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Restitution Advice - S4 Tiptronic Problems

Looking for advice on how to handle restitution from Audi for what may be a chronic Tiptronic problem in my 2001 S4.

I'm now only at 14,700 miles. At about 12,000 miles, I started getting a burning smell. The dealer found that the torque converter seal had leaked and the tranny was cooking. They replaced the seal and gave me back the car.

The burning continued but was not as severe, and at 13,100 miles my dealer's service manager made the decison (to his credit, with no urging from me) to install a new transmission. Well, they installed

3... the first one had a bad 4th speed and the second one had a cracked casing.

Now the Tiptronic is working OK but I have a new, constant transmission whine I never had before. It's worst at about 37 mph, but it's always there.

I'm beginning to think my $40,000 car will never be right and that I shouldn't have to suffer with the car this way. I'm going to the dealer again tomorrow for them to check out the whine. I'm tempted to broach with the dealer the idea of replacing the car, with financial concessions from Audi, or some other restitution for the car's lower value.

Anyone have advice or experience along these lines?

Reply to
G. Norris
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If there's a Lemon Law in your state, yo should probably tell the dealer that you're going to pursue it.

GAds... I wish you people would stop having problems with Audi's right when I'm thinking about buying one! BMW here I come

Reply to
Jimmy G

Here in Maryland, I qualify for the Lemon Law mileage limit (15,000) but not the time limit (15 months). I've had the car 32 months. This is going to have to be a power play with Audi, I'm afraid.

Reply to
G. Norris

There are generally two types of people who post to a.a.a: Those who could rightly be called "enthusiasts" (which I think we can all agree constitute a small fraction of Audi's -- or any other manufacturer's -- worldwide sales) and those who've had problems. The vast majority of people who purchase Audis (I suspect) drive their cars for 2 to 4 years and have few if any problems with them.

Don't get me wrong, though. Auto-related NG's are a great source of info that can be used in helping make a vehicle purchase decision. But it's easy to overestimate the percentage of cars that have problems.

- Greg

Reply to
Greg Reed

Good point. As the poster suffering with this tranny problem, I should add that I racked up 130,000 trouble-free miles on my previous Audi, a 1993 90S. This problem, at least as it now stands, has not shaken my faith in the marque.

Reply to
G. Norris

I am very curious about the outcome with your problem.

I also own a 2001 S4 with Tiptronic. First of all, I am amazed you have only driven 14,700 miles. I'm in the low 20's and thought I was keeping my miles down. I love to drive the car.

Did you use the Tiptronic very much or mostly just use the automatic shifter?

What did the dealer do, when you sent in the other day?

Reply to
R

I travel a lot, so I don't put many miles on the car.. I probably shifted the Tiptronic about a third of the time.

The head mechanic went for a ride with me and heard the whine. He thought it might be a wheel bearing but I told him it was awfully coincidental that it started right after the transmission replacement. They put the car on the lift and another mechanic verified the bearings were OK.

They asked me to make an appointment so they can check the car more thoroughly. It goes in tomorrow. I'll post again when I find out more. Thanks for your interest.

Reply to
G. Norris

G, You might ask them to check the propshaft center support bearing as well - with all the transmission work they possibly have not got the shaft lined up properly, which would cause wear on the bearing. Cheers! Steve Sears

1987 Audi 5kTQ - wishes it was an S4 1980 Audi 5k - it's an "S", in trim level only 1962 and '64 Auto Uni>
Reply to
Steve Sears

Turns out the whine is the beginnings of Pirelli P6000 howl, which I've researched and understand is a chronic HP tire problem. The reason I noticed it right after the transmission is that, with the work just completed, I turned off the stereo and fan and listened very carefully.

They swicthed sets of wheels and tires with another car and the whine disappeared completely.

Reply to
G. Norris

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