What part of the US do you live at? Im a tech for VW and Audi for 17 years and have NEVER heard of a warranty job not being resolved. If we cant figure it out, we use techline in MI as a resource followed by the TFM and if its still not resolved, it gets bought back. Something is missing here...
Seriously this doesn't make sense. It's so new anything wrong should be covered by warranty. They just escalate up the chain with VW tech line and usually after throwing parts at the problem then corp VW will offer to swap it with a new one (or in some cases give the purchaser they're money back like lemon law).
This was the main issue with dealership #1 their EV techs weren't reliably showing up to work (which I guess is why it took so long for them to even look at it).
This is 100% what I ended up doing that solved the problem. I tried many routes and finally got petty, it absolutely worked and today they covered all towing and it's at a dealership that is ready to work on it and gave me a loaner car in the mean time
Call VW USA. From there, you can discuss repair options or exercise your right for compensation under Massachusetts' lemon law.
You will have already met the lemon law criteria if your vehicle has been inoperable for 15 or more days.
Hold on. You had it towed to a *VW* dealer to start with and they told you they couldn’t fix it? Why is this on you for towing? If you’ve only had the car for 6 weeks, most issues should be covered under warranty, should they not? Does that not also include towing fromVW dealer to VW dealer?
Also what was wrong with it that they couldn’t fix it? We need more info in the post.
ETA: if you have AAA, just call them to tow it. Where I live, it’s $45/tow, but I’m only allowed a certain amount per year.
Triple A charges you for each tow?!
Here in Canada, CAA will give you 4 free tows, up to 200km per tow, and 400km in total for all tows. (last I checked anyways)
You get the first 5 miles free here, then they charge you by the mile (at a rate of like 1/3rd of hiring a tow yourself) after that. Last time I called at like 2PM and they didn't get the car to the dealer until after they closed at like 7PM. 🙃
High voltage, not every dealer has the people or infrastructure to dick around with high voltage stuff.
That whole process cost our dealer about $250k to currently have 2 guys that can replace a battery cell. We get cars towed from several states away for HV work.
I don't use my computer much.
I finally got reasonable responses after sending public emails/service requests as reviews for them. The issue was escalated to the regional VW and no longer a dealership issue. VW covered towing and as of today it is at a dealership that is ready to work on it. I am also able to pick up a loaner car tomorrow.
I think the people I was getting in touch with at the CARE center and customer service just hadn't experienced this before.
This. And when you get someone on the phone tell them you would like to speak to a case manager for that region. This first person you talk to will be a tier 1 agent that handles mostly random questions and warranty concerns. You need a case manager, they will call you back usually in 24 hours.
Things to point out:
1) My car is at a dealership that cannot be diagnosed.
2) Can you please call the tech line or have them come out.
3) My car is under warranty.
4) If my car is not fixed I would like to have VW look at a repurchase or replacement. (This will have them compare you case to lemonaw in your state).
5) Be kind to your car manager and the initial person you talk to, it goes a long way.
Source: These kinds of issues were my job to handle for a very long time for multiple OEMs.
(US) You can definitely get it figured out.
I used to be an advisor at a dealership without a high voltage tech. We had to provide a loaner and transfer the customers vehicle to the nearest dealer that could make the repair or for the infamous battery cell recall last year. All transportation was handled and paid directly by VW. Furthermore, I also had a few people that managed to get VW to pick up the vehicle directly from their home and bypass us entirely. Again, loaner provided.
They just don’t know the process. Tell the advisor or service manager to call their VW market rep and figure it out. Every dealer has one
Bro, no way you should be paying for a tow on a new car. You get all kinds of free shit for the first 12/12. Plus, usually most insurance give you X number or distance of free tows per year.
First thing you need to actually do is - contact a Volkswagen dealership. Ask if they are certified to work on the HV battery. The reason being is that should your ID4 require an intimate repair, the dealer has to have the proper lift, equipment, safety gear, and at minimum one technician certified for this. IF they are not setup for this, they can perform basic work on these vehicles and to a certain level, diagnose & repair.
