Hi All
Apologies in advance for the long post. This takes a bit of explaining so please bare with me
I've been having an issue with my '61 S3 over the past few months, am having a nightmare trying to get Audi to sort it out and not sure how to go about resolving the issue.
I got the car from Worthing Audi in April last year and the top up warranty covers me until 13/5/15 so I need to get it fixed before then. It had covered 16k when I got it and has now done about 28k.
The main issue is with the S tronic box. Intermittently in slow moving traffic (when the car has been running for a while and is hot) the clutch disengages causing loss of drive when in manual mode but automatically downshifting (when engine speed for third gear is too low under engine/normal braking). There were a lot of recalls for this problem in 2009-2010 with early DSG/S tronic boxes and this is well documented in the media (VOSA recall here: http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...CBA2B1ECF1802576500030A7E6&freeText=Blank&tx=). Additionally, the up/down shifts from 2 -> 3 and 3 -> 2 are sometimes very harsh and jerky (only when the car is cold).
The car was due for a service around September last year so I booked in it at Slough Audi and asked them to check out the gearbox issue. They said they road tested it (managing 11mpg and logging 14.4s 1/4 mile times in the process) but could not find an issue with the box yet still upgraded the S tronic software in the hopes of fixing the issue.
Since then the issue has got worse and almost landed me in 3 potentially major accidents, two while pulling out at a roundabout and one on the M4 where the car had no drive for about 5 seconds in which time an X5 doing about 70/80 narrowly avoided me and about 3 other cars while trying to get around me. This really scared the life out of me and I gave it in to Reading Audi last week (12/3/15).
There were a few issues with the car which I bought up when booking it in. They said the VOSA recall reference is not valid at all for my car as mine is a MY2011 and the recall only covers MY2009-10. I told them I was aware of this but hoped it could help them identify the fault. Aside from this, the car sometimes doesn't start when parked up for a few minutes after a 20ish minute drive and sometimes the cruise control does not engage (this is resolved by turning the car off/on). The final issue was with refuelling, every time I have filled the car up, the pump clicks and continues to click at around 3/4 tank. No matter what I do I cannot prevent this so I end up trickle filling the last 10ish litres of fuel (sucks in winter). Audi advised me they would investigate but as the faults are intermittent there is no point going on a road test with me. They advised as there are so many faults to diagnose they would have to charge me £240 diagnostic fee if no fault is found (£120 diag fee x 2).
I got a call from Audi yesterday telling me they found the cruise control fault to be caused by a faulty battery which needs replacing but is not covered under the warranty (fair enough) but the cost of a replacement is £260. I advised I would try and source one cheaper myself (Varta E44: £68 posted!). They filled the car up with fuel and it filled all the way to full with no issues (I must need refuelling lessons). They also said after road testing and sending diagnostic information to Audi Germany they found there to be no fault with the gearbox and no fault codes have been logged for it. Despite me explaining the exact conditions the fault occurs under they will not accept it as a fault until a technician has experienced it themselves. I told them the car is dangerous to drive and giving it back to me is putting mine and others lives at risk so I want them to keep it until the fault is found and resolved. I said I don't care if the technicians need to take it home or put 100miles on it but keep driving it long enough and the fault will surface. They agreed to keep it for another 2 days and take it on long drives to try and find the issue.
Today I got a call from them again saying they could not take the car home last night as the battery was dead and they could not start the car. They have agreed to waive one diagnostic fee (£120) as they found a cruise control fault but want £260 for a battery and still want to charge me the other £120 for not fixing the gearbox issue.
As far as I am concerned they are not accepting there is a fault with the gearbox until they see it themselves and are taking the mick with not being able to start the car despite having all the equipment to do an out of car battery tolerance test!
I love the car and just want it fixed and safe to drive but Audi seem to just want my money. If they give the car back in the same condition I'll be out of pocket and still not comfortable driving it. I have PCP on the car and do not want to be paying every month for a car I am not going to be driving. I don't know what to do or who to go to for help
Thanks in advance
Apologies in advance for the long post. This takes a bit of explaining so please bare with me
I've been having an issue with my '61 S3 over the past few months, am having a nightmare trying to get Audi to sort it out and not sure how to go about resolving the issue.
