AudiA4Fan2004

Well I thought I would leave a message to the Audi community about a recent issue I had with my Audi were my warranty was denied. Here is how the stories goes. The check engine light went on in my 2002 A4 3.0 Quattro Friday of last week. So I called the Audi dealer were I always get my car serviced and they told me that they could probably not work on it, but they could at least scan the code to see what the problem was. After an hour the service guy came back with a faulty catalytic converter analysis. So I asked when could they fix it and they told me that they could not fix it as I have since put on a after market exhaust system (Thermal) which could have caused the issue. I then proceded to explain to the service guy that I had the other cataytic converter on the other side go bad at 33k with the stock exhaust and now the other side is going bad with the aftermarket exhaust, so how is the exhaust causing this. No answer other than you have an aftermarket exhaust. So I went on my way home rather pissed off. On Monday of this week I contacted David from Eurocode tuning who I purchased the exhaust from to explain the situation and he explained to me that there is no such way that a exhaust system could cause a catalytic converter to go bad. He further explained that Audi could not deny me of my service underneath my warranty on the basis of the use of an aftermarket part by law. So I also decided to contact Thermal direct which Sherin (sorry if I mispelled) helped me out gratefully in pointing me to SEMA. On SEMA's website I was able to find information regarding "warranty denied." From this I was pointed to the Magnuson Moss Warranty act which they have highlighted some key issues here about aftermarket parts. So I decided now I have some fuel and I proceded to call Audi of America's customer service to file a formal complaint against the dealership. They told me they would contact the dealer and get back to me by today. So today I recieved a call from Audi and they told me that the dealer has concluded that the exhaust is a violation of warranty and that the catalytic converter will not be covered. I made my argument about the one going bad at 33k on the opposite side with stock exhaust and the one going bad on the other side with aftermarket exhaust at 44k, but they still responded that it was not covered. So I called Thermal and told Sherin about this and she told me to call SEMA. I called SEMA and was given the number to their legal council in Washington, D.C. I spoke with a gentleman there who gave me some information and told me to contact a emissions expert in California, which I did. I explained my situation and he also agreed that the exhaust would not cause the catalytic converter to go bad and he pointed me to the Clean Air Act. Which basically the EPA states that your catalytic converter is covered for 8 years/80,000 miles of defects. It also states that you can use non oem parts as well. I called back Audi customer care about this issue and explained again. The person said "hold let me check the law. Ok you are not covered still."

It appears to me and I will let you make your own analysis that Audi does not know what the hell they are talking about or at least these in the words of Michael Bolton of Office Space "*** Clowns" do not know what they are talking about and the law of which they speak. I could pursue this further with bringing them to court and I feel I would most likely win, but it's probably not worth it. My true feelings are that individuals at dealers although sometimes bright do not know the laws and procede to interpet things in whatever way they feel fit. Although Audi may be able to deny me warranty on their own warranty I do not feel they can deny the EPA law as they are required by Federal Law and only can deny me on the basis that the part caused the converter to go bad. Ff building brand loyalty is a goal of this dealership and the customer service group at Audi than they have failed miserably. Unfortunalty, I will probably never own another Audi again as a result of this treatment. I am not saying this is how all dealers would have handled this, but this is just how I was treated. I truly hope that no one else has to deal with this kind of crap.

A4Jared

just buy a test pipe and be done with it.

bhvrdr

That sucks, and it's an unfortunate lesson in real world street law. What are your plans?

USP

Sorry to hear. Probably not worth it to persue either.

FoKai

had the same problem with my cat (cleared the dtc but it would come back after a few days) but it was replaced by my audi center; the service tech did state that emissions was covered under warranty; even after i told them i had a non-oem exhaust. Hang in there. Heck if you press hard enough, it may become another "coilpack issue" that was subsequently corrected.

emerson

We are all well aware of the warranty risks we take when we put aftermarket parts on our cars. That doesn't mean that I don't think that you are right and they should replace it, I am just saying that you shouldn't be too surprised. It's not necessarily Audi's fault either but more your dealer so try not to hate on Audi too much. They still make the best cars around and it could have happened this way no matter what you were driving. Try another dealer. Good luck!

floorit

This happened to my cousin but was on a VW. On her 00 V6 Passat with 40000 miles the transmission went, dealer replace. 2 months later went out again, dealer replaced it. Then went out again, they replaced it again. She moved from Omaha to Boston. The transmission went out again outside of Omaha. She didn't want to put up with the dealer, hitched on a uhaul to chicago. Dealer in Chicago replaced transmission. They hitched the car again and the transmission went out in Boston while driving the car around the block.
VW this time claimed that it was the owners fault. She is 26 years old and has no clue about cars. VW made bs claims that the car was salvaged and had major front end replaced. Complete BS again. Then an independent mechanic found out that when installing transmissions all the previous dealers kinked the coolant hose for transmission fluid causing the failure. They video taped it all. Showed the evidence to VW and they still denied it all. Until they called someone at head office, not customer service. The person personally looked at the car and determined VW owed her a new car for all the prior ****. She got a 03 VW Passat W8.
VW and Audi are FULL OF ****. Don't listen to their half *** customer service and dealers.

PuRe

and had no luck. Try another dealer. Unfortunately, your file has probably been flagged and the next dealer in line will likely uphold the same decision.

This may be a battle that's not worth fighting. Get a testpipe or a hybrid that won't throw a CEL. In the future, take your car to another local dealer (if possible) as your current dealer is obviously not mod friendly.

good luck.

DRoOpY

Damn, that sucks. I'd fight it just on principle and to set precedent for others

DLSJ5

Good luck to you.