Rust Forming Already???

[A4Ultra]

Hi All,

Just a quick question. Noticed the following 'bubbling' of paint on the rear passenger door. Not sure how long it has been there as vehicle is mainly used by me as a single driver. Can't have been long though, just had it in for service and warranty work very recently and didn't see anything then either but I must have missed it??

Is this a starting point for the door to rust? Should I get it checked out - is it worth it? I am aware Audi has a rust bodywork protection scheme, my warranty just ran out 2-3 weeks ago but if this is rust I think they should still look at it?

Would appreciate everyone's opinion on the matter. A little annoyed given the number of problems the vehicle seems to have thrown up recently, including this now. Just more of a headache really!

For clarification - it's a December 2016 B9, would be surprised if it really is a starting point for rust.
Was a bit difficult to get a good photo, looked a bit dodgy doing this in a supermarket car park in the glaring sun hahah!

Best Wishes

 

[CornishB9]

Either looks as if something has been applied to the paint in that area or, more likely it is the result of a not very good repair and respray.

 

[A4Ultra]

I would've thought similar but I haven't applied anything like that since I've owned it. I don't suppose I am left with many options do you think?

Either looks as if something has been applied to the paint in that area or, more likely it is the result of a not very good repair and respray.

 

[smog c6]

That appears dreadful.

Have you owned the car since new? Its the sort of stuff you see after a bad paint job, bubbling near any tape off points/trim removal.

If not then take it to the dealer, it’s corrosion not rust, hopefully they will do a goodwill gesture and pay some of the costs. I’m sure there’s a clause in the corrosion warranty saying it’s got to lead to a perforation or hole.

 

[stuart scott]

I got a bootlid on the car in my avatar well out of warranty as there is a 10 year corrosion warranty i did have a full service audi service history ( required)the boot had never been repaired i had the car from new but something like yours appeared out of nowhere

 

[A4Ultra]

That appears dreadful.

Have you owned the car since new? Its the sort of stuff you see after a bad paint job, bubbling near any tape off points/trim removal.

If not then take it to the dealer, it’s corrosion not rust, hopefully they will do a goodwill gesture and pay some of the costs. I’m sure there’s a clause in the corrosion warranty saying it’s got to lead to a perforation or hole.

I got a bootlid on the car in my avatar well out of warranty as there is a 10 year corrosion warranty i did have a full service audi service history ( required)the boot had never been repaired i had the car from new but something like yours appeared out of nowhere

Thanks for the responses guys. Car was bought used from an Audi dealer.

A bit upset. Had a problem with the door which I had to sort myself. Then a brake servo, now this. It's only been a year and the car I bought to make life easier just seems to be causing more hassle!

Will hopefully gather some more responses and then take it forward with the dealer. Problem is, the selling dealer was Newcastle and I am in Devon or Scotland so not an easy situation. Hopefully the Devon dealers are understanding

 

[SteveMcB]

My cabby was about 10 years old when I noticed some slight bubbling on the front arches. Local Audi garage booked me for an inspection including a paint thickness check (to make sure it hadn't been resprayed) and the tech told me that he'd recommend it should be covered by the 12yr warranty (I'm the 4th owner, purchased from an independent and it hasn't got an Audi service history).
Admittedly it then took several months of me badgering them but they eventually fitted 2 new front wings. Slight downside was that the head office moved the goalposts slightly by classifying it as goodwill, which meant I had to contribute about £300, but still a very good result.

If I was you (if you can't get to the seller) I'd book it in at your local dealer for a check and see what they say.

 

[A4Ultra]

My cabby was about 10 years old when I noticed some slight bubbling on the front arches. Local Audi garage booked me for an inspection including a paint thickness check (to make sure it hadn't been resprayed) and the tech told me that he'd recommend it should be covered by the 12yr warranty (I'm the 4th owner, purchased from an independent and it hasn't got an Audi service history).
Admittedly it then took several months of me badgering them but they eventually fitted 2 new front wings. Slight downside was that the head office moved the goalposts slightly by classifying it as goodwill, which meant I had to contribute about £300, but still a very good result.

If I was you (if you can't get to the seller) I'd book it in at your local dealer for a check and see what they say.

Damn 10 years old and they still contributed, that's not too bad.

Mine is just turned 4 years old so a little surprised

Is Audi really this fragile!?

 

[CornishB9]

A4's don't seem to be that fragile. Mine is still absolutely fine after nearly 5 1/2 years as it was a really early, Nov 2015 car. All I'm doing is the regular services and replacing what wears out; last week front discs and pads. 61 500 miles and going strong.