I got the car from Worthing Audi in April last year and the top up warranty covers me until 13/5/15 so I need to get it fixed before then. It had covered 16k when I got it and has now done about 28k.
The main issue is with the S tronic box. Intermittently in slow moving traffic (when the car has been running for a while and is hot) the clutch disengages causing loss of drive when in manual mode but automatically downshifting (when engine speed for third gear is too low under engine/normal braking). There were a lot of recalls for this problem in 2009-2010 with early DSG/S tronic boxes and this is well documented in the media (VOSA recall here: http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...CBA2B1ECF1802576500030A7E6&freeText=Blank&tx=). Additionally, the up/down shifts from 2 -> 3 and 3 -> 2 are sometimes very harsh and jerky (only when the car is cold).
The car was due for a service around September last year so I booked in it at Slough Audi and asked them to check out the gearbox issue. They said they road tested it (managing 11mpg and logging 14.4s 1/4 mile times in the process) but could not find an issue with the box yet still upgraded the S tronic software in the hopes of fixing the issue.
Since then the issue has got worse and almost landed me in 3 potentially major accidents, two while pulling out at a roundabout and one on the M4 where the car had no drive for about 5 seconds in which time an X5 doing about 70/80 narrowly avoided me and about 3 other cars while trying to get around me. This really scared the life out of me and I gave it in to Reading Audi last week (12/3/15).
There were a few issues with the car which I bought up when booking it in. They said the VOSA recall reference is not valid at all for my car as mine is a MY2011 and the recall only covers MY2009-10. I told them I was aware of this but hoped it could help them identify the fault. Aside from this, the car sometimes doesn't start when parked up for a few minutes after a 20ish minute drive and sometimes the cruise control does not engage (this is resolved by turning the car off/on). The final issue was with refuelling, every time I have filled the car up, the pump clicks and continues to click at around 3/4 tank. No matter what I do I cannot prevent this so I end up trickle filling the last 10ish litres of fuel (sucks in winter). Audi advised me they would investigate but as the faults are intermittent there is no point going on a road test with me. They advised as there are so many faults to diagnose they would have to charge me £240 diagnostic fee if no fault is found (£120 diag fee x 2).
I got a call from Audi yesterday telling me they found the cruise control fault to be caused by a faulty battery which needs replacing but is not covered under the warranty (fair enough) but the cost of a replacement is £260. I advised I would try and source one cheaper myself (Varta E44: £68 posted!). They filled the car up with fuel and it filled all the way to full with no issues (I must need refuelling lessons). They also said after road testing and sending diagnostic information to Audi Germany they found there to be no fault with the gearbox and no fault codes have been logged for it. Despite me explaining the exact conditions the fault occurs under they will not accept it as a fault until a technician has experienced it themselves. I told them the car is dangerous to drive and giving it back to me is putting mine and others lives at risk so I want them to keep it until the fault is found and resolved. I said I don't care if the technicians need to take it home or put 100miles on it but keep driving it long enough and the fault will surface. They agreed to keep it for another 2 days and take it on long drives to try and find the issue.
Today I got a call from them again saying they could not take the car home last night as the battery was dead and they could not start the car. They have agreed to waive one diagnostic fee (£120) as they found a cruise control fault but want £260 for a battery and still want to charge me the other £120 for not fixing the gearbox issue.
As far as I am concerned they are not accepting there is a fault with the gearbox until they see it themselves and are taking the mick with not being able to start the car despite having all the equipment to do an out of car battery tolerance test!
I love the car and just want it fixed and safe to drive but Audi seem to just want my money. If they give the car back in the same condition I'll be out of pocket and still not comfortable driving it. I have PCP on the car and do not want to be paying every month for a car I am not going to be driving. I don't know what to do or who to go to for help
Thanks in advance