2004 Audi A8 Reliability Problems

Sounds like you have a gremlin in there with a set of jumper wires. I wouldn't say that a rattling fusebox cover/sunroof crank contributes to a "lemon" designation. There's quite a lot of complex electronic systems in the car - heck, tire pressure display? Automatic headlights? - anybody who has experienced a malfunction with their office/home computer knows how frustrating it can be to trace down a fault in the system - it's common to fix the symptoms (electrical glitches) and not the root problem (faulty voltage regulator on the alternator causing voltage spikes?). Just replacing the control units (the dealer is not going to open those "black boxes") would be a waste of money (admittedly, the dealer's) and time (with the number of control units in your car - automatic headlights? - I doubt that a dealer would carry spares of all of them, unless they're contained in another '04 A8 on the lot - Germany is a long way from Miami Beach.) Maybe, if all of these glitches are not resolved during this visit, you should change service facilities - get Audi to recommend to whom you should take the car other than the present facility. Maybe you should discuss with the dealer or AoA about a switch to another '04 A8. Wait and see what the result of this servicing is and what AoA responds - I'm sure they will. All that said, your car went in on the 21st, you make "repeated e-mails" to AoA by the time you post to the Usenet on the 22nd, you have made enough calls to the salesman direct that you have determined that he can differentiate your number from all the others he has to deal with? Maybe it's not surprising that you consider a rattle as a "reliability issue" (re-read your posting - rattle "cured" on 7/8/03, on 7/17/03 you take the car to the dealership for "5 issues outstanding" - I count a list of 4, one of which is the "cured" rattle - don't they have to just drop in a fairly non-essential part that was on order?). "Rich history of actual defects"??? - maybe you should talk to the A4 owners who have had to deal with coilpack failures, suspension problems and "premature" (according to the Audi owner's manual in the US) timing belt failures (and ensuing engine destruction) about what, exactly, is "rich". My 2c (Canadian = 0.0000001c US) Steve Sears (wrapped in the warm comfort of low-tech devices, such as:)

idiosyncrasies

Not to try to excuse the problems you've found, because there really isn't any excuse for that sort of thing, but major bugs of this sort aren't uncommon for ANY car from ANY maker for the first model year and especially on the first units out the door. Regardless of how much effort expended to iron out these bugs before release, it's inevitable that some (sometimes many) surface when the first cars get to the consumer. It's simply not possible to catch EVERYTHING before release. I seriously doubt I'd ever consider purchasing a first-model-year car from any carmaker. Probably even Honda.

-Dirt-

Have you explored your state's lemon law statutes?

DFE

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idiosyncrasies

David, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Hope problems get solved finally.

-- Best regards. G. Tarantino Bevaix (NE) Switzerland

Some of the bizarre design flaws in this car that is being touted as: "a car so intelligent, so adaptive to your needs it will conform to your own unique way of driving. It's a car that feels as if it were created for one individual."

Odd features such as:

1. No "pause" function for CDs (try reading an audio book this way). You can "stop" the play by shutting down the MMI interface, but this will also turn off many other functions, such as navigation and mapping etc. So if you are driving and want to stop a CD in place while taking a phone call you have to turn the whole MMI system off or (if you prefer) switch to radio first, then use the mute switch. This is absurd.

1. There are 5 complicated (and needless) settings for configuring which interior lights are on and at what intensity when driving, but no way to control the too-bright dome lights on the door-open circuit.

2. The parking-radar system that beeps at you in both directions at once without regard to gear selection (so if you are parallel parking space you get both signals beeping at you at the same time.)

1. The rear-window mounted rear brake light that casts so much glare on the rear windshield that one is unable to see clearly when backing at night.

2. Inability to sufficiently adjust the volume of the audio output on the navigation system in relation to audio program level (it is adjustable, but not over a wide enough range).

