revisiTTed

April 11, 2008


Audi TT Instrument Cluster Settlement Adminstrator
P.O. Box 127
Windsor, CT 06095

Your Honor:

I write this letter to you today with several concerns regarding the operation of my Instrument Cluster for my 2000 Audi TT 1.8T Coupe. While my failing instrument cluster has exceeded the six-year in-service date window, there are several issues that I wish to address that pose verifiable safety issues.

I have been in ownership of my Audi since 2003. Through this time this special car has provided me with great joy driving such a unique vehicle. After one year of ownership however, among many mechanical issues with the car that this particular design unfortunately commonly has, my instrument cluster started to fail. The first notice of the failure was on a road trip from Lake Tahoe Nevada back to Oregon. When I turned the car off and back on, I noticed the date and time were set back to the manufacture date and the time displayed 12:00p.m. Of course I thought this to be a little strange, and at the time did not think much of it and took it as a one-time event. Not so! Since that day, the cluster never has kept correct function in this area in the very least. I hoped that changing the battery might help, but to no avail. Several years have passed since the first occurrence of the instrument cluster failure, and shall I say the problems have quantified with the instrument cluster. Sometimes the cluster will not come on at all, or pixels missing in the display, gauge needles reading incorrectly or remaining completely dead, and all other vital driver information inaccurately reading. In addition, since the cluster does not come on frequently, the mileage has been held back and thusly what mileage I have displayed when the cluster is on is certainly not the total mileage! Whether or not obtaining correct mileage through the OBD port is possible is unknown at this stage. Now when I have to resell the car, my success purely falls within disclosing my misfortune with a faulty instrument cluster, should I ever decide to sell my car. It would be up to whomever purchasing my car to read me as an honest person. However, I do have data from Audi currently protecting my character. All of the above issues were verified by my local Audi Service Dealer (instrument cluster function check dated April 11, 2008 at Sunset Imports East Portland, Oregon) and their findings suggest that a complete instrument cluster replacement is definitely needed.

I do have to add that among many parts of the car contributing to the safety of the driver, the instrument cluster is a vital link to safe driving. In my estimation, the instrument cluster is about as important as needing an instrument cluster to fly an airplane. It is nothing short of a miracle that to this day I have not received a citation from local police for exceeding posted speed regulations, merely due to the fact that I did not have a fully functioning instrument cluster to tell me what my speed was. In addition to that, fuel display is a critical function of the cluster, and suffice to say that I have come close to running out of fuel due to the instrument cluster not functioning. Once again, this is a vital safety issue. I won't go into further details of other critical safety information that the instrument cluster contains, as I hope that my point is well noted.

While my instrument cluster is out of the 6 year in-service window, it is my feeling that even given these restrictions on what Audi and the class action law suit deem as a fair settlement extending the warranty for a free repair, it is quite otherwise in my opinion that this lawsuit should cover far beyond that give the nature of the critical safety information that drivers of this vehicle heavily are dependant on, and rightfully so I might add. Limiting the amount of instrument clusters replaced to the in-service date is not an area that can be taken lightly, in light of the issues I present with driver safety concerns. I agree that it is my responsibility to take proper care of my vehicle before I get behind the wheel, but I also believe that the manufacture should stand behind their product. I think it is pretty common knowledge here that Audi has continued to manufacture an instrument cluster of faulty design, and have not taken proper steps to see fit that each and every driver is safe behind the wheel. Once again here, the safety issue is my biggest issue. I do not feel that I should contribute any funds to my local service department for a faulty part that has continued to fail, or function in limited fashion at best. It is my hope that Audi indeed does care about my safety. How I or others drive the vehicle is quite another issue, but the key factor at hand is having the ability to know what the illustrated information is telling me how my car is functioning. It is my knowledge that a similar and successful lawsuit was established in the United Kingdom. It is my hope that the legal procedure appointed to Charles D. Marshall of Green Welling LLP will have similar results and satisfy not only those that fall in the in-service window, but also to those that are out of the in-service window, or those that have yet to purchase an Audi TT and have no knowledge of the out of pocket costs they may have to cough up for a poorly designed instrument cluster, which, Audi is fully aware of.


Sincerely,


Scott J. Sullivan
Audi TT owner since 2003

TTBella

I like it, slip my name in there as well : )

dkelly

and mine good job

ArTT Vandelay

If you are going to use words like "quantified" please use them correctly. Please check your grammar throughout the document. The last paragraph is a bit confusing structurally, etc.

