jmweez

The Audi apologists are really taking this personal.

Benzie

As long as your needs are being met, I wouldn't invest the mental energy of worrying too much. You're leasing the car anyway, and warranty will still be in effect no matter what. If things don't get sorted after more time....I would word the request as - can you lease me a different SQ5, than - can you replace my vehicle....because it's not your vehicle, really, and the wording sounds more reasonable.

GC500

@Benzie Good advice. Thank you!

GC500

Quick update… My service adviser is on vacation this week but I received a call this evening from the Service manager on the status of my vehicle, which I really appreciated. Long story short, they replaced the Cam Adjuster which resolved the original camshaft position error codes, but they say that now the engine is throwing a new fault on the other side of the motor! The manger didn’t have the specific error code in front of him, but I believe he said it is timing related. I believe the original error was on the driver’s side / exhaust. They’re pretty stumped and will be consulting with Audi engineering again in the AM. I should get another update from the dealer tomorrow.

On the Audi of America side, I got a stock sounding e-mail from the Audi Customer Resolution and Retention team on Monday (not from a specific person – just from a general Audi Customer Resolution and Retention team e-mail address) indicating that their next step in terms of my request to have them replace the vehicle was to contact the dealership to obtain my service records. Other than that, I’ve heard nothing from Audi.

Frustrated.

StickyAK

That will be a short list of records.
Just out of curiosity - do lemon laws typically cover leased vehicles?
And... does your state have a lemon law? If so, what does the lemon law of your state say?
No matter what the opinion of the forum members or anyone else are - Audi USA has to comply with the Lemon Law.
These laws aren't to punish the automaker - they are to help the consumer get what they paid for - a new car.

GC500

CA Lemon Law covers both purchased and leased vehicles. A car is presumed to be a "Lemon" if within 18 months or 18k mi you meet certain criteria.The criteria that would put me over the edge so to speak would be four or more attempts to repair the same warranty problem (though in some cases can be 2 or 3) or the vehicle has been out of service for more than a cumulative total of 30 days. On Monday it will be 3 weeks since the car was first dropped off for service, so I am well on my way to that mark.

However, I am hoping Audi will be kind enough to not let it drag out that long. I am not asking for compensation. I am only asking they swap me into an equivalent new - working - vehicle since the one I leased was only in my possession for 2 days before the engine started throwing error codes. It doesn't inspire confidence for a resolution any time soon when the dealer is saying they have no idea why the engine is behaving the way it is after they have already replaced the cam sensor, replaced the ECM (or reprogrammed it - the dealer has given me inconsistent info about this) and most recently replaced the cam adjuster.

BFN949

You are an amazingly patient person! I can't imagine how frustrated you must be by now. This just goes to show that brand-loyalty is an emotional thing that only exists in the minds of owners/drivers. To the manufacturers, it is simply a business. Vehicle manufacturers get away with murder and that could only be the result of this emotional ownership-loyalty-nonsense most owners have (including me - I am more guilty of this than most). Imagine buying a food processor and upon arrival at home, you discover that the motor is dead. You will immediately return the item and insist on a replacement. Getting it fixed, will not be acceptable. This should apply even more to an item which is a thousand times more expensive than a food processor. No other industry gets away with what the motor-industry does. And that applies throughout the world.

GC500

Deja Vu. Repairing dealer says they’re going to try replacing another cam adjuster and the earliest I can expect to receive the vehicle back is end of next week since parts won’t arrive until Wed. This is exactly what transpired at the end of last week.

@BFN949 I don’t think I have any choice but to be patient, though I am certainly very unhappy about the situation. Not the best experience I have to admit.

By the end of next week I’ll be close to meeting the Lemon Law criteria for my state. Once I get past that point, I won’t hesitate to pursue legal remedies if necessary. That's a last resort.

Hopefully it won’t come to that and Audi will step up and do what’s right. For now, I am at the mercy of Audi and letting my request to them run its course through their corporate process.