 

[spartacus68]

Get the car booked into the main dealer. I haven't seen corrosion like that for some time. It's very similar to corrosion on diamond cut alloys which lifts the lacquer as moisture is penetrating the paint top coat from the base undercoat.

The main dealer will measure the paint thickness. It's straight-forward and avoids any kind of quibble. If the paint limits are as per the data they hold from the factory, then they photograph it and submit it to Audi to process, then await their verdict under the terms of the warranty.

If the paint thickness is outwith the data its a straight-forward no and you fund the repair yourself.

 

[SteveMcB]

Damn 10 years old and they still contributed, that's not too bad.

Mine is just turned 4 years old so a little surprised

Is Audi really this fragile!?

Yep, I was well chuffed with the end result, total bill was about £1700!! I don't think Audis are fragile although my SQ5 doesn't feel as 'solid' as the old B7 cab, they're built like tanks.

Even so 4 years is far too young for rust, you should get it booked in.

 

[smog c6]

Audis are pretty good for paint quality and build, perhaps older Audis are known to have some common corrosion points on the paint, but overall the paint has always been good.

I find BMW and Mercedes paint quite poor, they chip easy and don’t have as smooth a finish as VAG group cars.

I had a 69 plate x1, had paint chips on it within the month.

 

[A4Ultra]

Get the car booked into the main dealer. I haven't seen corrosion like that for some time. It's very similar to corrosion on diamond cut alloys which lifts the lacquer as moisture is penetrating the paint top coat from the base undercoat.

The main dealer will measure the paint thickness. It's straight-forward and avoids any kind of quibble. If the paint limits are as per the data they hold from the factory, then they photograph it and submit it to Audi to process, then await their verdict under the terms of the warranty.

If the paint thickness is outwith the data its a straight-forward no and you fund the repair yourself.

So the dealer will likely measure the paint thickness and if it's too thin then I will have a chance?

Because just to update I haven't heard back from the dealer yet. But all Audi UK said was that it will only be covered if the rust starts from inside to outside. Don't really have high hopes

 

[SteveMcB]

So the dealer will likely measure the paint thickness and if it's too thin then I will have a chance?

Because just to update I haven't heard back from the dealer yet. But all Audi UK said was that it will only be covered if the rust starts from inside to outside. Don't really have high hopes

They measure the paint to make sure it's not too thick, if it's been resprayed the paint will be thicker and you'll be out of luck. You're right about the rust coming from underneath, mine was bubbling but the paint was intact, similar (but not as bad) as yours.

It's worth a try, if they say 'no' I still think you've got a case with the dealer who sold it because then it's obviously a shoddy repair.

 

[monkeyhanger]

If Audi decide its not a paintwork warranty job, the only option is to pursue a claim with the dealership that sold it to you. That bubbling stinks of a poor repair to me.

You say you bought it in Newcastle (my locality) - Scotswood Road (Newcastle central) or Silverlink (Wallsend)?

It'll be a PITA from your locality to deal with.

Both of those dealerships have their own bodyshop, nearby but off premises. The Scotswood Road branch has one about a mile away, near the Metro Arena, the Silverlink branch has one in the Tyne Tunnel trading estate. I've had repairs at both centres with my Golfs, not impressed with either:

1. Metro Arena repair centre. In Sep 2007, a bus clattered my 2 week old Golf 170TDI GT Sport, leaving it 12 feet from where I parked it to pick up a takeaway (and didn't stop), luckily a witness left me a note.

The car was sent to tge repair centre for about £7k damage, including new rear quarter panel. They sat on the repair for over 5 weeks before an official complaint promoted them to get on with it (they had all the parts in stock within 10 days).

I got my car back in the pouring rain, in the dark - hard to appraise. The brakes felt iffy (the whole rear drivers side axle and everything connected to it was replaced, including brakes). In the clarity of a clear and sunny following day I saw just how crap the repair was - oily hand prints all over the headlining, metal filings throughout the interior from where they cut in the new rear quarter panel, an expensive coat missing from the boot (and never recovered), the aforementioned brake caliper was loose and the wheel arch edge of the new panel was still sharp and had almost no underbody sealant.

VW assist (AA at the time) took it back on a loader as it was unsafe to drive. The AA wrote a scathing report on quality of repair. All was repaired again at my inconvenience while I was given a PoS 50ps Fiat Punto 5 year old courtesy car. It seemed OK at that point, except the rear wheel arch kept bubbling up every 3 weeks like yours. On the 5th proposed remedial fix I blew my top with VWUK. My insurance and the bus company's wouldn't help as I'd picked my local "VW approved" repair centre against their recommendations.

