drgork

Back in March I posted a thread on my paint. My car is black on black and I had experienced numerous small chips and pitting in the paint. I also have been concerned about how soft the paint seems on my car. It is extremely easy to scratch. I use Swisswax and P21S on my cars with microfiber towles. A regional Audi aftersales rep was supposed to examine my car almost 2 months ago and he never contacted me.

After 4 months of ownership (car was purchased on 2/11/2011) I thought I would post my other experiences so far. The paint was the first issue I have had with the car. Since then I have noticed the steering wheel shudder/noise/vibration at slow or parking speed that has been mentioned before in other posts. It has become progressively worse and more audible over the past several weeks. It seems to be worse once the car has been driven in the morning and parked. Then I may drive it 2-3 hours later and it is very noticeable. I took it to the dealer and they checked the fluid level, said I had the right "rubber" hoses and it was not an issue for the 2011 A4's. In other words nothing was done. Since that visit I have left a few messages for the local service advisor and never once has he called me back.

I have also noticed that the 8 speed tranny on my car is clunky and hesitant. I mentioned this to the dealer service advisor and he said I must be smoother as I transition from brakes to accelerator. You must be kidding! I have read that others are noticing this as well. My friends who own Audis with the speed tranny say it is smooth and responsive.

About three weeks ago I was cleaning the interior of my car and I touched the volume control for the stereo. Mine is a Prestige for what that's worth. The stereo came on full blast with nothing but static. When I tried to turn the stereo back on only loud static came thru and nothing else. It took several ignition on/off cycles to get the stereo to function normally. It has not happened again since.

Tonight I started the car and the color display between the speedo and tach went blank white. It took 3 start ups of the engine to restore the display to normal.

Obviously I am very concerned about the state of my car. I have not gotten off on a good foot with it and have starting having regrets about purchasing it in the first place. I contacted the regional after sales rep again he promises to be in town in 2 weeks.

I really am disappointed with my car. My indepedent mechanic who is an Audi specialist raved about the A4's and that's why I wound up buying one. I would appreciate any similar experiences that others may have had or are having now and how they resolved these issues.

Thanks,
Danny

drgork

Meant to say friends who's Audis have the 6 speed tranny

gunsmoker

Sorry to hear about your problems.
About the paint, having owned my A4 for over 6 months I can tell that it has a harder clear coat than my previous cars. It cannot be scratched by finger nails and I like that a lot.
I did get a few chips on the front bumper during the winter and at that time I thought it was going to be real bad. I touched them up and I haven't noticed any major damage in the last 3 months. From that perspective it's not worse than the other cars I have owned.

Sundowner

I don't know if you have the sport package with the summer tires, but the treads do tend to need a few miles to warm up on a cold morning. It's just the nature of the tire type.

As far as the rest of your electronic concerns, it sure soulds to me like you ended up with a glitchy ECU. There's a lot of wierdness going on in there and such a wide variety of electonically controlled widgetry going wrong suggests a common source.

can't help you with your paint.

quality_sound

Your paint isn't soft, it's hard. Hard paint chips easily. If you want to reduce the number of chips, stop tailgating. Seriously. This going to be a reality of ALL new cars. Thank the EPA for this. All you can do it use paint protection films, increase your distance from other cars, and slow down.

a4-bob

paint: black is tough to maintain on any car. it shows swirls that other colors would hide. fortunately it's easy to touch up those chips. +1 on the advice of being cautious of those driving in front of you.

electronics: I'd get those issues in front of the dealer.

tranny: i've had the 6 & 8 tiptronics. 8 is as fast as 6 but shifts more often, so initially it seemed slower to me. I drive in S for city driving, then slip in D on the highway.

drgork

I am really careful about staying way back from other cars and especially trucks on the freeway. Chips are inevitable if you drive. What's so unusual about my car is the softness of the clear coat. You can easily scratch with your fingernail without any effort. Even when I have waxed it, you have to be extremely careful with a microfiber towel or it will scratch when you remove the wax.

The electronic issues I've had are strange. Typically they are random.

As for the 8 speed tranny, I've read other posts where people have commented on the peculiar nature of the 8 speed. I too have been using the sport setting more to see if that helps.

This stuff is driving me crazy because I have several friends with A4's and they haven't had a lick of trouble. Hopefully mine will all get sorted out.

sleeperwagon

I just ordered a black on black avant. don't have the car yet but with every car i get I install the clear bra on the whole front of the car and mirrors. Not to say that will help you now but if your planning on keeping the car I would install it.
I bought my wife a used Q7 with 35K miles on it, installed the 3M bra the same night. Just a thought since it will solve that problem you have, the rest of them seem like BS and Audi needs to step up to the plate and help you.

quality_sound

Again, these are symptoms of HARD paint, not soft. If you're microfibers are scratching the paint (which I HIGHLY doubt is really happening) then you need new microfibers. What's most likely happening is the microfiber is swirling the wax/sealant, and not the paint. Either way, I'd replace the microfibers. I have no problems keeping the paint on my B8 swirl-free and I am not caring for it nearly as well as I should be. Also, depending on the wax/sealant, if you're leaving it on too long before removal or using too much product you can leave some of it behind and THAT can look like swirling/scratches. The best way to evaluate the true condition is to wash with Dawn and a know good mitt and then inspect under a spotlight. I'm not ashamed to admit there were times I thought my paint was in desperate need of a polish and all it was was spider-webbing in the sealant.

Moviela

Please don't use Dawn. Dishwashing and laundry detergents are inappropriate because of their high alkaline content that will damage plastic, vinyl, and rubber parts on your car. It will also dry the plasticizer in the clear-coat. The manufacturer of Dawn tells people not to use it for washing cars. Listen to them.

A good Ph balanced car wash soap will wash your car just fine. A genuine sheep skin mitt should be used. Not polyester. Look inside, you should see the animal's skin. Use a two bucket system with one having just water. Rinse your mitt in there to drop the grit, and avoid contamination of the soap bucket with the dirt from the car. Use a grit guard in each bucket.

There is no need to remove existing wax or polish from your paint. The solvents in the new wax will also dissolve the old wax as you apply it. You cannot build up "coats" of wax. AS a new layer is applied, it removes the old layer. Use a sea sponge applicator for automotive use, and remove the haze with a polyester micro-fiber cloth. Use a virgin micro-fiber cloth for the final buff. Use quality micro-fiber, not the ones from Costco that are more macro-fiber.