Audi Death Trap

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.

Hi Mark, I've never been keen on the idea of a start/stop system and made sure before I bought the car it was possible to deactivate the system. I've owned the A8 for one year and have religiously turned the start/stop off at the beginning of every journey. Unfortunately I don't know what the previous owner did for the first four years or whether the alternator has already been replaced at some point.

Mark, there are some well thought out comments and questions in your correspondence with the DVSA. When I read their reply to me it came as a great shock to effectively be accused of lying and that none of my experiences could theoretically happen. Three operatives from BDV Breakdown and many hundreds of commuters witnessed me trapped and recovered inside the car and driven away with no hazard warning lights. The breakdown company have now agreed to pay the cost of damage to the steering arm when they hauled my car onto the flatbed. Ultimately the vehicle only broke down as a result of the alternator manufacturing defect so I believe Audi should be liable for this as well. The Hull Audi warranty manager and service manager are supposedly coming back to me by the end of the week with some kind of additional resolution. Given that Audi Executive office won't entertain me because I asked for legal advice I don't expect to be given anything. The fact they threw Hull Audi under the bus will result in £OOOO Vuckall durch Technic for me.

Hi MikeyW, Audi Hull are going to come back to me by the end of the week once their warranty manager has looked into it. It's grossly unfair for Audi to deny me the warranty claim and then deny me it again once I've sought legal advice on how to get Audi to fulfill its legal obligation. There must be consumer protection laws out there but how do you make a company comply? I'm the innocent victim in all of this and I could have been killed. But hey, as long as it's only cost Audi £500 then who gives a stuff about anything else?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated. There is no claim as the DVSA exonerated Audi of any design failings despite hundred of witnesses to my plight.

Dear Sir or Madam, I recently made a telephone enquiry about taking action over Audi endangering my life due to a potential design fault with their mild hybrid alternator following a breakdown. I informed Audi that I was waiting for a report from the DVSA before coming back to yourselves. They will now not cover the £2,000 cost of replacing the alternator as they wrongly believe you are taking legal action against them on my behalf. By challenging Audi for risking my life they have withdrawn financial support which is a double kick in the teeth. Could you please provide written proof that you have not been instructed to take any action on my behalf.

Hi MikeyW, my situation is complicated by the fact that Audi Hull have repaired my car and been paid by me. AA Motor Legal Services were only involved insofar as an initial enquiry that could be escalated when the DVSA confirmed the risks involved in breaking down with no electrical power at all. They failed to confirm this and stated such an outcome wouldn't happen. Something that was carefully explained to them by Audi themselves. Audi = Judge + Jury + Witnesses = Case Closed.

I expected them to honour their warranty but because I made legal enquiries about them not honouring their warranty they won't honour their warranty!

Any action depended on a positive response from the DVSA but they effectively said that my breakdown could not have been as described despite three witnesses from recovery firm BDV Ltd. Apparently it was impossible to be left with no hazard lights and unable to get out of the vehicle and therefore I was never in any danger. And the suppliers of this unbiased assessment? You guessed it ... Audi. The whole thing is a complete lost cause and I'm totally despondent.

Dear David, I hope this email finds you well, please accept my apologies for my delayed response I have been away from the office. Unfortunately the extended warranty on certain alternators fitted to Audi vehicles was only brought to my attention after your case was initially closed. The technicians at Hull Audi should have identified this when your vehicle was initially diagnosed, I sincerely apologise for this. When I reached out to you again initially on 27 June 2024 it was my intention to discuss putting a more satisfactory resolution in place for you given your experiences and the additional information, we had become aware of. Unfortunately, as you had indicated that that matter is now in the hands of the DVSA and AA Motor Legal Assistance we would be unable to pursue the matter further from a customer services perspective as any legal correspondence from AA Motor Legal Assistance would be directed to and managed by Audi legal rather than customer services.

I believe this is also a MHEV with the 48-volt system. Please avoid unless you want to spend the rest of your life ranting on here!

Dear Richard, I wonder how many loyal British customers Audi is actively trying to lose? I attach an internal Audi bulletin that describes a warrantable manufacturing defect with the alternator. Audi should have honoured this and replaced the part on my car at no cost. I even had to pay for diagnostics. The damage to the steering arm on my car during recovery came as a direct result of the alternator failure. I had to pay for this part to be replaced as well. Other Audi customers have been provided with courtesy cars or even had hire cars paid for yet I had to go out and source myself another vehicle. I have no alternative but to approach Trading Standards and the press as Audi has failed to honour its commitments. David Fisher.

