[Harbir]

We have an A6 3.0T. Cost us about 50lacs. Its done 18,000 km and in that time, its had:

1. Airbag module failure
2. HVAC control module failure
3. Catastrophic coolant containment failure stranding the car in a rural area.
4. DSG transmission failure
5. CD player failure.

Each time something goes wrong, Audi turns out not to have the parts in stock and the car gets idled. The last time, when the transmission failed, it sat in the workshop for over 2 months waiting for a transmission to come from Brazil.

Now the CD player has failed. It is unable to eject the CD thats inside. the dealer wants 85,000 rupees to remove the CD AND it will void the warranty. I said if the CD player is unable to eject the CD, that means its a warranty job. No, just the CD is stuck and I have to pay 85,000 rupees and lose my warranty. Or I can continue to drive a 50 lac rupee car with 2 years to go on the warranty with a jammed CD player.

Update:

Originally Posted by Harbir

A CRM from the dealer called. He clarified that it's 85000 to replace the player. He said they will remove the player, and extract the CD and if they decide that the CD is at fault then warranty will not cover replacement of the CD Player. I expressed my displeasure quite the vocally and was assured of satisfaction and he said he'd call me back in a while.

What a piece of crap.

I am going to make sure nobody I know ever buys an Audi. Unreliable junk being backed in India by policies designed to fool customers who were foolish enough to throw 50 lacs in Audi's lap.

Additional information shared on 5th June:

Originally Posted by Harbir

1. One day the AC stopped cooling. Thinking it was a gas leak or something, The car went to Audi Chandigarh, and was informed that the HVAC control module needed replacement. Replaced under warranty after a waiting period for the part to arrive.

2. One day a warning signal came up in the dashboard, indicating an Airbag fault. Again the car went to Audi CHD and we were informed that that the control module had to be replaced. Replaced under warranty after a period of waiting for the part.

3. I was at our farm in rural haryana this past winter and one morning left for Chandigarh, but a short distance from the farm, "check coolant level" type message popped up. I stopped the car and lifted the bonnet to see water everywhere inside the engine compartment in the area in front of the engine. I bought some bottled water from a chai wala nearby and put it in, but it all poured out on the underside immediately. The car then went to Audi Karnal on a flatbed, which was the nearest dealer. I am not exactly clear whether a hose failed or whether a hose came off its fitting (my dad dealt with it), but it was repaired under warranty. This is a newly opened dealer, about 25km from the farm, but intially I was looking at having to send it by truck to Chandigarh, a distance of perhaps 160km, and I was simply horrified that a new 50 lac car in the 21st centry was suffering catastrophic breakdowns and couldn't be relied upon to take you home.

4. While the car was at Audi Karnal, they called and said that the transmission fluid seal also needed replacement. After the replacement, they called and said that the transmission was making noises and had to be replaced since they were not authorised to dismantle and repair these transmissions. We had actually not noticed anything wrong with the transmission, but it didn't occur to us to argue with the dealer about it. From the time the car went for the cooling system failure to the time it came back with transmission replacement was a period of over a month perhaps nearly 2. (I lost track of the days). It was all done under warranty.

The cooling system failure brought us to the edge of selling the car. However, the reality of how much value the supercharged petrol car had lost in 2 years, and how much more we'd have to put in to buy something equivalent meant we decided to keep the car till atleast the warranty was there.

Then the CD Player got stuck. I left it, thinking that when the car goes in to the dealer next, I'll ask them to deal with it.

[sagarpadaki]

Oh boy! This is disgusting ! After paying 50 big ones through the nose if one gets this treatment , anyone will be seething with anger

Contact Audi directly.Try mailing them directly. Tweet them with these same lines! Let's see if they respond. 85,000 to get a CD ejected is.... i have no words to fill the blank!

[yogeshnagpal]

Sad state of affairs.

Write an e-mail to Audi, and wait for their response.

If you do not get a satisfactory response, then I would say go viral with this on social media tweeting this to every auto magazine and then re-tweeting it to Audi. This is just not expected. A Wagon R costing 5 lacs does a much better job.


-Yogesh.

[Vahanam]

Sorry to hear that. But its insane to charge 85k to get the CD out and to void the warranty. Utter non sense. They don't seem to care for the customer. We need stricter laws in india to stop these kind of things. Please explore the option of approaching a consumer court to help you

[pratyush6]

Oh Boy, we have heard a lot of horror stories through this stable, but this takes it to a new high!

85K to remove a stuck CD? And it will void the warranty? Something clearly does not add up. As others have suggested, write to Audi directly and I expect a better response.

