dannyindevon

When I asked a shop who specialize in Thule bike carriers, if that part, the 'last part of the puzzle', would fit the Audi bars - were I to get those ones - they were very confident that many do and that there were lots options, but then they entirely failed to give me any of those options and were very vague about guarantees about fitment and cost of returning things that didn't fit. I'm sure that Thule must make the bike carriers fit other people's bars, I strongly suspect there must be some standard t-slots or clamping geometries in play in the industry, but I don't know how complicated it is to get the right ones and to be sure I'm not entering a returning-stuff cycle. Regarding the rubber protective bits that go between the feet and the bars, that actually a question I had. I don't know the answer. At some point I'll need to sell the car (interest rates stay this high any longer then my next mortgage payment is gonna require selling the car) so I really don't want the bars scratched. A lot of people buy Audis (whether they admit to it or not) because they want something that makes them look successful at work, so the resale price does depend a lot on making sure there are no scratches!

Hi! Thanks for getting back to me. I still haven't bought anything, so your responses are still very welcome. The 3rd party ones we had originally bought (and sent back) weren't Thule, they were only about £100 and seemed fine, but I wasn't convinced and am just terrified of them letting go and the bikes flying back and killing someone in the car behind. The Thule ones look good, and I presume are very reliable, but they cost the same as the Audi ones as far as I can see - about £300 for a pair of bars and feet. The Audi ones, I'm guessing, have locating pins as the car itself has some little dimples on the inner side of the bars on the roof. The Thule ones do not have any pins, they just rely on the geometry of the bars and compressive forces to keep them attached. So the Audi ones, at the same price are perhaps better.... But, firstly, at the price of the Audi ones, and considering they are engineered in Sweden where quality standards are as high as anywhere in the world, and given the cost and the reputation, I suspect the lack of any locating pins can't possibly be a problem. The Thule ones must surely be absolutely rock solid. So I think, given all that, that the question only comes down to compatibility with the actual bike-holding apparatus that attaches to those bars. Most of the best ones seem to be Thule, so I would guess I'm going to have the most options if I get Thule bars. But really all of these are guesses. I've given up trying to save any money. I think I'm gonna have to accept that any solution is going to be at least £600 once I include the cost of two bike-holding thingamies. Anyway! Thanks for your replies. I did watch that video Axelz posted as well and they do look incredibly solid, so I'm guessing they'll work very well! Danny.

Hi, Silly question really as I don't know the alternative really, also I doubt many people have tried both. Just hopeful someone has enough experience to know. Wife bought some third party ones, fairly expensive, £120 I think, and the make was recomended by a cyclist ('cos he takes bikes on his racks which is what we want to do) colleague. BUT... they didn't come with any kind of locating lugs/pins. The A4 Avant B9 I have, it has little holes/dimples, which look for all the world like they receive a male bump on a roof rack. I presume the official OEM racks come with these. I presume 3rd party roof racks aren't falling off cars every day despite the millions in use, so I guess their design forgoes the need for locating pins, but all the pics in the instructions for the rack she bought showed the profile of the bars on the car (i.e. the bars permantly attached, whatever they are called) which was concave on both sides, so the cambered metalwork could make a very positive connection - my car is only concave on one side, its very flat the other, which didn't make for a very positive connection. I need to be able to belt down the motorway at at 60, or at 40 across potholes and not fear that the bikes are about to ping off, hit the car behind, get sued, find out I'm not insured because I ate a tuna sandwich 3 years ago and tuna is disallowed in the small print, lose my house and end up living in a ditch (this will definitely happen). The 3rd party ones are 80-150 it seems. maybe someone has one they can recomend and have used it for years. Or maybe you all know that Audi deliberately made the bar's profile prohibitively not-concave to force people to buy the OEM parts to use the matching locating pins, or risk the hole thing coming off when I drive through Devon (Devon is entirely made of potholes at the moment, literally no tarmac left in the entire county). Any advise very welcome, either way, and feel free to tell me not to be so cheap. If the £300 originals are the only sane choice I'll do it, just would rather find out for sure if really needed. Thanks!

