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Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:21 pm
by SimonS4MTM
Hi all
Took a trip to my local dealer today to check if some corrosion was covered under warranty. A small bubble on the boot handle (the bit with the lock).
Was told that this was not covered as it is a trim piece.
I have searched the forum and found that some people have had this work carried out under warranty.
Can you help me out guys with an ammo list to take to my dealer to get this sorted.
Cheers in advance
RE: Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:24 pm
by grizz
Hi ,let me know how you get on as mine has done the same thing . grizz
RE: Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 8:11 pm
by JohnW
Guildford Audi replaced mine under warranty, after initially telling me it was a trim piece.
A few others have also had theirs replaced by Guildford Audi, and if I recall coreectly Thomson has had his done too.
Explain to them that it is painted to the body colour, and is a known faulty part.
tell the dealer to contact the warranty claims department rather than making the rules up themselves.
Good luck !
RE: Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 1:38 pm
by SimonS4MTM
Cheers John,
abyone else had theirs done
RE: Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2005 4:30 pm
by RobertH
Hi - I am the second owner of mine and I understand that the first owner had the same problem with a small amount of rust on the tail gate. If you PM I can send you the Reg and you can have a chat with the Dealers to see what was done. If not I can try and find out but I am sure that it was covered but it was in the early years of teh car's life.
Robert.
RE: Corrosion warranty help required
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 10:01 am
by JohnW
Simon, if it helps, the bubble on mine was about an inch to the left of the lock, on the top edge.
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:23 pm
by bazza
I had this problem on my old S4 and sg smith audi said it wasent covered, But i tought paint was covered for 5 - 10 years

Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:41 pm
by JohnW
As posted above I got mine sorted. What they wouldn't do though was the little black painted triangle at the back of the rear door glass. Mine has a stone chip on it, and this IS classified as a trim piece according to the warranty guys. To replace it requires the entire door to be stripped down

Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:24 am
by SimonS4MTM
Thanks for your help guys, i shall speak to my dealer again soon and let you know hor i get on.
Bazza, the paint warranty is for 3 years
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 2:33 pm
by Dippy
As my car is a personal import, I decided it was not worth the hassle of even trying to get mine done under warranty. I bought the trim from VAGPARTS for about £20 and had it painted for just under £100. I haven't fitted it yet though.
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 11:57 pm
by Zen
Simon, any news on this? I've got exactly the same thing on my 2000 S4. Each side of the boot trim is starting to blister. So is the small quarter panel on the rear door. I took the car in to the dealer, who said that although strictly speaking it's not covered because it's trim, it might be covered because the corrosion could spread to the main metal!! They suggested I speak to Audi Customer Services in Walsall. I spoke to Customer Services and they asked that the dealer pass the matter to Audi Warranty Claims in Milton Keynes. If rejected, then Customer Services would take a view. I'm waiting for a response from Warranty Claims at the moment.
Have to say I was shocked to read of so many others with the same problem. I'm the second owner and just assumed that the first owner had had a slight knock and fettled it back up. A class action might be in order!
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 11:20 am
by SimonS4MTM
Not bothered speaking to the dealer about it since, I will when its next in for a service.
Interested to hear how you get on, good luck
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:19 pm
by stan
I phoned Audi warranty re. the same problem on my 1999 S4 and was told that bodywork/paintwork was only covered under the initial 3 year warranty.
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:24 pm
by TWH
That doesn't sound right, normally there's a 10 year anti corrosion warranty?!
Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:11 pm
by Zen
Claim rejected by Audi Warranty as expected. Will now go back to Customer Services to cause a commotion.
In a telephone conversation with Audi Bodyshop, they admitted this is a known defect. The process of fixing the boot trim to the boot lid cracks the paint and over time can lead to corrosion, they said. So there must be a design lack of fit between the trim and the parent metal.
I did a quick survey at the car park I use and found three other B5's of 99/00 registration. All three have got rust bubbles on the boot. It's evidently not just for aesthetic reasons that they designed this trim out on the B6 and B7 models.