3 Buckled Wheels...

[Scotty C]

Morning All,

Booked my car in to Southend Audi yesterday for a few minor bits to be checked including black tail pipe corrosion, geometric wheel alignment, auto headlights taking half hour to switch off after tunnel exit and a very light steering wheel vibration around 80mph. Had no comment yet on the corrosion but just had a call from them to report I apparently have THREE buckled wheels.

I don't often get the chance to do 80mph so almost forget the problem exists but seem to remember it's always been there since I bought the car in Feb 16 with 9k. I have no recollection of hitting anything hard myself but in any event, three out of four wheels seems too much of a coincidence to be driver error.

I would be pleased to know if anyone has had any positive luck with Audi UK and their buckled wheels falling under warranty due to poor manufacturing and/or defective materials. The car is only just two years old and has done 15k miles (and 3k of those over 7 days two weeks ago). The wheels are totally unscratched 21" Titanium 5 Twin Spokes.

Thanks in advance.

[Bit_evl]

Welcome to the club.

I have the 21 Performance edition black Y spoke

Current status
1. Wheel wobble at higher speeds develops from 7000 miles
2. Wheel wobble gets larger at lower speeds. Steering shaking at 70-80mph.
3.I then had a brake warp making it far worse. Put it in for checking at Tetbury where I bought it and they agreed discs warped. Due to my location and timing of travel I had to wait a bit and get it into Reading. They did the brakes under warranty.
4. On return they had done the brakes but handed it back with a monumental wobble to the point the steering was shaking above 50. I am surprised it was not picked up on testing prior to hand back.
5. Once they took it back I was told the wheels had to be "fixed as they would not replace them" which took a week.
6. On return it still had a clear shake through the steering so I rejected the repair. It was at a higher speed and better but it could be felt in the rear seat and through the seat of the drivers pants.
7. It has now been in another week. They have apparently taken the wheels (same Y21) off the demo car and it is the same. They looked at the suspension and have replaced a subframe of some sort. His words were this could be due to poor balance possibly caused by the vibration. Just to grind ash into the wound the car has picked up a nail in front tyre whilst in their hands for the week. They are prevaricating about 1-2-4 tyres needing replacement.

If it is not back to the same smooth running prior to this farce then I will not be accepting it back again. I guess the good news is that this means most of it will have been looked at so eliminating the other elements.

New tyres, suspension reviewed up and down (Air on my car) and close inspection of tracking with any luck.
Bad news is I am in a loan Audi A3 2L D Manual and it is not really the same. At least they have given me a loaner.

I do worry if we have reached the point of no return here,

600bhp with a good transmission for pushing power surges fast.
wide rubber with surprising good grip given width and 4 patches
30 profile sidewalls with little give.
Very slim spokes
Deep dish causing torque reaction.
Heavy car causing lots of momentum changes.

I have no engineering background but I can see this placing a lot of energy on some small metal elements in the rims.
These are the default rims on the car so need to be strong enough to survive the life of the car or at least the warranty period regardless of "subject to customer use"
I also worry that if they leave even a minor tremor the impact of this with 600bhp on the rest of the suspension/bearings etc in the long run is bad.

If I put a supermarket cardboard six pack of wine in the boot they shake and clink as I drive. Always a good indicator.

[Golfather]

Make sure wheels have been road force balanced before trying to remediate vibration issues.

http://www.tirereview.com/when-is-it-overkill/

"Car manufacturers have been using road force wheel balancers for decades because even the best tires are not perfect. It’s done at the factory on every tire/wheel assembly to create that ever so important new car ride."

[Scotty C]

Will do - thanks.

[Scotty C]

Welcome to the club.

I have the 21 Performance edition black Y spoke

Current status
1. Wheel wobble at higher speeds develops from 7000 miles
2. Wheel wobble gets larger at lower speeds. Steering shaking at 70-80mph.
3.I then had a brake warp making it far worse. Put it in for checking at Tetbury where I bought it and they agreed discs warped. Due to my location and timing of travel I had to wait a bit and get it into Reading. They did the brakes under warranty.
4. On return they had done the brakes but handed it back with a monumental wobble to the point the steering was shaking above 50. I am surprised it was not picked up on testing prior to hand back.
5. Once they took it back I was told the wheels had to be "fixed as they would not replace them" which took a week.
6. On return it still had a clear shake through the steering so I rejected the repair. It was at a higher speed and better but it could be felt in the rear seat and through the seat of the drivers pants.
7. It has now been in another week. They have apparently taken the wheels (same Y21) off the demo car and it is the same. They looked at the suspension and have replaced a subframe of some sort. His words were this could be due to poor balance possibly caused by the vibration. Just to grind ash into the wound the car has picked up a nail in front tyre whilst in their hands for the week. They are prevaricating about 1-2-4 tyres needing replacement.

If it is not back to the same smooth running prior to this farce then I will not be accepting it back again. I guess the good news is that this means most of it will have been looked at so eliminating the other elements.

New tyres, suspension reviewed up and down (Air on my car) and close inspection of tracking with any luck.
Bad news is I am in a loan Audi A3 2L D Manual and it is not really the same. At least they have given me a loaner.

I do worry if we have reached the point of no return here,

600bhp with a good transmission for pushing power surges fast.
wide rubber with surprising good grip given width and 4 patches
30 profile sidewalls with little give.
Very slim spokes
Deep dish causing torque reaction.
Heavy car causing lots of momentum changes.

I have no engineering background but I can see this placing a lot of energy on some small metal elements in the rims.
These are the default rims on the car so need to be strong enough to survive the life of the car or at least the warranty period regardless of "subject to customer use"
I also worry that if they leave even a minor tremor the impact of this with 600bhp on the rest of the suspension/bearings etc in the long run is bad.

If I put a supermarket cardboard six pack of wine in the boot they shake and clink as I drive. Always a good indicator.

Wow.. that makes my concerns seem quite insignificant by comparison.

You certainly have had your fair share of problems there... all of which are unacceptable. Problems will always occur but it is the way they are dealt with that makes the difference. Good to get a loan car although the A3 diesel must be tough.. I only have short journeys so I chose an A1 - but it had to be petrol !!

I lost faith in the Audi service department the moment they were expecting my old car which was on the same private plate - despite them servicing the new one only 4 weeks prior !!

Whilst in for service, I had my winter tyres fitted and rebalanced. I was kind of hoping that would solve the vibration problem but it still persisted. I'm awaiting a call back re the other points and what they suggest I do in regards to the three wheels.

I know it can take a lot of mental energy keeping on at them to get things sorted... as well as the disappointment of being without the car. Good luck and don't give up! Imagine your cardboard six pack of wine is now empty : )

[scottie1979]

Anyone read the fast fleet section of the latest edition of evo ?

Sounds familiar ......

[Bit_evl]

Just went to look but cannot seem to find it from the damn menu structure - do you happen to have a direct URL you could share ?

[scottie1979]

It is in the latest magazine issue - i tried to find online too but it looks like they dont add to their website.
Essentially they are reporting vibrations and are blaming the rubber.
I think they have the performance 21" wheels as well. Mine are standard 21"

Also their car goes back at the end of the month which isnt ideal.

[Bit_evl]

Thanks. I will get a copy.
X-car will also be running an RS6 shortly.

[RSQ]

My performance came with continental tyres. Evo one has pirellis IIRC