Advice on car not suitable for the outdoors

AJ84

Hi all,

Been a while since I've had to post here for advice !

Basics:
Car purchased 30/11/24 from Audi main dealer 90 miles away with 18k on it and on PCP until Apr-26.
Comes with 2 year Audi used approved warranty.


Problems: 
It went in (Main dealer close to home) a few months back for some issues with a module which warranty covered at a cost of almost £4k.  At the same time, I raised an issue where when under the sun, the door caught onto the wing.  Reported back - unfixed at the time.

Fast forward, I had to take it in again because during heavy rain last week, the sunroof let a lot of it into the car.

And finally, my door handles are not always responsive.

Diagnostics:
Wing/Door: Apparently at some point in it's life, it may have had some sort of light impact to the front and so the door/wing is slightly misaligned.  They also found the behind the wheel arch was some broken plastic trim work and missing a jacking pad.

Sunroof: A fix is available but Audi Used Approved warranty does not cover it.  £1000.

Handles: Corrosion was found on all 4 handles following a sporadic logged error.  Audi used approved warranty does not cover corrosion.  £1500.

My thoughts:

Yes its over the 6 months but the passenger door rarely is used and when it catches...it's only if sat in under the sun.

I've washed the car many times and it's rained many times - never leaked.  But only this week has it hammered it down - far more than since purchase or of it did, it was in the garage.

And if being outside makes all 4 handles corrode, surely is not fit for the UK/Euro weather?

Question

What can I do about this?  I've emailed the purchasing dealer (calls never go through) re the wing/door (they stopped responding a month go) and just now, the latest re leaks. 

Is rejection an option?  I don't actually want to do this to be fair but equally I'm not keeping a car only usable in warm weather...but not too hot otherwise the door won't open without damaging the wing.

Any other option?

Thanks in advance!

Ayr_Rage

How old is the vehicle?

If the wing or door has moved, liner cracked and a jacking pad knocked off it has had more than a "light impact" somewhere around the A pillar and certainly hasn't been repaired correctly.

Did you ask about any accidents prior to purchase?

Sunroof drains can be blocked, what exactly is the issue?

What part of the handles has corroded? 

If it has been pressure washed in areas that are not designed to be attacked with high pressure water that could've caused water ingress to the handles.

jimjames

Depending on the age (and must be fairly new for Audi to sell) then is the corrosion covered by the Audi anti-corrosion guarantee rather than the used car warranty?

Goudy

No one does an anti corrosion warranties, they are anti perforation warranties*

(* Terms and conditions apply) 

They usually only cover rust of internal cavities, from inside to outside.

Mildly_Miffed

The unrepaired previous collision damage is up to the original insurer to sort, but you have no way to find out who that is - so it's up to you.

Corrosion on the door handles would be up to the factory warranty, but I presume that's expired? As has been said, not the longer body-rot warranty, because these are simple bolt-on parts.

The sunroof leak is almost certainly due to drain channels that haven't been cleared during previous maintenance.

No, you have no grounds for rejection ten months after purchase because the warranty doesn't cover things you hoped it did.

Goudy

There are quite a few Audi sunroofs that leak.
It's not the drains but the seal wasn't stuck down very well at the factory and over time the adhesive gives up and the seal comes away from the body and lets water in, that's why they want £1000 to fix it.

You could probably half that at a decent body shop.

It looks like it's had some sort of bang in that area and have been badly repaired, the panel is expanding in the heat and catching the door.
If it's a bolt on wing, it could be adjusted a little. Again try a body shop.

As for the door handles, it's hard to tell but I suspect the internals of the mechanism were badly rust proofed.
You can often rusty water trail out of the handles on lighter coloured cars. Again, try a local body shop.
 

AJ84

Thanks all for the responses - very useless!

@Ayr_Rage
: 2020 purchased from main Audi dealer in Nov-24

Accidents: Yes of course and carried out my own HPI Checks on total car check and pretty sure car vertical in May when Audi first pointed out the trim/jacking/alignment.

Sunroof: This is not a drain issue - drains are clear and had a full service on purchase.

Something I check on a regular.  The issue is that there is a TPI outstanding already from Audi on a repair that essentially channels the water a different way.  Otherwise on heavy rain days, it pools between the seal and deflector which eventually makes its way down into the headlight and down the A-pillar...and then the floor.

