Several weeks ago, my dad was driving a 2006 A4 with only about 12k miles. The engine wouldn't start (battery dead), so he called Audi Roadside Assistance. They jump-started the battery and told him to drive around to recharge it. After doing this, the engine again wouldn't start. They came out a second time and again jump-started the car. They told him to again drive around and see if it could hold the charge. He was driving along the interstate and as he remembers all the warning lights simultaneously came on. There was then what seemed to be a total electrical system failure. The car lost control and swerved into the median, subsequently flipping many times and landing right side up. The airbags did not deploy. Miraculously, my dad is mostly ok (no broken bones). A lot of cuts and scratches and need for rehab to re-align spine and neck bones. Is Audi possibly at fault for this? My dad is an excellent driver, never been in a major accident.

On top of this, last night, my mom's 2004 A4 malfunction indicator light came on, which when lit the owners manual instructs the owner to have the car towed to the nearest dealer. The car was also making a loud popping sound from the exhaust. Since the dealer in Tri-Cities TN recently closed (Rick Hill Imports), it had to be towed 80 miles to Ashville, NC.

My dad was able to talk to someone at Audi corporate, who said that 1.) he would have to drive to Ashville to pick up the car (this is ridiculous - IMO they should drive the car back to TN) and 2.) a rental car wouldnt be provided until it was certain that the problem was something covered by warranty (what could it possibly be that isn't?) and that won't be until their service dept is open on Monday.

I drive a 2007 S4 myself, and have always been very happy with Audi quality, but these recent string of events is making me question my loyalty. I'd appreciate any input/thoughts on these matters.

 

It's not Audi's fault that the car flipped over. It sounds like an unfortunate event where the serpentine belt came off, causing loss of power steering and the rest of the systems (hence the indicator lights). Your dad probably freaked out when he felt that the steering was very hard and pulled too hard to over compensate, causing the loss of control.

No car just loses control and flips over numerous times because the indicator lights on the cluster come on. A car flips over due to driver inputs, period.

You say the airbags did not deploy, yet "miraculously, my dad is mostly OK (no broken bones)." Clearly, the airbags didn't need to deploy then, right? I've not seen one instance on AW where somebody said their airbags did not deploy but that the person was seriously injured.

Why would Audi drive the car back to you? What kind of a suggestion is that? What car manufacturer do you know drives cars back to their customers? If the nearest dealer is 80 miles away, then the nearest dealer is 80 miles away. That's life. If the one that was closer closed up shop, well that just falls under the category of too bad.

Accept that your dad had an unfortunate accident and be done. Put a period, move on.

 

Should you sue Audi? No, but you father and his insurance company may have a case.

 

you better have deeeeeep pockets!

Best you might hope for is your insurance company settles with local Audi dealer?

Hope they dont find your father at fault somehow....

 

Further, it is not clear how or if the battery problems are related to the accident.
The only liability Audi may have regards warranty issues, what can be developed from that, is to be determined by the Insurance Co.
In any case, a lawsuit is not advised as the preliminary action in negotiations that may occur, from your dad's side of the issue.
Legal action is best used only when all other means attempting to reach a satisfactory resolution have been unsecsessful.
Having said that, your father should consult a product liability attorney to be fully informed about the legal issues involved with the incident your dad experience with his Audi.

 

the situation just sucks.

 

Just keepin it real, that's all

 

The insurance company did not find him at fault. Given his excellent record and premium policy, instead of paying him depreciated value, they are buying him a comparably equipped 2007 vehicle, which is thousands more than the 2006 car was worth. So maybe it is worth just moving on.

 

But it's most likely because your dad could not control the car when it lost all its power. I'm not saying it's your dad's fault as per say or Audi's fault. I had to drive my car a few hundred feet without the power steering belt on and I can tell you it is very hard to turn the steering wheel without it working. You should count your blessings that Audi makes one of the safest cars on the road and your dad survived such a crash with only minor injuries.

Now assuming that the two previous dead battery problems have a connection with your dad's accident after the power loss, then yes with no mechanical power (no power steering) and no electrical power (no air bags) the car would be harder to steer but not impossible and in case of an accident the air bags would not deploy because of a dead battery.

What I'd like to know and you should too, is the correlation between the two events. Why did the battery go dead twice. Were there any indications in the dash (lights or warnings)? Maybe you had a bad alternator and the car only partially charged the battery. Maybe something was seizing (alternator bearing) and at one point completely stopped turning and finally threw the belt off and then that's when all Hell broke loose. In any case you would need to hire someone competent in this field to try to prove negligence on Audi's part and I don't know if they could. Even if it was a mechanical failure like the engine failure or electrical failure of some sort, cars simply don't go out of control for that. The only types of failures that can cause a car to loose control are a catastrophic suspension/wheel failure which I doubt is the case here. In any case how could Audi be help responsible? You would have to prove that their car design is unsafe and a bad design caused this to happen.

I know you said your dad is a good driver and I don't want you to take this in a bad way but older people don't have the reflects they used to have and maybe he panicked slightly when the car went dead and lost control of it, or he could not keep control of it because it required additional force without a working power steering. These things happen all the time, it's like a chain reaction and by the time they realise what is happening it's too late.

As for the dealer being 80 miles away, again that's not Audi's fault and I don't think you should expect them to play taxi for you or anyone else. You should be happy if your dealer offers you a loaner car while your car is there for repairs, it's a courtesy gesture that we have come used to but none the less it is not required from them. The best I can suggest is for you to work out something with that dealer especially considering the awful experience all your family went through. Surely two out of three Audis down at one time is bad luck.

Best wishes in getting through these rough times.

 

That's good news, glad things worked out for the better.