ok first off i honestly believe my car is posessed by the devil. i have had problems with it since the day i bought it. But thats not the point.( srry about the rant) ok my car has a bad battery. no big deal right?..........WRONG!!!!! it is going berzerk. im drivin and all of the sudden the gauges just die, the radio turns off and the air conditioning stops. wow i hate this car sometimes. i called the STEALERSHIP and they said it would be $ 240 to replace the battery.WTF!!!!!!!!!i dont get it. and they told me i cant do it myself because i need a diagnostic machine or some bull#$*@ to reset the damn electronics. so can i do it myself? or should i just sell this peice of german $%*& and be done with it?

so far i have had to replace and or fix:
1. window motor- free
2. timing belt- $8300
3. relay switch-$260
4 brake lights- $3.40
5. battery- $ 240
6. frion for air conditioning- dont know how much yet, sure its overpriced.
7. who knows whats next......

-driving a nice handling, under powered, german luxury sports coupe. PRICELESS!!!

 

how does one pay $8300 for a timing belt? you not one of the ones that snapped were you?

All you need to do is take your battery to pep boys/auto zone and have it tested. Its free and they have a direct replacement for under $100. Its not hard to do and can be done in the parking lot of the stores (hell, they even claim to install it for you i believe). Reseting the car is BS i believe.

 

you seriously listed brake lights at $3.40 as part of your overpriced service repairs?

also DONT TAKE IT TO THE DEALER FOR YOUR SERVICE WORK!! They charge $100 an hr for labor and markup parts. Buy your own parts and do your own work.

 

i would doit myself but the service guy i know at audi said you need a diagnostic pc to reset the electronics. the throttle body is elkectronicaly controlled and may not reset if i doit my self. i know it seems dumb to tak eit to the dealer forthis kinda problem. i mean i could switch out the battery in less than 5 mins, but i dont want to f up my car trying to save some money. and the brake light was just another example of how annoying my car is.

 

oh and when my timing belt broke it f'd up the valves and evry thing else. audi put a brand new engine in the car. but i got the dealership to pay for most of the work and parts.

 

i've had my battery unplugged a million and a half times. swap the battery yourself.

when the new one is in.. turn the key on but do not start the car. wait for the throttle body to realign itself - you'll hear a whining noise. should be fine to start once this sound stops.

 

I think the only thing you need to have is the radio code because the radio resets after the battery change. (someone can correct me on this)

 

Just follow the basic reset (turn car to on position for a few seconds, but don't turn over. The basic owner's manual even goes over this process I believe.) Dealership is trying to make a few extra dollars is all. Although with your track record maybe geting rid of it isn't so bad.

Honestly though as far as the largest cost repair that was mostly your fault, although it was nice to hear you got the dealership to pay for it.

https://www.audiforums.com/m_498970/tm.htm

And just to add, yes,I did buy a car that needed the timing belt done, I knew it, and I had it done instead of blaming someone else. You knew it as well, but as you said earier in the thread you didn't budget for it at the time and was just planning on having it done later. The other stuff you posted thus far is stuff not uncommon when you buy a used vehicle (people tend to get riud of a car because they don't want to invest money into things they know are starting to go out.) even though I have every vehicle throughly inspected before purchase, I still usually plan on doing a whole lot of maintenance on any used vehicle the first yearI have it just because of that.

 

Calm down...

If you educate yourself about these cars, how they work and their typical problems you'll find the random little things that go wrong with it can usually be fixed yourself without much difficulty.

Anyway, $240 for a battery? No. For you I'd recommend taking it to Pep Boys or something like Cincy said, but pretty much anybody with mechanical knowledge of cars can remove it and install a new one themselves... The whole reset thing? Read the posts above.

TT's also have an anti theft feature where if the radio loses power (if it gets stolen, or in our case, if you're working on the car) it needs a code to unlock it again. The code is usually found on a sticker in your spare tire compartment or any number of places (forget exactly where). Mine never did this to me however.

Here's a little FAQ:
http://www.audittcca.com/faq/1061857671

Dude that's an AC recharge, any garage in the world does it for something like $50.



Next time you have a problem, do as you did here...post something...and DON'T go to a dealer. More than likely we can find your part and tell you what to do, or you might even be able to do this miraculous overlooked gesture called "searching" that nobody really does and track down the problem yourself, since more than likely other people have had it.

For any engine trouble the 1.8T FAQ is a good start:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2666114

 

thanks. i know i was just a little heated when made the post. but yeah i dont want to take it to the dealer for this little problem.i think i'll try doin it myself. are you guys sure if after i put a new battery in and just turn the key to the ON positon but not turning it over it will reset every thing, most importantly the throtte body? i would love tosave the money.thanks again for your help guys