Handles: Sensors, connectors behind them (keyless) + possibly wiring but they will not know until they start the repair.

@jimjames : Interestingly I thought of something similar last night but I think I'm reading this as body panels and rust rather than sensors and connectors.

@Mildly_Miffed : 

Handles: If by factory warranty you mean the first 3 years you get on a new car, then yes sadly this had expired already but I was under the impression this is what the approved used warranty covered.

Warranty: Fair enough however as a slight correction, I'm not angling for this - this is a fairly common car but with a rare spec and still low mileage (25k).

I think it is more the fact by the language used that the sunroof has a defect, the fact there is a TPI out there - in actual fact, I've just dug into it more and found the TPI which was released only last month as a 21 page document on how to fix 7 potential faults depending on the version of roof that would allow water ingress.

Clearly suggests this was a ticking timebomb from day 1 and my "extra" cautiousness of leaving it under covers as much as possible has hidden it.

@Goudy : 

Agreed - the more I research, the more I find threads on leaky sunroofs.  Looks like they've never managed to get it working properly for decades.  For me, it's my first Audi in a history of them (10+) with one.

Good shout on seal although this apparently is ok and still stuck properly - Still one would question if the build of this seal was only temp and was always going to go.

Bodywork: That is what the current dealership looking at it has said - go to a bodyshop.

Shows how good the Audi PDI checks are if they missed this - they have ramps etc, I don't and the panel gaps on a dark car to me are not obvious.

Mildly_Miffed

AJ84 said:

Accidents: Yes of course and carried out my own HPI Checks on total car check and pretty sure car vertical in May when Audi first pointed out the trim/jacking/alignment.

The only collision damage that those services can report on is where the car has been written off by insurance (they've declined to repair, flagged it centrally, paid the previous owner, then sold it for salvage) or less reliably where they may have flagged it up as being sold damaged.

If it's repaired in any other circumstances, it will not be recorded centrally anywhere. That includes if insurance repaired it as part of a claim, if the owner repaired it themselves, or if VW UK or the dealer had repaired transit damage prior to delivery and registration as a new vehicle - this happens to about a third of all new vehicles, allegedly.

Handles: If by factory warranty you mean the first 3 years you get on a new car, then yes sadly this had expired already but I was under the impression this is what the approved used warranty covered.

So we're talking about a car that's at least four years old?

VW UK's own web link to the Audi approved used warranty terms and conditions is here...
https://www.audi.co.uk/en/owners/warranty/
I assume you also have a paper version. I doubt it's changed much since last November, although this version is dated January this year.

P9 lists general exclusions including: "All bodywork, paintwork, body component (including encased aerials, gas struts, sunroof assemblies, soft top roofs, and seat frames, strikers, hinges or any component which may require adjustment from time to time)"
P10 also lists exclusions including: "Corrosion, frost, salt, hail, windstorms, lightning, airborne fallout, (e.g. chemicals, tree sap, bird droppings, etc.), water submersion, water immersion or flooding"

I'm afraid it looks as if you're very much out of luck on warranty coverage, and on your own with the bill, unless you can persuade the dealer to provide some element of goodwill.

AJ84

Thanks @Mildly_Miffed
So circling back, it essentially confirms my initial opening topic.  Audi do not build cars for the UK environment (ie wet) and if bought used, will charge you £2.5k to resolve should the moisture/rain/snow we have for 80% of the year get into badly sealed panels and accessories.

Not something I read in the brochure I have to say!

Actually that is unfair- they do, but only for the first 3 years.

Mildly_Miffed

AJ84 said:

Thanks @Mildly_Miffed
So circling back, it essentially confirms my initial opening topic.  Audi do not build cars for the UK environment (ie wet) and if bought used, will charge you £2.5k to resolve should the moisture/rain/snow we have for 80% of the year get into badly sealed panels and accessories.

You may very well believe that, but I suspect VW would beg to differ.

Depending on what this cover is, whether it's breathable or not, you may even find that retaining moisture onto the car has exacerbated the corrosion on the handles.

Frozen_up_north

Our last Seat had a seriously corroded high level LED brake light printed circuit board. That was caused by condensation in an airtight enclosure (should have had a small vent hole). The board was not properly conformal coated, something that can be done with a can of polyurethane type spray by anyone for little cost... I doubt any VW Group vehicle is European climate resistant to any extent.