I saw plenty of other irate customers getting their remedial works done too.

VW UK were useless in intervening. Their proposal for goodwill was to allow those clowns that repaired it so poorly to give my car a free valet at my time of choosing. I refused. They closed my case as resolved to customers satisfaction.

I hated that car to the day I prematurely chopped it in for a Scirocco.

Case 2 at the Tyne Tunnel industrial estate was much less dramatic - they resprayed.my front bumper and forgot to refit the headlight washers.

My money is on the Metro Arena Lookers repair centre has repainted your door to their usual standards. If the dealership that sold the car to you are aware of repair within the Lookers group,they should agree to repair at their cost - you might have to come back up to Newcastle to get it done.

Alternatively, go small claims court route to get a payout to fund a local repair.

 

[A4Ultra]

They measure the paint to make sure it's not too thick, if it's been resprayed the paint will be thicker and you'll be out of luck. You're right about the rust coming from underneath, mine was bubbling but the paint was intact, similar (but not as bad) as yours.

It's worth a try, if they say 'no' I still think you've got a case with the dealer who sold it because then it's obviously a shoddy repair.

Ahh I see. So if it's been resprayed then I am out of luck?

I would have thought that if this was the case then I would be in good shoes because the dealer sold me the car like that and they are supposed to do their checks etc?
My apologies if I am not correct.

 

[A4Ultra]

If Audi decide its not a paintwork warranty job, the only option is to pursue a claim with the dealership that sold it to you. That bubbling stinks of a poor repair to me.

You say you bought it in Newcastle (my locality) - Scotswood Road (Newcastle central) or Silverlink (Wallsend)?

It'll be a PITA from your locality to deal with.

Both of those dealerships have their own bodyshop, nearby but off premises. The Scotswood Road branch has one about a mile away, near the Metro Arena, the Silverlink branch has one in the Tyne Tunnel trading estate. I've had repairs at both centres with my Golfs, not impressed with either:

1. Metro Arena repair centre. In Sep 2007, a bus clattered my 2 week old Golf 170TDI GT Sport, leaving it 12 feet from where I parked it to pick up a takeaway (and didn't stop), luckily a witness left me a note.

The car was sent to tge repair centre for about £7k damage, including new rear quarter panel. They sat on the repair for over 5 weeks before an official complaint promoted them to get on with it (they had all the parts in stock within 10 days).

I got my car back in the pouring rain, in the dark - hard to appraise. The brakes felt iffy (the whole rear drivers side axle and everything connected to it was replaced, including brakes). In the clarity of a clear and sunny following day I saw just how **** the repair was - oily hand prints all over the headlining, metal filings throughout the interior from where they cut in the new rear quarter panel, an expensive coat missing from the boot (and never recovered), the aforementioned brake caliper was loose and the wheel arch edge of the new panel was still sharp and had almost no underbody sealant.

VW assist (AA at the time) took it back on a loader as it was unsafe to drive. The AA wrote a scathing report on quality of repair. All was repaired again at my inconvenience while I was given a PoS 50ps Fiat Punto 5 year old courtesy car. It seemed OK at that point, except the rear wheel arch kept bubbling up every 3 weeks like yours. On the 5th proposed remedial fix I blew my top with VWUK. My insurance and the bus company's wouldn't help as I'd picked my local "VW approved" repair centre against their recommendations.

I saw plenty of other irate customers getting their remedial works done too.

VW UK were useless in intervening. Their proposal for goodwill was to allow those clowns that repaired it so poorly to give my car a free valet at my time of choosing. I refused. They closed my case as resolved to customers satisfaction.

I hated that car to the day I prematurely chopped it in for a Scirocco.

Case 2 at the Tyne Tunnel industrial estate was much less dramatic - they resprayed.my front bumper and forgot to refit the headlight washers.

My money is on the Metro Arena Lookers repair centre has repainted your door to their usual standards. If the dealership that sold the car to you are aware of repair within the Lookers group,they should agree to repair at their cost - you might have to come back up to Newcastle to get it done.

Alternatively, go small claims court route to get a payout to fund a local repair.

This does not sound good... ahhh damn!

Yeah it was from the Scotswood one as far as I can remember. I'm not very confident though that they will do anything. When I bought the car the wipers were completely gone and they wouldn't even sort that, not very hopeful for a door!

Perhaps it was my bad, asking for a car with paint on it that wouldn't disintegrate!

What is a PITA? if you don't mind my asking? All I know is when I had a warranty dispute a few weeks ago, the dealer told me to contact the selling dealer myself if I needed as they wouldn't.

