When I bought this German car I bought it thinking “it’s gotta be waaay better than a domestic!”, after all I owned a Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe that cost a fortune to maintain. I mean really European cars are far more refined, haven’t the Germans been making cars the longest? Germans tell you they had a car before the model T, so I expected the car to be incredibly refined, reliable and rawesome (couldn’t think of another “R”). Little did I know this car would spend most of its life at the service department. The build quality of the new Audi’s is appalling; I don’t know why the domestics have such a bad name. Did you know that on a Audi Q7 SUV, there is a software update for the light bulbs! To go along with the other ones I have personally encountered with the side assist and dynamic suspension. I am incredibly disappointed not just in the quality but the customer service from Audi, but it’s only a matter of time before it catches up to them... Audi 5000 for now, until my next post.
-you have to be an 80’s person to get the Audi 5000 comment, but look it up on Google, I am sure you can find out why it was used as slang in rap songs from the period.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Back to Germany?
Well guess what, the Check Engine Light (CEL) just won’t go away. It’s back and the car is back in for service. The next steps are to test the catalytic converters and make sure they are not plugged. I wonder what else will break after this? On the bright side the car has more new parts than old now!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Back to Germany - Maybe...?
Here is another meathead response from Audi, well they contradict themselves since the service records show the problem started at 41,000kms.
Well I drove a new 4 door M3 and man the thing was amazing! I brought my car to see what they would give me on a trade and they told me 15k! Holy crap, talk about taking it without lube, they wanted $71k for a used 08 with 20,000km’s on it. Wow that would be giant difference. I guess I am stuck with this car till the wheels fall off, but that could be tomorrow since one nearly fell off last week.
*UPDATE* Car is going back to the dealer on Thursday for the Check Engine Light issues, looks like the oxygen sensors did not fix the problem. I think they are going to try the catalytic converters now. I will have another loaner so we’ll see what unique problems this one has.
In my dreams I would have a 4 door M3, instead of this pile of Audi, all though it does look awesome on the road and sounds great with the exhaust, I would hope the M3 actually ran for more than 3 days at a time.
Well I drove a new 4 door M3 and man the thing was amazing! I brought my car to see what they would give me on a trade and they told me 15k! Holy crap, talk about taking it without lube, they wanted $71k for a used 08 with 20,000km’s on it. Wow that would be giant difference. I guess I am stuck with this car till the wheels fall off, but that could be tomorrow since one nearly fell off last week.
*UPDATE* Car is going back to the dealer on Thursday for the Check Engine Light issues, looks like the oxygen sensors did not fix the problem. I think they are going to try the catalytic converters now. I will have another loaner so we’ll see what unique problems this one has.
In my dreams I would have a 4 door M3, instead of this pile of Audi, all though it does look awesome on the road and sounds great with the exhaust, I would hope the M3 actually ran for more than 3 days at a time.
Friday, August 14, 2009
*Sigh*
Well more bad news, again. I am getting the shaft from my insurance company on my Pioneer Avic Navigation system that was stolen out of the car while it was at the dealership. I have attached a picture of the life of my car! People always ask how I stay so calm with all these problems, look through the blog and tell me how I could have made it better by freaking out? I think laughing all this off is all I can do, either way all these actions will eventually catch-up to the guilty parties, maybe not today but tomorrow and then I’ll be vindicated.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
No, Not again!
Well I finally got my car back, new AC, new door panel, new steering wheel, new oxygen sensors – Awesome! Got a flat almost immediately and now it is going to take a week to order the tire (Conti Sport Contact 3) from the US. Looks like the Audi mechanic gets to stay, no check engine light yet.
Interestingly the 2009 2.0 A4 service loaner issues with “side assist” is a known issue and the car requires a software upgrade. That’s just odd for a company the size of Audi to put out cars with so many problems. This post is a little glum because I had the car for a few hours before it broke again, this time don’t think I can blame Audi, but I wish it would end and I could just drive instead of just paying.
Interestingly the 2009 2.0 A4 service loaner issues with “side assist” is a known issue and the car requires a software upgrade. That’s just odd for a company the size of Audi to put out cars with so many problems. This post is a little glum because I had the car for a few hours before it broke again, this time don’t think I can blame Audi, but I wish it would end and I could just drive instead of just paying.
Friday, August 7, 2009
I got soul
My dealer was nice enough to provide me with another loaner while they dismantle my car again. This is my forth loaner and has its own quirks. When I was shopping for a car, I was looking at a Cadillac, Infiniti, Acura, Lexus, Benz and Audi. The Mercedes salesman told me the Japanese cars have no soul, once you have driven one you’ve driven them all! I actually believed him because after driving the S4, I said this is the car for me! However I think Audi has taken it to a new level, of the 3 2.0’s I have driven, the first one ran terrible, Dynamic suspension and the AC did not work, the second one the doors did not open when you pulled on the handle and you could only turn ASR off and nothing else, this new 2.0 the side impact feature to let you know when a car is in your blind spot does not work. It doesn’t go off or sometimes just randomly starts flashing when nothing is beside me and I change lanes. These cars definitely have soul, if variety and dysfunction counts; I wonder if that’s what Audi was aiming for? To be fair the 3.2 had no problems, the Dynamic suspension, door entry, side impact and power was great.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Burn it all!