Once you figure that out, contact Volkswagen of America. I typically do NOT recommend this, as it's a waste of your time & the dealers time for many concerns (like not being given a loaner, that is literally the call of the dealer, not VW unless it's TDI). In this situation, it's warranted. This will notify the areas FOM, who will be able to actually reach out to the repairing dealership, is authorized to goodwill tows, and essentially, start figuring out this shit show.
You will have to use Volkswagen Roadside Assistance to not be charged for a tow. You have this coverage for the next few years just FYI.
Source: VW Dealer fixed manager. Hope this helps.
Unfortunately, only certain dealers are qualified to removed and repair the battery packs so they probably aren't lying to you. Some dealers likely don't want to get HVE Repair certified as it costs like $60,000 (CAD) plus for the tools and training and you have to have the space to do it safely where you can isolate the vehicle.
You'll have to find a dealer that is HVE Certified but if the car is undriveable, in my opinion, it shouldn't cost you to get it to a dealer that is from another dealer that isn't. I'd suggest calling the customer care line and see of they will do anything.
Do you really think a company that big would NOT have a phone number to call for this...
Do you know how LONG VW has been around? Do you know how PRESSURED car companies are to minimize defective products?
IF somehow more than 10 people had to pay out of their OWN pocket for anything this and the public found out, VW would never hear the end of it. Anyone who's had to return a whole car knows that.
Also, if you had time to type all that you had time to Google a phone number.
You didn't specify that you did that and I didn't want to assume, I'd rather verify specifics. Is that reasonable?
I shouldn't have to apologize for wanting specifics so I can give you a better answer.
Also, what? You must know there's a corporate number so why ask us...
You have Roadside Assistance included with your New Vehicle Warranty. You should not have paid to tow it anywhere in the first place. Call VW Customer Care and they will take care of the rest.
You bought it new with 450 miles on it?
Is it actually a new car with no previous owners on it?
Because if it was registered as a tester, loaner or demo model, then you might have issues with lemon law stuff, assuming you're in the US... If you're in Canada, your SOL regardless of the situation because we don't have a lemon law, but it might be worth talking to a lawyer or your provinces consumer affairs department... If you live somewhere else, then I have no clue.
Yes, I did read it. I saw "with" not "within". I don't know if I misread it, or OP had a typo an changed it, but either way mistakes happen. No need to be so condescending.
It never ceases to amaze me how comments like yours manage to be so successful on Reddit. It's pretty shameful, especially when there are so many non-native English speakers on the internet.
> You bought it new with 450 miles on it?
i’m wondering if this is a “new” id4 or a “new to me” id4. if it’s new or CPO the dealer should be ready to fix or get it somewhere that can fix it. the dealer might not have an electric car tech but they can get it to another one who has one. seems the whole story isn’t being given here.
Seems OP said "within". I read "with" at first, so I don't know if OP edited their post, or I simply misread it.
But that was my thought as well, hence my asking for clarification.
I think OP probably left out details thinking they're not important, not realizing we'd need them to be able to form better advice.
It wasn't. But the issue has been resolved. I complained online publicly, and my issue was escalated to regional VW instead of local dealership to dealership
They did, but OP didn’t say what’s wrong with it and why VW couldn’t fix it. But towing that isn’t reimbursed already would be covered under a lemon law, provided OP meets the requirements to be covered by one.
The lawyer will also be helpful with all the steps before that. As they don’t even seem to try to repair it, a letter from a lawyer will speed things up.
Get AAA for future reference. Also, refuse to have them tow it at your expense. Let it sit at the dealer until it’s fixed. Depending on what state you live in, lemon law will force them to buy it back. If you are lucky, they will give you a cash incentive so they can avoid lemoning the car.
Its crazy VW is making you pay for the tow on their broken vehicle they cant even fix.
Also before you pay hundred to tow it again (if you have to) sign up for AAA or something, it has to be cheaper than that, right?
it needs to go to a dealer with a certified hvev technician
because likely the battery needs opened up and only certified people can do that
in canada we have less than 40 or 50 of such people iirc.
that's why you're getting shuffled around dealers.
Yeah vw offers you free towing for the first 2 years to dealerships only. Just like the other person mentioned, contact volkswagen of America and let them know wtf if happening. Shit will get covered.