Did you get any DIY help online? That is pretty much the first thing I would try.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Harbir

Now the CD player has failed. It is unable to eject the CD thats inside. the dealer wants 85,000 rupees to remove the CD AND it will void the warranty. I said if the CD player is unable to eject the CD, that means its a warranty job. No, just the CD is stuck and I have to pay 85,000 rupees and lose my warranty. Or I can continue to drive a 50 lac rupee car with 2 years to go on the warranty with a jammed CD player.

The player itself should be under warranty, whoever is the OEM supplier. They should cover this under the warranty policy, as it is a failure. I remember that I received a warranty card for the factory fitted music system in my 4 lakh rupee hatchback!

[TRANSAM]

This is pathetic, try and mobilize your dissent through Facebook-Audi India page or post on twitter, just cant understand 85k to get a damn cd out and void your warranty, what logic??
In the interim, try speaking to the dealer you bought your car through? or is it the same dealers service centre?

[Captain Slow]

If you still have 2 years warranty left then the CD player should also be included in the warranty!
The dealer is telling you crap.

Also were the other Parts covered under warranty ?

1. Airbag module failure
2. HVAC control module failure
3. Catastrophic coolant containment failure stranding the car in a rural area.
4. DSG transmission failure

Can you please name this Audi dealer and also maybe post a picture of the jammed/stuck CD player?

[wilful]

Originally Posted by Harbir

We have an A6 3.0T. Cost us about 50lacs. Its done 18,000 km and in that time, its had

A completely unacceptable state of affairs. Makes for shocking reading! Have you taken the matter up directly with Audi - and if yes, what is their response like?
I hope the company is following this thread on this forum. (The other brand - at a much lower price point from the same stable has had multiple complaints as we are all aware of)

[ad3952n]

Originally Posted by Harbir

We have an A6 3.0T. Cost us about 50lacs. Now the CD player has failed. It is unable to eject the CD thats inside. the dealer wants 85,000 rupees to remove the CD AND it will void the warranty.

This is how a reputed brand fails to impress. Reaching to the higher up's with immediate effect may probably solve your issues. 85k for a stuck CD ? and above that how shall it lead to warranty loss is beyond logic.

Here is a link to help you, https://www.facebook.com/Pehredaar.

2nd thing if the dealer does not budge from his stand then take legal course of action. But, in the meanwhile if the music system is creating a issue then please get in touch with a good audio repair shop and get it done for a lesser amount. I don't think taking out a stuck CD with help of after market technician should cost you more than 500 rupees.

Thanks

[aniketi]

Just spread the news everywhere. Be it FaceBook, Twitter, any other social media, try to make news in local news papers. These guy's need to suffer. Make sure they get negative publicity. Hopefully they will improve with this, if not then i guess you better try consumer court as well if its under warranty.

[dark.knight]

This car seems to be a certified Lemon to the N. If indeed all of this happened you should either sell this off as soon as possible to get best resale or let the company know what's going on. This is expected behaviour from Audi to pretend nothing to be under warranty until and unless people throw a tantrum.

Most surprising fact isn't that the CD player isn't under warranty or that they're saying that retracting a mere CD from the player will void full warranty (as stunning as they maybe), but it is that they want rupees eighty five thousand only, to do this job? A shade under a lakh to extract a music disc, what kind of hallucinogens are they on? What next, ten grand to change a flat tyre?

[jinojohnt]

Originally Posted by Harbir

Now the CD player has failed. It is unable to eject the CD thats inside.

Some things you can try (without the risk of damaging anything):
1. If your stereo has a "power on/off" button, press it together with the "eject" button for 10 seconds. This can be tried with the engine idling, as well as the ignition switched off.
2. Remove the negative terminal of the battery, wait for 30 seconds, and connect again. Use the 'eject' button after switching on.
3. Check your user manual to see whether your player has an "emergency CD eject". In some players, this would be a small hole that can be poked with a pin.

[rsidd]

Have you contacted a consumer association / threatened going to the consumer court? It has worked for us in the past with fraudulent companies (one a multinational dishwasher maker). You can actually go to the court if all else fails -- consumer court is different from regular court and is quiite consumer-friendly, I have heard.

That said, I always thought people buy 50lac Audis instead of 20lac Sonatas or Camrys because of the badge, not out of expectations of reliability or good service!

[edit] Also, to eject a stuck CD, there are ways -- immediately after pressing the eject button, try pushing a visiting card inside and below, in such a way that it goes under the stuck CD. Worked for me a couple of times (including in the car) -- the advice is via Apple forums (seems to be a common problem on slot-type drives).

[Rollingwheels26]

I would suggest that you copy-paste all of this and post this on their FB page and then encourage your friends to like the post and share it as well. Nothing will get those arrogant German hindquarters on fire more quickly than seeing 2000 odd likes for a post dissing one of their premier (not sure if i should be using this word anymore) models.