2010 S4 Rear differential Problems
 

I leased a new 2010 S4 four months ago. The car currently has 4800mi. After a snowstorm, Idug the car out and was making back and forth tracks in my driveway. After the 3rd pass, the "Gearbox malfunction, limited driving capability" came on and the car would not longer move. I had the car towed to a loca dealer per Audio Roadside Assistance. Since the wheels on the car would no longer move, the car had to be dragged to the truck. The tow told me it would be safer to get a truck with dollies which we did. The dealer wasn't able to tell me what was wrong with the car other than "the rear differential is cracked, and a rotor is glazed". Audi came to evaluate it and said it is not covered by warranty since it was due to an "external influence". My insurance adjuster says it's "purely mechanical in nature," so they won't cover it either. The dealer estimates about a minimum of $10,000 based on a visual inspection. Obviously, since the car doesn't move they can't say how much more it could be. They're afraid to try to drive it,"since it's dangerous." The kicker is the dealer told me that as a trade-in it was worth $33,500! The sale price was $56K+!!. I've been trying to figure out if this is a known problem, but since the model is new, no one knows. Is this possible, to have a quattro car not be able to perform in snow, and that Audi doesn't have to cover it? The car has been out of service for 30 days now. It looks like I'll have to try a lemon law suit, but I'm not looking forward the time and money that will take. Any advice?

They are going to use the part of your story "I dug the car out and was making back and forth tracks in my driveway" to blame it on you. No car should fail in such a catastrophic manner for the simple act of running it over snow! I think you need to fight it with Audi and get them to repair it under warranty. They need to prove to you that the act of running the car over snow is the cause of the failure and how this could happen. It will be hard for them to prove at the same time that this is not a problem with the design of the car in the first place. I got Echo to honor the warranty on a leaf blower by telling them that I would become their worst nightmare in every forum I could find if the didn't do the right thing - they did! I had a very legitimate claim and I think you do too. I wish you the very best of luck with this one.

I'd like a little more detail before passing any judgement. Because of the way this diff works, you will be putting a tremendous amount of strain and heat on the inner workings and clutches if you are hammering it back and forth in the snow, neither will spin freely, they will both lock up due to the clutch grabbing the grippier wheel and forcing it to go even more.

How long were you doing this in terms of time? How much snow are we talking?

Unreal. This is a QUATTRO....the heritage of this car speaks for itself - it's born from a rally car. The fact that it is no longer able to cope with real world winter conditions speaks to how far the company has moved from their roots - especially since they won't even take responsibility for the breakdown.

If I were you, I would be on the phone with AoA every day...

Good luck and very sorry to hear about this. It is not going to do Audi any favors to have this kind of thing out in the public.

Like NWS4Guy, I'd like to hear more as well. A cracked diff is quite severe. Along with the glazed rotors, which might have been from the ESP trying to gain traction using the ABS, this does sound like enormous strain was put on the drivetrain. :(

Good luck, though! I hope it all gets fixed.

It's born from a rally car, but not a snow plow. I don't think anybody can make a conclusion on the info provided.

LOL, the S4 is no more born from those rally cars of yesteryear than Saabs are from Jets.

I don't want to judge anything here but IMHO this does not seem to be the whole story...

If the dealer does not want to put his hand in this situation, that is one thing, but judging Audi, that is something else.

What about trying to solve this issue with another dealer, afterward try with AoA if you fall in a dead end. But the story has to stand by itself, because a car does not break like this for nothing. Also, the dealer has to provide you an assessment of the situation. If they cannot provide any evidence that means that they are not accountable. Then that’s why you need a second advice!

This was a megastorm, about 20 inches. I shoveled to near pavement thoug, maybe an inch or a little more on the driveway. I spent less than 5 mins going back and forth, and yes the wheels spun as expected, but nothing excessive. I've performed these maneuvers for years in Massachusetts without a problem on any car. My latest Infiniti G37AWD worked fine.

Two questions:

1. Was the car on the summer tires?
2. Did it have the sports rear differential?

If you were just spinning it for the better part of an hour with the summer tires not gripping anything, I could see how Audi would say it's not their fault.