krboland

I think your right I expected too much from Audi both the car and the company.

(I bought the car in 2012 while still living in Stuttgart Germany)

My last car was a Nissan Altima…drove it for 10 years with only oil changes and new breaks twice; drove it for 7 years in Germany.

The Altima was not as quiet, and certainly did not have the HP the Audi has (175 vs 310) so you had to plan in advance if you wanted to pass anything.

But the car also cost some 30k less and had only 3 or so problems over 10 years’ vs 5-6 problem within the first 20k with the Audi.

If I can get anyone to take this one off my hands for the 42k I still owe, I think I will go back to something that will not be as disappointing.

What was I thinking; paying so much for a car and then expecting it to be so much more than other cars?

Audis do drive nice, quicker pick-up, manage noise better, and have more bells and whistles (and more of them to break); but Im not sure it is worth the 30k difference.

I guess this is one of those life lessons…something about shinny objects…. and…..be careful you don’t buy a “pig in a poke”!

krboland

Oh, forgot to answer……

Regarding driving the 2014 A6…….. I drove one (a few days) last time my A6 was in the shop big difference in the steering ……….

Dynamic steering was very noticeably different from Comfort mode in the 2014….like it used to be in the 2012.

As for the MMI display freezing-up…..I only backed-up once or twice in the 2014….not often enough to see if the MMI worked better.

in2dwww

I'm not sure why people are enamored with getting the latest software updates on everything. I'm a software engineer and it takes a lot to convince me to upgrade anything without it being a major change.

That being said, I believe you're overlooking the build quality of your Audi. Sure, there's some cabin noise, but that's how BMW's from the 1990's are... it's called driver engagement. If you want to drive a coffin/tomb, then get a Lexus. Be boring. Go ahead. It's okay.

Overall, you paid for the Audi, you wanted the Audi, so you got what you wanted. It's not meeting your expectations at the moment, but if your only issues are software related, then the car is damn solid in my book. The problem is with your expectations and customer service.

Take a breath, step back, and relax. It's not like another software update won't fix or unfix the issue you have now.

As far as the price delta between a 10-year-old Nissan and a new Audi, there are factors like inflation and marginal utility that are at play. There is the old saying "Money can't buy happiness," that comes to mind.

I bought my A6 in January after owning 8 Mercedes models over the past 10 years. ALL cars have issues new or old. MB was the worst by far and I could swear to you that there were certain dealerships that sabotaged a few of my cars because they knew I'd be back in a month for another warranty claim. They have a way to game the system. I drew the line when a dealer overfilled my AMG by nearly 2 quarts, causing a massive oil leak, and then spawning oil consumption issues and a sooty exhaust. The car had 35k miles but it was out of warranty. I caught them red handed. I abandoned Mercedes after that.

If you've ever seen 'Fight Club,' there's a line that sums up car ownership perfectly. "The things you own end up owning you."

Maverick61

Disagree completely. Audi knows of the steering issues and the neutered dynamic steering with their latest "fix" - but they keep pushing that on people. Until people keep complaining Audi will do nothing

OP - keep up the good fight. Unfortunately, to get action, sometimes you need to create a lot of noise

Maverick61

So in essence you are saying to the OP shut up - your issues are not valid. Great. Spend $60K on something that doesn't work like you were led to believe it would and just suck it up and say nothing.

Oh my.

dwboston

I agree. The steering was borderline before the update, and now feels downright unsafe in Dynamic mode on the highway, especially in cold weather (<30* F).

From my experience with Honda/Acura in a similar situation (widespread issue affecting many cars - failing transmissions in that case), the automaker will repeatedly deny that there is an problem, it will issue patch "fixes" that do not remedy the problem, and there will ultimately be some type of nominal warranty extension. It seems here that the problem is the steering rack, and that Audi has done a cost/benefit analysis that indicates that replacing the steering rack on all cars will be prohibitively expensive, hence the software "update". What I don't get is why the update actually made the Dynamic steering worse on the highway in cold weather than it was before. You'd think they would test that somehow.

The next update will probably be to disable Dynamic mode entirely as an option in the MMI. I'm going to complain to my dealer and lodge a call to Audi as well. I realize that both efforts are likely futile, but I want the complaints noted.

irenesbob

I experienced none of the aforementioned steering issues in my ’13 A6 but since the car is leased the dealer went ahead and installed the update. It does seem a tad lighter in Dynamic, but to me the original Dynamic mode felt sort of gimmicky: an artificial feeling of greater physical input required with no offsetting quicker steering ratio. I parallel park a lot in urban situations, so one-handing the wheel while backing in is important to me; I usually leave the steering at Auto which makes it very light at low mph and then heavier when underway. To my knowledge, the steering ratio remains the same whether set at Dynamic, Comfort or Auto.

in2dwww

People love to complain. I don't want to hear it. The next thing you know, someone will bitch and moan about missing soft close doors, and how it's inexcusable to omit that feature from a $50k+ car. On and on and on. The A6 is perfect in every way. That's why you bought it, that's why I bought it, that's why OP bought it.

If it's not the car you expected, then you're theoretically just a poser and you SHOULD be driving a Mercedes CLA instead. That's my viewpoint, and I'm sticking to it.

And no, OP's issues are not valid. I do not have that experience on my car. When I did have an issue with a 2013 VW Passat, I dumped that bitch and got myself something else.

in2dwww

This is purely speculative, I imagine.

If the complaints are high for 2012 and 2013 models, but low for 2014+, I don't think they'll care much if at all. But it would show that something has changed and an improvement was made somewhere.

Maverick61

Then stop reading. This forum is for people to post good, bad, indifferent. if people have complaints, they should post them. If you don't want to hear it too damn bad

Really, perfect in every way? Man you are out of your mind. While most of us really like our vehicle, I think only a shill would say it is perfect in every way. Everything can be improved. Nothing is perfect

unreal

So you are calling the OP a liar? And everyone else on the forum that has ever posted a complaint a liar because that is "not your experience". Really? Are you that naive or just not that smart? Every car does not have the same problems. Sometimes things happen. And there have been numerous people who have reported the issue with Dynamic Steering being neutered after the steering update. So I guess all those folks are just imagining things because you have not had that experience on your car