CBE B8 S4

2011 S4 Prestige, bought CPO with 29k miles:

So I brought my S4 in for the 35k Audi Care service. In addition to this service I asked the service rep to investigate a rare occurrence of the clutch slipping during spirited driving shifts from 2-3 and 3-4. I have seen others with similar issues, it seems to be either the crappy flywheel we have or possibly some oil leaking from an input seal. I described the symptoms I experienced and asked the dealer to investigate.

The dealer calls me to give a status update on the service when they informed me the car has thrown up a flag that says the ECU was flashed and any drivetrain related issues would no longer be covered. I am familiar with how this works which is why I did not intend to perform any ECU mods until my warranty was out. To put it lightly I am furious that I was sold a car which was CPO and would hold the CPO warranty only to now be informed that this is not the case. How was this not discovered during the CPO inspection/certification process.

A little background, I had the car in at the same dealership a few months earlier for a EPC light which turned out to be a random misfire. Why would this flag for the ECU mods just now come up?

Are VCDS programming changes considered ECU modifications and carry the same flag as an ECU flash? After searching the forum, I don't think this is the case.

Can anyone please advise on how I should go about handling this situation? I have called Audi Customer Relations and I started a claim/case with the dealership I bought the car from and with the dealer it is currently at.

dltl

You did the right thing by contacting AOA. I don't have any advice for you, but I'm glad I'm having an Audi shop foreman, I know, review all the VINs for the CPO S4's I've been watching.

I think this is just a hiccup and a complete mistake on their part to CPO such a car, so I hope you get your repairs complete and covered 100%.

Good luck.

FBO 335i

That's BS! I would be pissed too in your situation. I bought my S4 CPO as well and I fully expect to get all warranty covered. I would try another dealer? Or keep on raising hell with AOA since you bought it CPO'ed and did not do any ECU tune. They should of disclosed that to you before you bought the car and if the drivetrain warranty wasn't even valid, you could of got the car much cheaper or wouldn't even bought it.

Curious, do you have done any other mods?

Good luck..keep us posted..

CBE B8 S4

I am very pleased with the dealer other than this incident. They are very mod friendly and support me doing whatever I want to the car aside from the ECU tuning. The way they described it to me, Audi pulls these codes as soon as the car is hooked up so it is out of their control. They have been accommodating to my situation, I am pissed at the dealer who sold it to me after performing the CPO inspection.

The only things I have done so far is an AWE air filter, AWE pedals and some VAG mods.

I am waiting for AOA to call me tomorrow with an update after they look into the situation. Depending on the result and what they tell me, I may contact my attorney and go after the dealer who sold me the car.

iNfiNkC

Man that sucks, did you know at the time when you bought the car it was chipped? I just bought a 2010 from a dealer that was chipped, they were actually going to let me get an extended warranty with the chip in it, and were willing to write in the contract that the car was sold chipped.

RickFLS4

I didn't post here, but I have a thread in the A6/S6 forum on AZ about CPO. I don't think dealers always know that much about the cars they certify. My previous A6 was involved in an accident last summer. $25K damage, 4 mos. repair. No frame damage, but pillar and right quarter post replaced, as was most of passenger side and front suspension. I traded it in, but the dealer wouldn't certify, the car didn't sell and it went to auction. A dealer in Atlanta picked it up at auction, certified and sold it.

Dealers can pick up cars up at auction and certify even if they don't know much about the car, even if it was in an accident and even if another Audi dealer doesn't certify (as long as there is nothing really extreme like frame damage or title problems). It seems odd they didn't catch the TD1 sooner but it doesn't surprise me that much given how low I think the bar is set in the CPO process. I don't think CPO car selection / inspections / certifications are nearly as rigorous as marketed.

CBE B8 S4

I had no idea that the car was chipped when I bought it. I assumed that since it was CPO and it undergoes Audi's crazy inspection process, it would not pass with a modified ECU.

I am now being told from the dealer that Audi released some new software that actively scans cars which are connected for service to identify if they have ECU mods. He informed me that Audi implemented this system and never let the dealerships know so it could have become active at any time. He suspected that this may not have been in place when they did the CPO inspection, so it would never register. He can't even tell me if the car is currently flashed/modded! Something smells in this whole situation.

StasisS4

That auto scanning has been implemented for close to a year now. It wouldn't surprise me if they didn't scan the car, some dealers are known for doing BS inspections.

I briefly looked at a CPO'd 2012 car with a Stasis ECU which technically can't even exist. It would be unreal if you could have them perform warranty work while tuned until 120,000km.

CBE B8 S4

Is there any way to know if they didn't scan the car during the CPO inspection? I still received the car with documentation saying it was warrantied per CPO and still covered under Audi Care, its not my problem if they didn't do a complete . I can see this whole thing panning out and them accusing me of flashing the ECU.

DrGP

It is my understanding that a Tuned car cannot be CPO'd. But that would not stop some dealers from doing so. Is it possible that the original owner who had the car tuned, had the car reflashed back to stock specs and the dealer was initially unaware? (Just trying to give the dealer the benefit of the doubt) Vag com changes do not void the warranty. My Audi service manager friend has told me that once they hook the car up to their computer, it automatically searches for any tunes and automatically sends the info to AOA. Dealer has no leeway as to whether to report it or not. Also wondering if they had any info on the slipping clutch problem . I have experienced major clutch slippage(and burning) when shifing 1/2 in Dynamic under WOT