pkirby

Over 6 weeks ago my instrument cluster died and the car was towed to my local dealer. I asked them to fix a list of "nagging" things in addition to the instument cluster. After waiting 2 weeks for the instrument cluster from Germany, the technician could not get it to work properly (ie: program the mileage) so they orded another. Never hear what happened to the second part but a couple of weeks later, they got the first replacement cluster to work but it would not display the radio or nav. So they ordered a new radio. All the while they didn't bother to follow through on the "nagging items" until the last minute. A few days later they could not get the new radio to display on the new cluster and decided to give the old cluster a try again and it works, go figure. The service mgr does not feel confident that it will stay working so is ordering a third new cluster and was planning to give me the car back until the new cluster arrived. All the while I'm driving a new Allroad loaner so I'm not totally screwed, but have run out of patience with getting this issue fixed. I'm planning to call the GM tommorow to raise a bit of an issue but was wondering if I have any recourse to get some money back or new ride from AOA if they cannot get it fixed. I bought the car used (third owner) and the car is AOA certified. I don't believe there is a lemon law in Georgia. Any recomdendations on how to pursue would be appreciated.

PaulW

1. You get one chance to program the miles, if you don't do it right, it will take the mileage and then you can't reset it. Can only reset it once when you have less than 100 miles to something greater than 100 miles.

2. The cluster must be programed to accept radio commands <a href="http://www.nav-plus.com/instructions/programming.html" target="_blank">Scroll down here for more on this</a>.

3. The radio has nothing to do with it. It also has the ability to be coded.....see page above.

4. I bet I could resolve all this issues within a few minutes with vag-com.

However, if your car is a facelift (2000 and newer), you need the dealer to recode all your keys, immobilizer and instrument cluster when you change the instrument cluster out.

Good luck, these are very small problems that vag-com could fix. Surprised a dealer is having problems with this.

Always Overcharged

the instrument cluster from new can only be reprogammed once for milage in a foward mode so it may be that he lost the plot there.
Sounds like a real fiasco-

dimitristx

...'in a forward mode'

Billy W

On the driver's side of my 1998 A8, the wiper fluid was spraying out of only one nozzle. So, I took a needle and tried to clear it out. That didn't work, but the next day, my instrument cluster did not work, the dislpay was blank. How sticking a needle into the spray nozzle could affect the instrument cluster is beyond me. I thought about getting it fixed, but was waiting for a convenient time. About a month later, my wife took the car to get the oil changed at an EZLube. When she handed the car back to me, the instrument cluster worked again and has worked fine for the past month now.

PaulW

If you toggle the rectangular button on the bottom of the windshield wiper stalk that you use to reset the trip computer, it will cycle the display on/off, and in my case, from on/off/to active navigaton screen due to having a Nav Plus.

You must of done that when testing the squirters!

obLu

6wks of monkeying around for the cluster, and then waited until the last second to do the other item I'd asked for eventhough it'd been sitting there the whole time. Which delayed me getting the car back another weekend.

Work with the GM, don't bother with AOA. They're just a bunch of irritating high school kids in a call center. They won't help, won't return your calls, and won't help you monitarily in any way.

pkirby

Picked up the car tonight. Old cluster back in and working except for the radio and nav display. New cluster on order, have no idea when it will be in. If I get stranded again I will have the service mgrs head. They addressed all my other issues and put a new radio in, strange though it does not turn off when I turn the car off. Service tech forgot to reinstall front lower grill (from towing). I called AOA to file a complaint, probably a waste of time, but wanted to on record in case this becomes a recurring problem. I plan to call the GM as well to accelerate the timing on the part.

pkirby

No, Atlanta, but considering a couple of jobs opptys in Seattle