GC500

I leased my 3rd Audi a couple weeks ago - an upgrade to a 2018 Navarra Blue SQ5 (I previously owned a 2001 Manual A4 and a 2016 Q5). After having my SQ5 for only 2 days, I received Drive System Malfunction and Start/Stop Malfunction errors and the car went into Limp mode (Severely limited RPM's) on warm starts. The dealer I purchase the vehicle from, Calabasas Audi, said they couldn’t get me in for a Service appt for 5 days (Gee… thanks Audi Calabasas… wonderful way to support your new customers), so I took it to Keyes Audi in Van Nuys. It sounded like the fan control module issue noted in this forum, but the dealer said it was a bad cam rotation sensor. Actual elapsed service time was 2 hours to diagnose and replace the sensor - car was in the shop for 3.5 days.

Got the car back on Thursday, and same errors popped up again Friday AM. Dealer says errors are on the same cam sensor, so it's probably a bad pin on the ECM connection. The whole ECM now needs to be replaced, but the car has been sitting at dealer for the last few days because they are waiting on clearance from Audi TACS (Audi Technical Assistance Center) to replace the ECM. Not sure if true, but the dealer is saying Audi TACS isn't open on Mondays. Really??? I called Audi Customer Service this AM and asked if they could expedite. I was told someone would call me back... nothing so far, but we'll see.

So as of now, my new Audi SQ5 has been sitting in the shop for longer than it's been on the road. Is this an isolated incident or has quality on Audi's gone down recently? I never had problems like this with my 2001 or 2016 Audi's. And is Audi TACS really not open on Monday's? I am probably being a little too impatient, but when you buy a new car the last thing you expect is for it to be stuck in the shop.

It feels like the Audi dealers and/or Audi TACS has no sense of urgency to get my new car back to me, which I think is more frustrating than having a car needing repairs after 2 days of ownership. I always thought of Audi as a premium brand, but it sure doesn't feel like it from initial quality through to the speed at which issues can be addressed by the dealers.

Thanks for listening!

samchuang33

Bummer GC500, sorry to hear about ur troubles.

It really put a sour taste in you when ur new ride has problems during first month. It suppose to be a new car so instead of enjoying it, it is sitting in the dealership. I think the dealership should do more rather than asking ur to wait 5 days. They should give u a loaner while they fix this problem.

Hope it is a quick fix

Benzie

Really sorry to read this post. Others may know better, but having been here a couple months I can say there are not many stories like this that I have seen...none actually as it relates to the '18 SQ5. So that to me is a good sign that this is an anomaly. You sound like a very patient, agreeable person, which probably doesn't serve you well in circumstances like this. Dealerships are there to make money, and they're not going to dole it out unless they have to. Maybe if you showed some outrage and threatened to back out of the deal they would have squeezed you into the service calendar....the way this went really tweaks me - the dealership where you bought the car should have done more IMHO. If it's 5 days for an appointment they should take the car and give you a loaner, not send you out to somewhere else. You would have been well within your right to demand that, I think. Just my two cents - hope it gets fixed soon since the quick fix ship has sailed at this point.

katzjamr

I am also new to Audi and bought a Q5 in September 18. Enjoy the car and the dealer, but at 1154 miles I lost both tail lights and turn signals and was nearly rear ended on the freeway before I could get home. This is hardly as serious as engine problems but I had the same feeling of what did I get myself into with this vehicle. The honeymoon was temporarily over. Also five days to before I could get an appt with the dealer. They needed a week to get and install a new tail light assembly and did get me a new Q5 to drive. Also requested and got an alignment and a TSB for the check engine light while they had the vehicle. The Q5 loaner allowed me to compare and contrast another identical model to mine and drive more aggressively for a week. I did research this forum for weeks prior to purchase to see if there was a common problem with the updated Q and I really didn't see any other than higher cost of maintenance (german car price of admittance) and maybe some premature brake wear.

As you read through this forum you will see people with early issues that were resolved and now have reliable vehicles, save for the two with blown engines who got new engines rather than new vehicles.
I have an unproven feeling that the random problems are due to who was the weak link (not paying attention while producing the Q5) in Mexico that day. My hope is this is resolved and you have a long problem free relationship with your Audi.

GC500

SLLAuWo

Sorry to read about your car's troubles and your misery. For what it's worth, my 2018 SQ5 Prestige is now six months old, has logged 7,500 miles, and has been trouble-free.

superswiss

Sorry about the bad experience, but things happen. Somebody must have damaged the pin at the factory while connecting the sensor, but it made enough contact to pass QA. Once you drove the car with all the vibration, the contact started to go bad. This kinda stuff is nearly impossible to find during QA.

NeedMoreHP

If it makes you feel any better, I’ve had nearly 40 days in 13 months. Can’t wait to get rid of the 18!

Tonygba

samchuang33

What happened to ur ride NeedMoreHP?