I know this was a looooong time ago, so I wonder if you still get the alerts! But I have the same model, same year and same question! I have a garage who have found 'the part' and I'm a bit confused because mine seems to be in TWO parts. So I asked them for the part number they are going to use and they send me the one I can find just searching on similar sites to the one you mention. As I say, one side of the 'under tray cover under body splash shield guard' (I have found literally all combinations to those words to describe it), has fallen off. While I'll happily replace both, all and any bits, its the 5th time its come off since owning the car, for just 3 years (having never had a similar thing happen since I first bought a car in 1996). So I'm getting a bit dubious about the work being done and would like to have a go myself. As far as I can tell, it is attached with special clips and I might try to get those from Audi directly. But the tray the quoted was £1100, and I'm pretty sure I could mould my own one from a combination of diamonds and carbonfibre for that much and seeing as they last on average 7.5 months, I'm not going to spend £1100 on it (and thats not including them installing it, they are £252 per hour in Exeter and its apparently a 3hr job). So anywho, my question is: did you ever fix it, I think we have the same car, and what bit did you get, was it in one piece or split laterally? The moderator Steve is surely right about the engine and gearbox, mine is the sportier 190bhp with an auto gearbox, and same A4 Avant 2016 B9 as you, but maybe our engines and gearboxes differ. If that bit is true, it makes me strongly suspicious that the last four people to fix it didn't get the right bit which is why it falls off a couple of times a year.

I have an A4 Avant, B9, 2016 reg. Bought in 2020. Have replaced the underside four times, and its just fallen off again, this time a small puddle did it. As soon as I got it home from the dealers I thought the middle dangled a little low as the 5cm tall grass in the middle of our drive was brushing it. 1st time it fell off was after 3 months, wife hit a puddle and the left side fell off. I checked dash cam and height of puddle against curbs, it was about 7cm deep and about 4m long, local garage screwed it back in place with some extra washers, said it was fine, £150. Still hung low, at next service I mentioned that you could see it parked next to another Avant, same year and mine was clearly lower by at least 5cm in the middle, their mechanics couldn't see it, and supposedly checked it and said it was all fine. Next time was on M4, just going along at about 70mph and it just fell off completely and exploded like a cartoon pigeon, thankfully no one behind us. Garage put on brand new one from Audi, £800. Next time it was our own driveway, a rock was on the ground, I measured it, its maximum dimension was 6cm, I took it to the dealership as they charged me £1100 to replace the whole thing and they said it was my fault and that any car that hit such a boulder would have been damaged. Within 6 months (mid 2022 now), the left side just started to hang lower and lower until one day it was dragging. I was 5miles from home so had no choice but to keep going slowly down the lanes, by the time I was home it was completely unattached, this time I got the local garage to have a go. They said they'd used extra bolts and washers and it was rock solid, and only charged me £75 as it took them just 30mins. I just drove through a puddle, I got out and checked the puddle, it didn't go over the top of my trainers at any point, and the whole left side is off again. That's the fifth time. So my question is: does anyone know a mechanic or garage who are genuinely ethical, who, if I give them more money, will actually spend a couple of hours REALLY checking the threads on the studs or nuts that it is held on with? Someone who - given that I'm willing to pay - will actually tap a new thread if needed, will actually use thread locker where appropriate, that kind of thing? Because there is no way that, having been driving for 25 years and having never had any kind of issue with the underside of any car I've owned (and embarrassingly large number), that the underside of this car could have fallen off 5 times without once actually hitting something significant... some fitting or other is clearly caput. The other option is a ramp / pit that someone will hire me for a few hours, as I say, happy to pay. I just have a bit of a phobia of being under axel stands or jacks or even those little ramps. I think its a claustrophobia type thing, but I've never been great at trusting a car and being right under it. Thanks for any recommendations. To be super specific, I live near Axminster, which is near Lyme Regis, about an hour from Exeter. Happy to drive quite a distance and happy to pay if someone actually knows someone who really, genuinely cares.