TL;DR — aka. the happy ending update: Audi USA have now agreed to cover my $13k repair as I felt they should have all along. I am very happy about this (obviously), but also feel that this was way too hard and I worry about everyone else getting a raw deal. Still, with persistence, a number of emails, reviews, tweets, and pleading my case they decided to cover it. Did I mention I am happy about this?! Thanks to everyone for your support and assistance with this journey!

Let me start by saying: I am a huge Audi fan. I grew up in a family of Audi fans. I learned to drive in a 1988(?) Audi Coupé GT and I finally owned my own when I bought a 2002 Audi S3 (wonderful car). My sister has owned one, my best mate owned an Audi Coupe and a good friend of mine now has a really nice S8. Currently I have a 2011 S4.

But I’m currently in the middle of a terrible experience with the company that is sadly souring my love for the “Truth in Engineering” or “Vorsprung durch Technik” (Progress through Technology).

The start of my saga …

Back in November 2016 my 2011 S4, with about 65k miles on the clock, started to exhibit a strange “shudder” under light acceleration e.g. pulling away from lights or cruising in freeway traffic. It happens at different speeds and in different conditions.

I was due for my 65k mi service so took it into Audi Bellevue, explained the issue, and asked them to fix it. When I picked up the car later that day, they said they couldn’t find the problem. I offered to take the service technician for a drive, and right out of the dealership we were able to trigger the shudder. He recommended changing my tires, saying it was a traction issue. My tires were due to be replaced in the next couple of months, so I thought “great, I’ll replace them when the time comes”.

Updated: Found the service notes from the visit in November, confirming the “its the tires” diagnosis

Fast forward to Feb …

Given I was traveling pretty heavily in December and my tires were still fine in January, I took the car back to Audi Bellevue in mid Feb to get it sorted out (now at 68k mi). Again they advised me that I would need new tires. I also reminded them about the shudder and that I wanted to ensure it was sorted out, as I had asked in late November. This time I got to talk to the head technician about it and he said it didn’t sound like it was tires at all, and that it might be carbon buildup. Great! :(

The next day they called to say they had changed the tires but this had not fixed the problem. They also said they no longer thought it was carbon buildup, and they were looking at a transmission issue!

They also helpfully let me know that my Audi Certified PreOwned warranty (which covers major stuff like, you know, the transmission…) had ended in mid January 2017…!!!

The $13,000 transmission …

A couple of days later, Audi Bellevue called to let me know they would need to talk to Audi Corporate to discuss the transmission issue and find out what it would cost.

After another couple of days of waiting they let me know that it would cost $13,000 to replace!!!

“No problem,” I thought … “given this was happening in November at 65k miles, that Audi failed to find and fix the issue then, and that the car was clearly covered under the Audi Certified Pre Owned warranty at that point (6 years, 100k miles), it would be all sorted out. Phew…”

NOPE!

Side note: Now call me suspicious … but I find it very curious that they managed to find the issue right after the CPO warranty finished.

Audi Bellevue and Audi Corporate apparently discussed the case and came to the conclusion that they were only responsible for covering 50% of the cost. This would leave having to pay $6,500.

Failing to meet CPO warranty terms …

So here we are … Audi are saying:

It’s an $11,000 transmission + $2,000 labor to replace

They will only cover 50% of that .. $6.5k

To me, this completely stinks!

It’s a 6 year old car with barely 68,000 miles on the odometer.

They failed to find and fix the issue when I brought it to get it sorted out while still under warranty.

A month after the warranty they suddenly find the issue, and the car needs a new $13,000 transmission! Even Gary Fantozzi, the Service Director at Audi Bellevue, said today that he was surprised by Audi Corporate’s decision, and felt that it was “wrong”.

This is not “Truth in Engineering” Audi!

Failure at 68k miles is not Truth in Engineering.

Truth in Engineering would be standing behind your engineering like true craftsmen.

It would be covering an issue I brought up while clearly under warranty, that you failed to fix at the time.

It would be restoring the faith of a life long Audi fan.

You would think that while the CEO of Volkswagan AG (who own Audi) Matthias Müller is busy trying to restore the faith of millions of people from the disastrous emissions scandal surrounding their brands, he would be keen to make sure every single remaining customer was raving about how Audi is fantastic … not struggling to understand why it’s failing to meet its warranty obligations.

I feel let down by Audi.

However, I am not giving up. I hope Audi decide to do the right thing and honor their warranty.

Audi: do the right thing…

Chris Johnson

@LoungeFlyZ