Audi_Nightmare

Nightmare Audi experience.

This is going to be quite a long post, but I needed to vent somewhere. - ( scroll to the bottom for TLDR)

I leased a ‘24 Q8 Etron prem + back in August, using Audi financial as the bank (of course). I took delivery of said vehicle August 28th, and had it not more than 48 hours before something went wrong with the vehicle. No matter what I did the vehicle would not connect to MyAudi or any sort of satellite/data connection. I was confused and reached out to the salesperson and he attempted to and failed to troubleshoot the issue.
For whatever reason I notice the SOS light next to the sunroof control was blinking red, which seemed odd so I asked about that. Promptly told to bring in the car the next day and have them check it out and should be a quick fix/reset. NOPE.

September 1st, day one in the service center, they gave me a Q5 loaner (i had asked for electric loaner but they said no…oh well). The loaner was supposed to be short term anyways. Flash forward the weekend and they still haven’t been able to diagnose the issue, which has me a bit worried but they assure me that the problem will be resolved within the week. NOPE.

September 13th, the issue has not be fixed and the service dept. reaches out to Audi and escalates the case. Which apparently did nothing lol. I’m starting to question why they cannot figure it out and the service department is unsure themselves. Reassuring. Then I get 0 replies for an entire week until they say they cannot figure it out and need a specialized tech to be flown out to find the solution. Radio silence for another week. I’m fed up so I march on down the dealership demanding answers. I get a nice GM who spewed a bunch of nonsense about how “Audi is an amazing company, they will make this right trust me, the customer comes first” etc. Total bull****. I say that they have 1 week to figure out the issue or I want out of the lease / be given a new vehicle. They say okay. A week goes by and nothing changes so at this point my options are: A). Annoying the **** out of the dealership until they make a solution for me

or, B). Pursue lemon law on the vehicle as it’s been much more than 15 days for this brand new car.
At first they tell me I have to suck it up and wait for the car to be fixed before they’re willing to compensate me in any way. So option B, I reach out to a lemon law attorney who sends a statement to the Audi corporate office.

One. Day. Later. GM from the dealership calls saying Audi will buy back the vehicle from me and they’ll replace it. (**** you Audi, four times). I agree this would be much easier and express my frustration that they decide this one and a half months later.

So for the next 3 weeks I wait for a call from
(for sake of privacy i’m going to use a fake name) Kathy. Im starting to believe Kathy is not a real person, she must be made up and so I go back to the attorney whom I contacted previously and begin collecting proof for the case. Ironically Kathy calls the very next day giving me the run down on the buyback offer, and then requests a whole bunch of info/documentation that is inside my car which has been inside the dealership for 2+ months
It’s now November, the paperwork is finally completed and signed to begin the buyback process. Another 2 1/2 weeks go by, and finally I’m contacted again that I can pick up my check for the down payment + registration + up front expenses and then sign even more paperwork to now “officially” request a buyback from Audi Financial. So the past month of waiting wasn’t even the end!

November 22nd, I go to the dealership and fill out more of this paperwork and am told that I’m all set and no longer liable. LIES!
After being put on hold every single time i’ve called. I have given up with this horrendous company. Every single call to customer support has only made my hatred stronger.

It’s now December 12th, and Audi Financial, the company of asshats, has not closed my account.
So, I still have an ‘24 Audi Q8 etron prem+ in my name. I haven’t driven the car since September 1st.

Audi, I despise you, your customer service team, your financial department, and every stupid ring of your goddamn logo.

Sincerely,

A former Audi fan.


TLDR; fell in love with and leased Q8 etron in August, had issue 2 days into ownership. It’s now December and Audi still has not resolved said issue!

Mythdoc

There’s so much unrealistic entitlement in this post I don’t know where to begin. I could say “sorry you got a lemon” but no one can be as sorry and aggrieved as you are for yourself. You were unlucky to get a flawed car and then made your own life and anyone who talked to you about it miserable.

Lemons happen in the car business, which is why lemon laws exist. Buybacks take time. That is not to excuse anyone who wasted your time or made statements that weren’t true. Marching in and demanding answers is how you get your $100 item at Costco replaced. It is not now you get work done on your car.

I hope you have better luck on your next car purchase.

kelisko

@Audi_Nightmare Thanks for sharing your story. I feel your pain and I support you 100%. The line below is exactly how I too feel about the brand right now and to be honest I laughed when I read it.

kelisko

Unrealistic entitlement? Anyone deserves good service even if the product is bad and may require buy-back. He was treated like trash. He is absolutely right to feel this way.

PunsGalore

After my Q7, I will be going to BMW or Porsche - I don’t feel the build quality or design of the cars is as good as it were let’s say 5+ years ago