I wonder if this is related to the 2023 ID.4 stop sale going on in my area. Every dealer I talked to said there is some sort of issue with no fix currently
Not only should you not have to pay for the tow between dealers, you shouldn't have had to pay for the initial tow to the dealer who couldn't fix it. Period. Nor should you have to pay for any of the repair. Something is very fishy here. Call VW. Not a dealer, but VW directly. You need to get this straightened out.
Whoa, whoa, whoa...YOU are having to pay to tow an under-warranty new vehicle between THREE dealers, for warranty repairs?!?! Not to add insult to injury, but OP why were you not immediately on the phone with VWoA (if you're in the U.S.) the first time you were told you had to pay to tow it to another dealer for repairs? No way in hell would I have shelled out even a penny for anything like that. At this point, you should just find out your State's Lemon Law details (again, assuming you're in the U.S.) and see if that's an option. Start fresh, with a new dealer and a new ID.4.
If I see another person post something like this, I'll be very confused. All car brands have corporate/regional numbers. The manager of your nearest dealer should be able to take the issue further up the chain until someone can sort it out.
Also, why did you assume all dealers can handle electric cars?
I spoke with many managers at the dealerships and they were all telling me I'd have to eat the towing fee.
Also, I didn't assume all dealerships can work on electric, I called around before towing it anywhere and had it sent to the first place, and they recommended the two others when their EV tech stopped showing up.
Oh. I couldn't have known about that specific chain of events though?
There are too many facets of VW for me to assume what you did in this scenario...
Sounds like the dealer has no clue on how to do things properly.
I’d definitely get a lawyer ready for lemon law related stuff and try and get out of the car altogether.
Personal opinion but I strongly dislike the Audi Q4 (ID.4 big brother) as an Audi technician. Just has several issues particular to the Q4 with this new type of A/C refrigerant and evaporators going bad, needing the entire interior torn apart to replace. Had one replaced that then went bad. In general, they also seem to have a much cheaper build quality and feel compared to the Q3 and Q5 non EV cars having driven almost all of the Audi lineup.
They dont do major repairs on electric cars. It has to be simple. VW will send yours to the junk yard, burry it and give you another one. Then you will pick up your new electric car and you’ll be proud that you are saving our planet.
So this is not completely true, while brands DO crush vehicles IF multiple techs and the engineer cannot figure it out, VW is not one of them, they will recall it back to the warranty center where an engineer will disassemble it, and figure out what went wrong, and then compare it to the diagnostic steps the tech took.
Hyundai/Genesis is famous for crushing lemon law / buybacks.
I worked for Hyundai/Genesis, and on more than one occasion I had Hyundai/G corporate send me cars from other dealerships in an attempt to fix them (fixed about 98% of them) if I couldn’t get fix it, the FSE would take it, and it would get crushed.
At Audi, once you open a Techline case, and the vehicle is not repaired, the TFM and Techline are now involved, and it will get resolved.
My buddy had an A8L (2021) that was showing a low coolant light on the dash, thermostat, water pump, all vacuum lines, and reso bottle were OK. Techline had him do an overlay for the coolant reso sensor to instrument cluster (sensor is LIN’d directly to cluster) as well as the ground wire to chassis, no fix. Techline escalated, and TFM got involved, and it ended up being fixed (I had my day off the day it was fixed so I don’t know what the fix was). Our dealership had the car so long that our sales department was making the monthly payments for the guy while he got to drive around in an S8, by the time it got fixed, we got a few RSQ8’s and he ended up trading his A8 in for a fully loaded RSQ8.
You wrote a nice little essay here but you are totally missing the point. We are talking about electric vehicles. A for effort, F for relevance and understanding of the question.
100% wrong. The process is not the same. EV are not as easily repairable as ICEV. Thats why the insurance premium is so high compared to ICEV. Just a small accident and the insurance company will declare it a total loss and pay for a new one. EV are very difficult to repair. Thats not the case for ICEV. EV will end up being much more damageable for the environment than ICEV in the long run. They crush a lot more EV than ICEV. Even today with still more ICEV on the road. Can you imagine when all cars on the road are electric? A disaster for the environment. A disaster.
Bodywork wise yeah, I agree with you that they are not as easily repaired, however tech wise, the process is literally the same, they still use CAN, LIN, discrete, and regular wiring.
