Audi Death Trap

I caused a 5-mile rush hour tailback and was on the receiving end of a whole load of verbal abuse. Luckily I couldn't hear most of it as I was trapped in the car but I could see a lot of angry faces. Good luck pursuing this matter further. It defeated me.

I'd been as polite and reasonable as I could but was making no progress. The repair was 90% covered by a third party warranty and I also had to make a claim against the recovery agent as a steering arm was wrecked getting my car onto his transporter. Once I was told I could be looking at months for a replacement alternator I walked to the nearest garage and bought the cheapest runaround they had for £3,500. Audi eventually relented and covered this cost as I persisted in explaining it was as a direct result of the part failure and that I came perilously close to death in the breakdown. The DVSA investigated Audi and found all was well and any claims against them were ill-founded.

As soon as I told Audi Executive Office that I intended to use the legal services provided by my car insurer I was informed their Customer Services could no longer deal with me and I would have to go through the Audi legal team. By this point I will admit to having been out of my depth. Eventually I had to take the threat off the table to further my claim despite the existence of the extended warranty being denied until the bitter end.

JCT600 Audi Hull covered nothing and wouldn't liaise with Audi. I also had to pay up front in full despite having a third party warranty which covered some of the repair cost regardless of the seven year Audi warranty. Dealing with Audi Executive Office was a pitiful and painful experience in light of the fact I could have easily been killed during the breakdown.

I was told the replacement alternator was on back order in Germany and could literally take months to come through. I would not be provided with a courtesy car. At this point I went out and bought another vehicle as it was unclear whether hiring was financially viable. Anyone being provided with a car should think themselves lucky.

Looks like dealerships are still under instruction to deny all knowledge of any extended warranty unless drivers have their own proof. Nothing has changed in the year since I ground to a halt in live traffic and had to be recovered in my own car as the door couldn't be opened from the inside. There should have been an official recall to help prevent drivers breaking down in dangerous locations. Fortunately the DVSA declared there is no safety issue and nobody is at any risk.

My own dealership actively distanced themselves from Audi and appeared concerned they wouldn't be paid for extended warranty work. As a result all my negotiations went through Audi Executive Office as the dealership stepped back. I had to pay the full cost up front. Some of the cost was reclaimed through a third party warranty before Audi finally took my complaint seriously.

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.

"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/