2002 Audi A4

MY 2002 AUDI A4 JUST HIT 69,900 MILES & THE 3RD TURBO ON MY CAR HAS JUST GONE BAD & HAS NOW DEVELOPED A TICKING NOISE IN THE VALVE-TRAIN. FIORE AUDI IN ALTOONA, PA LOOKED AT THE CAR & SAID THEY NEVER HEARD A NOISE IN THE TOP OF THE MOTOR & THAT THE "DENTIST DRILL" TURBO NOISE WAS CAUSED BY AN EXHAUST LEAK. I VERBALIZED MY CONCERNS OVER OIL SLUDGE ISSUES WITH THIS CAR & THEY PULLED THE VALVE-COVER & OIL PAN & FOUND OIL SLUDGE BUILD-UP IN THE OIL LINES FEEDING THE TURBO & IN SOME OF THE OIL GALLEYS IN THE ENGINE. AUDI OF AMERICA AGREED TO REPLACE THE TURBO AND THE OIL FEED LINES UNDER AUDI'S EXTENDED OIL SLUDGE WARRANTY. AFTER THE ENGINE WAS PUT BACK TOGETHER, FIORE FINALLY HEARD THE "TICKING" NOISE IN THE TOP OF THE MOTOR. AFTER PULLING THE HEAD THEY DETERMINED THAT THE ENGINE BLOCK AND THE CYLINDER HEAD WERE WARPED. FIORE TECHNICIANS INFORMED ME THAT THESE DAMAGES WERE CAUSED BY THE ENGINE BEING EXCESSIVELY OVERHEATED. THE CAR HAD NEVER INDICATED THAT IT HAD OVERHEATED, YET FOR THIS "EXCUSE/REASON", THEY REFUSED TO COVER ANY REPAIRS REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT I HAD PRODUCED RECEIPTS DOCUMENTING THAT THE OIL WAS CHANGED RELIGIOUSLY AROUND 3,000 MILE INTERVALS (WELL BELOW AUDI'S INITIAL RECOMMENDATION THAT THE OIL BE CHANGED EVERY 10,000 MILES, AS REFERENCED IN THE MANUAL, OR THEIR SUBSEQUENT RECOMMENDATION OF CHANGING IT EVERY 5,000 MILES) WITH AN AUDI RECOMMENDED FULL SYNTHETIC OIL AS PER THE SLUDGE WARRANTY POLICY. THE OIL LINES THAT FEED THE TURBO CHARGER WERE NEVER CHECKED OR REPLACED DURING ANY OF THE TURBO CHARGER REPLACEMENTS, OR OTHER OIL SMOKE COMPLAINTS, UNTIL NOW. AFTER OUR 3RD TURBO REPLACEMENT, OBVIOUSLY DUE TO OIL SLUDGE BUILD-UP, I'M NOW TOLD MY MOTOR IS NO GOOD. HAD AUDI TAKEN CARE OF THIS ISSUE WHEN THESE PROBLEMS WERE FIRST DEVELOPED & IDENTIFIED, IT WOULDN'T NEED A NEW ENGINE AT LESS THAN 70K MILES DUE TO AN ISSUE THAT IS WELL-KNOWN WITH THIS VEHICLE & THAT WAS ALSO OBVIOUSLY PRESENT WHEN THIS VEHICLES WARRANTY WAS IN FULL EFFECT. *NM

AUDI OF AMERICA DENIED A WARRANTY ON THEIR RECALL FOR OIL SLUDGE PROBLEM (AUDI LETER IN FILE), TO ALL 1.8 T ENGINES, ARGUING NO SERVICE WAS PROVIDE ON THE 13000 MILES WARRANTY PERIOD. AT THAT TIME THE VEHICLE WAS AN AUDI'S PROPERTY & CAR WAS IN THE AUDI'S DEALER FOR SERVICE ON THE 13,023 MILES. MAYBE NEGLIGENCE FOR SERVICING OR NOR RECORDED BUT PREVIOUSLY DRIVER WAS AN AUDI EXECUTIVE GETTING PAID FOR TEST & MILES. TITLE INDICATES AUDI'S FIRST OWNER SELLING WITH 26,103 MILES WHEN WE PURCHASED THE CAR. RECORDS IN OUR FILE AND CAR JUST BEEN FIXED ON OUR COST. THANKS FOR YOUR REPLAY. PEDRO. *NM

