Audi Death Trap

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.

"Certain systems may not fully function." Great if you want to deploy your hazard lights and actually evacuate your vehicle before you get rammed or go up in flames.

This is the latest summary I received from the DVSA this morning after I provided additional information to my original complaint. It is probable all types and makes of vehicles will, at some time, experience a mechanical or electrical component failure. These, by their nature can be unpredictable as can the site/location where it may occur. Therefore, DVSA considers the immediate impact any safety related issue may have on the vehicle in to determine if it is a safety defect as defined by the Code. Our understanding is the vehicle has two-stage warnings, both of which are visual and acoustic, and the vehicle fully meets type approval requirements. Initially the 12V supply should support secondary systems (including lighting and steering) allowing the vehicle to carry forward, slow down and be brought to a halt. Lighting, inc. hazard lights etc., should be still active at time of incident and ‘emergency call’ available. However, as with any vehicle, (ICE, Hybrid etc) if charging has been interrupted the battery will deplete over time, and, depending on usage, certain systems may not fully function.

Hi Peter, sorry to hear you've succumbed to the same problem we've all had on here. I would suggest liaising with Audi Executive Office for a goodwill gesture if the terms of the extended warranty have been broken. You could report the issue to the DVSA like I have but in your case there is no blatant safety risk so unfortunately you probably won't get very far. https://contact-dvsa.service.gov.uk/report-vehicle-safety-defect/

Part of my alternator replacement cost was covered by a third party warranty. Having been thrown under the bus Audi Hull have now agreed to pay the shortfall. They told me this would not have been possible if it wasn't for my own warranty as they couldn't have footed the entire bill. The service manager informed me that they would be unable to recover the cost from Audi UK without returning the original failed part which they no longer have. I don't imagine for one minute Audi UK are trying to make all evidence disappear. The service manager also agreed the likely sequence of electrical failures would be exactly how I'd described it to the DVSA.

I broke down here in narrow lanes between concrete blocks running for hundreds of yards with no escape route.

There are other forums with owners discussing the exact same problems many in the USA. I've followed loads of threads since my breakdown. Trying to get others to contact the DVSA would be no small feat. Most Audi drivers probably get recovered, pay the bill, maybe get a gesture of goodwill or even maybe get a warranty payout then go on their way giving it no further thought. The only ones incensed enough to get as far as the DVSA will be those who truly had their lives put on the line. Since these component failures have been occurring for years now it's absurd the DVSA only have a limited number of reports.