Audi Death Trap

Once the main dealer told me my car could potentially be off the road for months as replacement alternators were on back order in Germany I went out and bought a 2011 Hyundai i10 the next morning as I couldn't manage without any transport. This was literally the cheapest car available within walking distance of home. My A8 was repaired before I even picked up the Hyundai and the £3,800 purchase price went down the drain. I also had to pay for the new alternator as the dealer and Audi refused to acknowledge the extended warranty. The battle with Audi Executive Office became a nightmare and once I threatened them with legal action they refused assistance altogether. After involving VOSA and my local paper they agreed to honour the warranty if I withdrew all legal threats. Considering I could have lost my life in the initial breakdown Audi couldn't have been more inconsiderate towards me if they tried. A steering arm was damaged in the recovery and I also had to put time and effort into getting my money back for that. The whole protracted saga showed Audi's true colours.

I would like to remind newer readers to keep deactivating your start/stop system to reduce the load on the starter alternator. I have just under a year now before the seven year warranty runs out. Failure after that is a ticking financial time bomb.

My replacement part came with a two year guarantee that takes me up to the car being seven years old. I'd rather not go through the same experience again as I might not live to tell the tale a second time around but at least the cost would be covered by Audi. Once the part is out of warranty you are on your own and it's just a question of when rather if it will fail. I always disable the automatic stop/start on every journey to hopefully extend its life. I expect to go back to full petrol for peace of mind when the time comes. Mild hybrid technology is a failure.

I was refunded by Audi Executive Office when they finally accepted the 7 year warranty actually existed. The warranty wasn't announced to Audi staff with any kind of fanfare. It was just sneaked in as if it had always been there but everyone was in denial to start with as I suspect they genuinely knew nothing about it. Even now I doubt it will be easy for you but you must keep fighting. They even told me that once my original alternator had been disposed of there was no way of identifying whether it was covered by the warranty or not. Good luck!

The original goodwill gesture was £600 but even this was annoyingly reduced to £500 by the dealership due to VAT. I still can't work that out! The total cost was about £1,900 but it was months before I was refunded. I believe I caused Audi that much of a problem it was my case that finally led to the roll out of the extended warranty. Audi Hull told me they have honoured a number of such claims now.

Hi Laura, Mine was finally repaired at no cost to myself but it was a long, drawn out fiasco involving so many different organisations, consumer groups and the media. Initially I got a goodwill contribution but eventually I was refunded in full. They didn't seem overly concerned that I could have been killed. If you scroll back far enough you'll find my story. I should approach your dealership with a copy of the extended warranty (top right) and find out if your model is covered first of all.

We will not honour the extended warranty. We will not provide a courtesy car. We will not provide a hire car. Your life was endangered as a result of a manufacturing defect and we will do nothing. Welcome to Audi.

Mine was also entitled to the 7-year warranty but I had to fight tooth and nail to make it happen. The scale of denial, obfuscation and evasion of responsibility from both the dealership and Audi UK reached levels only possible from a premium manufacturer. I don't imagine Dacia or Kia owners have ever hit such a total and complete brick wall.

Audi went out of their way to keep me as far offside and alienated as physically possible. Never again.

I didn't get any support from my local dealership. I had to deal with Audi Executive Office who were far from helpful to start with until I was able to prove with a copy of an internal Audi document on here that a 7-year extended warranty actually existed. Before I was taken seriously I had to have a letter published in my local paper, complain to endless other media outlets and seek legal advice from my insurer. It won't be easy but you must persist relentlessly. And I mean relentlessly. Good luck!

If there are no fault codes and yet there is blatantly a fault when there is a known issue across multiple models then surely the starting point must be the alternator whether there is a code or not. The alternator is either charging the battery or it isn't.

The two earliest signs that my alternator was about to fail was the start/stop function becoming unavailable followed by the central locking locking me out then locking me in. I had to keep clicking the key fob as fast as I could whilst repeatedly pulling on the door handle. There was a good 24 hours and over 10 miles before everything else rapidly failed in succession. With that many fault codes Allan the alternator must surely be close to the end. The car park idea actually sounds sensible. What do they expect you to do?

Hi Nik, it's in the POSTED IMAGES towards the top of the right hand column >>>

Hi Nik, make sure the dealership know you are aware of the seven year extended warranty on the generator starter / alternator. As it's a manufacturing defect you should be provided with a courtesy car or paid-for hire car.

Despite VW Audi Dieselgate I can't get any media outlet to take this up. I'd like to find out some breakdown statistics from the AA or RAC given these cars are doomed to failure. I expect my own breakdown premium will go up next year just to rub a little more salt in the wound. Once again reporting to DVSA won't work if there is no blatant safety aspect involved.