My 3.0 sport cab CVT is 9 months old now and has been booked in to have the following issues addressed.

power steering pump squeel - known from day one.
hood rattles/squeeks around top of windows - most annoying.
concert stereo CD volume dies and radio does not stay on preset station.
suspension seems rather loose and trashy, not as solid as it used to be.
engine mis-fire and seemingly lumpy running (3.0 litre)

any one else experienced similar, would be interested to hear. I am in the UK.

Well I am so pissed off with mine that I am seriously thinking of getting shot of it.

All problems made worse by the totally incompetant dealers

Mole,

I can relate to the rattles/squeaks -- mine are located inside the map light region and around the top of windows. These noises are most likely exaggerated by our sport suspensions. Do non-sport owners complain of squeaks/rattles in their cars? Aside from the annoying symphony and trashy ride over rough roads, I'm fortunate to report no mechanical/electronic problems at 6000 miles.

NYCab

I have no squeaks whatsoever, and she still drives like a dream, but I do have that noise from the power steering. Doesn't happen often enough to make a special trip to the dealer. WILL mention it at the 10K maintenance appointment.
penny

The issue with the steering wheel is some kind of rubber ring in the mechanism (I dont remember what they called it - I'll try and find the schedule) - they replaced mine and it's been fine ever since.

Hampshire_cruiser, what problems have you experienced? My windows rattle and so do the sun visors. Also I believe we bought ours from the same dealer, what issues do you have with them?

I had several rattles in my car and all are remedied. I posted my experiences before but it seams there are some new drivers, so here are my solutions once more:

- 'Rice Crispies' type rattles where side windows meet the roof: Your dealer needs to move the position of the windows up a notch. It's an adjustable setting that the maintenance people didn't know about till I threatened to return the car if the rattles weren't addressed.

- Rattle around the sun visor area: This you can do on your own. Buy adhesive pads and stick them on or opposite to your sun visors (see image below).
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/22060/pads_v01.jpg">
I bought a set of inexpensive adhesive Velcro squares from a drug store and used only the soft part.

Those seem to be the most common rattle problems. Hope it helps!

I've had a slight rattle by the air conditioning controls but that happened in cold temps only. The window rattles I think are addressed by the following posts although I have yet to have a problem at 10,000 miles. The misfiring is due to the ignition coils which are on a recall from Audi. Check with your dealer about this--1.8T (Audi/VW), 2.8 VW, and 3.0 Audis are on the recall list.
I'm sorry to hear of others problems, I have my reservations about the quality of Audi. Although my Cab is doing fine, my former 2002 Allroad was a piece of pooh. Audi recognized this and refunded me my money. Their customer service ( Burlingame, California and Palo Alto, California dealers) was exceptional.

Good luck to you !

Juan

Everytime the car goes in for warranty work they damage the car. The time before last it was reversed into the bushes by the workshop and scratched the left front edge of the bootlid and top of the nearside rear quarterpanel.

The car has had the new steering rack just fitted and the car was damaged again and it now drifts to the left, something it never did before.

The 'A' pillar trim has been fixed 4 times now and even replaced for a modified one, yet still rattles. The gear selector still rattles, the rear panels still rattles (also been replaced), there are knocks under the car which they can never hear, so therefore can not fix. The driver seat back rest creaks, plus the other little squeaks that come and go depending on temperature.

They just don't seem to give a toss and when I flew at them over the latest damage they said "I think I can sense anger" too bloody right you can I said. After all I paid in full "cash" and its not a company car - how would you feel - Silence, they couldn't say anything.

I think I am going to have to go in and speak with there general manager directly.

I am seriously pissed off. This is my first and LAST audi EVER. My previous car was a Seat Leon and it cost a third of the price and it was utterly and totally fault free and the dealers were superb. I so regret selling it.

How have you been treated?

Hampshire_Cruiser,

Very sorry about your experiences. In New York State, we have a New Vehicle Lemon Law which states that the consumer has the right to return a vehicle (18,000 miles or less, 2 years or less from the date of purchase) if the dealer fails to fix the same problem after 4 attempts or more. Is there something equivalent in the UK that you can exercise?

NYCab

Nightmare! I'm sorry to hear that.

My treatment so far from the dealer has been fine. But I do have issues with Audi build quality. In many car magazines Audi is always praised with high standards of build quality but the evidence on this forum alone and mine and your experiences suggest that infact this is not the case.

I read an article in the Audi magazine that Audi owners get sent that was about the guy responsible for checking for squeaks and rattles and general quality control at Audi. It was written that he went to extreme lengths even sitting in the boot whilst cars were driven to identify and isolate irratating noises in new cars during pre-production testing.

What the hell was he doing with the A4 cab? Did he fall asleep? Have ear plugs in? or just not bother? Every Audi A4 cab I have read about or have been in has at the very least rattling sun visors and windows! The car has been out for over a year and Audi still haven't resolved the problems.

In my opinion it isn't good enough! It is a £25000 plus car. Vauxhall's Astra cab is better built and costs £8000 less. I imagine Renault's new Megane cab and Peugeot's new 307 cab will be made to higher standards and they are French and at least £5000 cheaper.

I bought my Audi not only because it looks so good but because I thought that German build quality was 2nd to none! That may be true of BMW and Mercedes but not of Audi. Infact my friends who have VW Golfs and Bora's all have had terrible build quality problems and incredibly poor service from VW dealers. Maybe its the VAG group in general, they have got complacent!

VW's tag line used to be "If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagon......." You would have thought it's more expensive sister company would be even better! How wrong can you be!

I will let you know how I'm treated by the dealer soon, my car goes in tomorrow to have various faults fixed, well I hope they are fixed!

My Cab squeaks &amp; rattles just AWFUL where the passenger window meets the roof... and it really just started about 1,000 miles ago (4,500 miles total on the car). I'm thrilled to hear that there's a potential fix for that. It's a silly thing, but annoying as hell.

Quote " bought my Audi not only because it looks so good but because I thought that German build quality was 2nd to none!"

That was my exact reason for buying an Audi too !

You always hear about Audi's "Bomb proof build quality", well mine feels like it had a bomb go off under it !!!! slight exageration I know, but that how the bloody thing is making me feel.

Thing is if Audi/VAG can get it right on a Seat costing only £10,000 why can't they get it right on something costing nearly 3 times as much !

HCUK

PS Good luck with getting your problems fixed

Well all I can say is you are either very very lucky or are very very tollerant.

FYI, I do not have the sport suspension, but I have rattles/buzzes in the trim around the windshield; they seem worse on the passenger side. I'll ask for them to be addressed during my next service stop.

we have an 01 a4 that does the same thing. youturn the car on and it is set .2 stations from where you left it. my allroads does not have this problem. I have been trying to get the radio replace for 2 years and they keep "losing" the request "did you order that from us? we dont seem to have it".

I was looking to trade my 01 AR in for an 03 cab, because though its a cool rig, it has had so many issues, i won't bore you all (5 months in the shop out of 28). Thanks all for the push away. i guess i will need to find another all wheel drive convertible

cheers

bk