Haider

Hello everyone, First of all I would like to thank everyone of you here as I have learned many things from you.
I'm a proud owner of 2013 Audi A7 exclusive S line with a 3.0 TFSI engine and the nightmare S tronic gearbox.. The car has 79 kilometres so far on the odometer. Few days ago I got a dashboard warning as stated above which appeared twice for few seconds and disappeared. Car drives perfectly, thought I should go to dealer and check her up, and they hooked the car with a diagnostic tool and Boom ! Bad news ! New gearbox is needed!! They told me that they identified the fault as an internal one and new gearbox is the solution.. Long story short, car is out of warranty, new gearbox cost is 22,200 USD !!! But to my surprise they ve been nice to me and offered me the gearbox for free and charged me the labor cost which is 1100 USD. Are they being nice to me? Or such things are common with the A7...!?? Input is appreciated guys,
Thanks

tenspeed

This is not common. They are being very nice to you. Pay the $1100 and be thankful.

Haider

Yes I appreciated the deal. The issue is how long would I trust the car !

jjsC6

If the car is driving fine I would want a LOT more information about EXACTLY why it needs a new transmission. And why are they magically able to give you a transmission for free out of warranty? Again, more information needed.

I agree that $1,100 is a great deal for a new transmission, and if their explanation makes sense I would jump on that.

Haider

I have no solid reason for them deciding to swap the gearbox! The only explaination is that according to them the failure is an internal one and not pointing specifically to a sensor or hardware issue according to diagnostic tools. I tried to dig more into it, but it seems that they have made a report about the car, and I asked if this is commin with the S tronic, and again no clear answer

Glisse

Agree with jjsC6.

I think the issue may also be how much you trust the dealership.

That new gearbox cost is ridiculous and overstated by around a factor of 3, so I would question anything they were telling me.

It could just have been a sensor issue, seeing the car is performing flawlessly over the 79km you have driven it.

Obviously, the dealership is not giving you a USD22,200 gearbox for free, and just wanting a USD1,100 contribution for fitting it. The only way that would happen is if the Audi distributor in your country (US cars use the ZF auto IIRC) was providing them with the gearbox, so I would contact the distributor and ask why the transmission needs to be replaced.

Haider

Yes I totally agree, what I am sure of is that the new gearbox coming from the dealer and is not costing them a penny! But what I am thinking right now is that for them to get the gearbox from the factory free of charge means that they have justified the need to reolace the gearbox, otherwise how would they convince the manufacturer to supply them with a new gearbox on invalid grounds !

snagitseven

I assume you are in Europe or elsewhere but In the U.S., a dealer alone cannot get Audi to provide an out of warranty repair of this magnitude. At the very least it would require an Audi Regional manager to get involved and he would have to make a report and recommendation to Audi corporate before any repair could be approved.

As mentioned previously, an S-tronic transmission does not cost anywhere near $22K in the U.S. Perhaps the dealer is inflating the amount to convince you how wonderful they are treating you. Or maybe in your country, that is the equivalent cost?

lmariorod

Could it be the Megatronic unit?...brains of the S-tronic... still $1100 would be a n excellent price for that plus programming.

Haider

I live in Kuwait ( Middle East), I double checked with the dealer and YES audi regional manager ( from Dubai) was involved and the new gearbox will be shipped from there. It costs 22,200 USD plus fitting fees and if that has been the case I would have been eligible for 10% discount for parts. However they are offering the gearbox for free and i will be paying for labor cost only. I am not sure it is the mechatronic thing otherwise it would have showed up at least on diagnostic tool. The car has been well cared for with all services/maintenances done through them, that's the reason for the well treat as explained by them.