Newbie with a problem!

Post by **Cabar Feidh** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:44 pm

Hello folks

I've just registered and said hello on the new members forum. Been a long time lurker but I have what hopefully is a minor problem with my new car which I haven't seen mentioned so far and has led to me finally registering. I have just bought in a private sale, a 2007/07 RS4 saloon, Mugello Blue, 29k miles, FASH, Milltek + lots of extras.

Everything was great for the first week but when I returned to the car one evening last week to head home, operated the remote locking, went to open the drivers door and it wouldn't move. Tried again - nothing! The other doors were OK and the boot. Tried using the key, clambered over the seats and operated from inside - still nothing. Kept trying, but eventually gave up and managed to get myself into the drivers seat from the passenger side - luckily I'm not too big! Drove to my folks where I'm keeping my old car, 2004/04 S4, until it goes on the market next year and have been driving that since. My mate's a mechanic with his own garage and am taking it to him tomorrow but I thought I would take the opportunity to introduce myself to the forum and to ask if anybody has had or heard of similar problems?

There seems to be a number of owners up in the Aberdeen area. 1 in particular I've seen a few times very recently, Black Avant with RS04 plate - I hope they know an ex-colleague of mine as twice I've seen the car it has been parked across his drive!!

Thanks

Mike

Post by **Brooner** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:48 pm

Hi Mike welcome ot the site never actualy he\ard of thatr problem before but i'm sure there will be some on come along and let you know how to fix it

Post by **adsgreen** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 4:43 pm

It's common for the hook thingy that actually activates the locking mech to come unstuck.
You should be able to remove the interior door trim and re-attach.

When you press the lock and unlock buttons on the remote can you hear the lock actuating ?

Post by **MB2** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 4:21 pm

I had the hook come undone on my Golf, after a couple of times - when I reattached it I squeezed it with some pliers so it couldn't come off & never had the problem again, so if you take the card off & is not attached I would do this.

Post by **Cabar Feidh** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 11:38 pm

Car was at my mate's today but he was struggling to get the door trim off with the door closed so decided to stop rather than break something. He suggested I take it to Audi who may have superior knowledge to either get the door open or get trim off. Will speak to Specialist Cars tomorrow but not looking forward to how much it may cost - a colleague who had an A4 Cabrio said it was £120 for them just just to have a look at his for a door problem!

I had a listen to the locking when I returned from work today and it sounds as though something is happening when the locks are activated but not the same as passenger side which does open and you can hear the locks moving.

Thanks for the info so far - does sound as if it is what you have suggested but just need to get the trim off. Anybody any tips on how this can be done with door closed?!

Cheers

Mike

Post by **adsgreen** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 12:11 am

Will have a look in elsawin tomorrow

Post by **Cabar Feidh** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:42 pm

My car was in Aberdeen Audi for 2 1/2 days this week to get this fixed. Got it back yesterday with a bill for £750!!

Day1. They couldn't get the door open after connecting to their computer and then tried to get door card off without damaging it to access locks to no avail. I got a phone call asking for permission to proceed with possible damage to the door card - said OK as there was no alternative but that I would not be expecting to pay for a new door card. Got car back as they ran out of time - still not open.

Day 2. Dropped off 1st thing and no contact until I phoned them at 5pm. Door open but card destroyed. Locks working but no door card, no wiring loom etc. Got car back again! New door card, last 1 in uk being sent up from Milton Keynes.

Day3. Dropped off 1st thing and received call back of lunch time to say it was ready to be collected. Went down to pick up and presented with the bill - was expecting the worst but not quite as high as I thought as only charged for 1 hour labour. Note on Invoice states further work required - replace damaged carbon trim and speaker cover - another £287!! Carbon trim doesn't appear damaged so that won't get done but I discovered the speaker cover wasn't the Bose one. I questioned this and they have it on order and will replace FOC according to workshop.

The problem turned out to be the elec motor that moves the deadlock had failed and so wouldn't let door catch open - 'Master Technician' I spoke to said he had never seen this problem before and they had never had to break into the door like that either. New motor £120 and new door card £360 + vat! Expressed my opinion that I shouldn't be paying for the door card but in the end had to pay to get the car back but with them going for good will reimbursement from Audi. This was dependant on me having FASH - their database wasn't showing anything so had to return today with Service Record. Spoke at length (but mostly in circles) with Service Supervisor at lunchtime and they are saying I shouldn't expect anything as a) didn't buy the car from them, b) didn't buy from Audi, c) I'm not the original owner d) it's over 3 years old e) it doesn't have an extended warranty f) I gave the go ahead for them to break the door card (alternative would be to drive around for ever in a 3 door car) g) I haven't any "brand loyalty" as 1st time at Aberdeen Audi.....

