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2014 S5 Issues (Warranty)

5K views 21 replies 7 participants last post by  LewisTiburon 
#1 ·
So, shortly after I bought my S5 down in England in August, I noticed some issues, most notably the steering wheel media controls and flap gears being inoperative. I later found out about a few more issues, including an inoperative front left fog light, inoperative stop/start engine (battery confirmed low), inoperative rear window heater (light doesn't turn on on the switch too) and a few error messages on the computer when connected, including lambda errors, Fuel cap circuit error and vent error. Also, my mechanic noticed the water pump at the front of the engine was vibrating a little which he said was a sign it was needing replaced.

Having informed the warranty company who deals with issues post sale, provided by the garage, the car was booked in to Audi garage today for a full diagnostic which is required to proceed with a claim.

I'm not long off the phone with the service manager who has informed me that the majority of the issues will need parts stripped down, like the steering wheel, and that water ingress was suspected in the rear offside which could explain those problems, but would need extensive work and stripping to find from the body shop. He did note the front fog light was unplugged at the back as if the car has had work done on it before.

He essentially told me it'll cost thousands to fix, and advised me to go back to the garage and reject the car. So to say I'm gutted is an understatement.

I now need to prepare emails and calls tomorrow for the warranty company and the garage regarding all this to see what they will do, but I'm suspecting they would not be willing to pay out. The garage is over 200 miles away so I would expect them to collect the car and refund me for the purchase and possibly even the train journey down there? Certainly the cost of the diagnostic Audi did I will not expect to pay. It's pretty poor that this has happened to my car. Just 45,000 miles on it.
 
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Discussion starter · #7 ·
Thanks for the replies. So I've just gotten a phone call from the garage, and they've been given an estimate from Audi of £3500+ for the work, and they basically are offering to get the car repaired in-house. I wasn't expecting that. Basically they can get it done much cheaper by carrying it out in-house but I still would need to drive down there, 200 miles away.

I told her I have concerns with their mechanics doing this since they didn't find those issues in the first place when they supposedly done the inspection/check before selling it and even didn't notice the bald tyre when I picked it up.

I said I would probably need more warranty if I was to accept their repairs, just to keep me covered if anything comes up related to that again, and would need some form of compensation for driving down 2 times more and back and possibly being without a car for say a week. I told her I'd need to think about it and I'd need an email with their proposal for written records.

I know folk are saying reject the car but I don't know... this one has the full MMI, reversing camera, sunroof and extra tech which I really like and I have gotten attached to it already and rejecting would also be hassle as I'd have to drive down again and possibly be without a car for a while...

I should add that audi didn't find any issue with the water pump, and apparently the car has an aftermarket air filter, and the tyres don't match on the axles.
Ugh. Hate the position I'm in. 😒
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
They were advised of the initial problems within 30 days. I was immediately told to go through the warranty process, which I did, and followed instructions from there.

The dealer wants to repair the car at their own garage, and now want to run their own diagnostics first. I have a real unease Iver this as I feel they might try and get out of repairing some things and I'm not sure the standard of quality will be good enough.

I have real concerns for their plans.

I will then also be without a car and supposedly have to drive down, but honestly I'm starting to think that unless they accept the Audi garage's diagnostic and repair, I intende to reject the car.

I've read I have to give them a chance to repair first, but if they're refusing to go through the audo garage and want me to take it to their in-house garage and "Following the outcome of the diagnostic, we will action any repairs accordingly" then I really have a bad feeling about this. I don't think for a second if I let them repair it it'll be the end of this.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
They told me they wanted to use their in-house garage to save on costs. But the fact they want to do another diagnostic concerns me. I am wary they may overlook or deny a fault with some of the issues present, or fail to secure the car's water ingress issue. I don't even know if I should ask for some kind of compensation for the 3 hour drive down there, keeping in mind I would need a train or hire car to get back home and then run around with for the week it is in getting diagnosed and repaired.

Overall, I'm not certain what to do. And yes, the garage and warranty company were initially informed of some of these issues within 30 days of me purchasing the car, and subsequently more issues were found and reported to the warranty company. I don't know if I can demand a refund or if I have to give them a chance to repair it. How can you repair water ingress? The boot even has rust in it. I'd be worried there will be more issues months or years down the line...

On a side note, the lane assist doesn't seem to function (not sure what it's supposed to do but nothing happens when switched on), and there is no vibration warning for the brake guard which may be related to the steering wheel control issues.
 
Discussion starter · #15 ·
Thanks for your reponses. I got in touch with a Scottish lawyer who advised I have the right to get the car repaired at a local garage due to the significant inconvenience in driving 3+ hours to Wigan and back two times to get the car repaired there which is what the garage wants. I also have conerns over what will be repaired and what they won't cover. I intend to draft them a letter to inform them of my intention to get the car repaired at an Audi specialist local to me at a resonable rate of £86/hour and that I intend to hold them responsible for the cost of the repairs. That way they can't claim I didn't mitigate excess costs for the repairs. I may need to seek advice from an English lawyer too due to the nature of the Scots/English law differences. The section 75 may be a way to claim from them if they don't pay the cost of the repairs.
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
Update: So after a constant back and forth with the director of the garage, offering me £1000 for repairs, offering to buy back the car at £18k (£4k less than the purchase price) and finally offering to repair the car, but unwilling to give a rought timescale or set out that the issues will get dealt with, nor collecting the car from me (I live over 200 miles away from the garage), I finally informed him that I was going ahead with repairs locally and did just that.

2 leaks were found in the rear causing the water ingress - boot seal needed replaced and there was a small seal that was letting in water through the tail light. The cimate control module fixed the rear window demister problem, a corroded wire from the battery was replaced, the fuel actuator was fixed and the steering wheel was fixed (kinda).

Essentially, they put in a new unit for the steering wheel but it didn't give button functionality back, ony illumination. So a second unit was needed. Then, they told me me window wipers and washers weren't working, even though they worked before I put the car in. After a brief argument, they offered to fit the part needed for free and I sourced a whole new wiper/indicator stalk for a few hundred. I still think they did something that messed up the signalling in my steering wheel and causing the wiper issues, but who knows.

Now, everything works and I've had the car back for over a month now. However just the other day I noticed I couldn't go into a lower gear using the paddle gears, so now they aren't working. Added to that, the lane assist function isn't working. This was something I mentioned to them at the time but I'm not convinced it was ever fixed.

In the meantime, I'm awaiting a hearing date from the court to settle my claim against the garage for the cost of the repairs, over £2000.

Has anyone had any of these issues with their car?

As much as I love driving my Audi, it's been so much hassle since last year with the problems. Maybe I got incredibly unlucky but I've just been left a bit pissed off with the whole experience. Sigh.

Oh, and another problem I think... when I'm at 1150 revs the car has a weird vibration and noise my mechanic is somewhat concerned about, so I'll need to post a video of this and see if anyone has a clue what it is...
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Hey folks...

So the update is that on Friday the civil case is going to trial. Obviously I won't go into all the details of my case, but I'll update after the case.

As for the vibration issue I'm getting at 1150 revs... I haven't had the time to get a proper recording of this but will do this over the coming week or so and post here - would appreciate ideas because it may take a while to locate the source of it.
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
Just a quick update for anyone following this thread but missed my other post: The matter has gone to court and I can tell everything that I have won the full amount for the repairs plus costs. Very pleased!
 
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