So it's a prevalent manufacturing defect that Audi Executive Office know nothing about. Luckily there are no risks involved in breaking down with this failure.

I was given an "extended" warranty after I'd already paid for the replacement myself. If it runs until the car is 7 years old it will run to exactly the same date as the 2 year guarantee on the replacement part. Therefore it was doubly pointless. Sorry I don't even have paperwork clarifying my own position. Welcome to the world of Audi. Prepare to get very angry. A lot.

Please feel free to use the reference number. Even if there's a chance your life might have been endangered by the sequence of events that unfolded for you it seems it's never going to be enough. If the replacement parts also keep failing then ultimately this isn't going to end well for someone. Luckily Audi and the DVSA know this can never happen. Until it does.

The DVSA have basically advised me that none of the things that happened to me actually did. My Audi A8 was a safe place to be and operating as it should. Maybe my failure to die was my big mistake.

Dear Mr Fisher Re: 43989; Audi, 48v alternator failed DVSA investigates safety defects within the terms of the Code of Practice on Vehicle Safety Defects (the Code), which has the support of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (as amended). The aim being to establish if the defect is a failure due to design and/or construction, which is likely to affect the safe operation of the product without warning to the user and may pose a significant risk to the driver, occupants, and others. This defect will also be common to a number of products that have been sold for use in the United Kingdom. I have now completed the review of your report and therefore can advise you of the outcome. The manufacturer advise they do not have record of identical outcomes as described in your report. They are not aware of any vehicle coming to “an immediate stop” and advise the vehicle has a warning strategy which triggers visual and acoustic warning messages. We are advised, the vehicle’s log confirms activation. Though the 48V supply may be interrupted a complete loss of 12V battery supply should not then occur and the manufacturer advise they are not aware of similar reports. Continued use may cause deactivation of systems depending on progressive 12V battery depletion. When 48V supply is lost 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. Lights and hazard lights etc should be still active at time of incident and ‘emergency call’ available. I note your comment of “power steering and steering lock had seized.” This is not a recognised outcome. The 12V battery should support steering operation in the immediacy but should all power supply be lost then the steering must remain mechanically operational as a requirement of Type approval. However more effort may be required from the driver, but again this is within Type Approval requirements. Our understanding is the vehicle meets full Type Approval requirements. I further note you comment on the steering lock. This requires a direct input and is designed to operate only after the ‘ignition’ is cycled (switched) off. Once the ‘ignition’ is recycled it is possible the lock will not release depending on received input. Similar conditions apply to the mechanical transmission lock which secures the vehicle against unintended roll away. In respect of the doors, the manufacturer advises they do not automatically fully lock and mechanical operation via the internal door handles should be possible. DVSA acknowledges your experiences but considers the evidence at this time is insufficient to support further action under the Code and will not be taking further action on this occasion. DVSA will now close your case. However, the case remains on file, and we will continue to monitor for similar reports or other evidence and review outcomes. While I appreciate you may be disappointed with the conclusion from DVSA and understand you may have expected this component to be more reliable, the serviceable life of the component is something you should address with the manufacturer. Therefore, DVSA are unable to provide any further advice on this.

Thank you for contacting us regarding Audi's 48-volt mild hybrid alternator, which is featured in various vehicles. I am sorry to hear of this situation and this very serious matter you raise. As you say such a matter sounds like this could easily cause harm or death, and it sounds like Audi are not listening to your complaint. I will raise this feedback to our researchers for their awareness and consideration.

Just shaken up a bit. I don't know if I was lucky that it wasn't the Audi!

Dear David, Thank you for getting in touch, it’s great to hear from you. We’ve received your query and one of the team will be in touch shortly to help where we can. This is normally within a day or two but in busy periods this can take us a little longer but we will get back to you.

I have sent my email to Which following the instructions provided. I have also written to a journalist for one of the Sunday papers who successfully resolved a previous issue of mine. I'm still waiting for some kind of update from the DVSA and have no idea how long that is likely to take. In other news the car I bought as a runaround while my Audi was in for repair was written off on Friday by a Balfour Beatty van driver. I've only had it two months. The costs of my original breakdown are just spiralling out of control.

This is the letter I had published in my local regional paper. I've also contacted What Car and await a response. Also waiting on the DVSA as Audi's 28-day deadline has expired. Everything seems to be moving at a glacial pace despite the urgency.

Hi Ben, I had to go through the Audi UK Chief Executive just to get £500 goodwill and still had to buy a small runaround as my local dealership couldn't offer a courtesy car and I was told it could potentially take months to fix. £500 for breaking down in a lane of live docks traffic where I could have been wiped out. But apparently it's not a known issue!!!