MJ-bos

I don't know what hurts more - the fact that it's my A6's first blemish, driving around feeling like a high-schooler with a big-old zit on my nose, or the approx. $2000 it was guestimated that it will cost to fix!

Anyway - it appears that when I was parking at a local store, my front-end came to rest over one of those concrete parking-space bumper-ends (do they have names?). When I was leaving and backing out, I felt a little pulling, stopped, moved forward, then reversed. Nothing major, right?

This AM noticed that the bumber panel was not quite attached on the right side- and upon further inspection, noticed that the fog lamp was cracked, the grille next to the fog was missing, and the underside of the bumper was scuffed & pulled down.

ARGH!

Dealer guesses about $2k - go to a body shop.

I need advice from anyone out there --

1) Anyone have this kind of thing happen?

2) Any recommendations for southern NH body shops?

3) Should I even attempt to file an insurance claim (probably costing $200/yr for 5 years in increased premiums + $500 deductable)?

Thanks in advance-
mj

dzier

This happened on my 99 2.8Q. It seems like my 01 4.2 front end has had no problems.

TraderAlex

$2K seems high. I had heard it was about $1000 to fix this. Get estimates. It is a known problem for the A6. The air dam just hangs too damn low...and I am glad that I saw posts about this problem at this forum, before I took delivery.
Otherwise, I might have done the same thing. I am quite aware of the concrete bumpers now, everytime I pull in to a spot. For the sake of maybe just one inch higher in the design, Audi could have saved a lot of people out there a lot of grief.

Buckeye A4 3.2

Happened on my 99 2.8Q. I spent $600 at a body shop to it "almost fixed". My final solution was to by a '01 2.7T! Couldn't handle the thought of riding around in "damaged" vehicle. By the way, I mentioned the bumper problem to my dealer, the service guys winked and said I was not the only one with this damage! But no Audi help available.

The 2.7T seems to ride higher, but I'm also more careful.

mbh

with the same problem. In my case, body shop estimate was about $1000.

Oy,
Mitch
'01 A6 2.7T
Racing Green/Melange

snugens

It cost me $1200 just to replace and repaint front bumper. Lucky for me, that's all I damaged. I didn't lose any of the lower grills or damage the fog lights. Apparently, if you lose or damage these, you can't buy just 1 but have to buy the pair. Also, it could've been a lot worst if you also managed to damage the radiator. Now you're talking around $4K.

I know how it feels. I did mine 2 weeks after delivery and I decided to a pay out of pocket. This will teach you not to do it again. Also, make sure if you loan your car out to let them know that this might happen.

Good luck.

mmm

Last year I did the same thing to my 2.7T. I got it done for just under $1K at a body shop in Framingham MA (Framingham FORD). The manager is a great guy and does work on all my cars....

Parts cost was around $450 and the rest for painting. The job was well done and I have no complaints. BTW, the dealer's body shop guys asked for $1.5K to repair it.

Since u are in NH, I figure it will be an hours drive. 495S to 9E. Keep going for about 8 miles and u will see the Ford dealership on your right. Body shop is at the back.. you will have to drive round the left of the dealer. I have fun driving in and watching all the prospective Ford buyers gawking at my 2.7T :-)

DarrenCT

this is very common, but i think it's about 1300.00 to fix

MJ-bos

To all-- THANK YOU. I don't feel like a total schmuck anymore.

Talk about an expensive lesson!

I suppose doing a letter to AOA will get me a nice reply and not much else.

I'll talk to Framingham Ford and maybe a few others that the dealer recommended.

Again - thanks guys. This is an great group!

DanHA6

There are many complaints about this problem on the US Federal government's website about automobile problems.

Essentially, the A6 complaints (there are a LOT of them) center around two issues. The bumper problem you've described, and the infamous fuel sensor problem.

See http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/compmmy.cfm for details.<ul><li><a href="http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/complain/compmmy1.cfm">National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. Complaints Database</a></li></ul>