Bloomberg Response!

No Warranty
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Hi Ryan;

Oof, that's a horrible story. And it's true — you can never really tell what service from a company is going to be like until you're knee deep in it. Sorry to hear about your experience. One would certainly hope (and expect) top notch service from luxury brands.

I'm going to pass along your letter to the Audi folks I know. No promises, but maybe it will help get you a little better attention. Here's wishing you better motoring...

best,
Jason

Gone to Germany

B8 A4
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Well it looks like the mechanic is gone back to Germany and we have a fresh start! My car has been moved to another mechanic, so we’ll see what they can do to fix the problem. Sounds like the guys are all eager to fix the problem now. They told me my car seems slow compared to others they have driven, that’s good news cause maybe it will make it easier to find the fault. A mechanic is taking the car home tonight and leaving the scanner connected to see if they find any “values” out of range. The car was first brought in for the engine replacement in April, it’s almost November and the problem is still ongoing, I wish it was over...

Bloomberg Article

B8 A4
Originally uploaded by homeychan

I came across the following article on Bloomberg written by Jason Harper: ”http://wealth.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&sid=aRwLOQhGcb3s” reviewing the Audi S4 and R8, journalists get to review “test” cars in ideal settings and rarely get the long term experience with the vehicle. It prompted me to write the following email to the writer:
You did a great job writing that article but you neglected the fact the new Audi A series are built cheaper, the new S4 motor is $7000 less than the old 4.2. While the electronics are nicer they are inconsistent, based on the 5 loaner B8 A4's I have had in the last 8 months. You are correct and the cars are wonderful to drive with a nice personality and have and almost cult like following, but they are unreliable and the arrogance of Audi when it comes to customer service and response is pathetic. The service from Audi has been so terrible it prompted me to start a blog in hopes they would actually honour the warranty on my S4 http://audiwarranty.blogspot.com.

Journalists always get to test all the new cars but nobody ever writes a follow-up on the horrors of dealing with the company on warranty or build quality issues. It seems that most newspapers are afraid to criticize the manufacturers in fear of losing advertising revenue. These are expensive cars and my expectation was superior customer service over a domestic, so far I have been wrong.

I bought my S4 because it blew me away when I drove it, however after the way Audi corporate has treated me right to the CEO level, I would never buy another one until Audi actually took responsibility and repaired my vehicle. You should try reporting a problem to Audi corporate; you get wonderful people in call centres that have no ability to help you. You are completely disconnected from anybody inside the company that can help instead deal with these people that relay your information back and forth, it is a nightmare.

No news is good news?

B8 A4
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Still haven't heard from the dealer since last week, I am wondering whats happening with my car. I heard from a friend that knows somebody in service at the dealer that they feel bad for me that Audi has treated me so poorly and want to just get my car fixed.

One more point for my review of the B8, why does the phone integration not work properly all the time. It always links up, but only sometimes does it connect to the address book or call logs. This has been the same with all the B8's and is unpredicatable.

2010 Mercedes C300

C300LTD
Originally uploaded by homeychan

This is a very nice car, it has a lot more electronics than the Audi and I like the interior better. I took the car for a drive and while it is missing the kick of the 2.0 it sure does everything else great. It has power telescopic steering, power headrests and a cool trunk escape system. The gauge panel offers a neat display of car information; this car even has a full touchpad so you can dial numbers on your cell through Bluetooth. The only thing I didn’t like as much about this car was the steering; it felt very “vague” as it did not have a “tight” feel to it. While looking through the trunks of the cars I noticed the Audi still has the best grocery store hooks that fold up, the Merc has hooks on the sides but not nearly as effective as the Audi’s. I also noticed that Audi took out the left side storage panel with a door in the trunk and now it just contains electronics. The Mercedes is a better car overall than the 2.0 and has way more cool stuff, I just wouldn’t want to repair it or have to pay the repair bills if it fails.
Few points:
Mercedes missing ambient lighting in back seat
Mercedes has very nice centre panel and cluster
Headlight on Mercedes are very cool and fog lights come on and off based on direction turned.
Mercedes headlights turn off after car has been running in park for an extended period of time
Mercedes has amazing brakes
Mercedes Displays Owners name on console
Mercedes has a warranty against windshield chips

Some more 2009/10 B8 A4 Review

Cadillac-BMW-Audi
Originally uploaded by homeychan

I knew I would find something wrong with this B8 (2009/10 Audi A4)! So it seems impossible to turn off Electronic Stability Protection (ESP), you can turn off Traction Control (ASR). Now you may ask why would you want to turn any of this stuff off? For anybody that has driven in snow and ice, when you try to get across an intersection, the ASR won’t allow any wheel spin and the car essentially moves really slow, but with it disabled you can get some spin and the car actually moves. It sucks to pull out into an intersection then the car won’t go, so I usually disable it for that then turn it back on after. I’m sure all the other B8’s I have been able to turn off one or the other or both. Well disabling the ESP is just fun when the ground is all icy and you want to do some doughnuts/brodies or get all sideways.

Why won’t the mirror tilt down like on previous models when parking so I can see the curb, it just turns in so I can see the side of the car!

Side Assist has gone crazy again and just randomly flashes with nothing beside the car – Whiskey Tango Foxtrott.

