RobC

Has anyone had a backup camera failure? Last week there were a couple of instances where I lost the picture. I was ready to take it to the dealer but I knew they wouldn't be able to do much if the problem wasn't easily reproducible.

This week it's gotten much worse and now most of the time the camera does not work. Sometimes the picture is black. Sometimes it's black with an occasional off colored scan line. Sometimes the car realizes there's something wrong and just reverts to the Parking Aid screen showing just the sensors.

I don't really expect to be able to address this myself. But I'm the type who likes to know what the fix is before letting the dealer put their hands on it.

amelen

I had a similar issue with my A7. The dealership wasn't able to reproduce it, so I wasn't getting anywhere with them for a while. I wound up taking a video of it happening (per AoA's suggestion), after which AoA flew someone down to look into it and they wound up fixing it. I don't remember what they did for the fix, but I know they had the car for about a week.

That issue, along with some others, wound up in AoA contributing some $$$ towards the purchase of the S6 I just got.

Delurker

The only annoying thing mine does is very briefly freezes sometimes, then updates. Not the best thing when I'm trying to put my rear bumper within a few inches of the shelves in the back of my garage so I can get the door in the front closed, all while staying within a couple inches of the wall on the passenger side.

RobC

My distance sensors still work, and I rely heavily on them to determine when I should stop. I only use the backup camera to properly align myself as I approach a wall/curb. Some folks reverse with their camera, but I prefer to use my mirrors until I get real close.

RobC

Update on the backup camera issue.

The failure continued to be intermittent so I decided to check for stored codes and found three:

02203 - Audio / Video Input 1
011 - Open Circuit - Intermittent
02203 - Audio / Video Input 1
008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent
02283 - Video Connection to Output [End Unit]
008 - Implausible Signal - Intermittent

This was enough for the dealer to run with and they ended up replacing the video coax cable between the camera and wherever it goes. They never duplicated the failure while they had the car, but mothership Audi indicates cable replacement as the fix for this fault. Time will tell whether this indeed addressed the issue.

On a separate note, I had a 2015 DSG S4 for a week. I can tell that I'm spoiled as an S6 owner since I didn't really enjoy the S4, and I came from a B8S4 that I really liked (it helped that it was chipped). The S4 felt lighter but the suspension feels like a big step below the S6 air suspension -- the car was bouncier over big bumps and felt looser overall. My S6 with rear sway bar has less body lean than the stock S4.

However there is one area where I think the S4 is better, and I noticed it on the 2015 loaner and my previous 2010 S4: The S4 has better brake pedal feel -- it's more linear with better initial bite. I can't say the S4 brakes are more powerful or whether they would stand up better to a track. The difference is similar to what I feel when switching from rubber to stainless lines on a motorcycle. Maybe my S6 brakes just need to be bled?