Hey, just bought myself on a 01 A4 2.8 quattro

Got a couple of new owner's questions for you guys.

First of all, the radio, whenever I turn it on, says "SAFE". I took it to service, who said that they need a code to fix it. The service said that they don't have the code listed, they would have to hook it up to a computer and read it out from there, and they are trying to charge me around 70$ to do it. Is this a normal part of a german car ownership, or is this just bs?

Another problem I have is sticky bottons in the center console. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to clean it up?

Third problem I have thus far is the cabin temperature sensor. I would be driving around, and the temperature indicator would dip down to -50F once a while, and then come up slowly to the correct ambient temperature. (40~70F). While the temp. is showing the incorrect temperature, the cabin temperature control would behave erraticly(AC turns off, starts blowing hot air).

The last problem is... I have 85k miles on the car right now. What are some maintaince that should be done, if I want to change those things just in case the previous owner was sloppy in this dept?


thanks!

 

you can clean the buttons with alcohol on a Qtip, teh radio thing unfortunitly is true, get them to give you the number htey will fix it for you but will not give it too you to keep you coming back and paying more money, The temp thing i have no idea. Maybe someone else can answer that one.

 

The radio is simple check in the owners manual to see if they printed the code in there which I doubt they did... If not call a local audi dealership and ask them the code which I doubt they'll give and you may have to bring it in to them to do it... That's a tough situation that i've seen many people come across and have to go to the dealership to get it fixed because they wanted to hear some damn music...

Sticky bottoms I use all the armoral stuff in my car from leather wipes to vinyl wipes to glass wipes to tire cleaner and I have no problems... It will get sticky in there over time but work it out once and weekly cleaning will keep the stickyness gone for good...

With the temp indicator I wouldn't play any games trying to figure out what it is... I'd just have the cars codes read to see where the problem is actually coming from and see if there are any issues at all with the car since you just bought it... That's a problem area that if not fixed correctly leads to other very expensive replacement parts...

And lastly I bought my 01 2.8 with 70k and checked it myself for issues... When I installed my exhaust I check while it was on a lift on the underside of the car... Check it as if you would check and cars for issues... Look for rust, leaks, loose connections, and all of the above... Since I suggested to get your codes read for the temp problem I wouldn't worry about too much because if there are any other issues internally it will be read...

Audi's are like queens (or your/my wife)... They need quite a bit of attention but if you keep that attention focused on them and keeping them happythey'll put out for quite a long time...

 

radio code should be on your manual, if you don’t have manual u can pull radio out and call dealer with 14 digits number on the side of your radio and vin number, some dealers might charge you up to $40…

as to service your car… dealer recommend to change your timing belt at 80K… if it wasn’t done do little search and should be able to do it yourself under $300 or have some local mechanic change it, it will cost you at least $800