MY 2002 AUDI A4 1.8T WAS MALFUNCTIONING THE DAY I TOOK DELIVERY AND HAS HAD A SURPRISINGLY HIGH NUMBER OF DEFECTS SINCE THEN. TODAY, THE CAR IS INOPERABLE AND AUDI IS REFUSING TO ASSIST ME. ON 5/15/05 MY ENGINE SUDDENLY BEGAN VIBRATING HARSHLY AND LOSING POWER WHILE DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON, AND MY DASH DISPLAY WAS FLASHING A RED WARNING. AFTER TOWING MY CAR TO MY DEALER, REEVES IMPORT MOTORCARS OF TAMPA, FL, I WAS INFORMED THAT THE PROBLEM I ENCOUNTERED IS A KNOWN DEFECT IN AUDI / VW 1.8 TURBO ENGINES. APPARENTLY A DEFECT IN THE 1.8T REGARDING SLUDGE THAT CLOGS THE OIL SYSTEM AND CAUSES A LOSS OF OIL PRESSURE. TO RECTIFY THIS PROBLEM, THE ENGINE MUST BE FLUSHED AND THE OIL PUMP, OIL PICKUP, ALL OIL LINES AND TURBO TUBES MUST BE REPLACED. I HAD NEVER BEEN MADE AWARE OF THIS FIX, WHICH COSTS ROUGHLY $2,000. AUDI DENIED WARRANTY ON MY CLAIM, MY ENTIRE ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND I AM NOW FACED WITH A SERVICE BILL OF $10,500!!!! MY DEALER INFORMED ME THAT AUDI HAD DECLARED MY SERVICE HISTORY AND THEREFORE DENIED ME WARRANTY. (THEY STATED THAT WHILE ALL SERVICE INTERVALS HAD BEEN OBSERVED, SOMETIMES I WAS SLIGHTLY OVER). ADDITIONALLY, MY RENTAL CAR SINCE MAY 16TH (USUALLY PROVIDED BY THE DEALER FOR WARRANTY WORK) IS NOW MY OWN RESPONSIBILITY. IN SUMMARY: 1. THIS IS A KNOWN DEFECT, FULLY DOCUMENTED BY THE MANUFACTURER. 2. THE FACTORY IS NOW REFUSING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN EXPENSIVE YET TOTALLY AVOIDABLE ENGINE FAILURE. 3. THIS FAILURE WAS SUDDEN. IT WAS NOT AN ISSUE OF EXCESSIVE WEAR AND TEAR, OR A CONDITION THAT GRADUALLY WORSENED DUE TO NEGLECT. THEREFORE, THE PERIODS BETWEEN SERVICE INTERVALS SHOULD BE IRRELEVANT. 4. I HAVE SENT LETTERS TO AUDI NORTH AMERICA'S VP IN CHARGE OF CUSTOMER RELATIONS, MR. JOHANN DE NYSSCHEN, WITHOUT RESPONSE. BUYING AN AUDI WAS THE WORST DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE.

WHILE DRIVING OUT OF TOWN THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO RATTLE AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO FASTER THAN 35 MPH. THE VEHICLE CONTINUED TO RATTLE AND THE OWNER HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO THE DEALER WHERE THEY EVENTUALLY REPLACED THE ENTIRE ENGINE DUE TO METAL IN THE OIL PAN WHICH CAUSED PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM. PROVIDE FURTHER DETAILS. *JB ORIGINALLY THE OIL LIGHT CAME ON. THE CONSUMER STOPPED AND CHECKED THE OIL LEVEL AND IT WAS FINE. DRIVING A LITTLE FURTHER THE LIGHT CAME ON AGAIN . *TC

THE IGNITION COIL MADE THE VEHICLE RIDE ROUGH. WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE LOST POWER AND CUT OFF. THE DEALER STATED THEY WOULD ONLY REPLACE 1 OUT OF 6 COILS. *TS THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN HAD DRIVEN THE VEHICLE FIVE MILES AND THE A SECOND COIL FAILED. AUDI REPLACED ALL SIX COILS THEN THE REMAINING FIVE WERE "J" COILS. THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT HAD COME ON. THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN SERVICED REPEATEDLY BY FATHER'S & SONS, BUT THEY HAD NOT COMPLETED THE REPAIR. ALL OF THE OXYGEN SENSORS AND THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER HAD BEEN REPLACED. (SOME TWICE) THE OTHER EMISSION PARTS WERE REPLACED. THE SERVICE DEALER DID NOT GIVE THE CONSUMER THE PAPER WORK BECAUSE AUDI DID NOT PAY THE FULL COST FOR REPAIRS. THE VEHICLE WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. *SCC *JB

1/10/2003--TOOK THE CAR IN TO HAVE IT CHECKED BECAUSE OF A ROUGH IDLE AND TROUBLE STARTING. THE DEALER FOUND NO INITIAL PROBLEMS. 2/5/2003--RECEIVED NOTICE IN THE MAIL FROM AUDI CONCERNING THE POSSIBILITY OF BAD COIL PACKS ON 2002 A4'S. 2/7/2003--THE CAR STALLED ON US AT NIGHT, IN THE RAIN, IN THE MIDDLE OF A BUSY INTERSECTION. IT TOOK ME AT LEAST A MINUTE TO GET IT RESTARTED--THAT MAY NOT SOUND LIKE MUCH, BUT YOU SHOULD TRY TURNING OFF YOUR CAR IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION AND WAIT 60 SECONDS BEFORE RESTARTING & TAKING OFF. SEE HOW MAY PEOPLE START HONKING AND/OR ALMOST HIT YOU BEFORE YOU MOVE.... 2/8-2/11/03--THE DEALER CHECKS THE CAR OVER. THEY SAY THE COIL PACKS ARE FINE, BUT THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR WAS BAD, SO THEY REPLACED IT. I DON'T BELIEVE THEY HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM, SINCE THE CAR STILL IDLES ROUGH, AND STILL HAS TROUBLE STARTING. LUCKILY, IT HASN'T DIED ON US AGAIN (YET). *NLM

AUDI SERVICE PERSONNEL NOTIFIED ME OF A CAM SEAL LEAK DURING THE 10,000 MILE SERVICING. THEY ATTEMPTED TO FIX THE PROBLEM ONCE, BUT IT STILL LEAKED. I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE BACK AND THEY INFORMED ME THAT A SPECIAL TOOL FROM GERMANY IS NEEDED TO FIX THE PART. SO FAR THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP OVER TWO MONTHS - AND STILL WAITING FOR THE TOOL. AMAZING, HUH?