Creaking noise due to faulty body panel - lemon?
03-26-2019, 03:38 AM
#31
AudiWorld Super User
[QUOTE=Acuransx;25294290
Although I'm trying to love my Audis it is this type of thing (timing chain issues, soft clear coat that shows every swirl mark imaginable on a Manhattan Grey car, mysterious noise coming from rear which is the subject matter of this thread) that will likely have me exiting Audi ownership within the next 2.5 years. Fortunately the A4 is leased. I'll take my chances with the A6 until approximately 6 years/60-65,000 miles and then goodbye.
Not to bash the brand (too much) but after so many years of trouble-free Acura ownership with no issues of any consequence (and with respect to the few minor things that went wrong Acura was right there standing behind their product) my feeling is that the Audis are lovely cars to look at and drive but suffer from unacceptable quality issues. I'd expect some of this stuff from a Dodge Journey or some other FCA product, not from a so-called premium German marque. Vorsprung durch technik. Perhaps not. I'll report back regarding the machine gun I heard under the hood this a.m.
Best,
Jeff[/QUOTE]
Jeff,
I totally understand where you are coming from and if I were in your position, especially coming from almost problem free Japanese cars, I would feel the same way. I am hoping Audi steps up to the plate for you and gets this issue resolved in a more timely manner and may your Audi's run trouble free.
Although I'm trying to love my Audis it is this type of thing (timing chain issues, soft clear coat that shows every swirl mark imaginable on a Manhattan Grey car, mysterious noise coming from rear which is the subject matter of this thread) that will likely have me exiting Audi ownership within the next 2.5 years. Fortunately the A4 is leased. I'll take my chances with the A6 until approximately 6 years/60-65,000 miles and then goodbye.
Not to bash the brand (too much) but after so many years of trouble-free Acura ownership with no issues of any consequence (and with respect to the few minor things that went wrong Acura was right there standing behind their product) my feeling is that the Audis are lovely cars to look at and drive but suffer from unacceptable quality issues. I'd expect some of this stuff from a Dodge Journey or some other FCA product, not from a so-called premium German marque. Vorsprung durch technik. Perhaps not. I'll report back regarding the machine gun I heard under the hood this a.m.
Best,
Jeff[/QUOTE]
Jeff,
I totally understand where you are coming from and if I were in your position, especially coming from almost problem free Japanese cars, I would feel the same way. I am hoping Audi steps up to the plate for you and gets this issue resolved in a more timely manner and may your Audi's run trouble free.
03-26-2019, 03:49 AM
#32
AudiWorld Senior Member
Thanks Bob. I'm trying not to be too fussed by these issues -- life is short and the cars are nice and fun to drive. However, it is a bit disappointing that these problems have materialized and causes concern about keeping the A6 past warranty expiration date.
I am looking into the Audi extended warranty now that it is underwritten by VAG as opposed to Fidelity Insurance. I stand at 34K miles on the A6 with warranty expiring in July. Dealer has quoted 7 years/70K miles platinum coverage w/$250 deductible for approximately $3,200. That would buy me 3 years /35K miles of coverage so about $1,000/year to insure that I'm not hit with any major repair expenses. Although the warranty is "exclusionary" (a good thing) I have to dig into the fine print to better understand the exclusions. Might be worth doing to have peace of mind and be able to keep the car another 3 years. I plan to shop the warranty purchase if I decide to go forward among other Audi dealers as I understand that the markup on this is significant. Has anyone here worked with a dealer who discounts these warranties?
Best,
Jeff
I am looking into the Audi extended warranty now that it is underwritten by VAG as opposed to Fidelity Insurance. I stand at 34K miles on the A6 with warranty expiring in July. Dealer has quoted 7 years/70K miles platinum coverage w/$250 deductible for approximately $3,200. That would buy me 3 years /35K miles of coverage so about $1,000/year to insure that I'm not hit with any major repair expenses. Although the warranty is "exclusionary" (a good thing) I have to dig into the fine print to better understand the exclusions. Might be worth doing to have peace of mind and be able to keep the car another 3 years. I plan to shop the warranty purchase if I decide to go forward among other Audi dealers as I understand that the markup on this is significant. Has anyone here worked with a dealer who discounts these warranties?
Best,
Jeff
03-26-2019, 04:12 AM
#33
AudiWorld Super User
Thanks Bob. I'm trying not to be too fussed by these issues -- life is short and the cars are nice and fun to drive. However, it is a bit disappointing that these problems have materialized and causes concern about keeping the A6 past warranty expiration date.