Audi Canada called me because of my comments on a service survey, I pointed out that Audi sucks and I would never buy another one or wish one on my worst enemy, but my dealer is amazing and have gone above and beyond to help me. So the guy from Audi called, I tell him Audi sucks and the dealer is great and he says “thanks, I am glad you have had such a positive experience with Audi” I had to clarify with the dealer, he says “great, thanks for filling out the survey!” - Wow but I guess these are call centre people with no authority.
Dealer called, partial removal of engine to replace AC compressor, still troubleshooting CEL errors, mechanic thinks wire may have been pinched with short throw shifter install, because tranny had to be lowered. Tranny does not have to be lowered for shifter install; install is done from inside the cab of car with 5 tools, not rocket science. Besides this dealer is taking responsibility for repairs and service manager and writer are great. This is still going to cost me 2 to 3k again, I wish the car would catch on fire except I would get screwed by insurance, so that can’t happen.
Dealer called, partial removal of engine to replace AC compressor, still troubleshooting CEL errors, mechanic thinks wire may have been pinched with short throw shifter install, because tranny had to be lowered. Tranny does not have to be lowered for shifter install; install is done from inside the cab of car with 5 tools, not rocket science. Besides this dealer is taking responsibility for repairs and service manager and writer are great. This is still going to cost me 2 to 3k again, I wish the car would catch on fire except I would get screwed by insurance, so that can’t happen.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Back to Germany!
I don't think the factory mechanic is convinced the Oxygen sensors are installed wrong. My car is not chipped, it just has a cat back. The service manager told the mechanic he fixes it or he goes back to germany, his choice! :)
We'll see if he is there on Friday!
We'll see if he is there on Friday!
This %$@^ just never ends!
Ok here so here is chapter 200 in the Audi S4 saga! Just got off the phone with my dealer, checking the Oxygen sensors is only about a 4 hour job and they will cover those costs because of the engine swap - that’s good news. The bad news the AC compressor is going to be a little more difficult, the Audi manual says remove engine! You would think by now my engine would be quick release... Tech is figuring out a different way to remove the AC compressor. The good news out of all this is on the forums my car has had every common failure, only two left are windows and sun roof, and those are reasonably cheap to fix compared to the thousands I’ve spent. I can see why Audi is tough on warranty, they would go bankrupt if they actually honoured all the warranty problems!
Also learned a valuable lesson on insurance, it’s a “cost offsetter” and not to be used to provide “replacement costs”. Gotta change my expectation that insurance actually pays to replace your stuff, I think they just want to pay as little as possible, after all they have margins too.
The service guy at Glenmore Audi told me the seat cover replacement books at 2.5 hours and shop rate is $130, insurance said they will pay $90 and 1 hour. I like the tactics and I will have to try that when buying insurance. :)
Also learned a valuable lesson on insurance, it’s a “cost offsetter” and not to be used to provide “replacement costs”. Gotta change my expectation that insurance actually pays to replace your stuff, I think they just want to pay as little as possible, after all they have margins too.
The service guy at Glenmore Audi told me the seat cover replacement books at 2.5 hours and shop rate is $130, insurance said they will pay $90 and 1 hour. I like the tactics and I will have to try that when buying insurance. :)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Insurance - 04-Aug-2009
Still working on resolving my insurance issues for the stolen stereo in my car, this never ends. So it looks like the insurance company prices are considerably lower or at cost to Mobile Sounds where I originally bought the gear and had it installed. Mobile is now refusing to purchase the parts at those prices, so I have to work it out with my insurance company. I want Mobile Sounds to install the parts because they know what they are doing, I really don’t want to bring my car to Futureshop or Best Buy. I hope soon I can get my stuff installed and get the car finished.
Picked up the car from the German Car Specialists (Two Square) and the bill was less than expected only $900. AC still doesn’t work though and I am told it will cost an additional $2000 for the compressor and dryer. I am going to bring the car back to the dealer and see.
- Check Engine Light back on, hope that gets fixed tomorrow.
- Door still damaged from break-in.
- Missing some of the sound pan under the car.
- Missing bracket on seat rail.
- Missing stereo.
Nothing is easy with this car at all. The insurance adjuster is really nice, but I don’t think she has anything to do with how much I will get the shaft on my replacement parts. Seems like insurance is not to replace your stolen parts but to provide some offset to the repurchase of your stolen parts. I guess I need to get rid of my pre conceived conceptions of insurance.
Picked up the car from the German Car Specialists (Two Square) and the bill was less than expected only $900. AC still doesn’t work though and I am told it will cost an additional $2000 for the compressor and dryer. I am going to bring the car back to the dealer and see.
- Check Engine Light back on, hope that gets fixed tomorrow.
- Door still damaged from break-in.
- Missing some of the sound pan under the car.
- Missing bracket on seat rail.
- Missing stereo.
Nothing is easy with this car at all. The insurance adjuster is really nice, but I don’t think she has anything to do with how much I will get the shaft on my replacement parts. Seems like insurance is not to replace your stolen parts but to provide some offset to the repurchase of your stolen parts. I guess I need to get rid of my pre conceived conceptions of insurance.
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