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Danboy1973 et al, I got through to Motor Ombudsman (who Audi UK suggested to contact), however as you've found, when they hear the car is out of warranty, that is an immediate dismissal. They did tell me to contact the DVLA (he meant DVSA) if I thought it was a safety issue. I had already started this last week (around 10th Sep) and have had two emails since. The last one was to say that an engineer is looking into this matter and will review it within a month (patience required and a lot of hassle at home/work etc.). I doubt things will move quickly, although I'm sure Audi UK will be totally open and candid when contacted! This 'admission' may be of interest to all - this came via email to me from our only NI approved Audi dealer (emphasis mine):- "The current fault in the vehicle has caused a fault within the ABS system which has permanently deactivated the ABS brake control unit." Make what you want of this, but at least Audi are saying one fault (brake sensor) has caused the other fault (ABS fault). I'm not a lawyer, but surely that is an admission that Audi have dropped a clanger - why aren't they doing something for their customers (soon to be ex-customers)? I don't know how it works, but perhaps they need someone like the DVSA to force them into a recall, to allow them to claim some sort of insurance for the recall - anyone know? This same dealer, could not provide details of how many cases Audi UK now has on record. To be fair my local dealer has offered me a reduction of £200 on the repair bill - still unfortunately too expensive for me. I didn't buy new from them, so they I guess don't have to offer goodwill - although of course a dealer with some sort of moral fibre would rightly fight for an owner, win a new customer and garner some positive publicity, which would more than pay for a repair bill like this! Anyway, all, as mentioned before, don't hold back pushing, unless you don't mind forking out for Audi's mistake - please get in contact with DVSA. Please find further information at: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-recalls-and-faults/report-a-serious-safety-defect Regards, Andrew.

Dazzh - tks, however you have the advantage of going to the dealer you bought it off. I don't have that luxury as I bought mine from an Audi 2nd-hand dealer in England, with 8 months left on the warranty at the time, but as I live in NI, so I can't just drive down the road. Audi UK have told me the final answer comes from the dealer you brought the car to (preferably the one that the car was bought from), whilst at the same time, the dealer refers you to Audi UK for their answer - totally circular argument, with no responsibility taken by Audi or it's approved dealers. Danboy1973, hope you get further than I did, but don't expect much, I've been trying for 2 weeks now. Audi UK have told me I don't meet 'their criteria' (as the Audi dealer doesn't want to contribute), and that's their final answer. They don't say what their criteria is, but owners like me are now high and dry. I have contacted Auto Express ([email protected]), DVSA ([email protected]), a national newspaper, as this is completely unethical, and morally reprehensible response to a design fault, in my view. I'll likely not get anywhere, but £2700 is worth fighting for. I lost around £3k in earnings over lockdown, due to furlough, so I can't swallow this - I actually feel sick thinking about it. Audi UK will not tell me if the car is unsafe and instead leave that up to the dealer to decide if they will advise or not. I guess they'll wait until someone gets killed due to this fault before Audi will pay attention. The lady I spoke to in Audi UK (quite sympathetic really) told me I can take it up with the Motor Ombudsman, so that is my next port of call. Am I flogging a dead horse here, I don't know, but surely they'll listen to a flood of complaints from you if you also feel completely robbed, and if they experience investigations by independent bodies? All the best, I'll update y'all if there are any developements. AD.

Hi, I believe this is a serious and emerging issue for Audi and us owners. I count around x26 owners with this problem on this forum alone, I'm 27th and counting. My A4 Avant Ultrasport 66 reg has 30k miles on the clock. It sat for weeks from March until end of June with intermittent short journeys to shops etc. The brake servo restricted warning came on around mid/late July I believe. I contacted my local mechanic, but couldn't get through for a week or so. The warning then changed a week or so later to Auto Start/Stop not functioning as well as the brake servo issue. I then decided to contact Isaac Agnew Audi (the only approved Audi new car dealer in Northern Ireland). I told them the issue and they said we can book you in on 31st Aug and run diagnostic for £80 - that was around two weeks away. I decided I couldn't wait this long and contacted my mechanic again. This time I got through and he took me in the next week. Long story short, he replaced the faulty brake sensor (it seems it is now a slightly different p/n from possibly a different manufacturer!), he also charged up a lowish battery and got all error codes cleared apart from an ABS fault code (all for £80, I might add). He told me to take it to Agnew's, so when I contacted them this time they said no problem come in 8th Sep, but changed their minds (for some reason) and said come in 31st Aug (the original date they gave me). Agnew's at no time told me the original error was a ticking time bomb, otherwise they should have brought me as soon as I first contacted them. They took the car in and got back same day with a repair bill of £2,708 for the ABS and also in addition a front suspension part (a suspension part failing at 30k miles - sounds like my dad talking about Fords in the 1970s!). I can't afford to pay £3k for a car with only 30k miles on the clock, or the next time, whenever this fault decides to come back!! It seems the faulty sensor is misread by the computer as a hydraulic problem and tells the ABS to compensate. What it doesn't inform the owner is that this also in a short time destroys the ABS unit, which needs replaced:- Audi should at least have forced the car to go into limp mode. As a design engineer, a risk/fault assessment should take into account faulty sensors (737 MAX crashes are an extreme example) and rather than conclude a perfectly good hydraulic brake system was the problem cause the ABS unit to self-destruct it should recognise this as a minor fault and not do irreparable damage. Of course Agnew's will not offer a goodwill gesture as I bought the car from Oakwood Bury, and therefore Audi UK will not offer goodwill either. Both have large budgets but are not willing to do anything for both theirs and their manufacturers plummeting reputation, and it is you and I who pay the cost of Audi's design fault. My car is still with Agnew's who haven't got in touch with me for a week, I've been the one checking up on updates (same with Audi UK, although to be fair the girl I spoke with (Ami) was trying to be sympathetic and helpful, but didn't seem to have anything else to offer). I can sort of understand Agnew's and Audi's stance regarding goodwill, both have a budget and it is up to the local dealer to decide if it's worth helping out a customer (or a new potential customer like me), however the bigger picture seems to escape them entirely. If you are all fairly/exceedingly disgruntled (some have been fortunate to 'only' have to fork out £250 or so for a brake sensor replacement), you should submit complaints to Audi UK (call 0800 699 888 or email [email protected]) - if they get enough owners with this fault it should get raised with Audi and a recall may be in order - to my mind a reputable company knowing a fault can occur in a brake system, through a design error, must put their hands up and take responsibility. Someone could get killed if this causes brakes or ABS to fail! Each of us alone aren't worth taking notice of, from what I can see, but together we must be listened to. I know Oakwood in Bury (2nd hand Audi dealer - seem good guys) have now had x4 Audi owners with the same problem (add that to the x27 of us A4 owners and a few A5/Q7 owners as well as those on other forums)! If anyone else has a good idea of who to contact (Autocar, Motor Ombudsman, What Car etc.) please let us all know. Anyone with me on this? I've never had to write something like this before, I went from x10 worry free years of driving a Mazda 6 to Audi, thinking the premium we all pay for a car like this must be justified - now I'm just plain angry and no-one in Audi seems to give a stuff about us. Cars breaking down out-of-warranty is something we all accept, parts get old and wear etc, but we cannot accept a costly built-in design error like this and pay dearly for Audi's mistake. Thanks for reading this to the end - let's hope Audi genuinely care about those who give them their hard earned cash! PS:- The press may also mildly interested in this, especially a premium German car manufacturer with a pandemic related fault they aren't acknowledging - what do you think - keep it in reserve until Audi respond?