I am looking into the Audi extended warranty now that it is underwritten by VAG as opposed to Fidelity Insurance. I stand at 34K miles on the A6 with warranty expiring in July. Dealer has quoted 7 years/70K miles platinum coverage w/$250 deductible for approximately $3,200. That would buy me 3 years /35K miles of coverage so about $1,000/year to insure that I'm not hit with any major repair expenses. Although the warranty is "exclusionary" (a good thing) I have to dig into the fine print to better understand the exclusions. Might be worth doing to have peace of mind and be able to keep the car another 3 years. I plan to shop the warranty purchase if I decide to go forward among other Audi dealers as I understand that the markup on this is significant. Has anyone here worked with a dealer who discounts these warranties?
Best,
Jeff
I am looking into the Audi extended warranty now that it is underwritten by VAG as opposed to Fidelity Insurance. I stand at 34K miles on the A6 with warranty expiring in July. Dealer has quoted 7 years/70K miles platinum coverage w/$250 deductible for approximately $3,200. That would buy me 3 years /35K miles of coverage so about $1,000/year to insure that I'm not hit with any major repair expenses. Although the warranty is "exclusionary" (a good thing) I have to dig into the fine print to better understand the exclusions. Might be worth doing to have peace of mind and be able to keep the car another 3 years. I plan to shop the warranty purchase if I decide to go forward among other Audi dealers as I understand that the markup on this is significant. Has anyone here worked with a dealer who discounts these warranties?
Best,
Jeff
03-26-2019, 06:48 AM
#34
AudiWorld Senior Member
Thanks Bob. I had same experience some 25 years ago with a third party warranty but I did get the transmission on the 1984 Olds Cutlass covered under that warranty just before the warranty company went under. I really like the A6 and would like to keep it for a few more years just worry about potential for mechanical failure -- anything you touch with these cars becomes very expensive very quickly. If I had to pay for the upgraded upper timing chain tensioners that job would have been many thousands of dollars. Assuming exclusions to coverage are not extensive (and I don't believe they are) and I can get the cost down to $2,500 I am inclined to buy peace of mind for next 3 years/35K miles.
Thanks for your input. I'm hoping to hear from some of our AW compadres about their experiences acquiring this type of warranty coverage at a discount. I'll also of course do some research on AW to see which dealers, if any, are receptive to out of state buyers buying warranties from them and discounting same. For example if I am here in MI and buy a warranty from a dealer in FL I would think the FL dealer would view that as a conquest sale, so to speak, or a customer that is not in their market and a bit of a bonus and thus sell the warranty as a discount. Who knows? Worth making some inquiries.
Best,
Jeff
Thanks for your input. I'm hoping to hear from some of our AW compadres about their experiences acquiring this type of warranty coverage at a discount. I'll also of course do some research on AW to see which dealers, if any, are receptive to out of state buyers buying warranties from them and discounting same. For example if I am here in MI and buy a warranty from a dealer in FL I would think the FL dealer would view that as a conquest sale, so to speak, or a customer that is not in their market and a bit of a bonus and thus sell the warranty as a discount. Who knows? Worth making some inquiries.
Best,
Jeff
04-07-2019, 07:44 PM
#35
Sorry for the random bump as I have nothing to add other than I still have not gotten my car back and am now at almost 7 weeks and 3K of miles on their loaner. I'm now calling it "My q5" and I'm so bored of it, it has officially lost any novelty of driving it. Has anyone every had a service loaner longer? If they don't hurry, I will have to turn it in for an oil change...
On a side note, I'm really wanting to put wheels on my Q5 and lower it. I keep seeing all these fat tired BMW X5s and keep thinking, I like that look.
Ken
On a side note, I'm really wanting to put wheels on my Q5 and lower it. I keep seeing all these fat tired BMW X5s and keep thinking, I like that look.
Ken
04-08-2019, 05:37 AM
#36
AudiWorld Senior Member
You have matched the time period I had the sport back as a loaner from dealer while my upper timing chain tensioners were replaced in my /15 A6 3.0T. I was not too unhappy driving the loaner and piling the miles on it. It was so nice I wound up leasing my wife a new A4 Quattro. There were extenuating circumstances related to a family tragedy the lead tech at the dealer suffered -- really good guy -- felt awful for him. Ultimately he got the job done in short order and all has been fine under hood for last 6 months/6,000 miles.
