psr

I was visiting Germany last week and stopped at a garage (part of a large chain) to get my wheels balanced. They jacked up the car but did not use jack mode and when they handed the car back the suspension warning light was on and the car was not level. I took at carefully to the nearest Audi dealer as directed in the manual.

They Audi dealer immediately told me it was because the tyre shop had not used jack mode. By this time the car was very lopsided. The initial diagnosis was was one blown shock absorber, but when they got to work it also needed a mounting and a new control unit. The total cost was 1,500 euros, which I will be taking steps to recover from the tyre shop (they didn't even make a good job of balancing the wheels).

I've read the posts on here from people saying they jack the car without using jack mode and suffer no ill effects. However, I'd say it's got to be worth making the effort of pressing the two buttons on the dash for 5 secs.

ar2002

...but sometimes wonder if the service people drive it too fast so at to unset the jack mode. So far no problems.

I suspect many shops, especially tire shops, no nothing of the jack mode so it's best to set it yourself.

Rally_nutcase_1982

Thanks for the heads-up and good luck dealing with this tire shop to recover the money. The laws are a bit different in Germany so maybe it would be good to get some advise from one of the Automobile Organizations like ADAC or DEKRA.
They do have legal departments and can advise you how to approach this challenge before a lawyer eats your money.
The tire shop may have a disclosure mandate which requires for you to disclose special circumstances like for the allroad, they'll simply say we had no idea and it is your responsibility to tell us.
Good Luck!

allgood

Is jack mode critical when putting the car on a lift as well?

MUDI

IF the wheels are not supported, yes

dangerman

I wonder if my suspension woes were caused by a car jacking...

pyite20v

How do you put it in jack mode? how do you get it out?

Rally_nutcase_1982

Ouh....another lost Manual...push both buttons (up/down) for about 5 seconds to get in or out J-Mode

fdew

I tape a copy of that page from the manual to the stearing wheel

Frank