kierantaylor

Hi folks-

I love my 2001 AR but am having some issues-- namely, electrical issues. When left unattended for a week or more the car's battery goes dead.

I love my dealer (Bernardi in Natick Mass) and have brought the car into them on numerous times after the car has drained.

They replaced the battery on July 17, August 9, September 30 and now November 1. Each time they are unable to figure out why the car drains and simply opt to drop a new battery in.

Car is a CPO and has 40k mi on it. What is my recourse? How do I contact AoA and what are best practices for dealing with them?

I would take a CPO or favorable deal on a new AR... I love these cars..

Thanks for advice!!

paulroad

Let thm know you will cal AoA to start a file.
Do you have a cell phone? A radar detector? Anything that may drain it?

kierantaylor

Thanks Paulroad!
Do you have AoA's number? Best practices for dealing with them?

Kieran

jeanfor

I had the same problem with my A6 2001 avant. Turned out the alternator was draining the battery when the car was in the garage. But the alternator was charging the battery when the car was operated. There was a short in the alternator..... The dealer changed the alternator and I have been fine since then....

Bottom line something is putting a drain on your battery and they have to keep the car a few days to find out...

paulroad

Just call and be firm about your complaint they handle many of them. Don;t have a lemon, but they can find the fault..The problem..I've been told.. is that Audi generally give the dealers 1 or 2 hours of labor to find these things..REGARDLESS of how long it take to find it. So, this is..at times.. why dealers are reluctant to track it

ar2002

...although a week does sound a bit soon for it to go dead. But, others have reported a similar problem in the past. It would be interesting to have some solid data on how long a fully-charged battery should hold up when the allroad is not in use.

I suppose one could put an ampmeter in series with the battery and measure the current at rest, then calculate how many hours of battery life one should have. I haven't tried it, though; my DVOM is old & wimpy and only handles mA. Is there someone out there with a good meter?

jeanfor

Should at least take up to 2 to 3 weeks...

meallroad

to diagnose. I'd go to another dealer. By the way, I've had nothing but bad experiences with Bernardi and avoid that place like the plague...

kierantaylor

Re: who do you go to instead of Bernardi

meallroad

Even though I'm only 5 miles from Bernardi, I prefer to make the 25 mile trip to Boylston to get work done. I'm sure that Clair, IRA or even Audi of Brookline would provide better service then what you're getting now. Also, once any of these guys get it fixed (probably on the first try) I'd be sure to let AOA know what kind of service you've received...