So you drive your car out to take care of some business with half a tank about an hour and a half out at 6 AM in the morning None of the gas stations near me were open and the roads were empty so I pretty much had time to get gas once I got done with my business that day.
As I finished, I went to the gas station to put gas in my tank and the tank would not open on my Audi A5 coupe. So I went inside the trunk found the emergency cord to pull and it’s snapped.
So now what? I am literally an hour and a half, not including traffic from home my gas gauge says 95 miles in terms of the ability to travel, but I know that with traffic there’s no possible way that I would be able to make it home and I had no way of putting gas in my car. So my first instinct was to call Audi roadside assistance which I did and of course they didn’t pick up and actually as the day went on I didn’t even hear from Audi roadside assistance till almost 4-5 hours later.
So I figured the best case scenario was to get the car to an Audi dealership at least they could probably open the tank and I would be able to put gas in and I would be able to get home.
So I called the local Audi dealership asked if they would be able to get me in and luckily I was able to get into the dealership have them look at the car and they confirm that the actuator on the gas tank cover failed. And they would need to basically break the actuator in order to open the guest cover and it would take about $600 to do so.
Of course, I said OK !. being that I had no choice and was sitting at Audi trying to finish up some business in their Customer lounge and periodically went into service to check on the car after some two or three hours.
I could see the car on the rack inside the shop and I asked The service Manager what the timing look like.. he wasn’t quite sure, but while I had his attention, I asked him if he actually had the part to replace that was causing the issue and he checked and luckily they did have the part and so sometime around 5 o’clock after being there for some seven hours, The dealership was able to fix and replace all the parts and the fuel door was able to be operated.
Total cost $1250.
Total freak issue for me, but apparently Audi says it happens all the time which is a bit concerning because had I not been near a dealership or maybe somewhere on some road somewhere where I would’ve been completely unable to fuel my car and get it to a dealership. This could’ve turned out to be really ugly.
But I’m thankful for my blessings. I’m glad it all worked out and just sharing my experience with you guys and girls that if this happens, I hope you’re somewhere safe and near a dealership.

 

Catchy thread title, like it! Quite the ordeal with your car. Going forward, it's probably a good idea to lube the actuator with a good waterproof grease periodically to keep it operating smoothly. I recall several members reporting the actuator sticking, refusing to open, perhaps from water/dirt, etc. It's a flimsy part for sure and only requires a gentle push to close.

 

Not an uncommon issue apparently. I had to pry open the fuel door a few times on my 2020 A5 SB. Bought a new door assembly and plunger. Install wasn't much of a challenge. Couple hundred dollars if I remember.