However they are going to put my case to Audi but not to get my hopes up! Fair enough I bought private and shouldn't expect to not pay - I'm Ok with the fact that I have to pay for the motor and the labour to fix the actual problem although it's not something I would have expected to have to fix on car of this age and quality especially only after 1 week of ownership! But, things do fail and I'll have to bite the bullet and cough up. But... to have to pay for something that wasn't broken and had to be destroyed to allow the problem to be fixed in my mind is not my responsibility. My point is that Audi must be at fault for not allowing for this problem in the design or providing some means of accessing the locks from inside the car with the door shut etc.

So now waiting for them to respond and finding out how to take this further if they knock me back. If anybody has any experiences of this I'd be pleased to hear!

Mike

Post by **Ollieb7** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 4:28 pm

Mmmm - not good. It annoys me the 'it does not have full 'Audi' service history line. I though to keep your warranty going you had to get the car servced by a VAT registered garage so why this is an excuse i don't know. I use the garage in Kingswells for all basic stuff as i just don't see the value of the Audi labour rate. Saying that i plan to get Aberdeen Audi to check my DRC before it gets to 5 years old so that may be interesting....

The Black (xxxx YES?) Avant - parks at an 'interesting' place at work too...

Post by **GogsRS4** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:41 pm

Sounds like a nightmare mate, my car is in at specialist tomorrow morning for a diagnostic check on what I suspect is a dodgy coil pack. £75 just to plug it in and that's before they do the repair! Hope that Audi see sense and pay out for you.

Post by **Pie** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:17 pm

Cabar Feidh wrote: There seems to be a number of owners up in the Aberdeen area. 1 in particular I've seen a few times very recently, Black Avant with RS04 plate - I hope they know an ex-colleague of mine as twice I've seen the car it has been parked across his drive!!

She posts on here (occasionally); LMA07.

Post by **adsgreen** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:21 pm

GogsRS4 wrote:Sounds like a nightmare mate, my car is in at specialist tomorrow morning for a diagnostic check on what I suspect is a dodgy coil pack. £75 just to plug it in and that's before they do the repair! Hope that Audi see sense and pay out for you.

All they are going to do is plug in vag com - you could have done the same for under 20 quid using a reader from Halfords.

Post by **Jules** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:29 pm

Mate what a nightmare.

I am only average when it comes to messing with cars,but having never worked on one,i managed to remove all the door cards in less
than an hour to remove my tinted windows.

If i can do it without any damage then audi should very easily.

I'm sorry but no way would i be paying for damage they have made.

I hope you get something sorted,and welcome by the way

Post by **rwilsonrs4** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:50 pm

Yeah but try getting a door card off with the door closed then see how easy it is!! ,I had to do it several times over the years on Fords where i used to work and its near impossible to do it without damage, luckily most were in warranty so it was covered
If its out of warranty your on your own and the if the trim has to be forcibly removed due to inaccessability to the screws, clips etc that will be obscured by the seats, pillars and dash then i dont think its unreasonable to be expected to pay for it tho i have to say the price of the trim is expensive !

Post by **Brooner** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 7:08 am

GogsRS4 wrote:Sounds like a nightmare mate, my car is in at specialist tomorrow morning for a diagnostic check on what I suspect is a dodgy coil pack. £75 just to plug it in and that's before they do the repair! Hope that Audi see sense and pay out for you.

could have done the check for nothing plenty of us on here have the Vag com and would be happy to do it for the price of a beer

Post by **Cabar Feidh** » Thu Jan 12, 2012 1:53 pm

Car was back in Aberdeen Audi on Monday to have the speaker cover swapped over. I declined to get the carbon trim replaced as the damage is minimal and can't really be seen - difficult to find if you don't know where to look. Not worth paying £180 so will live with it! Cost me £10 for the speaker cover only, no charge for labour even though they would have had to remove the door card again and had put £80 in the estimate.

When I mentioned about the goodwill from Audi I was pretty much brushed off and told there wouldn't be any. So, I fired off a lengthy e-mail to Audi UK Customer Services this morning - will see where that gets me.

On the brighter side, I'm very much enjoying the car now that I've got it back on the road and with the milder weather got the chance to push it a wee bit more!

Mike

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