1. Climate control settings are supposed to be "memorized" and tracked to the user's key. However, the passenger seat ventilation will shut off if no passenger is in seat for 20 minutes or so (why?). If it shuts off, the "off" position is remembered, so the next time you use the car, with a passenger even, the ventilation on that side is "off."

2. Location of the CD changer in the glove box means it is impossible to change/load CDs while driving. A nuisance on a long drive.

I am working out a complete list. When I mentioned items #1, 3 and 6 to the "Audi Advocate" he was unaware that these were the "normal" operating parameters for the vehicle as they are illogical not only to me, but apparently to my Audi representative. This for a car that is adaptive to your needs???

I haven't driven the A8, but a coupe of comments from experience of my Audis (currently an RS6 and A2).

Doesn't the CD player pause when the phone mute kicks in? It did on my A6 (haven't got the car kit fitted in the RS yet, but I expect it will behave the same).

I find it useful that the front sensors in my RS6 are active whilst I reverse - the area of coverage wraps round to the side so I get warning as the front end of the car swings round.

Umm - I'd rather you weren't changing CDs in the changer whilst driving. Wouldn't it be safer to pull up for a couple of minutes to do this? With the changer mounted in the boot I've never been tempted to try changing discs whilst on the move. However, having installed a PhatBox in my RS, I can now have 300 hours of audio on line!

You should check into your state's lemon laws -- even if you don't plan to exercise your rights, merely mentioning it might get you something. I just found out about a friend who leased a new Jaguar X Type that has had major problems with the AC, she's had it in 4 or 5 times and it is one of those intermittent problems that's hard to pin down. She told them she'd be invoking her state's lemon law and they begged her for one more chance, gave her a brand new X Type as a loaner, kept it over the weekend to try to exercise the intermittent problem and had her car fully detailed when she picked it up. They also refunded her TWO lease payments. As for whether the problem is fixed, she's only had it back a couple days so the jury is still out, but forgiving two payments at least takes some of the sting out of it.

"David deForrest" skrev i en meddelelse news:%diTa.385$ snipped-for-privacy@fe01.atl.webusenet.com...

Are you shure that the trunk lock is defecive?

On my A6 the key can be turned both clock- and anticlockwise, in one of the positions the remote control can unlock the trunk, in the other I need to use the key.

Greetings Aksel

This will hopefully be my last posting on this topic, but I am astonished and gratified to have this last occasion to write.

Today, without any prior word from either my Audi dealer or from Audi of America, I received a fair and generous written buyback offer for my 2004 Audi A8L. As far as I am concerned, I am grateful for this consideration and will, of course, take advantage of the offer.

As anyone following this correspondence knows, I had become pretty desperate for help with my vehicle and my situation. At times, I felt abused by Audi of America, the local field representative and everyone else that got in my path connected in any way with this product. Now that I am set free from this particular and apparently unusually trouble-prone specimen of what I believe is a fine automobile, I want to write to express my gratitude to the folks at Prestige Imports in North Miami, Florida. In marketing they say the key is to exceed customer's expectations. As far as I am concerned, these folks do so on a daily basis.

At all times throughout this process and in my every encounter with the personnel at Prestige Imports I have been treated with exceptional patience, courtesy, consideration and kindness. I am sure that all of the dealer personnel were as concerned about my situation as I could possibly ask. It must be frustrating to have a voluble and dissatisfied customer hanging around a salesroom during a product launch. All I can say is that I feel that everyone I met and spoke to on their staff, various service writers, salespeople, clerical folks, warranty administrators and even the dealership President, were unfailingly helpful and kind to me.

I would especially like to thank the following Prestige Imports personnel for their unceasing courtesy and patience:

Sabrina Burrow, service consultant. She has been unfailingly pleasant, generous with her time and has gone beyond the "norm" in trying to coordinate and expedite repairs to my car and to keep me informed, even in the face of my increasingly aggrieved and impatient demeanor.