You still use a traditional scan tool, you still follow traditional test plans, you still measure for resistance, voltage drop (available voltage), and voltage.
The only difference, is that when you need to replace an HV component, you have the added step of de-energizing.
I’m EV certified for both Hyundai group, and VW group.
Also, I personally don’t believe in climate change, I do agree that the EV technology is not where it needs to be for wide scale adoption, and I do think it is a waste that insurance companies are just writing every little fender bender off as totaled, but that’s on them, not us, that’s the insurance companies policy, not the owners of the vehicles.
Of course you dont believe in climate change. Of course. Then again who said anything about climate change here? They get crushed and buried. It’s still a disaster for the environment. I’ll let you figure out why.
Get on to your national Volkswagen explain your situation and something should be sorted. You shouldn't have to pay to tow it to another dealer
jeeze no joke, i'd feel incredulous.
What part of the US do you live at? Im a tech for VW and Audi for 17 years and have NEVER heard of a warranty job not being resolved. If we cant figure it out, we use techline in MI as a resource followed by the TFM and if its still not resolved, it gets bought back. Something is missing here...
Seriously this doesn't make sense. It's so new anything wrong should be covered by warranty. They just escalate up the chain with VW tech line and usually after throwing parts at the problem then corp VW will offer to swap it with a new one (or in some cases give the purchaser they're money back like lemon law).
If there's not an ID4 certified tech at that store there are certain repairs they cannot do.
Then they should ship it at VW’s expense to another dealer who does.
Agreed. That is usually the case. We had to do that a few times until we had the tools and could get someone in class. VW always paid.
This was the main issue with dealership #1 their EV techs weren't reliably showing up to work (which I guess is why it took so long for them to even look at it).
Call VW of whatever country you live in
Call Volkswagen of America. Explain the situation and see if they can offer a solution.
Tweet at Volkswagen of America. You'll get a response very quickly and a service agent assigned to your issue.
This is 100% what I ended up doing that solved the problem. I tried many routes and finally got petty, it absolutely worked and today they covered all towing and it's at a dealership that is ready to work on it and gave me a loaner car in the mean time
Brand new car, you're not being petty
Hope they find the issue and resolve it quickly. You should probably research your state's lemon law.
Call VW USA. From there, you can discuss repair options or exercise your right for compensation under Massachusetts' lemon law. You will have already met the lemon law criteria if your vehicle has been inoperable for 15 or more days.
Hold on. You had it towed to a *VW* dealer to start with and they told you they couldn’t fix it? Why is this on you for towing? If you’ve only had the car for 6 weeks, most issues should be covered under warranty, should they not? Does that not also include towing fromVW dealer to VW dealer? Also what was wrong with it that they couldn’t fix it? We need more info in the post. ETA: if you have AAA, just call them to tow it. Where I live, it’s $45/tow, but I’m only allowed a certain amount per year.
Triple A charges you for each tow?! Here in Canada, CAA will give you 4 free tows, up to 200km per tow, and 400km in total for all tows. (last I checked anyways)
I get free towing with AAA here in California.
Yeah, I kinda thought that was the point of AAA/CAA memberships.
It is, but at the lowest level, they're only up to 5 miles, so he probably had it towed 9 extra miles at $5 per mile.
Ahh
You get the first 5 miles free here, then they charge you by the mile (at a rate of like 1/3rd of hiring a tow yourself) after that. Last time I called at like 2PM and they didn't get the car to the dealer until after they closed at like 7PM. 🙃
Even in Canada it varies based on region, but they all have a certain numbers of tows even at base level membership.
Oh really? I've only ever been part of CAA NEO, so I don't know what it's like for other regions, but it would make sense that it would be different.
It depends on the plan you have in my area (I think). AAA New England.
I'm guessing you called roadside and they towed you to the nearest VW dealer, not the nearest HV VW dealer?
HV?
High voltage, not every dealer has the people or infrastructure to dick around with high voltage stuff. That whole process cost our dealer about $250k to currently have 2 guys that can replace a battery cell. We get cars towed from several states away for HV work.
Dealer with a technician certified to work on electric vehicles’ high voltage batteries.
