I am the owner of a 2005 A8l with 45000 miles. Purchased it over Ebay, and was told that the car was never involved in an accident. Carfax report confirmed it.

Dropped it off to dealer a couple of days ago with following problems:

1) sunroof goes back and forth...wont close
2) rear trunk wont close, have come back to car to find it open on 2 sep occasions
3) cigarette lighteroutlet has no juice
4) right front interior door handle broken(wont open door from inside)
5) MMI "CD" button sticks

Although I thought that all of these items would be covered under warranty, the dealer said that the door handle, MMI, and lighter were NOT covered. Although the dealer did not open upeither the MMI system cover orthe right door, the dealer said that the MMI button stuck because someone spilled something over it(I never spilled anything ever!), and stated that the door latch wasnt covered because it was probably due to a slipped spring or cable, and not a broken one. Further, it stated that the cigarette lighter was usedas an electrical source, so it wasnt covered either.

This sounds incredible. Any advice or insight on getting Audi to cover these repairs? This car is still under warranty, but I am looking at 3000 in repairs nonetheless .

 

They cannot prove the cig lighter was used for something else so they have to repair that, its probably just a blown fuse though (commonly happens)
They are also required to look at the door as its under complete audi warranty until the 50k mark, if they have a problem with that take it up with audi of north america.
The button sticking your out of luck on the warranty there but don't fret, there is an easy fix! Get some electrical contact cleaner from an autoparts store (compressed can) and spray it into the crack where the button is DO NOT WIPE THE BUTTON! the electrical contact cleaner is very strong and can wipe off the decals on the buttons if you rub on them.

 

the contact cleaner is how I fixed my sunroof issues, too, fwiw. couple of screws, couple of spritzes, sunroof works good as new. Can costs, like $5.00 at radio shack

 

Thanks. But I have another question: does the dealer have a right to charge me for the time they took in diagnosing the door latch problem if its under warranty? Why do latches usually fail?

 

The door latch is a completely and much more expensive part of the door, i thought you were talking about the interior handle?
Regardless they will have to give you your money back if its under warranty, if not take legal action.

 

Sorry.....not familiar with the lexicon. I meant the interior door handle: the handle one pulls to open the door from the inside.

 

Well. I'm an attorney.

But I don't know cars. So, what what be the best route? The Audi Advocate was useless, and it seems that legal action is the only means left.Is Audi USA responsive to threats of litigation?

Thanks in advance,I didn't think that I would get so much help here.

 

No that should be warranty, they have no right to tell you that you broke it. I can understand if the handle was broken off with brute force but if the handle just doesn't open the door then its warranty, end of story.