I do feel like the dealer repairing the vehicle (Keyes Audi) is doing all they can, and is genuinely trying to get the vehicle fixed for me ASAP.

As far as the dealer that sold me the vehicle (Audi of Calabasas - DCH Auto Group)… I have been in touch with their GM. He’s apologetic but says there’s not much they can do. Salesperson (who is a good guy honestly) said…“Since your car isn't here for us to assess and follow procedure for scenarios like this and us being a third party, meaning we aren't the repair center your car is at we would be un-able to call and argue your case on your behalf. It is because of privacy rules we have to abide by from the manufacturer.”

I have no reason to believe they’re being dishonest here, and so I’ve offered to have the vehicle towed to their shop if that would help them to facilitate some resolution with Audi.

floridaman100

This is a very interesting thread and I am glad I read it. I was going to purchase a Q5 but after reading this and other consumer reviews on this car I think I will move on. Some of the posts on here in response to GC500 simply are mind boggling. This person has been put through a ringer because Audi isn't competent and could care less about the customer. I would have asked for a new car as well. There is a law that many people aren't aware of and that is the Magnuson Moss law which was passed by Congress over 25 years ago. In short Audi by law must get your car fixed while it is under warranty. If they can't fix a problem or in the GC500 case they are in violation of the law. I went through a situation with a BMW and finally because of their refusal to address it I retained an attorney that specializes in warranty issues with cars. It din't cost me a penny and he got his fee from settlement with BMW. I would seriously consider pursuing this avenue if Audi doesn't get your issues resolved. Make sure you have everything in writing in great detail. Based on what I have read from the reviews of a Q5 I will not be purchasing this car. It is also manufactured in Mexico and most of the parts are from Mexico including the engine. Nothing against Mexico but having an engine that is produced there doesn't sit well with me.

heisnuts

The problem with this approach is there is not a car manufacture out there that does not have this exact type of scenario. Like others have said here, every car manufacture has vehicles that need major repairs very soon after delivery, and sometimes even before delivery to the first customer. In every one of those cases, the manufacture is going to want to repair the car and return it to the customer rather than exchanging it for another vehicle due to the huge depreciation hit they (meaning the manufacture) would take by exchanging the vehicle. So while the dealership and phone center for the manufacture will try to be compassionate about the situation, the last thing they will want to do is an exchange of the vehicle.

To me the most important criteria on a new car purchase is finding a car I like the most. When I ordered my S5 last year, Audi by far had the best product out there for me. No other new car out there had AWD, HUD, Virtual Cockpit, Adaptive Cruise, Performance Exhaust, and a 0-60 time under 5 seconds for anywhere near a $65K price tag. Now that I have had it for a year now, I can honestly say this has been the most fun car yet, and this includes the 2005 Corvette I ordered brand new and I thought I would always have a Corvette from then on (even the new C7 Corvette does not have all that the S5 offers and it costs more than the S5 with a service department that makes even the OP's story here look like a blessing by comparison). If I bypassed Audi just because of a story like this one, I would really only be hurting myself.

Now I completly understand the fustration the OP has here, and I must say I would not be happy about having my new car being torn apart to repair something right out of the gate. However, after calming down about it I might look at it this way....

1) I am fortunately leasing the car so in three years I will have the option of handing back the keys and walking away if I did not have confidence in the car at that point
2) Over the next three years I will be certinaly be able to see if there was any further problems related to the repair (which would be covered under warranty).
3) I have been putting miles on a loaner car over the past month rather than my leased car that has a mileage cap

I have a suggestion for the OP. I would first wait to see how this repair turns out. I would expect that the car comes back to me clean and undamaged with all of the error lights taken care of by the repair. Assuming that happens, rather than expending the time, effort and expense of fighting for a buyback (which can be considerable), I would be looking to AoA and/or my selling dealer to make this right by either covering one months lease payment and/or giving me an Audi Care policy that would cover my maintenance expense for the lease period (or until 5 years/50K if i purchased the car after the end of the lease). Assuming the repair takes care of everything, I really think this would be a win win for all parties involved.