Safety Concern with 2017 Audi Q7 - Brake Servo Failure Due to Rodent Damage
#1
Safety Concern with 2017 Audi Q7 - Brake Servo Failure Due to Rodent Damage
Hello AudiWorld Community,
I wanted to share a recent experience with my 2017 Audi Q7, which raised significant safety concerns. A few days ago, the car started showing a “Start/Stop System Malfunction” error. Without clear guidance on the severity of this issue, we continued using the vehicle that evening. Probably the next day, However, things took a turn for the worse when my wife, driving at a moderate speed, less than a minute after leaving home to take the kids to school, suddenly received a “Brake Servo Restricted” warning. A red light was imminent. She found herself having to apply an extraordinary amount of force to the brake pedal to stop the car, which was both alarming and physically demanding.she pulled over right after the light.
The car was towed to Audi dealership, where it was discovered that a vacuum hose had been damaged by a rodent, causing the brake servo failure. To our surprise, this repair was not covered under our Audi Pure Protection Platinum Warranty. We’ve since had the hose replaced, but the incident left us questioning the design of the vehicle in terms of protecting such critical components from rodent damage and the limitations of the warranty in covering essential safety repairs as well as the uselessness of the warning message.
I’m sharing this here to highlight a potential safety issue for other Audi Q7 owners and to gather feedback or similar experiences from the community. Has anyone else faced something like this? How did you deal with it, and do you have any advice on preventative measures?
Looking forward to the community’s insights and discussion.
Best,
Gsans
I wanted to share a recent experience with my 2017 Audi Q7, which raised significant safety concerns. A few days ago, the car started showing a “Start/Stop System Malfunction” error. Without clear guidance on the severity of this issue, we continued using the vehicle that evening. Probably the next day, However, things took a turn for the worse when my wife, driving at a moderate speed, less than a minute after leaving home to take the kids to school, suddenly received a “Brake Servo Restricted” warning. A red light was imminent. She found herself having to apply an extraordinary amount of force to the brake pedal to stop the car, which was both alarming and physically demanding.she pulled over right after the light.
The car was towed to Audi dealership, where it was discovered that a vacuum hose had been damaged by a rodent, causing the brake servo failure. To our surprise, this repair was not covered under our Audi Pure Protection Platinum Warranty. We’ve since had the hose replaced, but the incident left us questioning the design of the vehicle in terms of protecting such critical components from rodent damage and the limitations of the warranty in covering essential safety repairs as well as the uselessness of the warning message.
I’m sharing this here to highlight a potential safety issue for other Audi Q7 owners and to gather feedback or similar experiences from the community. Has anyone else faced something like this? How did you deal with it, and do you have any advice on preventative measures?
Looking forward to the community’s insights and discussion.
Best,
Gsans
Last edited by gsans; 12-16-2023 at 11:19 PM. Reason: Adding image
#2
AudiWorld Member
Wow- super glad your wife was able to navigate a tough situation and stop safely. Rodents can definitely inflict some damage to any vehicle with their indiscriminate destruction. It sounds like you either park outside or have a rodent issue inside your garage and need to take care of that ASAP.
#3
Ultimate Keyboard Warrior
FWIW my office is located in the same building as USAF Civil Air Patrol. They have a fleet of vehicles that can sit for weeks at a time without moving, depending on mission. They are forever battling chewed wires, mostly from rabbits. Lots of $ spent for repairs.
#4
Audi brake servo restricted - rodent follow up
Have heard some manufacturers make these hoses of soy which attract rodents. Also saw Honda sells a rodent tape for hoses. I also bought these packets of mint/essential oil to put under the car in driveway when it parks. The situation really freaked us out and to me I think Audi could better protect their cars and especially the braking system!
#5
AudiWorld Senior Member
I had a wire harness just below windshield wiper assy chewed up by rats, which caused multiple faults (PreSense, door locks etc). It took some time to determine cause. On advice from my mechanic, I see prunkled Clorox dry bleach pellets under the hood of both of my cars. Do not know how effective it is, but had no problem thus far
#7
AudiWorld Senior Member
a vacuum hose had been damaged by a rodent, ... To our surprise, this repair was not covered under our Audi Pure Protection Platinum Warranty...
the incident left us questioning the design of the vehicle in terms of protecting such critical components from rodent damage and the limitations of the warranty in covering essential safety repairs as well as the uselessness of the warning message.
[/QUOTE]
Looking forward to the community’s insights and discussion.
The following 2 users liked this post by urs6_ma:
dropshadow (12-21-2023),
SimpleQ7 (12-22-2023)
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#8
AudiWorld Senior Member
I'm tempted to pile on by posting a link to one of the many videos entitled "Dumb Ways to Die"...but I won't.
Folks, if you don't understand the message on your dash and don't bother to look it up, or the difference between a solid CEL and a flashing CEL...you have failed your driver's test. Please pull over and hand your keys to a responsible adult.
Driving IRL is not like playing GTA. There's no reset button.
Folks, if you don't understand the message on your dash and don't bother to look it up, or the difference between a solid CEL and a flashing CEL...you have failed your driver's test. Please pull over and hand your keys to a responsible adult.
Driving IRL is not like playing GTA. There's no reset button.
The following users liked this post:
dropshadow (12-21-2023)
#9
AudiWorld Senior Member
I'm tempted to pile on by posting a link to one of the many videos entitled "Dumb Ways to Die"...but I won't.
Folks, if you don't understand the message on your dash and don't bother to look it up, or the difference between a solid CEL and a flashing CEL...you have failed your driver's test. Please pull over and hand your keys to a responsible adult.
Driving IRL is not like playing GTA. There's no reset button.
Folks, if you don't understand the message on your dash and don't bother to look it up, or the difference between a solid CEL and a flashing CEL...you have failed your driver's test. Please pull over and hand your keys to a responsible adult.
Driving IRL is not like playing GTA. There's no reset button.
#10
Disappointing
No need to be so harsh - those who haven't previously experienced rat/ rodent car damage don't realize that these critters can get to nearly -anything- if they can squeeze in there and will chew on any wire/hose/?? if it seems/smells/feels edible, and there is no easy way to defend from this as it can happen almost anyplace. TMK, no modern car is rodent proof. My Audi dealer could not figure out the reason for many faults in my car after what they told me was a very "through inspection", and neither could I - until an indy mechanic happened to spot the two wires in a module that was chewed through.
the warning light came on essentially seconds before the brake failure. It said - and I quote - “brake servo failure - you can continue driving.”
peace