Hey guys,


So on saturday I go to the new James Bond movie.....out standing movie FYI...however...in the excitement of seeing a DB9 ....I lack to pay attention to my car. When I got home I left my lights on... Sunday morning I go to start my car...doesn't turn over.... blah blah... I jump it ...and im in....however You already know my problem.


Can anyone tell me how to fix this?

I do not have my user manual.

(Also my radio is a re-manufactured radio)

 

you have to take it to the dealership, when the battery dies it sets the battery in SAFE mode (which you already know) i dont know how much it costs, if anything, or how long it takes them to fix it, but i would give them a call and take it there

 

Ahhh! I'm starting to seriously hate AUDI, I have to take everything to the darn dealership! I'm going to give them a call and get this figured out.


I'm just starting to really get upset, with my BMW's ...which were honestly more expensive I've never had to deal with the dealership this much.....Starting to really drive me up a wall.

There has to be some small machine I can buy that can fix this sorta stuff!



(I'm going to cry now for a few hours, cause im going to get finacially raped again.)

 

You have to take it to the stealership and it can cost anywhere from $60 to $150 to fix it although it only takes them about 10 minutes to do it. It cost me $120 at Scottsdale Audi when I lived in Arizona. I totally agree with you regarding the service. My A6 is in the shop at least once a month. First car I have had so much trouble with. Something keeps me going though.

 

If your going to the dealer again remember the lube it won't hurt as much then. Ha-Ha

I agree though thats also something that bugs me is how much you have to depend on the deal.

They don't even use OBD2 which bugs me

 

Well, I took a look at this project from an outside view. I'm ran a vin check on my car. Found out which cities it was owned in (I'm the third owner).


I figured since I didn't replace the radio one of the other owners did. (Duh) So im going to call all three dealers to ask them if they have the code on file for the radio. Hopefully they will have it on file.


If I have to take this car to the dealer for one more bullshit problem im going to sell it.

Seriously. I'm not getting wrapped into a car that rely's on the dealer for EVERYTHING.


Seriously. Just because I have money doesn't mean I like giving it away.


Flipp'n ANNOYING!

 

uhh.... ALL cars from 1996 are OBD2....

And in 2 years of ownership, heres what my car has gone to the dealer for.


Nothing.


Granted, I have a safe code too, I have a guy working on getting that code for me, w/o taking the car in. I pulled the radio got some info off it, and gave him my VIN.

Maybe some people are luckier than others, maybe some cars were built better than others, I dont know. I've managed to get around taking the car to the shop, haven't really had anything outright break, and I do all the maintainance myself.

And there IS a small machine that fixes alot of this stuff (sorry, not the radio though) its a vagcom cable, its proven invaluable.

 

I really wish I had seen your post on this sooner. You DO NOT have to take the car to dealership simply for this, or probably even for most other things recommended by Audi. And if the original warranty is up, I don't believe there's much point to paying them out the a$$ just so they can claim to have done the work you asked them to, even though they probably skimped on some of it.

As for the SAFE issue...all it is, is since the battery died, the radio thinks someone unplugged it in an attempt to steal it. Just figure out which dealership worked with the car last, and call them and say you need the code to unlock the radio. If they don't have that, ask them for the serial number for the radio, and call Audi direct to get the code associated w/ that particular radio. That's all they're going to do, and charge you $60 or more for it.

If the radio is like mine, then you just hold down the RDS and Scan buttons at the same time till you see "I 1000", then push each button below each number to change the code until it's correct, then hold down the RDS and Scan buttons until you see SAFE again, and it'll be unlocked when you let go.

 

They're not supposed to give out the code over the phone, that kinda defeats the purpose of having a safe mode. I could steal your radio, call the dealer, get the code, and then have a working stolen radio.

 

Its pretty funny they went to the lengths to protect an OEM headunit from theft that pretty much only fits in 2% or so of the cars on the road...

I changed to an aftermarket headunit before I ever had to deal with this issue, and now I will never have to.