Hey guys,

i just discovered this forum today and wanted to know if you have similar experience with your audi's.

so i bought my brand new 2010 Q5 in mid-October last year and have only put 2500 Km's on it so far. every ran well at the beginning until late November. First, my car couldn't start one morning, the dash board indicated that the battery was running low. so I had it towed to the dealer to get it fixed. i was advised that the cold temperature was the problem and i needed to install an oil pan heater. i took their recommendation and let them install one and paid for the heater and the labour.

only less than 3 weeks later, my car could not start up again, so i had to have it towed to the dealer again to check out what the problem was. the first response i got back from the service manager was that it was the battery problem again and i should have a battery tender installed. once again, i trusted their expertise and agreed to install one. please note that this recommendation was made before they ran the diagnosis. so i followed up with them a day later and then they told me that they were not sure what the problem was, further investigation was needed; then a couple of days later, i was told that it could be the O2 sensor problem, control module faulty...which led to another week's diagnosis and fixing. again, i paid for the parts and the labour at the end. by the way, i live 3-4 hours away from the city where the dealer is at, so I had to bus to the city and pick the vehicle up for these two fixes.

however, that was not the end of the story. yesterday, my vehicle could not start up the third time! business as usual, i had it towed to the dealer. today i called the service and the response was that they suspected that the muffler was frozen up. the resolution would be drill a couple of holes there to drain the liquid out. i have consulted with a few people who have quite a bit knowledge on cars and they were all saying that it is not a common problem you would expect, it rather sounds odd.

anyway, i guess i'm one of the very unlucky audi owners out there. so i was just wondering that if any of you guys, especially Q5 owners ever had similar experience with their cars. and, if you were in my situation, what action would you take with Audi? to be honest, i am very disappointed with the product and want Audi to replace it.

thanks for reading my thread and am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Cheers!

 

Hey welcome to the forum, to start of I would like to ask you not to double post and only to post in the appropriate section, you will always get a response.

In regards to your issue, I would like to ask you if you live near Calgary or Edmonton? If you are in Calgary I can check out the car and try to figure it out. IMO you got taken by the dealer. There is no reason a battery would die due to the oil being too cold, unless you were there sitting and cranking it for a while so the battery would die. I am wondering if something is coded wrong and it is not shuting off when it is supposed to. What did the diagnostics tell them? Do you have a copy? Any error codes that you can post up so we look into this a bit further.

 

Hey there, thanks for your quick reply. sorry but i won't double post again.

first of all, thanks for your offer checking of checking out my car. unfortunately, i live kind of close to Edmonton, not close enough though, so guess i wouldn't be able to let you have a look at the car. after going through those hassles i realized that i got taken by the dealer; i did get a copy of diagnosis after the second fixing, however, i left it in the car and my car is in the service shop now; so i cannot post anything this time but will definitely do it next time when i have the car back. i am waiting for their final diagnosis for this third time fixing and repairing.

regardless, i still think that there is something unusual with my car, perhaps it's a defect product that one in hundred or thousand, given that the failure occurred in a high frequency and with various problems.

thanks again for taking your time and trying to help me out.

 

Sorry to hear you are having so many issues with your Q5 and your dealership.

I have read that a few people have encountered similar problems with starting issues. I know that Audi FSI engines have a few issues with carbon build-up and injector issues. It sounds like the dealership has no clue what is wrong and are simply trying to capitalize on you. My next suggestion is this issue should be covered by warranty as it's not a general wear and tear issue. I'd suggest to your dealership to look at the injectors and check around the intake manifolds for carbon build up.

Let me know how you make out.

Best of luck!

 

If you have the receipts to the purchases that the dealership recommended, It wouldn't hurt to contact Audi Canada Head Office with your issues from day 1.

 

By the sounds of things he has mentioned a battery dying not a starting issue, so no reason to go this route, unless we are missing information. I have heard that the DRL modules are faulty and do not turn off and I am wondering if this is the case. Could be a number of things but unless we do a scan or get some error codes cant really narrow it down.

From my understanding is he leaves the car for the night comes back in the morning and the battery is drained. Is this the correct assumption? Ask the dealer to check the DRL module if thats the case.

 

I am sorry to hear about your trouble. You have to make sure you don't pay for anything out of pocket this is all covered under warranty. I'd even push for a rental car this is totally unacceptable. I agree with CanadianQ5Premium you should contact Audi Canada.

 

Welcome to the forum. I wish it could have been for more positive reasons. Unfortunately you have what sounds like an electrical or computer related problem that doesn't have an easy answer. 1move's response regarding the DRL controller sounds like the most likely, but it's hard to tell without a proper diagnosis.

Worse than your vehicle problem is your dealer problem. The kinds of solutions you are being given are what I would expect from an inexperienced shop that services random ten to twenty year old cars. It's quite a hurdle that you are already three to four hours away from your dealer's city, but the best action you can take is to try a different dealer. It's tough that there's only one dealer in Edmonton and two in Calgary, but I would suggest at least getting in contact with a different dealer's service department. Try to explain the problems to the best of your ability (and the backwoods solutions you have been given) and they might offer other solutions.

Another option you have is to find someone (a forum member, fellow VW/Audi enthusiast or an independent shop that specializes in VW/Audi) with a VAG-COM diagnostic tool. They may not be able to fix the problem, but they can scan the car, get any codes it might be throwing and help figure out the problem. This would also be valuable information to provide an Audi service department if you plan to get in contact with one.

As CanadianQ5Prem suggested, I would also contact Audi Canada. They need to know that you aren't happy with the performance of your vehicle and the dealer. They will also be able to help provide solutions to getting you happily behind the wheel of your Q5. They also need to know when one of their dealers is acting incompetently.

I've had a 2009 Q5 for almost a year now and I love it. It has had a few hiccups but I expected as much being a new model with a lot of new technology. I've been patient at times but the dealer has always sorted me out. I guess I'm lucky in that I have a decent local dealer who takes the time to look after me.

Good luck! I hope this doesn't sour Audi and the Q5 for you for life.

 

at lease they can offer you a loaner or rental car while the car being diagnosis in the dealership.

 

I'd sure hope so Tony, after you had 3-4 cars from them in the past year