mludes

Well I have been so satisfied with my decision to get an A4 - extremely happy with the car in every way.... until now, that is. I'm a mature, late 40s enthusiast who actually drives conservatively but still enjoys a nice sporty vehicle. After narrowing down the list for a new sport sedan, I decided on a 2007 2.0 T and got a brand new A4 7 months ago. Everything was fine until about one month ago when I noticed a slight pulsating during light to moderate braking. After a few weeks it became worse to point of going into a high frequency shimmy so I took it to the dealer I got it from. They took the car for a test drive and said I should get it back the following day. The following day I was told they had not received warranty authorization from Audi. I called Audi USA and spoke to a customer care representative who explained the brakes are not covered under my warranty because they are considered a "wear and tear" item. I never abused the brakes, never overheated them, never panic stopped, etc. I am at a loss as to how Audi can claim that a 7 month old car with 8000 miles has two warped front rotors as a result of wear and tear... I spoke again with the dealer to find out what they communicated to Audi, and they assured me they told Audi the rotors were defective. I again called Audi USA to inquire how they could overrule the dealer who actually serviced the vehicle, but they maintained that the brakes are not covered under warranty since they are a wear and tear item. Gee, I have owned over 20 different cars and none of them ever had rotor problems including the ones I drove for over 100,000 miles...
Has anyone else experienced this kind of treatment from Audi? I told Audi I will be going car shopping this weekend since I will not represent their brand any longer even if it means eating the depreciation on a 7 month old car. Ironically, just a month ago I was looking forward to trading the '07 A4 on the next generation '09 A4 - until Audi showed how little they value my loyalty.
Oh, and the dealer called late today and said Audi would reconsider, but wants me to bring the car to the dealer so they can send digital pictures of the rotors to Audi... talk about micromanagement gone awry!! What a complete farce.
Thanks, I feel better already.

saintor1

Sue them.

I had a lot of brakes problems with automatic cars. For whatever reason, I am doing Ok with my manual cars.

PDXA4

want to be a major player int he US market...

mludes

For what it's worth to anybody in the USA with similar manufacturer issues, I filed an on-line complaint form with the BBB Auto Line - but hopefully it will be resolved prior to them getting involved.

Con

They kept claiming i ripped my rearview off my car bc i wanted a new windshield.

yes.. i'm that bored i wanted a new one so i ripped off my old one..

MB The Body

if the brakes are hot and you wash your car and/or drive through puddles its possible for cold water and hot rotors to cause warping.

Unfortunately AoA and their warranty and maintenance coverages have gotten progressively worse year after year.

GermanCarBuff

I'm interested in hearing how this goes for you.

GermanCarBuff

Sorry to hear about your experience with AOA, but I can relate.

====
Our 2001.5 S4 has been a champ. Six years and 70k+ miles, no major issues (knock wood), I wish I could say the same for the Audi TT 3.2 Coupe I had.

Two and a half years 26k miles, the car had spent 42 documented days in the shop for a variety of issues, mostly electrically related. The car left me stranded four times and my pregnant wife once (while I was out of town, no less). AOA did squat for me to get out of the leased car. I was very reasonable with them, with 5 months left on the lease, I told them how I have always been a great advocate of the brand, but we no longer have confidence in the car and its safety (three times the tranny went to limp mode, causing a related accident - not me thank god) and just want another Audi vehicle.

It took my sales person and Audi North America (separate from AOA) to get out of the car an into another one. AOA did absolutely nothing for me and when I finally got things worked out with the dealer, AOA called two weeks after they said they would get back to me and said how happy they were that things had worked out (no thanks to them).

My advice, talk to the dealer and see what they can do for you. AOA is worthless from my experience.

mludes

Thanks for your post, as well as the gentleman discussing how rotors can become warped. I visited the dealer today, and he sent pictures of the rotors to Audi. I will take your advice and work with the dealer - I truly love the car. My reaction to reading the post on how rotors can become warped: I'm aware of the effect of water on hot rotors, but as I say I've owned some 20+ other cars and have done nothing differently with the Audi, nor do I know of a time when hot rotors were exposed to water - at any rate, odds are this would have occured before on another car since we all drive in rain while using the brakes. I still believe the rotors are not right and it should be covered under warranty.
Nice '06 Porsche by the way!

mludes

While shopping for a replacement for the A4 because of Audi's response to my brake problem, I decided to look at BMW. Interesting... BMW's warranty offers free routine maintenance for 48 months/50,000 miles AND covers wear and tear items during that time - specifically including brake pads and rotors... hmmm, perhaps that price difference isn't so different when you take maintenance costs into account. BMW's policy also tells me they are willing to stand behind their product.
Another item: On a routine, easy drive home today I checked the rotors and they were very very hot - perhaps there is a brake cooling problem, as I was light-footed on the brakes the entire drive home. Everything is OEM stock too. My Carrera's brakes never got this hot...