Rusty A4

My 2 1/2 yr old A4 Avant is rusting both sides on the black triangular panels behind the rear windows. I've seen quite a few others the same. Dealer won't do anything as it's done 69k miles (over 60k warranty). He tells me it's been more of a problem on the A6 (as if that's supposed to help). Audi themselves won't help either but they said they might contribute towards the cost. Needless to say, haven't heard any more from them! This is my first, and now last Audi. I've decided to go back to BMW at the end of the year. Audi you're a disgrace to the motor industry!!

Reply to
AB
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Unless i'm mistaken the Audi comes with an 12-year limited warranty against corrosion perforation.

Perhaps you should explain this to the Audi Dealer.

Ron

Ask him where he gets the 60k mile thing from

Reply to
Ronny

I suspect, though, that the corrosion being discussed here is surface corrosion, probably caused by external damage to the paint. I doubt that perforation has occured, and I would be very surprised if the corrosion started from behind the panel.

I had some surface corrosion on the leading edge of this triangular panel on my A6. I am pretty certain that this was the result of paint damage, probably caused by a small stone. Perhaps the paint on those panels isn't really up to the job, but this type of damage would definitely not be covered by the perforation warranty.

Reply to
Peter Bell

'bellfamily')

Yeah but rust is rust, you can tell if its caused by stonechips, and he never mentioned them, so where did he get the 60k mile bit from??

Reply to
Ronny

[snip]

Actually, I suspect that the panel in question is not steel or iron, so it wouldn't, strictly, be rust! That aside, I still guess that perforation has not occured and the damage would not, therefore, be covered by the 'perforation' warranty.

Not necessarily. Once the paint has started to blister (and without that, you probably wouldn't be aware of the corrosion) it may not be possible to identify the chip.

I presume that he's in the US and I'm in the UK, so I'm not absolutely sure what the warranty arrangements are. However, he may accept that a 'perforation' warranty does not apply and is, therefore, making the claim on the basic vehicle warranty.

In these circumstances I would think that an offer to contribute towards the repair cost would be generous. Should any car manufacturer be expected to do more than that, if the defect has become apparent outside of any warranty period, and especially if the damage may have resulted from stone chipping?

Reply to
Peter Bell

Just checked. The panel is non-magnetic but definitely metal. When the loose paint is scraped off it's the white furry stuff you get on corroding aluminium. Audi say non perforating paint problems are covered 3 yrs or 60k miles (I'm in UK). It's too late to determine if there was a paint chip but this has occured on both sides and is now beginning to emerge from under where the panel is covered by a rubber trim. The car's always Audi serviced, so shouldn't they at least make me aware of any potential problems in the paintwork i.e stonechips?

'bellfamily')

Reply to
AB

And how much would it cost to have the panel replaced??? Perhaps it's an inexpensive repair. It seems like a trivial reason to go off on your "Audi is horrible, I'm going back to BMW" tirade. I have a friend with a 330i who blew a head gasket at 70,000 miles. BMW helped with the repair, but he was still out of pocket about $3-4K. *shrug*

Cheers,

C

AB wrote:

Reply to
Chris Mauritz

Okay - as I suspected.

Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

I don't know of any dealer who would be likely to carry out a detailed inspection of all the paintwork as part of a scheduled service. If you really believe that BMW UK/BMW dealers would treat you any better, then go ahead and change allegiance. If it were me, I'd accept that these things happen, pursue the suggestion that Audi UK may contribute and have it fixed.

It my case, I exchanged my A6 for an RS6 and no issue was made of the blistering on that panel.

I hope that you do manage to get this sorted to your satisfaction.

Reply to
Peter Bell

Nothing to do with the fact that they'd just sold a 60-odd-grand car at all :-)

Peter

Reply to
AstraVanMan

"AB" skrev i melding news:me3sb.2958$ snipped-for-privacy@news-binary.blueyonder.co.uk...

BMW at the end of the year after all. Audi, you are the grace of the motor industry!!

I could definitely not agree more!! Audi, without doubt the best car in the whole wide world!!

Reply to
Inger Skramstad Jørstad

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