It's back. Our S5 returned from the Audi technical center yesterday. The purpose was to address the steering wheel vibration we noticed in our long-term S5 and A4 Avant. Here's what we learned.
Audi began by explaining that the vibration we experienced was not a sign of impending failure. And this was not a safety related issue. Rather, it was suggested that wheel balance and tire wear were to blame. At the very least, they were contributing factors to the vibration. So the technicians replaced both front tires and balanced all four wheels. We were told three wheels were out of balance upon arrival.
But that's not all. The fix isn't complete. Additional parts are currently on order with our local dealership to further address the situation. We'll update the status of our S5 and A4 once installation is completely complete.
Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager @ 4,200 miles
louiswei says:
04:33 PM, 06/25/09
Wait wait...
So according to the people at Audi technical center that:
"wheel balance and tire wear were to blame."
So they "replaced both front tires and balanced all four wheels. We were told three wheels were out of balance upon arrival."
If that's the case then what's going on with:
"Parts are currently on order with our local dealership to further address the situation."
Is it just me or something smells funny here?
huyracing says:
04:50 PM, 06/25/09
It is always that way with Zee Germans!
greenpony says:
05:23 PM, 06/25/09
They are not telling you something. You don't implement a corrective action unless there is a problem. Are they replacing parts under warranty?
esoterica says:
05:56 PM, 06/25/09
Did they say what parts were on order? greenpony, this car belongs to Audi so it's not necessarily indicative of what owners would experience.
adavis2493 says:
06:46 PM, 06/25/09
At least they were professional about it. When I took my old G35 in for a regular checkup, one of the technicians ran a red, and hit a Prius. The dealer blamed it on me.
jerome81 says:
07:19 PM, 06/25/09
Oh, wow, I see you get no better service with an Audi than what you experience at your local VW dealership.
"That's normal" is something I hear constantly.
$5 says whatever they've done doesn't fix it.
cwc1 says:
07:48 PM, 06/25/09
"When I took my old G35 in for a regular checkup, one of the technicians ran a red, and hit a Prius. The dealer blamed it on me."
Huh? How'd they try to make that your fault?
adavis2493 says:
08:18 PM, 06/25/09
cwc1:
In the words of the dealer, "Well, you decided to take your car to this dealer"
kingkhalas says:
10:33 PM, 06/25/09
Sounds like they don't know what they are doing.
Debunker says:
05:03 AM, 06/26/09
Just had my '09 A4's wheels balanced at 9,600 miles (there was a slight vibration between 65 and 75 mph), and there's still a little bit that remains. I suspect that there's something up with the steering that they haven't come clean on yet. It's not terrible, just slightly noticible. Otherwise, car works perfectly.
1487 says:
05:46 AM, 06/26/09
The best part about German cars is that you always have to wait for parts from Germany when something needs to be fixed. Its very convenient.
audisport says:
06:32 AM, 06/26/09
I love the vagueness of Audi on this one. My guess is something isn't right with the front suspension and maybe thats causing uneven tire wear and eventually the strange steering vibrations. Maybe something is misaligned from the factory and they are just figuring this out now. Since the A4 and S5 are on the same new platform this might explain why both of your cars are suffering from the same issue. The A5/S5 has been out for a model year now but it's such a low volume seller that perhaps this issue hadn't surfaced until recently. Now that the A4 is out and sells far more units than the coupe, perhaps they are finally seeing more and more complaints. I do know that tires wear kind of oddly on quattro vehicles. Who knows, but this does seem like this kind of issue should have been accounted for before it got this far. This kind of situation obviously fuels Audi/VW's claim to fame of bad quality.
indy_mistert says:
06:38 AM, 06/26/09
that's definitely fishy - am curious about what parts they have on order.
I've seen very very similar complaints on audi forums, so I dont at all believe this to be isolated or merely a tire or wheel balance issue.
fuhteng says:
07:36 AM, 06/26/09
he he he he... he he he... insert comment about German build quality here: __________________
jeepsrt says:
12:17 PM, 06/26/09
As nice as it is for this to get fixed, I don't think they would do the same thing to a Customer's car that took it into a dealer.