Here are a couple positives – Mirrors are bigger on the B8, oh yeah I like pushing the door handle square to lock the doors instead of reaching for the remote in my pocket. Car also beeps everytime you lock it from the remote now, even if it was already locked!

Audi B6 S4

Audi B6 S4
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Here is an interesting email I recieved as a result of my blog:

Hello Homeychan,

I'm S T from Belgium and I'm driving B7 RS4 since I bought the car new in 2006. I was reading the topic about oil consumption and engine problems of the fsi engine and I recognized a lot of the issues.

I also have got the issues concerning excessive oil consumption which led to the replacement of the engine (I'm at the third engine now....). Today, I noticed there was again blue smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes, which means the problem has come back. That's why I began searching the internet for other owners who encountered the same situation.
Is it possible to give me more information about your case (especially since you had to get a lawyer to deal with Audi)? Could your lawyer do something for you? I ask the question because I'm seriously thinking about getting one for my case.
I thank you in advance!

Best regards,
ST

New Mechanic

Audi-Loaner
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Here is Loaner 9 or 10, this appears to be the only 2009 Audi A4 loaner I have ever had that has no issues with transmission or electronics, maybe they did all the software upgrades! My car is back again for them to try and fix the check engine light, except now we have a new mechanic. I hope the new mechanic is not so quick to blame everything else instead of trying to fix it.
Here’s another review of the new A4:
Positives
+Nice cup holders
+Nice electronics
+Side Assist feature
+More Headroom
+More leg room in the back
+New start button and touchless entry
+Informative in dash display
+Bang Olafsen stereo
Negatives
-Cheaper interior
-Electronics have high failure rate
-Transmission clunky
-inconsistent build quality
-Doors no longer have detents or require single finger to close
-Trunk hinges are cheap looking
-Door for ashtray or accessory plug in centre console hard to open and close
-Mirrors do not fold in anymore
-Can’t figure out how to tilt mirrors down when parking, only tilt inwards
-Overall car seems to be built cheaper, does not have the same solid feel of previous model

Have a look at this case with the new CTS, while it is sad the customer had issues look at the response from GM, this is why my next car is going to be a Cadillac
Location: Michigan, United States
Month Year Odo Cost Description
Sep 2007 250 0 First odometer entry.
Sep 2007 250 0 AWD warning lamp came on. A pin was bent and fixed issue. Car had a paint run above the gas door. They wet sanded it out, but it was left with the horrible swirl marks from it.
Oct 2007 2000 0 The is a rumble coming from the rear end of the car starting at 45MPH. GM sent engineers out to do some driving with me and agreed that there is a problem and that it was not normal. They attempted to repair the car immediately by swapping parts from anot
Nov 2007 0 0 New car. GM took back defective car, now I'm in a new one.
Dec 2007 800 0 New car developed same issues as old one. GM decided to repurchase that car from me. I have since gone to a different GM product. The new CTS is an awesome car, but I can't seem to catch a break with them. It's a shame really.

Again, one more time...

Race City
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Well here we go again! The car is back at the dealer to see if they can fix the CEL, looking at swapping exhaust with a stock one. Should get car back in a couple days and we’ll see what happens.
I have another 2009 B8 2.0T A4 loaner and it actually seems to work, no transmission trouble and all the electronics work.
I attached a video to this post, I was at race City last week for a Legend car race school and at the end they let us do a couple laps in our cars on the oval. I did 2 laps behind that Cadillac SRX, the car sounds amazing. I wish I did more so I could post the full recording. That SRX was hauling, I don’t think I have ever seen an SUV go that fast until the power steering pump blew up! All the videos and pics are on my flickr site (http://www.flickr.com/homeychan ).

The Real Deal

Cadillac-BMW-Audi
Originally uploaded by homeychan

This is the car I should have bought, it is incredibly sexy! I almost bought a CTS before the S4, but I was enthralled with owning a fancy German car. This car is rated very high for customer satisfaction and reliability by JD Edwards, while it may not have all the luxuries of my S4, it’s really close and actually runs for months at a time(imagine that)! I think my next car will be back to a domestic, man that new CTS-V is amazing!

Sway me please

Service
Originally uploaded by homeychan

Well I have done a lot of research on my check engine light and this would be the first Audi or even car on the planet to have this problem because of a Cat back exhaust. So the explanation from the mechanic does not seem plausible, eitherway car goes back in next Tuesday for service.

*Update* 1 problem resolved, the clunk from the front of the car was the sway bar, the bolt had been sheared off, interesting because I haven’t driven the car hard or had the sway bar off, however the shop has had the car apart many times.

Here is one of the responses I received from a respected company that manufactures and sells Audi performance gear, they do not make exhausts:

A cat back will NOT cause this. They are just using that because their techs are too unqualified to diagnose it properly. This is common and I would look for a more qualified dealer or shop.

Since they had the motor out there are many things they could have messed up.

As for those codes I have not seen those yet. You could very easily just have bad or plugged cats. Why was your short block replaced???? If it was from oil consumption your cats would be easily damaged.

If it idles rough and the cats aren't plugged up I would be looking at the cam tensioners if they were reused and you have no missfire codes.

Like I said they had your motor apart, it sounds like they goofed something on the reassembly.