manishaudi

Was washing my car today and noticed something hanging in front of the radiator behind the front grille.

Does anyone know what it is?

For now I have secured it to the front grille. I am going to the dealer for my 5K service next week so It will definitely get fixed then

Here are some pics

BugeyeRX

Looks like the radiator took a hit as well, I'd be pissed.

darcivic00si

Yeah, it does look like a bunch of fins are bent on your radiator. I wonder what caused the damage.

ezveedub

That's the ambient temp sensor. Looks like it got knocked off by something hitting it, like road debris.

AutobahnA6

Looks like the temp sensor was swinging back and forth to cause the damage to the fins. They should replace this without any problem.

ezveedub

Can't happen. The temp sensor doesn't have any weight to it to damage the fins.

manishaudi

sensor...looks like that is what might be the cause of the damage to the radiator.

I'll have to talk with my service adviser about that

mwar99

I wouldn't think it would need to have much weight to bend fins given it would be getting blown into the fins with a 70 mph wind if you are doing that speed on the highway. Doesn't take much to bend the fins on a radiator.

ezveedub

FYI, I see these cars all day long and have been working on VAG cars for about 25+ years, including other brands. I have constantly seen customers claiming damage they cause from hitting crap and road debris. It's not warranty plain and simple. Dealerships can "goodwill" the repair, but its not a warranty defect.

If you think the fins are that week, your sadly mistaken. The bracket for the ambient temp sensor is broken. It only breaks if something hits it. If it was broken from day one, its hard to tell. If it was inspected properly on PDI and when the customer picked up the car, it would have been caught then and there. If you don't inspect your car when you pick it up brand new, then your're own your own at dealers discrepancy. Keep in mind, once a car is delivered from Audi to the dealership, it's the dealership's car, not Audi's. The dealership is paying to have that car on their lot and can do what ever they please with it.

IMO, the the car in this thread hit something in the road plain and simple.

spoon2000

That's a good one. Seriously, does anyone REALLY think that average PDI consists of anything more than removing protective coverings, washing the car, the filling the gas tank?

My car had pine tree debris around the hood hinge area and small scraps of assembly line paper in the mesh pockets on the backs of the front seats. I don't plan to hold it against the dealer because other aspects of the delivery process were very good, it was easy enough for me to remove the trash, and I know good help is hard to find, but IMO the $195 PDI fee is mostly dealer profit when you consider the actual cost of having a porter do 15 minutes of work and pumping some gas.

Back on topic, I would disagree that the loose part swinging from side to side couldn't be responsible for the bent fins. I've worked on radiators where the fins can be bent with compressed air. I would ask the dealer to put the part back where it's supposed to be and leave it at that. If you pull the radiator to replace or repair it, you risk screwing something up, dropping something on the paint, etc. and a few bent fins aren't going to affect the overall performance of the car. That's just my 2 cents.