GUESS WHAT?
 

It so happens that my car has now been suffering from the "steering rod,
upper-control arms" syndrome for a couple of months. Well, it's a '98 so
nothing totally unexpected as the forums abound in which messages can be
found regarding such a problem.

The most incredible has turned out to be that I vividly remember taking my
car in for "defective rod replacement covered under guarantee" or as
Americans will have it a recall letter back in 2000.

Now, I've just been to the dealer for visual inspection and confirmation,
and it turns out that neither their computer nor the service book have any
record or such rod replacement.

Upon inspection the receptionist has very kindly noticed that both steering
rods and the four upper control arm rods - read arms, need to be replaced.

The biggest surprise came when he said since he had no record in his
computer - yes, it's the same dealer I went to in 2000 - he should have to
check for a sticker that should have been placed under the boot floor mat.
Guess what? They never actually replaced the rods, but they did tell me they
had. It was a very honest man who attended to me at the dealer's today, but
he said as the recall "campaign" had ended long ago, the odds are the repair
is not going to be covered. More intriguingly yet, my car is now in for
another campaign, this time regarding the lower arms. He also admitted that
while he had seen a lot of the upper ones replaced, this had never been the
case for lower arms. He said he was going to check with the officials and
call me back this week, so I'll keep you posted.

Believe me, I really have pumpered my car's suspension and I told the guy
that I've never seen or heard of any other street cars - including much
cheaper ones - in which their suspension systems didn't last for the life of
the car, unless an accident had been involved - excepting dampers, of
course.

JP,
Geez, ya don't have to shout.
"Odds are it will not be covered" - yeah, that's BS. They're hoping you
won't put up a fight. Persevere, it'll be covered.
Yeah, all the problems with the arms sorta takes the wind out of the
greatness of the multi-link suspension they were touting a few years back.
But every car design has their own quirks - my parents had a Dorf Taurus -
the tranny failed under light use (common failure) - my wife has a Honka
CRV - rear calipers siezed (apparently it a common failure). If you look
into one of those Lemon Aid books at the bookstore you can find common
quirks of various models. My guess is that you'll see "Control arms, timing
belt, cam seal failures (non-turbo) and coil pack failures (turbo)" for
A4's. Some concerns have been addressed by recalls, others by "silent
warrantees".
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ - rear transverse link failures (addressed), lousy headlights
(to be replaced), door handles (ongoing battle), noisy lifters (nuisance to
live with), unintended acceleration (only a 60 Minutes myth)
1980 Audi 5k - door handles (losing battle), rust (ongoing battle),
melonheads that keep running into my car (avoid by seldom driving it)
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes - crankshaft failure (40:1 premix
used), transmission link failure (VW link retrofit used)
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"JP Roberts" > wrote in message
...
> It so happens that my car has now been suffering from the "steering rod,
> upper-control arms" syndrome for a couple of months. Well, it's a '98 so
> nothing totally unexpected as the forums abound in which messages can be
> found regarding such a problem.
>
> The most incredible has turned out to be that I vividly remember taking my
> car in for "defective rod replacement covered under guarantee" or as
> Americans will have it a recall letter back in 2000.
>
> Now, I've just been to the dealer for visual inspection and confirmation,
> and it turns out that neither their computer nor the service book have any
> record or such rod replacement.
>
> Upon inspection the receptionist has very kindly noticed that both
steering
> rods and the four upper control arm rods - read arms, need to be replaced.
>
> The biggest surprise came when he said since he had no record in his
> computer - yes, it's the same dealer I went to in 2000 - he should have to
> check for a sticker that should have been placed under the boot floor mat.
> Guess what? They never actually replaced the rods, but they did tell me
they
> had. It was a very honest man who attended to me at the dealer's today,
but
> he said as the recall "campaign" had ended long ago, the odds are the
repair
> is not going to be covered. More intriguingly yet, my car is now in for
> another campaign, this time regarding the lower arms. He also admitted
that
> while he had seen a lot of the upper ones replaced, this had never been
the
> case for lower arms. He said he was going to check with the officials and
> call me back this week, so I'll keep you posted.
>
> Believe me, I really have pumpered my car's suspension and I told the guy
> that I've never seen or heard of any other street cars - including much
> cheaper ones - in which their suspension systems didn't last for the life
of
> the car, unless an accident had been involved - excepting dampers, of
> course.
>
>

Jules,
Tires out of alignment, squeaking front end, etc. I may be wrong, but IIRC
it's failure of the ball joints - they were originally underdesigned and the
replacements are much heavier duty.
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)
"Jules" > wrote in message
...
> I have never heard of this, what are the symptoms??
>
>
>
> JP Roberts wrote:
>
> > It so happens that my car has now been suffering from the "steering rod,
> > upper-control arms" syndrome for a couple of months. Well, it's a '98 so
> > nothing totally unexpected as the forums abound in which messages can be
> > found regarding such a problem.
>

JP Roberts wrote:

Cheers for that, I'll sleep better tonight.

FFS, get a life over it will you.

Nige wrote:
> JP Roberts wrote:
>
> Cheers for that, I'll sleep better tonight.
>
> FFS, get a life over it will you.

The sooner he sells it and gets a Toyota, the happier everyone will be.

E.P.

Lousy reading, and lousy posting

"Nige" > escribió en el mensaje
...

>
> Cheers for that, I'll sleep better tonight.
>
> FFS, get a life over it will you.
>

JP Roberts wrote:
> Lousy reading, and lousy posting

Top posting retard.

JP Roberts wrote:
> Lousy reading, and lousy posting
>

You complaining about anyone else's posting is funny.

E.P.

Wolfgang Pawlinetz wrote:
> wrote:
>
> >The sooner he sells it and gets a Toyota, the happier everyone will
be.
>
> I can't second that. I remember JP as quite a vivid Audi fan.

I've seen much more complaint than praise. But I've only been lurking
for a couple of years.

I'd be angry too, if the work had been only "pretended". But that
ultimately falls upon the owner to make sure that happens. Even a
cursory look under the car would have showed what parts were new.

I agree that it's a crummy deal, and that Audi made a mistake in
engineering originally. But really, what is the good of complaining in
usenet? *We* can't do anything for it!

E.P.