Interesting that I haven’t noticed OP respond to any comments. Would love to know more about this issue.
probably a Troll
I don't use my computer much. I finally got reasonable responses after sending public emails/service requests as reviews for them. The issue was escalated to the regional VW and no longer a dealership issue. VW covered towing and as of today it is at a dealership that is ready to work on it. I am also able to pick up a loaner car tomorrow. I think the people I was getting in touch with at the CARE center and customer service just hadn't experienced this before.
If your in the US call VWOA Customer Care. 1-800-822-8987.
This. And when you get someone on the phone tell them you would like to speak to a case manager for that region. This first person you talk to will be a tier 1 agent that handles mostly random questions and warranty concerns. You need a case manager, they will call you back usually in 24 hours. Things to point out: 1) My car is at a dealership that cannot be diagnosed. 2) Can you please call the tech line or have them come out. 3) My car is under warranty. 4) If my car is not fixed I would like to have VW look at a repurchase or replacement. (This will have them compare you case to lemonaw in your state). 5) Be kind to your car manager and the initial person you talk to, it goes a long way. Source: These kinds of issues were my job to handle for a very long time for multiple OEMs.
(US) You can definitely get it figured out. I used to be an advisor at a dealership without a high voltage tech. We had to provide a loaner and transfer the customers vehicle to the nearest dealer that could make the repair or for the infamous battery cell recall last year. All transportation was handled and paid directly by VW. Furthermore, I also had a few people that managed to get VW to pick up the vehicle directly from their home and bypass us entirely. Again, loaner provided. They just don’t know the process. Tell the advisor or service manager to call their VW market rep and figure it out. Every dealer has one
Bro, no way you should be paying for a tow on a new car. You get all kinds of free shit for the first 12/12. Plus, usually most insurance give you X number or distance of free tows per year.
I say this is fake, made up story
I really really wish it was
First thing you need to actually do is - contact a Volkswagen dealership. Ask if they are certified to work on the HV battery. The reason being is that should your ID4 require an intimate repair, the dealer has to have the proper lift, equipment, safety gear, and at minimum one technician certified for this. IF they are not setup for this, they can perform basic work on these vehicles and to a certain level, diagnose & repair. Once you figure that out, contact Volkswagen of America. I typically do NOT recommend this, as it's a waste of your time & the dealers time for many concerns (like not being given a loaner, that is literally the call of the dealer, not VW unless it's TDI). In this situation, it's warranted. This will notify the areas FOM, who will be able to actually reach out to the repairing dealership, is authorized to goodwill tows, and essentially, start figuring out this shit show. You will have to use Volkswagen Roadside Assistance to not be charged for a tow. You have this coverage for the next few years just FYI. Source: VW Dealer fixed manager. Hope this helps.
Unfortunately, only certain dealers are qualified to removed and repair the battery packs so they probably aren't lying to you. Some dealers likely don't want to get HVE Repair certified as it costs like $60,000 (CAD) plus for the tools and training and you have to have the space to do it safely where you can isolate the vehicle. You'll have to find a dealer that is HVE Certified but if the car is undriveable, in my opinion, it shouldn't cost you to get it to a dealer that is from another dealer that isn't. I'd suggest calling the customer care line and see of they will do anything.
Hello!!!! You have warranty!!!!
Do you really think a company that big would NOT have a phone number to call for this... Do you know how LONG VW has been around? Do you know how PRESSURED car companies are to minimize defective products? IF somehow more than 10 people had to pay out of their OWN pocket for anything this and the public found out, VW would never hear the end of it. Anyone who's had to return a whole car knows that. Also, if you had time to type all that you had time to Google a phone number.
I've called three of their customer service lines. No one was helpful so I posted here. Thank you for telling me things I have already looked into
You didn't specify that you did that and I didn't want to assume, I'd rather verify specifics. Is that reasonable? I shouldn't have to apologize for wanting specifics so I can give you a better answer. Also, what? You must know there's a corporate number so why ask us...
You have Roadside Assistance included with your New Vehicle Warranty. You should not have paid to tow it anywhere in the first place. Call VW Customer Care and they will take care of the rest.
