Audi Concert Stereo Issue (volume controller)

[Adas]

Hi all,
I have a 99 S4 Avant, and I have serious issues with my volume controller...if I ever want to adjust the volume (louder or quieter), it will either jumpt straight to complete silence, or (worse still) to full volume, distorting the speakers. I have been told by stereo-repair shops that it is a rotary encoder issue - apparently the encoders on these stereos are designed to only be 'twiddled' a certain number of times, and then they are shot.

The other problem being is that even Blaupunkt agents here (I am in NZ) say Audi owns the rights to the Concert, so they can't get parts (only Audi dealers can). When I speak to Audi dealers, they don't want a bar of it - they reckon the parts aren't available, but they will do me a replacement stereo - big $s though.

Has anyone else had this problem? Does anyone else know the part number for the encoder, so I could 'trick' Audi into looking and finding the part for me?

Thanks!

[Wak]

This is a very common problem and even the local repairers seem to have problem making a permanent fix.

After our repaired one did it again I have just changed for a new sony head unit its not worth the hassle with the audi one in my opinion.

[Adas]

Thanks for that, I thought that might be the case...I am not that keen on an after-market unit (I really like the integrated look of the factory head-unit, all looks 'clean') - so I may just have to bite the bullet and buy another Concert with a warranty on it, which will hopefully cover me for the life of my ownership of the car...

Thanks for the feedback though.

[gavsteryoung]

You could look on ebay, these stereo's come up fairly regularly and you will pay a 1/4 of the price. Of course there will be no warranty and the same thing could happen after a few months....

But then you could probably get 4 of them for the price the stealer sells them..... probably more than 4 thinking about it.

Just goto ebay.co.uk and search for Audi Concert

regards

Gavin

[Adas]

Thanks Gavin, yep, good advice...I have looked on both Ebay and Ebay UK, and there are a couple out there...only problem being, I am all the way down-under in NZ! But I have asked the question of a couple of sellers if they will ship to NZ, so it will be interesting to see...definitely a way cheaper option, and even if the volume controller only lasts a year on another one, then I can always just buy another one...

Thanks for the tips, guys.
Adas

[Mc-BigE]

be careful which one you buy

have a look at this tread:
http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNp ... ight=radio

[tartan_rob]

Make sure the unit has no issues, and make sure if you get one from ebay that the guy knows, if it faulty at all he'll get bad feedback. I live near a company that fixes this issue and I used to buy them to fix. The amount of guys that promised it was okay and actually turned out to be dodgy - which was reflected in the price and slow response to questions.

[Adas]

Hey Mc-BigE and Tartan Rob, thanks for your comments...all very interesting stuff. That link you posted Mc-BigE to the other thread, that was very interesting indeed. And it's too bad there isn't a repair place here in NZ like the ones you describe. That would have been the perfect option. I am shying away from buying a 2nd hand one on ebay now, just too risky. I have fleetingly thought about an aftermarket option now, maybe a silver-finish stereo will look good against the titanium trim. I just prefer the factory look of the Concert, rather than after-market stuff.