbing me off initially, asking if I purchased it there which I didn’t. I’ll contact my leasing company and Audi UK when I get a chance.

 

[CornishB9]

Deep puddles did for my A4 a couple of years ago. Had it refitted FOC once, lasted a good while but a large unseen flood at night then unseated it again. This time it was a replacement part, about £125 fitted and it has been perfect ever since.