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Has the battery been ruled out?...worth trying a replacement or a known working unit?
Audi warranty denial....
- Thread starter turbo
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Has the battery been ruled out?...worth trying a replacement or a known working unit?
dlockers
D
dlockers
I'd definitely start here.
It wouldn't surprise me if the retrofit device has been sipping away quite happily and because of lockdown caused it to lose voltage?
That maybe so, but would be irrelevant really.
As matt suggested, I would be chasing up the company who fitted the aftermarket immobiliser to see what they claim about whether it invalidates the manufacturers warranty or not. If they claim it doesn't then they'll have to prove their device didn't cause fault. If they make no claim, then that would normally mean it would invalidate the warranty and Audi have you over a barrel.
Well I'm not totally giving up with Audi as I want to push this further. How have these 'new' frankly serious issues been missed from the initial diagnostic? Even after involving Audi in Germany via an online portal they didn't pick them up? Surely a fuse / fuses being down should have shown up on the diagnostic? It doesn't make any sense? They have also begun doing work on the car in full knowledge of the Ghost now they are changing their tune? Why? So what's changed? I don't even know if this additional damage has been done after the steering rack was changed because it wasn't initially found? They also charged the battery could it have been set incorrectly? More questions than answers sadly, going to have to see where I stand legally as well of course...
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A guy on Pistonheads seems to be having exactly the same issue as you with his M5. https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=205&t=1919744
I would also start with the batterys, the steering on my vrs definitely goes heavier when the battery is low, try the guys at midland vw, very helpfull and last time i was in there they had a audi come in on the back of a trailer from an audi dealer that audi themselves could not find the fault with
https://www.midlandvw.co.uk/
https://www.midlandvw.co.uk/
Ground fault?
Colleague had all kinds of issues with starting, random electrical warnings, power steering cutting out, etc. dealer quoted her all kinds of things as being wrong - her brother found it to be a simple loose ground issue near one of the fuse boxes.
Colleague had all kinds of issues with starting, random electrical warnings, power steering cutting out, etc. dealer quoted her all kinds of things as being wrong - her brother found it to be a simple loose ground issue near one of the fuse boxes.
Thanks for the input guys thus far. I haven’t spoken to them yet but I’m just thinking out loud here when I say the following... would having the car removed from Audi, taken to the ghost installers for it to be removed and then finding another dealer be an option? I have another dealer close that is not in the same dealer family? I think I would look to correct the fuse issues myself also before taking it back in? I’m just thinking of what ifs at this point in case this dealer that the car is with now just says ‘no’ to everything...
I completely get your grievances, but I think you'd be clutching at straws at that point.
If it's still part of the main dealer network then you'll probably find that your car has been logged to a system that other dealer franchises can pull the history from.
You pretty much want an independent Audi specialist to have a look, but I would imagine your warranty would require work be done by Audi's main dealers rather than an independent - have a read of your small print.
Either way, it could still be worth paying an independent out of your own pocket for diagnostics/troubleshooting. Just note that this could get expensive, if they charge £80-100/hr and they spend 10 hours doing various diagnostic checks, then you could have a big bill before even considering repair costs.
Ok, one more thought. The recovery firm boost started the vehicle and the mention of an ‘overcharge’ of the battery is being mentioned by Audi... should I contact the RAC and tell them Audi are saying this could have been a factor in this situation? The battery dying / alternator failing makes sense for my initial recovery but the fuses being blown does not...
Caporegime
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Yes I'd be doing this. You need either Audi or an independent to provide a report into their findings and I'd be approaching the RAC.
As above - without any independent evidence that the issues were cause by something "other" than the immobiliser being fitted/boost start, you will struggle to get anywhere.
Bear in mind you are potentially going to have to get it shifted from the dealer, pay for independent report/garage etc - so your going to be spending a fair bit just doing that.
I still think you need to go back to the immobiliser company asap and question if they have ever seen this before. RAC will likely tell you to do one as you had issues before they got to the vehicle.
Bear in mind you are potentially going to have to get it shifted from the dealer, pay for independent report/garage etc - so your going to be spending a fair bit just doing that.
I still think you need to go back to the immobiliser company asap and question if they have ever seen this before. RAC will likely tell you to do one as you had issues before they got to the vehicle.
Sadly I think you're stuffed.
Audi will say the ghost immobiliser caused it unless you can prove otherwise.
The immobiliser company will say it wasn't caused by them and they have never had anyone else complain.
The RAC will say the car was FUBAR before they arrived.
Although it's hindsight I don't know why people put aftermarket stuff on cars within warranty. There's no harm in pursuing Audi but I would be surprised if you get anywhere. Wishing you good luck though. Ultimately I think you'll need a report from an independent garage/electrician on the cause to help chase one of the three.
Audi will say the ghost immobiliser caused it unless you can prove otherwise.
The immobiliser company will say it wasn't caused by them and they have never had anyone else complain.
The RAC will say the car was FUBAR before they arrived.
Although it's hindsight I don't know why people put aftermarket stuff on cars within warranty. There's no harm in pursuing Audi but I would be surprised if you get anywhere. Wishing you good luck though. Ultimately I think you'll need a report from an independent garage/electrician on the cause to help chase one of the three.
I was just about to post the same! I've never heard of this immobiliser and all of a sudden two reports of the same thing on the same day. I'd expect this one is more difficult to argue however given that the fault looks electrical related.
It's definitely worth trying a new battery IMO, or trickle charging the current one to 100% to see if it can be temporarily revived. You see this quite frequently in EVs, when the 12v gets towards end of life/low you get a long list of electrical failures and errors. Might as well rule out the cheapest part first...