2018 s5 - Totaled
 

First post, but I’ve been a frequent visitor the past 6-8 month as I have just bought my first Audi in April (2017).

Here to share my story / thoughts on my situation.

About three weeks ago, there was a light snow storm in the New England area. There was about 1-2 inches of snow on the ground and the plows didn’t get to my street yet. I was on my way to work and went to stop at the first stop sign on my street and ended up skidding across the street and hit a curb. As I was skidding, I tried to turn the car and ended up hitting the curb on an angle (keep in mind that all my tires were locked).

At first glance, I thought I was a few thousand in the hole with tire / rim damage and possible suspension damage. I brought it to the dealership where I bought the car for them to look at. A few days went by and they quoted by around 11k to fix the suspension, tire, and some other things that they thought were wrong with the car.

Two weeks went by and they called me saying they had bad news and that after further investigation they needed to send it to a sister store to get it fixed because there was additional damage that only certain mechanics that had a certification could fix the damage that they found.

The sister store called me a few days later and quoted me around 25k for the fix. At this point, I am about three weeks in my rental and no progress has been made. They called me a few days later while my insurance adjuster was there and let me know that after doing further investigation that the car is totaled since there were additional issues and it would have to be sent back to the Audi factory which made the cost to fix extremely high.

I am now waiting to hear from my insurance company to see how much they are going to give me for this “totaled car.” Keep in mind I bought the car and still owe around 46k in payments. The MSRP is around 66k. I am hoping I can get at least 55-60k back but at this point with all the bad news coming in, I assume I’ll get around what I owe.

Lessons learned:

1. Snow tires is a must with this car, I trusted my AWD too much and didn’t realize sports tires (low-profile) are not a smart choice in the winter.

2. Keep my hand on the tiptronic pedal / shifter. I probably could have saved my car if I downshifted while sliding across the street.

Questions:

1. When is the 2019 S5 going to be released? I am brand new to the Audi family, and not familiar with their product line releases.

2. Would I be crazy to get another s5? It seems like the accident is a total fluke but am a bit worried how easy it was to total this car.

Well AWD will help with acceleration, braking not so much. Did you have winter tires on? I have low profile winters and haven't had any issues with them.

FWD with Winter tires > AWD with summer tires in winter. This is basic knowledge

Simply putting your front wheels straight (and releasing the brake) before hitting the curb would have saved your car.

Sorry for you. :-(

Ouch.. You have the 19" wheels with summer max performance tires. I'm surprised you even attempted to drive in the snow with those tires.

I'd be worried more about having an at fault totaled car in your insurance history now. You will be paying much more for that than a car.

The conditions were not appropriate to drive the car on the street with those tires. I'm sure you realize this now, but summer tires have zero tolerance for snow and cold temps. The car or AWD had nothing to do with why you crashed.

But.....TOTALED? Exactly what is so seriously damaged it would need to go back to Audi for repair? This seems totally outrageous (and a little bit of a lie). This car is not heavy with aluminum construction or exotic materials, and there is no magic repair Audi could do at the factory that can't be done at a skilled body shop. That said I've seen so many accidents 1000x this bad that get fixed. Exactly why is this being totaled? Something is very odd with this insurance claim and story....

I would bet that the majority of people assume that there are two different types of tires. Normal and Snow.

The dealers really need to inform anyone buying car with summer tires that they are dangerous below 40 degrees and should not be driven.

Lesson learned the hard way. Rule number one of driving a car. The tires are the only thing between the car and the road. If they don't have grip you are SOL! AWD doesn't help with stopping and steering the car. Summer tires are no good below 45F and not to be driven on snow. Why is this not basic knowledge for any car owner in this country who lives in snow regions? Total lack of driver education! There are even warnings in the owners manual about driving summer tires in the snow, but I'm guessing you didn't read the owners manual, either.

I'm pretty sure the insurance company will ding you hard for totaling your car due to driving with summer tires in the snow. That's gross negligence on your part. You're lucky you didn't take somebody's life in the process. What if a pedestrian was crossing in front of you and you slid right over them?

I grew up in a winter region and nobody in my family ever had anything but all season tires. I wasn't aware about the danger of summer tires until my first time driving with them in the snow. Needless to say the car was parked for about a week while I found snows.

I'd say the vast majority of the public is all seasons all the time so when manufacturer sells a car with summers they need to educate the buyer.

Your lesson will be an expensive one.

This is 100% user error and you will likely be found at fault for totaling the car. Would be wise to find out what your insurance premiums will go up to before you decide on the model of your next car will be. You're likely to be putting a good portion of your car payment into insurance now (3-400 more per month)

There is likely a disclosure in the paperwork that you signed saying that you were aware the car couldn't be driven in snow. If there isn't you could threaten legal action against the dealership (although that's not what I would do)