Smith837

My point is that I'm having a difficult time getting 2 dealers thus far to take BOTH the panel gap issue and water issue seriously. One blew off the issues and pushed me back to the selling dealer. The selling dealer is willing to investigate, but was very dismissive (unbelievably so). That shouldn't be, in my humble opinion. It's a brand new car and it's a prestigious brand. For me, this has nothing to do with spending even more money for an even more prestigious vehicle. We can agree to disagree. If I bought a Kia, I'd expect the same (and from what I've seen, I bet they'd take better care of me). And that doesn't make me an unreasonable person. I'm not. I'm even willing to pay for corrections on a new car (even though I probably shouldn't have to). What's disappointing and shocking is the lack of care and my difficulty in getting such concerns acknowledged as genuine. And it's making me put in a lot of effort, instead of enjoying the new car experience. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and given my love for the brand and my loyally to Audi over the years, that's saying something.

It's good that you didn't use Ferrari as an example, because those cars have panel and paint issues galore. Many supercar owners gladly put up with a host of issues in exchange for something else that they are buying. All I'm saying is that every brand has its "thing". If I was willing to trade off quality and reliability, I'd have purchased a Giulia Quadrifoglio. If I didn't care about panel alignment, I'd have bought a Tesla.

Audi is a premium brand, known for impeccable design, tech and engineering. "Truth in Engineering", remember? I paid for THAT. The manufacturer and dealers should carry that promise through. A brand is only as good as the people behind it.

As for the leak, I have lived in rainy places. I've not seen this particular water issue before on any vehicle. I have also not seen this issue mentioned in the threads here, but I will look again. If memory serves, there was a thread on a UK Audi/VW board, in which a seal replacement solved this same issue for some. My dealer had NO INTEREST in reviewing that thread and in fact dismissed it sight unseen.

My sense is that this isn't about what's normal or about the weather; rather, a defect. I have possible plans to buy the car off lease, and I don't want to worry about water damage to it over time resulting from an undiagnosed issue. Until then, VW Credit should thank me for trying to take better car of their car than they are.

If you have specific feedback on the issue itself, I welcome it.

BR18

Has anyone suggested finding a DIY to take the door panel off the offending door and trying to discover the cause of your capillary action? It can't be that hard, I have a little give in my drivers door pull that I'm sure I'll need to investigate in the next year or so. I used to disassemble a door on one of my BMWs at least once a year for one thing or another.

RickNY

I have seen the water issue -- but only in the context of rolling down my window to show my ID at the main gate of my job in the morning and rolling it back up and the window always being wet. This is my 2nd B9, I never thought much of it.

BUT - if you want to really complain about water -- I would complain about the inability to see out of the side windows while driving in rain any stronger than a light drizzle. Only car I've ever had that produces a solid wall of water down the sides that makes it impossible to see.

RickNY

I would do this if you have trim tools and the required Torx bits.. The door panels are extremely easy to remove and put back in place.. I used the info in this thread to remove the passenger panel on mine to fix a rattle: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...b9-a4-2915685/

Smith837

It's normal for any water within the door to get carried up the inner seal after rolling the window down and back up. Mine creeps up the seal from within the door when the window is shut. So it's getting behind the window somehow, likely past a seal, and possibly pooling in there somehow. I'll have a dealer investigate soon to get to the bottom of it and correct it.

Thanks for the heads up on water cascading down the side windows during rain. Wow. Since I haven't been able to drive the car during rain on account of the leak, I've not experienced it. That sounds dangerous (visibility hazard). Has anyone else seen that? Doesn't sound like something that should be overlooked.