JNA

No collateral damage? My A8 is PRISTINE. It was impecably maintained by the original owner as it is now by me. It's not a project car or a beater. As I plan to offer her for sale I'd rather explain the expensive professional repair than all the damage caused by a Sawsall. I'm fortunate in that I can reasonably afford the repair. That doesn't make the expense any less painful or infuriating that such draconian measures are required just to open the hood once again.

mishar

Two sheets of plastic to protect hood and bumper cover and damage would be really minimal, easy to fix.

JNA

Exactly! As soon as get her back I can make the templates required to cut the sheet stock that should protect the car from the blade. I was thinking two pieces of sheet metal (not sure what thickness yet), one up one down, scribed with the precise line/blade angle to position the blade on the hoops to be cut. Blade slides between the sheet stock. Still requires one released latch. Maybe I should produce and sell to recover the cost of fixing my car.

JNA

Been stupid busy since picking her up from the body shop. Good as new. Will get back to this as soon as it stops raining and we get some sun for photography.

JNA

Well, after several weeks of discussion and what I expected would be an amicable resolution, Audi USA has declined to participate in the cost, just shy $3k dollar, to repair my vehicle so I might once again open the hood of my 2009 A8L. Most unfortunate. To those who have also suffered a similar failure of the latch/hood release system of their Audis I invite you to stay tuned to this and possibly other Audi sights for additional updates as to possible litigation. If any of you happen to be attorneys with experience in this type of litigation I would welcome hearing from you.

Panelhead

The first time I saw how this plays out I lubed the cables. Since then all the moving parts have gotten lubed every six months.
Lube the doors, hood, and trunk at the same time. Do all our cars too. Takes about 30 minutes. Started using a dry lube, Locktite Krytox RFE. Does not collect dirt like oil based lubricants.

richard-tx

Personally I don't think you have a legal leg to stand on. If this were a design issue, there would be a rash of failures. You likely got a defective part that failed in 7-10 years time.

I tried to get Audi to replace my cracked wood shift **** since there are so many have failed in the 2005-2006 timeframe. I could have pushed harder but the car is just too old. I might buy a new one or change to a leather one or upgrade to the t style on later models. I haven't decided which.

I had to replace the passenger side window regulator as it was making noise. Also replaced the trunk motor and door latch on the driver's door (soft close was not working). Stuff breaks. It is just the nature of things. While I am mechanically inclined and all I had to do was pay for parts, the parts bills was about $1000 for those 3 items. Had I paid Audi to replace those parts I would have spent about $3000 in repairs.

Personally I am grateful that Audi had the foresight to engineer the hood latches so that could be cut from the outside without serious damage. It would have been nicer if you could reach them from underneath with a special tool to release the hood but given the constraints, it just isn't possible.

Just wait. In a few years the wiring inside the headlamps will fail. Then you will be either perform a DIY repair or shell out big bucks for a new headlamp or two.

nismofreak1208

So, both my hooks have been sawed off but do I purchase just the hook or a new latch as well? Dealer sawed off and replaced the first hook and latch and now my 2nd one has gone. Unfortunately my hand wasn't as steady so my hood suffered slightly but cannot be seen when closed. How do I go about replacing the latch? I rather not have the dealer replace as it seems fairly simple but I'm not aware.

Lalo Johnson

I have an 2005 s4 and I went to open the hood and the lever snapped off I tried pulling on the cable with pliers it wouldn’t budge any ideas how I can get it open with out having to crawl underneath the car like I been seeing people say?

Mister Bally

The best way to do that is take it (or have it towed if it is not running) to a Audi dealer or good independent shop that knows Audi's well and pay them to do it. Technically you don't crawl under the car to saw the latches.