PBK1

Do I still have functional and safe brakes? Took the allroad out yesterday. Nothing unusual -- just running errands around town, when I noticed the ABS, ESP and suspension level warning indicator lights come on. I tried pressing the ESP button -- nothing. Tried turning the car off and restarting -- after 2 minutes the lights came on again. Has this happened to anyone else? Is the car driveable until I take it to the dealer in a couple of weeks??

QQQQuattro

"Since the ESP system works together with the ABS system, the ESP indicator light will also come on if the ABS stops operating."

And...

"Trouble in the ESP may also cause the (self-leveling suspension) warning light to remain on continuously."

So I'd think that as long as the suspension system isn't malfunctioning to the point of making the car undrivable, you can safely drive the car awhile. Keep in mind that the ESP and most importantly, ABS systems are probably inoperable. If you're driving around in snow, I'm not so sure I'd want to be without the ABS.

JBaumgart

My lights came on a couple of weeks ago, and after checking the owners manual and experiencing some weird moments when trying to brake on snow and ice, I decided to take mine in. Well, it's still there, waiting for a part which apparently are in short supply. Originally, they Fed Ex-ed the ABS braking module up from Chicago, and then quickly determined that it wasn't the source of the problem. I don't have the all of the details, which I will get when the repair is completed, but I was told that there is another module or part that controls that module, and unfortunately there are none of these available in the U.S., at least at the moment. So my car still waits at the dealer while they (hopefully) are able to quickly get one shipped over from Germany.

In the meantime I've been driving rental cars, first a Mitsu Galant, and now an Olds Aurora after the Galant was called in as the rental agency sold it. That was a bit of a break, as the Aurora is a much better (and more expensive) vehicle (however it's rather boring and is certainly no allroad!).

Kudos to Carousel Audi in Minneapolis which extended the use of a rental car to me, making an exception to their normal policy of only allowing those who purchased their cars from them this freebie. The fact that I've had our other Audi ('98 A4) serviced there for 3 1/2 years certianly helped.

As far as driving your car until you take it in, you can probably get away with it without doing further damage, but realize that in slippery conditions the car will not stop quickly. I nearly lost control a couple of times, and was driving very conservatively at the time. If you can get a substitute car to use until your's is repaired, I would go that route, especially if where you live it might snow in the meantime.

PBK1

Thanks for the reply. I'm a bit discouraged to hear that it may take several weeks for Audi to get the required replacement part, but perhaps if this is a common problem they will have already started to ship sufficient numbers to the states. Let me know if you experience any more problems after the repair, and I'll do the same. If anyone else out there has had this defect, I'd still like to hear about your experience -- especially any trouble in applying the brakes. Luckily, I'm in San Francisco (almost wrote "Frisco" -- luckily I've been reading the Forum . . .) so no snow to worry about until I head up to Tahoe. That won't bee for a few weeks, so hopefully the parts are available.

lukeT

I had this as an intermittent problem when my car was new. I was told by the garage not to drive the car as the ABS/ESP may fail and I may also end up with my brake lights not coming on. However - Audi UK and my local garage Vindis were fantastic - they loaned me their AR whilst mine was in waiting for parts - it ended up with them replacing about four modules and various sender units as Audi weren't sure what the problem was. All this was back in December 2000 so maybe they have narrowed things down a little since then. In the UK we may pay 30% more for the cars, have no free sevicing and only get a 3 year warranty but at least we get an Audi to drive when ours in is at the garage!!!