[Alejandro]

I have my Audi A5 for almost 2 months now and have already 8300 kilometers on the odometer.
I still can't believe how much my front bumper is scratched. I drive mainly on the highways, so I am not getting how come it has so many scratches/holes,etc. At some places even color came off, sure these are quite small and visible when you look closely, but still it is annoying.

What about you guys? How do your A/S5s look after some time of ownership? Do you keep them in a good condition, do you also have scratches?

I am very annoyed, car is only 2 moths old and so many things....I will try to take a photo of it tommorow.

 

[jenbutmad]

if you can take it to your dealer and ask the question that you are asking us, there may have been the same problem on other cars that they are aware of.

 

[JSC]

Sounds like rock chips to me - especially with that much driving, you have to expect some wear and tear on the front bumper

 

[Alejandro]

I guess you are right, JSC.
Maybe I am just worrying too much.

 

[Kev.S]

Five months and 5000 miles and the only mark is the hole in the front panel where some t*** reversed into me in a car park, when it was 6 hours old, and drove off without leaving his details.

 

[jenbutmad]

Sorry to hear that Kev, i would of hunted him/her down

 

[hilly10]

Sorry to hear that Kev, i would of hunted him/her down

Then what Jen

 

[SDS5]

You could have a defective paint

Not wanting to scare you, but I had a problem on my S4 with paint on the air dam. The paint chipped off at an alarming rate, when there were no chips on the hood or the windshield.

The problem can occur due to residual release agent that is left on the air dam as it comes off the molding tool - the release agent affects the paint adhesion, if its not removed first. My S4 was a mess at 1000 miles - big bugs would cause it to come off. You could scratch the paint off with you nail. The paint on all the other surfaces were OK.

It was a fiasco with Audi to get this repaired - complaints right up to Len Hunt the then VP at Audi, Better Business Bureau, Lawyers, and so on. Finally Audi re-imbursed me for the work, but it left me with a terrible feeling of being poorly mis-treated by AoA. I vowed not to buy an Audi again.

This problem is rare but it does still happen.

To fix it correctly you really need a new bumper/airdam which must be painted correctly by baking the new plastic part to drive off residual solvents, followed by undercoat with flex agent and the colour /clear coat. Glasurit paint I think is still the OEM paint, or Sikens. Insist they use that and ensure it is applied by a Glasurit-qualified painter.

My advice take photos of the windshield, hood and air dam. If you are getting rock damage, you should see chips on the hood and windshield as well. If not, go pound on your dealer for a professional repair.

Send me a PM if you need any further info.

 

[Alejandro]

Thanks a lot for the info SDS5, first of all I will post pictures here.

 

[Alejandro]

Okay, here they are:

This is mainly from highway driving, am I worrying too much?

 

[YelloJello]

Those seem like standard rock chips/debris from the road... most likely from following to close to cars and especially bigger trucks which fling this junk up. Have you had any damage to the windshield as far as small chips?

 

[Alejandro]

Those seem like standard rock chips/debris from the road... most likely from following to close to cars and especially bigger trucks which fling this junk up. Have you had any damage to the windshield as far as small chips?

No, not at all.

 

[Andy T]

looks like stone chips to me also.... had the same on the last couple of cars i had with motorway driving... especially during winter.... road grit increases the chipping...

 

[Alejandro]

Yes, the second picture scares me a bit though, seems like the color entirely came off.

OFF-Topic: Andy_T, I see your previous car was Jeep Grand Cherokee, what year and engine did you have?

 

[Andy T]

Had two.... 3.0 Turbo Diesel, and also the newer 2.7CRD

 

[Alejandro]

Had two.... 3.0 Turbo Diesel, and also the newer 2.7CRD

Nice, I still have '00 4.7 V8.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=k60GSajrzAs

 

[Andy T]

i really enjoyed the jeeps when i had them... unfortunately my work meant i needed a car for the long motorway runs with good economy... hence the change to a C220cdi

 

[Alejandro]

i really enjoyed the jeeps when i had them... unfortunately my work meant i needed a car for the long motorway runs with good economy... hence the change to a C220cdi

Well, not a big deal since 2.7CRD didn't really have more "power" than the 220CDI.
We have 2004 C220CDI at home, 150bhp, overally car is very nice, it can make almost 1000 kilometers on one tank.