Not very good stories though. Is Newcastle like this or just unfortunate situation?


Thanks for your stories, really helpful for insight. Still waiting for a reply from my dealer in the meantime. I bought the A4 to take the stress out of my lifestyle as it is a good car but its just caused so many issues!

 

[Airfan]

If you bought it from Audi dealer then they are obligated to sell you car with all the warranties as other cars. If the paint job is done in Audi dealership then you still have warranty for corrosion as far as I know.

 

[monkeyhanger]

This does not sound good... ahhh damn!

Yeah it was from the Scotswood one as far as I can remember. I'm not very confident though that they will do anything. When I bought the car the wipers were completely gone and they wouldn't even sort that, not very hopeful for a door!

Perhaps it was my bad, asking for a car with paint on it that wouldn't disintegrate!

What is a PITA? if you don't mind my asking? All I know is when I had a warranty dispute a few weeks ago, the dealer told me to contact the selling dealer myself if I needed as they wouldn't.

Not very good stories though. Is Newcastle like this or just unfortunate situation?


Thanks for your stories, really helpful for insight. Still waiting for a reply from my dealer in the meantime. I bought the A4 to take the stress out of my lifestyle as it is a good car but its just caused so many issues!

PITA = pain in the ****!

Unfortunately, Lookers has a Newcastle monopoly on VW/Audi dealers (since buying out Benfield - who were crap) and they're all crap for servicing/warranty/bodywork. For our VWs we go out of our way to Pulman group in Sunderland/Durham even though Silverlink is literally 2 miles from home.

I bought my A4 from Newcastle Scotswood Road. After deciding I needed to change my 2018 Polo GTI+ for something bigger, and knowing we were getting a Labrador (which is the size of a Panther at 9 months old), I was prepared to look nationally for the right car, but found one so close to home in an acceptable spec.

I don't mind buying cars off them, the servicing and repairs are poor though.
Might be worth tracing the last owner through the DVLA if V5s don't state previous owners any more. They should tell you what was fixed, by whom and when. You might find a non-Audi approved repair has better warranty coverage like 5 years from date of repair. As far as I'm aware, a VW/Audi approved bodyshop repair just restores warranty e.g. you get a 3 year paintwork warranty as standard, car gets clattered and resprayed by Audi approved repairer at month 33 and you effectively only have 3 months warranty on the job. That's what I was told way back in 2007 with my MK5 Golf.

 

[A4Ultra]

Just thought I would update.

Went to the dealer today who took photos and measured the pain thickness. They said it's actually really bad and they've never seen something like that before. I asked what would happen if I didn't repair it and they said it would likely spread to the whole door.

On inspection, there is no cut or chip but they said there is water behind it and its rusting. Said it has been repainted so definitely confirms what you said @monkeyhanger that it has been damaged before and covered up. They admit it is a shocking job which obviously wasn't made aware to the dealer.

They will submit for a claim but its all waiting game now. Not great news really. Sounds like a costly repair

At least Costco put a promotion on their Michelin tyres on... hahah!

 

[monkeyhanger]

Just thought I would update.

Went to the dealer today who took photos and measured the pain thickness. They said it's actually really bad and they've never seen something like that before. I asked what would happen if I didn't repair it and they said it would likely spread to the whole door.

On inspection, there is no cut or chip but they said there is water behind it and its rusting. Said it has been repainted so definitely confirms what you said @monkeyhanger that it has been damaged before and covered up. They admit it is a shocking job which obviously wasn't made aware to the dealer.

They will submit for a claim but its all waiting game now. Not great news really. Sounds like a costly repair

At least Costco put a promotion on their Michelin tyres on... hahah!

My money's still on the Benfield/Lookers bodyshop affiliated with the Scotswood Road Lookers Audi. Still worth tracing the last owner through the DVLA to ask for repair details, or see if the selling dealership has repair records.

 

[A4Ultra]

My money's still on the Benfield/Lookers bodyshop affiliated with the Scotswood Road Lookers Audi. Still worth tracing the last owner through the DVLA to ask for repair details, or see if the selling dealership has repair records.

Yeah will wait and see the response first I guess. Maybe he would've got it done 'mates rates' if the job is that terrible so not too hopeful!
I don't suppose I have any right to say anything to the selling dealer? A little annoyed that they sold me the car like that and the first owner managed to pull the wool over Newcastle!

Audi always brag about their 150 point checks on the vehicle, you would've thought they could take a quick measurement to see for respray, it took my dealer about a minute.

Time shall tell