flag_route

So I was replacing my compressor yesterday and I noticed the 3 front belly panel screws were missing. I get my oil change done at the dealership only. I never go anywhere else even for repairs, unless I do them myself (and sometimes for a diagnostic).

Last year while I was driving on a newely paved highway, the front of my belly pan dropped while going about 80mph. It was 1 month after I got an oil change done at the dealership. I called the dealership, zip tied the panel and brought the car in. They told me I must have hit a bump and that there was no way their mechanics couls have forgotten to put in the screws. I told them I didn't hit a bump but they wouldn't replace the belly panel for free. I ended up using my mechanic friends AAA number to buy one at reduced price from them.

So basically is there anything I can do this time? I noticed about half of the wheel liner clips were missing as well. Usually they only forget to put in 1 or 2 but there was only 1 clip on the drivers side.

haggisuk

Unless you find these missing fixing before leaving you have little chance of getting anything out of them.

BillBoost37

Upon getting my car, I was missing all but three belly pan screws. The bottom wheel well ones were also gone.

Friend recently came across them and linked me. Compared to the rest of the sites, these prices hit me as very reasonable.

Wheel well

Belly Pan

Got them in the last couple of days and so far the fit and finish looks the same as the three I had originally.

MP4.2+6.0

I have a small coffee can with these various bit parts in it. They break over time, and some are sort of sacrificial/quasi single use like the fender plastic push pins. The four plastic square shaped receiver pieces on the two ends of the belly pan tend to break over time, and then the screw doesn't seat firmly in them. They can be replaced as long as the square punched hole into which they lock is not broken out. The metal ones used at the front and back of the pan tend to be long lasting, but having the rubber retaining washer originally installed helps both snug them and avoid having something loose fall on road. The side ones use a flexible plastic washer with a similar retaining function.

Net, replace the missing ones and keep a few extra if you plan to own the car longer term.

2001 S8

Flag Route

I've moved to using stainless steel blots, washers and nylon nuts to secure the front of my bell shield. As stated in previous posts, the plastic fasteners will fail.

The night before an oil change, I'll remove the stainless hardware so my mechanic doesn't have to deal with them. When I get the car back, I re-install them. Resting assured that the belly shield is secured and not going anywhere.

Good luck.

ScottCNelson

Not sure if you mean doing something about losing fasteners or about poor dealership experience. You can contact AoA about the latter, however my experience is they will sympathize, take down your side of the story and then nothing will come of it. AoA will say the dealers are independent partners, so really AUDI does not stand behind them any more than any other shop. I had a dealer disable my emergency key when programming and another spend 1K "fixing" my curve lights without fixing anything and then wanted to replace BOTH headlights for 4K. I fixed the problem myself for $0 by tightening up the electrical connector. Contacting AoA made no noticable difference either time. Anywhoo, here's AoA contact:

Audi Customer Service - Contact Audi | Audi USA

IMHO, the answer is to find a good independent you trust. It'll be cheaper and better than the dealer. Dealer's are for warranty work only.