Best,
Jeff
Best,
Jeff
04-25-2019, 08:00 PM
#37
Ok, I finally got my car back and the noise is gone! It took 9 weeks and I put over 4300 miles on their Q5! The dealer said that the Q5 I was driving was way over due to get sold (They keep the loaners for 6 months)
When My SA showed me his paper work on my car, it had to be at least 20 pages long. My copy was 6 pages but here's the cliff notes.
They first took the whole back of the car apart to pin point the noise and performed that TSB that involves the rear windshield and those pins. Noise did not go away.
They then sent the car out to get the fender welded. After that did not work they tried some fix that involved pop rivets and expanding foam and that also did not fix the problem. They indicated the part numbers for the pop rivets and spray foam but seeing that they did not work, its not worth listing it.
The paper work kept talking about someone or something called "TAC". TAC did not like the pictures of the weld that the body shop did, so they sent the car back to get rewelded, remove the pop rivets and also get the other fender welded. When that failed to solve the noise, the notes state that the "TFM" and shop foreman got involed and they are reporting the findings back to TAC. TAC then recommended a bone wedge tool to pinpoint where they need to focus the effort but they could not pin point where the noise is coming from and they even swapped my rear shocks from left to right.
In the final notes, they indicated that the TFM said to keep trying the expanding foam in the suspect area and after the 2nd try the noise finally stopped.
They put on almost 40 miles on my car but what got me is that they left me with 40 miles left on my tank! Oh well, I'm just glad that the noise is gone.
I'm gonna miss having a free Q5 P+ loaner but its so nice having my car back.. Sport Seats are worth every penny..
Ken 17 A4 P+
P.s. If anyone needs any more information, my SA was Hayden and the dealer that took care of my car was McKenna Audi in Norwalk CA.
When My SA showed me his paper work on my car, it had to be at least 20 pages long. My copy was 6 pages but here's the cliff notes.
They first took the whole back of the car apart to pin point the noise and performed that TSB that involves the rear windshield and those pins. Noise did not go away.
They then sent the car out to get the fender welded. After that did not work they tried some fix that involved pop rivets and expanding foam and that also did not fix the problem. They indicated the part numbers for the pop rivets and spray foam but seeing that they did not work, its not worth listing it.
The paper work kept talking about someone or something called "TAC". TAC did not like the pictures of the weld that the body shop did, so they sent the car back to get rewelded, remove the pop rivets and also get the other fender welded. When that failed to solve the noise, the notes state that the "TFM" and shop foreman got involed and they are reporting the findings back to TAC. TAC then recommended a bone wedge tool to pinpoint where they need to focus the effort but they could not pin point where the noise is coming from and they even swapped my rear shocks from left to right.
In the final notes, they indicated that the TFM said to keep trying the expanding foam in the suspect area and after the 2nd try the noise finally stopped.
They put on almost 40 miles on my car but what got me is that they left me with 40 miles left on my tank! Oh well, I'm just glad that the noise is gone.
I'm gonna miss having a free Q5 P+ loaner but its so nice having my car back.. Sport Seats are worth every penny..
Ken 17 A4 P+
P.s. If anyone needs any more information, my SA was Hayden and the dealer that took care of my car was McKenna Audi in Norwalk CA.
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Void20 (07-22-2022)
04-26-2019, 09:00 AM
#38
AudiWorld Senior Member
Yikes kind of like my experience with the A6 upper timing chain tensioners! What you describe sounds very, very involved. We have a bit under 2.5 years left on the lease and since I don't own the car I might just live with the intermittent noise. It will be interesting to see if Audi comes out with a TSB for this issue which sounds like it is somewhat common. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us.
Best,
Jeff
Best,
Jeff
04-26-2019, 09:17 AM
#39
AudiWorld Junior Member
Thank you for returning to the thread and helping others with the same issue! Most people just bail once their problem is solved and never share the resolution.
04-26-2019, 06:15 PM
#40
AudiWorld Member
Yikes kind of like my experience with the A6 upper timing chain tensioners! What you describe sounds very, very involved. We have a bit under 2.5 years left on the lease and since I don't own the car I might just live with the intermittent noise. It will be interesting to see if Audi comes out with a TSB for this issue which sounds like it is somewhat common. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us.
Best,
Jeff
Best,
Jeff