2004 S4 V8 4.2L
37,000 miles
Warranty Expired Dec 17th, 2007

On Dec 21st, I slid into the curb while turning on ice and the front right wheel impacted the curb at a bad angle. The car had an immediately noticeable pull to the right.

On Dec 22nd I brought the car to the local Audi dealer where I had had the car serviced over the last 3 1/2 years. The damage to the front right wheel was significant to the tune of $3,800 in damages. Several bent arms had to be replaced and the steering column was also bent and replaced.

On Jan 11th (over 2 ½ weeks after I dropped off the car), the Audi dealer called to tell me that the wheel was now fixed but that the electronic Cluster was starting to die. Although there was NO issue with the cluster when I brought the car in on Dec 22nd, while the car was in their care, the cluster went bad. After arguing with the dealership about the fact that there was nothing wrong with the Cluster when I brought the car in, and especially because the car was 5 days past the warranty, they agreed to cover $600 of the $1000 repair charge and I had the cluster replaced.

I picked up the car on Jan 15th (over 3 weeks after I first brought it in and 1 month after the warranty expired) and things were fine for 1 week. On Jan 22nd, after filling-up my tank with gas, the CEL light came on. I read the manual, checked the gas cap several times and yet the light stayed on. I made an appointment to take the car back to the Audi dealer. Over the next few days, the light went off and came back on. At one point when the light was ON, the acceleration felt sluggish, as though the car had a turbo lag. I went to Auto Zone and had them pull the code...it spit out P0011…Cam Shaft Adjuster error.

On Jan 29th, I took the car into the dealer for a diagnosis. The next day (today), they told me that the Cam Shaft sensor and possibly something else (I forgot the part name but it costs around $800 a piece) needs to be fixed and that this was an “engine out” procedure. The estimate they gave me was for $5,800!!! I nearly fainted.

Some car-expert friends I have spoken to are convinced that the Audi dealer did something to screw-up the car while it was in their care while they were fixing the wheel. The fact that all of this happened just days/weeks after the warranty expired seemed too strange to be a coincidence, they say.

Others suggest that the accident where I hit the curb may have jolted some of the electronic components and that I should call my insurance company and try to re-open the case but I’m afraid that if my claim goes from the $3,000 it was from the wheel incident up to $9,000, that my rates will go up (where they won’t if left alone).

The final thing to note is that my car is on a LEASE and is up this July 31st. It’s driving me crazy to think that between this Cluster issue and now this Cam Shaft problem, I may end up paying ~$6400 to get this car like new only to turn it in to the bank in 6 months.

The options that I have as I see it include:

1) Drive the car with the CEL light on for next 6 months and hope that problem doesn’t get worse or that other problems come-up and I turn car back into bank in July;
2) Try to get my insurance company to pick-up charge based on prior accident in December---could result in premiums being raised;
3) Audi may offer me some goodwill and pick-up 50% of the repair in which case it would cost me $2,900 to fix. I can buyout my lease as of Feb 1st for $25,000 and based on what I’ve seen on Cars.com and Autotrader.com, I should be able to get somewhere between $28,000-$32,000 if I sell the car in which case, as long as I can sell for at least $28k, I will get back the $3000 I have to pay to fix the car.

Please help me by offering your opinion of what I should do. I absolutely LOVED my S4 for these last few years but given my experience over the last month, I really don’t think I would ever get involved with an Audi again. Any suggestions/ opinions you have on what course of action I should take would be truly appreciated.

 

Is there any way to turn in your car early on the lease and then you can just start over
My mom and dad had sort of the same problim with a BMW X5 and they gave it back early

 

Thank you for the suggestion.

I don't think I can get out of the lease without paying off the remainder of my contract which is about $4,000. Part of me just wants to drive the car until the lease is up in July and just "deal" with the light coming on and off. I'm just worried that driving the car for another 5,000 miles could create greater problems that would cost me a lot more $$ than it would cost to fix the problem right now...especially if Audi is going to give me 50% goodwill credit (I'm calling their 800# and trying to push for more but I don't know how successful I'll be with that).

The other option that I'm seriously considering is fixing the Cam adjuster (for $3000) and then selling the car on the open market. The car looks great inside and out and I think I should be able to get at least $3000 profit out of it (and hopefully more). This solves two problems by 1) getting me out of the lease early; and 2) maybe I can make a little money.

Still not sure which way to go....

 

very strange for them to complicate a simple issue when all the problem is (CMP) camshaft position sensor/actuator bank 1 timing over advanced which would put the CEL on but wouldn't effect the dash? sounds like someone made a f#uk up and bleeding you for their mistake[:-], probably shorted the system computer while doing their work

 

This has been suggested to me by a few people. There is definitely a chance that the audi dealership f;d something up while fixing my wheel issue but there doesn't seem to be any way to prove it.

The latest update is that I spoke to the Audi Service manager at the dealership who said that he was contacted by someone at Audi America Customer Care and that he (the Service Manager) told them that they should give me at least another 25% off the repair cost. If they did this, the total cost to me would be $1500 (75% off). That still sucks big time and I don't know for sure if Audi will even agree to do that extra 25%.

I am waiting to hear back from a supervisor from Customer Care. In the meanwhile, the Service Manager from the dealer said that I could pickup the car and still drive on it and that I would be fine unless the CEL light starts flashing, in which case the Cam Adjuster would 100% need to be replaced.

 

when a car is taken in for a repair they run a detailed system and damage report before any work is carried out and this would have shown up on that record ( which they keep for insurance reasons ) so there is no come back on their repairs so ask your insurance to check it out because I personally think they are taking you for a ride

 

Dave,

I appreciate the advice!!

I am trying to find out (off the record), at what point my insurance premium will increase. I am a bit concerned that adding another $6000 in repairs on top of the $3000 for my wheel repair will put me over the line. My insurance agent is currently checking on it. If it won't be a significant impact on my premium, I will push my insurance Co to investigate.

 

the UK insurance work in a different way to the USA but in most self claims they go up[:@]only thing that annoys me is when the dealer takes you for a ride for cash ( in most cases its only the dealership that does this ) private garages tend to treat you with respect and not because you drive an AUDII wish you good luck and slam them as far as you can