Newcomer in Trouble - Can Anyone Help??

L

la14oldie

Guest
Hello everyone - I'm new to the A2OC, having bought a 2001 A2 1.4 petrol about 2 months ago. But it's driving me up the wall and the dealer (not Audi) will not do anything to help.

The problem is that on almost every journey, the ABS, Traction Control and the flashing brake warning light come on. When I stop the car and turn off the engine, the lights usually go out and all is well for a while. There appears to be no loss in braking efficiency. But, sooner or later, it all happens again!

The dealer's mechanic has looked at it using a diagnostic computer - it told him that the fault is something to do with a balance sensor which determines whether the car is level or not. He says it can only be fixed by an Audi dealer and I must say that I cannot make head or tail of it.

The problem is that firstly, I have grown used to ignoring all these lights so that if there really was a brake problem, I wouldn't take any remedial action and secondly the car would, I believe, be certain to fail its MoT unless I was lucky and it was behaving itself at the time.

As you can imagine, I do not feel safe in the car and intend to take the dealer to Trading Standards.

But, based on my not-very-technical description of the problem, can anyone offer any advice about what is going on and give me some ball-park idea of how much I might be looking at by way of expense?

I would be really grateful for any help.

Cheers and thanks in advance!!
 
Hi sorry your first 2 months of ownership have been filled with problems, but lets hope the OC can sort you out, now i'm not sure how far you'd want to travel to sort your problem out but i think the best guy for this job would be Mike (Skipton01), drop him a PM and if you have the code numbers that the garage came up with i think this would help

He's in Mossley near Manchester

Phil

PS welcolme to the club ;)
 
Hi and welcome to the A2OC.

Your right about the MOT, mine failed because of this problem. A faulty brake switch was the cause and for £15.00 it was cured. Have you got the fault codes from the scan? Some VERY knowledgeable members on here and will help sort your car out.

Cheers
 
Hi and welcome to the a2oc.

The first thing you need to do is find a member on here near you with vag com. Get the falt codes and the technical guys on here will be able to help you.

Good luck and don't give up.

David
 
Just to add when all the lights are flashing on the dash do you brake lights work ? try parking near a wall or check the reflection in a car when it gets dark

Phil
 
Hi as I was typing this on my phone. Some others had given the same advice.
So apologies for repeated info.

David
 
Trading standards will say that as it's only been 2 months you're completely entitled to a repair, replacement, or complete refund as the vehicle was not up to a reasonable standard. Ring the consumer advice line and they will give you a reference number and some good advice. if the dealer won't play ball then write him an official letter (As C.A will advise you to do)and I'm sure things will start moving then.

It will be a hassle but it's worth it to get a car that's not got hidden demons.
 
la14oldie said:
The dealer's mechanic has looked at it using a diagnostic computer - it told him that the fault is something to do with a balance sensor which determines whether the car is level or not. He says it can only be fixed by an Audi dealer and I must say that I cannot make head or tail of it.

But, based on my not-very-technical description of the problem, can anyone offer any advice about what is going on and give me some ball-park idea of how much I might be looking at by way of expense?

I would be really grateful for any help.

Cheers and thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome to the A2oc

The actual fault codes would help confirm this but based on your description I'd guess it is a problem with the acceleration and yaw sensors. These sensors are part of the ESP system and used to compute how the car is reacting to to steering input for a given road speed. This determines if it is about to skid then use the ABS system to brake individual wheels to bring the car back under control. If this is correct I suspect an Audi dealer would charge around £500 to fix it assuming its not a wiring fault and new parts are needed. With s/h parts from a breakers it should be less than £200

Cheers Spike
 
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Negating cost, other posters here have already mentioned that your stealer has a duty to fix any issues with your 'new' car as it is within the three month statutory warranty.

I'd make a case with your local Citizens Advice Bureaux and speak to your local Audi dealer to get it looked at.
If your dealer says it's only fixable by Audi, then they have to foot the bill.

Have a look Here
 
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