Jim M

Well, what I feared was inevitable has happened. My wife managed to get the air damn into a curb.

Here's the amazing part. There are no bumper covers to be had in the US. None The body shop the Audi dealer uses here told me they have had dozens of A6's with the same damage. They also told me in many cases this also bends the front of the fenders as well. Damage for the bumper cover, paint and wheel well liners is a bit over $1100, and if the fenders are trashed, you don't wanna know. Nobody at Audi has a clue as to when parts will be available. Maybe February...or not.

While many would shake their heads and say "duh, don't drive over curbs" (including me perhaps), in the case of the A6 it's easy enough to manage, due to the long overhang, and lack of any visual clues as to where the front is, and the fact there are no audible clues either. It was one of the first thing I thought of when I saw the new model, and I've mentioned it to her, and been careful myself.

What's shocking is that it's such a poor design. A minor air damn touch, and the fenders can be ruined? The body guy told me that in many cases the air damn goes over the curb silently and easily (it's flexible and tapers down at a shallow angle), but when the car is put in reverse, the front settles slightly, and the air damn catches, as it has an abrupt edge. At this point, the fish hook fasteners are trashed, and the fenders can be pulled in to where they no longer fit around the headlights. As the body guy pointed out, if there was a lip on the back of the bumper that would allow it to ride back up smoothly, no problem. If there was more vertical air damn, no problem. With Audi's design, serious problems. I guess I should be glad that her's was just a touch, and not a solid hookup like he described.

Somehow she's managed to never do this with any of our BMW's, all of which have had lower air damns (sport package) than the A6. Indeed, she's a good driver and has never put a scratch on our cars... ever. Her moment I guess.

Comments on the design, or similar experiences?

jm

Chris B

I hit the under side of the air dam. It did scratch the paint a little, but you can't see it unless you get down very low. I will be very careful pulling up to curbs now. Because of the overhang, it's easier to hit then my old A4, or even my girlfriends M3, which has a very low air dam.

april

I haven't seen many of the oops that you have had. What I have seen is a great deal of damage to the bumper and susp when someone lets OFF the gas in a corner. We see it once a week or so. Somebody teach these people some physics !

The bumper cover is supposed to pop away from the fender in the event of an accident. Pressure from the bottom.....?

I had an Isuzu Impulse with the long shnoz. Didn't like it, was totally paranoid about scraping, but never hit it.

For those who see this as a problem, you may want to consider ordering a car with parking sensors.

April

Andy

We recently traded a 1998 Volvo V70 GLT for a new A4 Avant. The first question I asked the salesperson was one regarding the scraping of the front valance. His response was that it was somewhat common on the A6, however it had not been an issue on the A4. We live in a rural area and the bumper cover on our Volvo had been repaired twice from events like yours. The issue involves not just height but also the relationshipof the front wheel to the end of the front bumper cover. The end result is be careful, it takes gettin used to. Good luck..Andy

kl

Well it happens with BMW's too. My wife did the same with a 97 328. Also you talk about poor design, the muffler system on the BMW was damaged twice after driving over a parking lot speed bump at less than 5 mph!

Jim M

"For those who see this as a problem, you may want to consider ordering a car with parking sensors"

Folks might also consider buying a car from a company that will supply repalacement parts for the cars they sell. It was my wife's fault for touching the curb, it's Audi's fault that it will not get repaired for months.

"The bumper cover is supposed to pop away from the fender in the event of an accident. Pressure from the bottom...?"

Unfortunately, on the A6 is will destroy the front fenders prior to releasing. What a great feature. Of course it will do the same thing during a 1/2mph touch as well...

jm

april

Try calling individual dealers. The warehouse may not have it, but someone may have one stashed.

Audis explosive growth has hampered our ability to help people as we would like to.

Check with Fabricante in Lake Forest ( So Cal ) if you are in the region. They are beyond excellent.

April

Stoney

My plan is to put on a few curb feelers, temporarily until I get used to the front bumper.

I may also see if there are any modifications that can help.
- Perhaps the linkages to the side fenders can be made break-away (the fasteners fail before the fender bends).
- Perhaps some braces can be added to resist motion and avoid most of the damaging minor bumps.

There have to be solutions. Any other engineers out there looked at their A6s yet? Mine hasn't arrived yet (any day).

John Stahmann

She did the same thing - caught the bumper on a curb and it got pulled off. Audi ended up paying for the new bumper because she called it a 'design flaw' and escalated the issue within Audi. I doubt they would do that again, though.

John

Jim M

Thanks