Robbie Feiffer: General Sales Manager. As with Ms. Burrow, an exceptional individual. It is rare for the average car buyer to even meet the GSM. Mr. Feiffer runs a hands-on shop, is always around and available to customers and has always treated me with exceptional courtesy and candor.

Lisa Chmela: Business Office (Finance): Lisa effectively sold me this car in the first place, having so ably assisted me with my previous Audi purchase. As with Mr. Feiffer, Ms. Chmela is always available to discuss maters with customers despite the burdens of her very busy job. She is a fine asset to a fine organization. Her ability to remember the precise state of dozens of transactions in the air at one time and get them processed is remarkable. She certainly always knew, to the penny, the calculations relating to mine. Beyond this, she is savvy, knowledgeable and humane.

Yuri Schvartsman: Salesman. A very nice man. I will surely make another purchase from Mr. Schvartsman.

Joel: (shop foreman and A8 specialist mechanic): Another treasure, an articulate, pleasant and dedicated technician. Actually took phone calls from me on several occasions when "issues" we were trying to resolve would crop up while driving. Again, I mean that this man has gone far beyond what I expect from shop personnel in a new car dealership.

Prestige Imports as a whole: I have written to this effect in the past and reaffirm my comments regarding this dealership. They are a pleasure to do business with and bring a level of civility, courtesy and fair-dealing beyond what I have come to expect. As one can see from the comments about the individuals named above, what differentiates this company is the level of personal contact between the customer and senior personnel with actual authority. They provide a "small town" experience in a big-town marketplace. I would buy from them again without hesitation.

I am giving serous thought to purchasing a replacement A8 L. I am obviously concerned that having escaped from an unfortunate situation I do not thrust myself back into the same place again. I am not sure how I will work this out at present. Any input from other owners about their 2004 A8 Ls would be gratefully appreciated. I have no idea if my car was a rare aberration or if it was typical. I obviously liked it well enough to make the purchase. A quick trip around the local "luxury car" dealers has not shown me anything in this vehicle class that is nearly as comfortable, spacious and sure-footed.

I am assured by the folks at Prestige Imports that I would be welcome as a return customer. I trust that Audi of America will also welcome me back if I decide to buy from them again. Finally, I want to thank everyone who wrote me and shared their experiences with me in this forum. I learned a lot from all of you and will do my best to retain the good and obliterate the bad.

If you would buy a BMW 7 series, everything will have turned out perfectly...

I can't speak to any reliability issues, but the 760 sounds sweet. Although so does the A8...

-Aaron

I would be curious to know the details of your buyback offer from Audi. My

What was wrong with your car?

astonished

You must surely be joking.

I've had nothing but problems with mine.

And the attitude of BMW dealers is much worse than that of Audi dealers (I've had several of both). They treat you as if they were doing you a favor by letting you drive their precious vehicles.

dk

Intermittent behavior of wipers, suspension & MMI. The wipers sometimes hesitate momentarily while operating, the suspension adjusts by itself in my garage long after it has been parked & I once opened the passanger door while car was parked unlocked with no key in my garage and the MMI system turned itself on. No big deal at first and dealer informed me that the car was behaving normally, computer diagnostics fine, etc at the 5K and 10K service. On December 11th the wipers failed completely while driving in the rain & I experienced a near miss head on with another car. The car has been at the dealer ever since with no end in sight (3+ weeks now). They have replaced the wiper motor and three different computer modules, but the wipers still do not operate properly. Also, the auto trunk closure does not work properly, the sunroof does not alway close in response to the controls, the recently installed satellite radio occasionally mutes itself and the MMI system sometimes reboots itself.

"the recently installed satellite radio"

Danger, Robinson, danger.

Emphasis on recently.

If the dealer would use a bit of common sense rather than relying on the computer for ALL they knowledge they might begin to suspect corroded or intermittent grounds causing most of these problems.

At least thats where I would be looking.

T> Intermittent behavior of wipers, suspension & MMI. The wipers sometimes