In short, I would ask someone other than us to proofread for you.

revisiTTed

as I want this letter to impact/convince.

revisiTTed

April 11, 2008


Audi TT Instrument Cluster Settlement Adminstrator
P.O. Box 127
Windsor, CT 06095

Your Honor:

I write this letter to you today with several concerns regarding the operation of my Instrument Cluster for my 2000 Audi TT 1.8T Coupe. While my failing instrument cluster has exceeded the six-year in-service date window, there are several issues that I wish to address that pose verifiable safety issues.

I have been in ownership of my Audi since 2003. Through this time, I have had great joy driving such a unique vehicle. After one year of ownership however, among many mechanical issues with the car that this particular design unfortunately commonly has, my instrument cluster started to fail. The first notice of failure was on a road trip from Lake Tahoe Nevada back to Oregon. When I turned the car off and back on, I noticed the date and time were set back to the manufacture date and the time displayed 12:00p.m. Of course I thought this to be a little strange, and at the time did not think much of it and took it as a one-time event. Not so! Since that day, the cluster never has kept correct function in this area in the very least. I hoped that changing the battery might help, but to no avail. Several years have passed since the first occurrence of the instrument cluster failure, and shall I say the problems have increased significantly. Sometimes the cluster will not come on at all; pixels missing in the display; gauge needles reading incorrectly or remaining completely dead, and all other vital driver information inaccurately reading. In addition, since the cluster does not come on frequently, the mileage has been held back and thusly what mileage I have displayed when the cluster is on is certainly not the total mileage! Whether or not obtaining correct mileage through the OBD port is possible is unknown at this stage. All of the above issues were verified by my local Audi Service Dealer (instrument cluster function check dated April 11, 2008 at Sunset Imports East Portland, Oregon) and their findings suggest that a complete instrument cluster replacement is definitely needed.

I do have to add that among many parts of the car contributing to the safety of the driver, the instrument cluster is a vital link to safe driving. In my estimation, the instrument cluster is about as important as needing an instrument cluster to fly an airplane. It is nothing short of a miracle that to this day I have not received a citation from local police for exceeding posted speed regulations, merely due to the fact that I did not have a fully functioning instrument cluster to tell me what my speed was. In addition to that, fuel display is a critical function of the cluster, and on several occassions have come close to running out of fuel due to the faulty readouts. Once again, this is a vital safety issue. I won't go into further details of other critical safety information that the instrument cluster contains, as I hope that my point is well noted.

While my instrument cluster is out of the 6 year in-service window, it is my feeling that even given these restrictions on what Audi and the class action law suit deem as a fair settlement by extending the warranty for a free repair, it is quite otherwise in my opinion that this lawsuit should cover far beyond the extended in-service date replacement limits. Surely there are hundreds, if not thousands of future Audi TT's that will have a failed cluster, yet will not have had the cluster replacement free of charge through this Class Action Lawsuit. I agree that it is my responsibility to take proper care of my vehicle before I get behind the wheel, but I also believe that the manufacture should stand behind their product. Audi recalled the TT for a redesign of the front suspension. This was done post an incident with a driver fatality that was due to a poorly designed front suspension and absence of a rear spoiler. My point here is to correlate safety related issues with this particular car. I think it is pretty common knowledge here that Audi has continued to manufacture an instrument cluster of faulty design, and have not taken proper steps to see fit that each and every driver is safe behind the wheel. Once again here, safety is my biggest issue. I do not feel that I should contribute any funds to my local service department for a faulty part that has continued to fail, or function in limited fashion at best. It is my hope that Audi indeed does care about my safety. How others or I drive the vehicle is quite another issue, but the key factor at hand is having the ability to know what the illustrated information is telling me how my car is functioning. It is my knowledge that a similar and successful lawsuit was established in the United Kingdom. It is my hope that the legal procedure appointed to Charles D. Marshall of Green Welling LLP will have similar results and satisfy not only those that fall in the in-service window, but also to those that are out of the in-service window, or those that have yet to purchase an Audi TT and have no knowledge of the out of pocket costs they may have to cough up for a poorly designed instrument cluster, which Audi is fully aware of.


Sincerely,


Scott J. Sullivan
Audi TT owner since 2003

ClarkSJ

You'll need to file your own lawsuit if you're outside the class membership.