it's an issue only on the early 2010's. 2011's are fine.

you should be able to see the edge of the pump, and it should be aluminum.

 

Thanks! Good luck to the rest of you!

 

Well, from a "me first" standpoint, I travel on business frequently and the last thing I need is a stalled vehicle on the way to the airport to catch a flight that my company has paid for. This is more than an inconvenience. It is a loss of revenue and productivity for my company. The same can be said of someone who misses time in an office, and if this is a known issue it IS up to Audi to make it right, so perhaps you should think before making generalized statements.

 

For the same reason I would never buy another BMW. No problem found. BMW's had a MAJOR problem in 2007,08 and 2009 on the HPFP going out. BMW said it was normal until they got sued. It took a law suit to extend the warranty and a fix. Same problem with BMW and run flats wearing out in 10K. As much as I loved BMW I would never buy another because of there attitude. Hope Audi has a recall even though I have a 2011 and never had any problems at all. Down the road it will affect everybody with resale. When I sold my BMW I can't tell you how many people asked about the HPFP.

 

The pump on the 2011's is not the same as the bad pumps on the early 10's- thus no need for recall/RVU on them.

there WAS (and technically, still is) an RVU for this issue. But the problem is that there are not enough replacement parts form the vendor to proactively deal with all of the bad pumps, and the RVU was pulled back. They are in triage mode at this moment, and can only send out replacement pumps to the dealers where there is an actual breakdown.

Anyone who currently claims that their pump is being replaced (prior to blowing) is probably getting it done with the dealer conveniently making up the claim.

BTW- an RVU, which this is, will not affect resale. As much as this is a "major inconvenience," recalls are more related to saftey issues.

And please, noone go down the slippery slope with regards to what is a safety issue or not. One can argue the sun visor not staying up out of your line of sight is safety related.....

 

I think you're confusing issues here. Audi has a known issue, which will leave vehicles sitting roadside when the pump will fail. This isn't the same as a shimmy in some vehicle which you can elect to not drive because you actually know about the problem. Many owners are unaware of the issue, some are heading off to Vermont for a weekend of skiing, only to sit on the side of the road. Oops.

This is hardly a 'me first' issue. I called my audi sales rep as he would like to keep me happy. I was scheduling regular maintenance and requested the pump be replaced. A date was chosen, loaner provided, repair completed. I am happy and I am sure my Audi dealer is too.

I suspect that the dealer marked my pump as having failed in order to have the warranty work done....I don't care as that's Audi's business not mine.


PS. the A3 loaner I got was the worst POS I've driven in a long time. It's clearly a rebadged VW and his a huge step down from my S5 in quality.

 

So the thread starts "water pumps failing everywhere" progresses to its not about me first but mine needs to get fixed because it is potentially saving company money, to it is an RVU but a recalled RVU. I am probably confused. Good think I don't have the V6T or I would drive around until mine was broke and probably be SOL because everybody else with still working one would have theirs replaced leaving none left in the system. I could elect not to drive my vehicle to avoid carbon build-up but I like going "vay too fassst".

p.s. tomato tomahto

 

I don't really think you are grasping the issue... IF Audi had enough replacement pumps, they'd all be fixed, and you wouldn't be supposing what might happen. The reality is is that they don't, and they know it, and they acknowledged it.

In a situation where the supply of replacement parts is limited, yeah, your's does sound a bit like a "me first" attitude.

 

I didn't know about the issue.

The pump on my still shiny 2010 A6 Avant blew leaving me stranded on the side of a highway for hours early in the morning with my five year old and a dog. What a morning to leave my phone at home. My car was 8 months old with about 4000 miles. It was September and not a cold morning.

The dealer took 2 days to fix and didn't give me a loaner. Writers are 100% correct about shortage of pumps and cover up of issue. It is completely negligent of Audi to choose to keep their customers in the dark. It is not just inconvenient, it IS a safety issue whenever someone is in a car and that car stops moving.

I bought that car because I love the way it drives, and apparently in my ignorance, I assumed it would be safe and reliable (especially within its first year!) Even if mistakes were made, bad parts, etc. I expect Audi to be upfront with their customers. But alas another brand diluted by easy access to financing. Hopefully things will change now that we are beginning to remember what hard earned dollars are worth and in the future will choose to spend them on things of quality.

The only thing we can do is be educated consumers. That is why this board provides a great service, not just a place to rant and rave.

I still love the way my car drives, but loathe my dealer and am waiting for the next thing to go wrong. Trust issues with a new car take all the fun out of it. And I wonder what will happen to my resale value.

 

I have a 2009 Q5 and a 2010 S5 Cab. After reading the posts about the water pump failures, I called my Audi dealer and asked what was going on. The service manager acknowledged the fact that pumps were failing, but since my Q5 had 45K miles, I should not expect to have any problems (it would have failed before now). He said to just keep checking fluid levels for any indications of leakage. Anyone want to guess what happened today?

That's right!! The water pump failed this morning when my wife went to back out of the garage! Luckily no one was stranded. Cant wait to hear what they say about replacing the S5 water pump now.