Malike

Hello everyone, I am writing here for a serious issue that led my brand new audi q7 (09/2016) to be immobilized for more than a month at the dealer. In brief, we were driving from school early morning when suddenly the assisted steering wheel stopped working!! It happened when entering a curve in a street and luckily we were not driving fast. We called the assistance but we had to drive the car with some difficulties to the home. They towed and took the car away and two days later the dealer claimed that water (!??) was found in the steering rack and it is not covered under warranty as the car may have been flooded (!!???). Here in Qatar it rains rarely, it is true that it rained more than usual at that time but seriously using this as an argument for not covering the repair is utterly disgusting!!! I swear and the GPS data can prove it, the car was driven normally as usual and has never been put inside any water pool or large quantity of water !!!! I always drove audi cars and never had such issue!! I really regret it now as we felt it was the right choice for the family as a "safe" car. Imagine what could have happened at faster pace in the motorway!!?? The car showed other faulty messages few days before but then went silent. It even happened that the lower part screen of the nacho would disappear. They dare pretending that the car was driven in a "pool of water" like if I was stupid and I would drive the car in the sea maybe....what a joke!
Anyway I am looking here for anyone who would have an advice or may have faced similar issues...we truly loved the car, but now I believe that Audi may have created flawed cars when rushing new technologies in cars. This is such a disappointment...Requesting help!!!!

NABS4

Seems like your issue is an incompetent, and perhaps thieving dealer, and nothing more. Good luck.

Malike

Thanks, yes i am sure they are very much incompetent but they are the local official dealer representing the brand. Is there a way to report/escalate to Audi HQ?
Would not they care about the reputation of the brand?? How would I ever get any other Audi after this....

NABS4

I'm sure there is a way to escalate the matter to Audi, but given that most of us are not located in the ME, let alone Qatar, you'll have to determine how the escalation can happen. That's what I would do.

Malike

Yes I did try to find some contacts i could escalate to Audi. In France it would have been easy as there is an official French HQ for example. Here it looks quite different. What confirms what you are saying in your previous statement (local dealer as crooks/thieves) is the fact they pushed to me an invoice for repairing immediately soon after initial diagnostics with a very high price tag (approx. 5000 USD!!! unbelievable for a replacement of the steering rack).
I posted here hoping that someone may have faced a similar issue that got solved or have any contact to the brand that could be useful.

srbsq7

I would drop an email to Customer Services in Germany: kundenbetreuung@audi.de

I had to go through them when I wanted to raise an issue with Audi Online services.

Good luck with this.

dbull

there must be evidence of water in the car in other locations. How high does the water must be to reach the steering rack. At that level you should be able to see the water level marks on other sections of the car. Make them prove it was under water.

noxqzs

Are you actually dealing with an AUDI dealer or is it a shop that sells/works on AUDI? I have nothing to add to your dilemma, but I am concerned with the way AUDI treats its customers. On my end, I am less than impressed. The car, I absolutely love, even with its quirks, but the dealership has soured my taste.

Malike

Thanks for this, I will do as my lawyer drafted a proper letter I will use.

Malike

There is not any other evidence than a tricky video that does not look like my car anyway as you cannot identify it. Not only that, but the car has never been driven as they claim!! There is zero evidence in their side to prove otherwise