DRC Fail after just 5k miles - Where do I stand with Audi?

[MapleSyrupJizz]

Hey all,

As the title suggests, I've had a rear drivers side DRC Shock fail after about 5k miles. I bought the shock brand new from Audi, I got it fitted by an independent and then the car went back to Audi for a re-charge of the system.

Driving home yesterday I heard the dreaded knock, I thought it couldn't be as I've just had 4 brand new shocks and all the flexi's and hard lines replaced. Massive amount of money spent. But got out of the car and checked and low behold, rear shock is pissing oil. It's coming from the shock and not the connection so it isn't down to instalment, don't to the component failing.

All work was done in October of 2021 and as I said I've done 5k miles since.

Surely a part shouldn't fail that quickly. Have I any recourse with Audi? How would any of you approach this?

Here are some pics below. Some are sideways but you get the idea.

Thanks in advance for any help!
B

[Dubbsley]

I’m pretty sure all genuine parts bought from a dealer come with a 2 year warranty, now providing the garage that fitted it are VAT registered & you have all the invoices (part & fitting), you can claim through Audi, but I’m pretty sure your car will have to go into Audi for the work to be redone & covered by said parts warranty. If that all makes sense.


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[stuartbarriskell]

I'll chime in on this, my NSF was replaced (supplied and fitted) 3 months ago, by well regarded Audi Independant in Glasgow and now I'm conscious of an intermittent knock from the same side, which could be a coincidence and possibly a "dry" arm socket or whatever, it's only materialised last week or so, so I'll get it up on a ramp and check out if there's any fluid leaks... hoping it's not the shock, don't mind if it's arms, I'll do the full set if one is on the road out.

I asked at the time about the warranty and pretty sure I, too, was told 24 months.. VAT registered outlet would be essential for a claim as per Dubbs post.. that's quite a bad leak.

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[MapleSyrupJizz]

I’m pretty sure all genuine parts bought from a dealer come with a 2 year warranty, now providing the garage that fitted it are VAT registered & you have all the invoices (part & fitting), you can claim through Audi, but I’m pretty sure your car will have to go into Audi for the work to be redone & covered by said parts warranty. If that all makes sense.


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Yep that makes sense. I have the receipt from Audi where I bought them so hopefully it'll be ok. I can trailer the car to them if they can't come get it

[JamesBaby]

If you had it installed and drove it without it first being recharged you most likely damaged the shock and even the rear central valve.
They have to be installed and charged at the same time.

If that wasn't the case then it may be that you hit a pothole, or the shock itself is faulty early.

[coffey555]

This is not good reading for someone who has just installed a brand new DRC system lol!

Just to add, my car went off to have the brand new system charged and upon return, during final inspection the drivers side front shock was leaking It had only done a handful of miles so 100% a defective damper from the supplier. It was not at the stage of knocking and the leak was quite small but it would have only gotten worse with time.

Unfortunately the 4 dampers were purchased back in October 2021 so not sure if I can get a refund on the defective shock from TPS.

A new shock has been installed and off to be charged on Wednesday..... so fingers crossed. It was the last SS+ damper for the corner in the UK so lets hope they get more stock.....

[MapleSyrupJizz]

If you had it installed and drove it without it first being recharged you most likely damaged the shock and even the rear central valve.
They have to be installed and charged at the same time.

If that wasn't the case then it may be that you hit a pothole, or the shock itself is faulty early.

I had it installed at an independent that is about a 10mins from the main dealer. Didn't drive the car. Trailered everywhere. Id say it moved about 5-10 meters if even between installation and being recharged. Possible it got bumped around a bit on the back of the tow truck but could that be enough to destroy a new shock?

When I had it all installed I replaced one of the central valves too.

Either way, credit where credit is due, rang Audi this morning and they immediately said "yeah, there's a 2 year warranty on all parts. So bring it in and we'll have a look" So I've a trailer organised for Thursday morning to bring it to them.

I don't think it's deniable that the shock has failed. It's nobody's fault, these things happen. So we'll see what happens with their inspection.

[MapleSyrupJizz]

This is not good reading for someone who has just installed a brand new DRC system lol!

Just to add, my car went off to have the brand new system charged and upon return, during final inspection the drivers side front shock was leaking It had only done a handful of miles so 100% a defective damper from the supplier. It was not at the stage of knocking and the leak was quite small but it would have only gotten worse with time.

Unfortunately the 4 dampers were purchased back in October 2021 so not sure if I can get a refund on the defective shock from TPS.

A new shock has been installed and off to be charged on Wednesday..... so fingers crossed. It was the last SS+ damper for the corner in the UK so lets hope they get more stock.....

I bought my dampers 21/09/2021 and they said they're still under warranty so definitely worth checking. I bought mine direct from Audi main dealer. Not sure if that makes a difference.

Not very promising that you got the last damper. Yikes! Hopefully some more are coming. Is there a way to refurb broken ones? Surely there is.

[coffey555]

I got the last SS+ damper for the drivers side front, apparently they don't sell very many as most people have switched to coilovers or passive dampers.

I hope they will get more stock in from Germany (the dampers are made in Spain though). Looking at the dates on the packaging the shocks came with, I think they were all made over 10 years ago now. So probably from the batch of Rev 3 dampers introduced to eliminate the leaking DRC damper issues.....

Think there is a place in South Africa that can rebuild the DRC dampers but I never managed to get the details of the company.

I believe the RS6 C5 DRC support is pretty much non-existent now so I would imagine the B7 will go the same way in a few years!

[MapleSyrupJizz]

Looking at the dates on the packaging the shocks came with, I think they were all made over 10 years ago now. So probably from the batch of Rev 3 dampers introduced to eliminate the leaking DRC damper issues.....

Well if they are the Rev 3 dampers.. they didn't solve the problem.

I believe the RS6 C5 DRC support is pretty much non-existent now so I would imagine the B7 will go the same way in a few years!

Hurray.

[Sammyb123]

Credit where credit is due my 8 year old B8 developed its second knocking experience and Audi (under annual warranty) is replacing the faulty shock - identified by doing a pressure check and checking for misting. My first experience (also good) is documented under the handle Sammyb349

Should pick up the car tomorrow all being well.

[MapleSyrupJizz]

Hey All,

Just to give you an idea of how this panned out. Audi advised the component failed and they've cover everything under warranty. I picked up the car today and has a brand new shock in it.

Lovely stuff. Credit to Belfast Audi for such a good service!