parkrog2

A few wood wedges, a sawall and 1 hours hood could be opened. Then its easy to fix.
How many hours of your time have you wasted? Audi should issue a bulletin to open hood.

Mister Bally

Cool, they have a room full of Lawyers in Ingolstadt, Bavaria as well as in Herndon, Virginia waiting for your call or letter from your lawyer.

Be aware as soon as they detect you are being unreasonable, they will make your life miserable. If you bought the car new and had it maintained, there is a chance they will policy a repair, otherwise, expect maybe a $100 credit from full dealer list price for time & materials. If that.

I had a VW New Beetle have a timing belt snap before the recommended maintenance interval. I had it towed to an Indy shop as the warranty was past the time and mileage. The indy asked me a few questions about had I bought it new (yes, I did), do I have maintenance records(yes), how many VW's/Audis have I owned (lots)etc. He called me back and said he called the VW area representative and that the closest dealer was going to pick the car up and rebuild the engine Gratis for being a loyal customer. I did not even ask for it. Saved me at least $5k.

They earned a customer for life. Also, that's another reason I buy OEM parts all the time.

allenst

Bally you are at times useful and lately a boorish idiot.

Yes the little guy is up against the billion dollar corporation, but no need for your smug and rude post. Just screw off instead.

He has trouble with the car as is frustrated. He doesn't need another condesending audi jerk belittling him.

If Audi gives a crap they will listen to him and give him more than a $100 credit.

Try sticking to your Tech Guru label and not your TMZ responses.

Mister Bally

I think the help I give out here far outweighs my "TMZ Responses".

Let's see how Audi "gives a crap" about older vehicles. Maybe you can help all of us A8 owners and file a complaint under the TREAD Act. Since I fixed my hood cable snap issue for the parts cost of about $50.00 That's about all I could expect to get back under a settlement.

Go screw off yourself.

mishar

That kind of language is not welcomed here.

Besides that Mister Bally is right and in this case, just like in all other cases, very helpful. Much more than some Yes Man support.

allenst

the hook latch disengages when I pull on hood release.
I have to push it back down manually now so as to not get hood open light on.

so the cable is not broken afterall. it releases the latch.
so why is was locked tight and unable to release before I cut it, i am not sure why.

JNA

Let's all take a deep breath! Yes, I will admit, some of my recent posts were those of a VERY frustrated owner venting. Yes, I've talked to my attorney. Hard not to as he is one of my best friends and a fellow German car owner who has also suffered from Teutonic over engineering. Will I sue. Probably not. The dealer tried their very best and I appreciate their efforts regardless of cost. Is it the dealers fault they didn't know how to solve this problem? I'm not going to throw the dealer under the bus for Audi's design negligence. I will however aggressively pursue Audi for their participation in the final cost I incur to once again open the hood of the car they designed and built.

The body shop that has her now has also gone above and beyond the call. I'll have their solution tomorrow but it seems something will need to be sacrificed. Do I now wish I had tried the Sawsall method when the passenger side latch would release? Yes, and no. Yes in that I believe I have now come up with a method of protecting the car from the blade in the hands of a novice. No in that I have no idea how much secondary damage I might have caused.

Everyone here has been most helpful and I appreciate greatly the guidance. But the bottom line in my mind is Audi must be held responsible for their design and engineering decisions. I will fight this fight and report my success, or failure.

Question: is there a way to get to the damn latches by sacrificing the grill to either cut the loops or unbolt them or to break the plastic finger in the latch itself. Several people have suggested this method (and I like the S8 grill).

Again my thanks to all.

ltooz_a6_a8_q7

The 2 latches are in small enclosed boxes. Everything else is covered. If you are going to cut a hole in the grill, you got stuck with the radiator to even go to the top. The only way you can open from the front is by the way MR. Bally showed you, but you have to have at least a little room to stick a screw driver of some sort through.
How many people here have sawed off the hooks? 10 minutes and I don't hear any damages? Or may be they don't want to show?

Cheers,

Louis

allenst

what makes me cry and lol is that such a discussion is even happening ! It's a pure and simple design flaw. Best post ever on topic was he who fixed a backup line within the wheel-well. It's not a coffin Audi ! for gods sake ! once sealed never to be opened again.

Mister Bally does have a method posted. It's precise. It assumes you have almost infinite hours to fiddle so as not to put a blade in a sawall.

You can also have someone depress rapidly over top of the latch while you pull the release.

You can try and release the latch from underneath the headlight reaching towards the magic black box with elfin hands.

You can take a new 10" bi-metal blade and cut the square lock out. 15 seconds. no damage. $3 replacement piece.

Now you can choose your method and camp.
All I can say is I fixed my issue in under 1 hour for $3. without cosmetic damage

allenst

I sawed hooks no damage.
tell me how to post pics I I will right away.