URGENT HELP PLEASE

[A4ULTRA]

Dear Forum, I am new so please bare with me.

 

I am enquiring regarding obtaining some help, advice and a possible quote.

 (2016 Audi A4 S line ultra)

 

Situation: I was driving on a busy inner city dual carriageway and heard scraping suddenly. I thought for a minute something was jammed in my wheel and was being dragged as when I turned the noise increased. I stopped at the nearest junction and saw a large metal object hanging out from underneath the car. 

There seems to be no external damage to visible bodywork i.e the front of the car or the drivers door area etc. Looking closer it seemed that the metal object must have been on the road and got lodged in the car. I pulled it out with difficulty as it was really lodged in and it has obviously left a sizeable tear in the undercarriage.

I am asking to see what should be done and if any likely damage has been done? Can something be done about the hole in the undercarriage as I have had problems scraping it before also at my old property due to the gradient of the driveway. Should it be filled or could it have caused damage to the items underneath?

 

I frequently make daily 600+ mile motorway journeys so also don’t want any possibility of the vehicle being exposed to damage sooner than is necessary from the environment as I tend to keep the vehicle for as long as is possible.

 

I attached pics 

 

What do you suggest?

Should this be filled/inspected for damage to other components? Is this common and unlikely to cause any problems? Should the undercarriage be replaced if possible etc etc

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated and if applicable please provide an estimated quote however only if necessary.

 

I have in the meantime contacted dealers etc

IMG_1547.HEIC

[Magnet]

Hello Yusuf,

Sorry to hear of your issue. 

From what I can see, the damage appears to look worse than it actually is, but it’s always difficult to form opinions without inspecting the vehicle. 

I don’t think the answers you seek will be found here, and certainly not estimated costs to sort out. 

I think you are adopting the right route by getting it inspected, but at a (main?) dealer?? Personally, I wouldn’t, since the necessary expertise will not be there. 

I would be taking it to a trusted local bodyshop - that is where the experience will lie. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.

p.s. Worth getting your tyres checked for damage too, since you may have driven over the offending metal. 

[A4ULTRA]

Hey,

Thanks so much for the quick reply!

I've contacted a few independent specialists offering to take a look at it so I think I will take it to them and the main dealer just to get any second opinions. One of these also mentioned about taking to a bodyshop, why would this be? I was under the impression bodyshops sorted things like scuffs etc so would they be able to look at this and maybe fix it??

I also came to that realisation last night that I must have driven over it to kick it up on my undercarriage, so will be sure to get them inspected.

I am just so annoyed because I have only owned the car 5 months and tyres etc are all brand new as well. Urrrrgghhhh.

 

Many thanks for the helpful advice though it's really appreciated!

[Magnet]

Hello Yusaf, 

‘Bodyshops and only scuffs’. Absolutely not. Bodyshops, or accident repairers, or whatever you like to call them, are the specialists in all forms of damage to vehicle bodywork, from repairing a small scratch to complete rebuilds of car bodywork. 

Really not worth bothering with any other establishments for advice and estimates, but worth going to at least two. Main dealer? Just not worth bothering unless they have an on site body repair section - which few do.

Kind regards,

Gareth.

[A4ULTRA]

UPDATE:

Dear Gareth, firstly many thanks for your input. It has been SUPER helpful and I genuinely really appreciate it.

Took it to an indy today just to get it on a ramp and see (no cost). To be honest, it actually doesn't look bad at all, the hole is tiny and doesn't look like the tyres or anything has actually been damaged.

Moving forward, I think everyone agrees if I take it to main dealer as planned, they will want to change the whole part. Ideally I would still like to get the small hole patched up however the indy said to me he would agree but doesn't know who would actually do that? I don't do any diy stuff or have access because of career and work hours unfortunately.

As for the metal that was taken off (jacking point), I'm not sure who or how would repair that either, but upon closer inspection again you really can't see a huge difference and doesn't look like (Hopefully) that it will cause any problems.

Any suggestions how to proceed from here and who may be able to do this work. Audi want to charge £100 before actually carrying out any work, absolute joke

[Magnet]

Hello Yusaf,

Many thanks for your thanks for my ‘super helpful’ reply. You are most welcome. 

But Yusaf, it must be said that your are blindly ignoring the advice given! 

I don’t think I could have made it any clearer that the specific experienced advice you need will only be obtained from a reputable bodyshop, and certainly not at a main dealer - unless that main dealer has an on-site bodyshop ( which will be rare). Of course, this is a personal opinion, and it’s your choice to go with it or ignore it. 

It seems you are still hell bent on going down the main dealer route, and that too is fine of course, but you are still asking for suggestions on how to proceed from here!? Are you just looking for someone to come along and agree with exactly what you intend to do anyway? 

Good luck with getting those alternative opinions, but I can only declare myself ‘Out’ as they say. I just cannot help any further. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[A4ULTRA]

Hi Gareth,

 

Sorry for confusion this isn't what I meant in the above post. I cancelled my booking at Audi after a view at the indy. I had the car booked at main dealer original just incase but this was before any extra opinions.

 

I agree with you and am now looking for reputable bodyshops. However I've never used one so am unsure how to differentiate between the sensible ones and not. Also was wondering what the best way to fix this would be incase different bodyshops give different opinions. My current idea is it needs anti rust type of thing on it, then metal bent back in place. Fix the big tear but the circular one looks as if it is standard. Unsure however if that had a bolt like or something as can be seen in the picture or if I should leave it open

 

 

Sorry for confusion 

[Magnet]

Hello Yusaf again,

Very much a personal opinion, but you are causing yourself unnecessary stress by now trying to work out how you would expect the repair to be conducted when at your own admission, you are not even familiar with the basic points of what bodyshop do and don’t do. You are in danger of over complicating the whole thing.

Trusted local bodyshops?  Visit a couple of smallish local used car sales sites and ask for some recommendations for good trusted bodyshops. These used car boys expect good workmanship at reasonable rates, and should know the good from the bad. These bodyshops will likely be run by people you can actually talk with and discuss what will and won’t be done. Or you can simply go along to larger bodyshops/accident repair centres and sit and have free coffee while some estimator -who you cannot talk to - compiles an estimate. 

I did say I’m out, and I feel I’m going round in circles! - but you would be doing yourself a favour by not trying to work out how to do it, if you are not actually going to do it. 

Kind regards,

Gareth.