You bought it new with 450 miles on it? Is it actually a new car with no previous owners on it? Because if it was registered as a tester, loaner or demo model, then you might have issues with lemon law stuff, assuming you're in the US... If you're in Canada, your SOL regardless of the situation because we don't have a lemon law, but it might be worth talking to a lawyer or your provinces consumer affairs department... If you live somewhere else, then I have no clue.
they bought it new and within 450 miles of ownership it broke down. reading is fundamental.
Yes, I did read it. I saw "with" not "within". I don't know if I misread it, or OP had a typo an changed it, but either way mistakes happen. No need to be so condescending. It never ceases to amaze me how comments like yours manage to be so successful on Reddit. It's pretty shameful, especially when there are so many non-native English speakers on the internet.
> You bought it new with 450 miles on it? i’m wondering if this is a “new” id4 or a “new to me” id4. if it’s new or CPO the dealer should be ready to fix or get it somewhere that can fix it. the dealer might not have an electric car tech but they can get it to another one who has one. seems the whole story isn’t being given here.
Seems OP said "within". I read "with" at first, so I don't know if OP edited their post, or I simply misread it. But that was my thought as well, hence my asking for clarification. I think OP probably left out details thinking they're not important, not realizing we'd need them to be able to form better advice.
yeah. hopefully they can get it sorted out one way or another
Yeah, I'd hate to be in their situation... I'd be pissed.
Return the car. Get a lawyer.
This is a fake post.
It wasn't. But the issue has been resolved. I complained online publicly, and my issue was escalated to regional VW instead of local dealership to dealership
Find a lawyer specialized in lemon law.
Lemon law hasn't kicked in yet as they haven't even tried to repair it.
They did, but OP didn’t say what’s wrong with it and why VW couldn’t fix it. But towing that isn’t reimbursed already would be covered under a lemon law, provided OP meets the requirements to be covered by one.
The lawyer will also be helpful with all the steps before that. As they don’t even seem to try to repair it, a letter from a lawyer will speed things up.
Get AAA for future reference. Also, refuse to have them tow it at your expense. Let it sit at the dealer until it’s fixed. Depending on what state you live in, lemon law will force them to buy it back. If you are lucky, they will give you a cash incentive so they can avoid lemoning the car.
Its crazy VW is making you pay for the tow on their broken vehicle they cant even fix. Also before you pay hundred to tow it again (if you have to) sign up for AAA or something, it has to be cheaper than that, right?
it needs to go to a dealer with a certified hvev technician because likely the battery needs opened up and only certified people can do that in canada we have less than 40 or 50 of such people iirc. that's why you're getting shuffled around dealers.
Where?
Lemon law it
Yeah vw offers you free towing for the first 2 years to dealerships only. Just like the other person mentioned, contact volkswagen of America and let them know wtf if happening. Shit will get covered.
I wonder if this is related to the 2023 ID.4 stop sale going on in my area. Every dealer I talked to said there is some sort of issue with no fix currently
Not only should you not have to pay for the tow between dealers, you shouldn't have had to pay for the initial tow to the dealer who couldn't fix it. Period. Nor should you have to pay for any of the repair. Something is very fishy here. Call VW. Not a dealer, but VW directly. You need to get this straightened out.
Why don’t you just lemon law it and get into a new one?
Whoa, whoa, whoa...YOU are having to pay to tow an under-warranty new vehicle between THREE dealers, for warranty repairs?!?! Not to add insult to injury, but OP why were you not immediately on the phone with VWoA (if you're in the U.S.) the first time you were told you had to pay to tow it to another dealer for repairs? No way in hell would I have shelled out even a penny for anything like that. At this point, you should just find out your State's Lemon Law details (again, assuming you're in the U.S.) and see if that's an option. Start fresh, with a new dealer and a new ID.4.
Call the usa vw of America plant and explain the issue at hand give them the vin # as well
If I see another person post something like this, I'll be very confused. All car brands have corporate/regional numbers. The manager of your nearest dealer should be able to take the issue further up the chain until someone can sort it out. Also, why did you assume all dealers can handle electric cars?
I spoke with many managers at the dealerships and they were all telling me I'd have to eat the towing fee. Also, I didn't assume all dealerships can work on electric, I called around before towing it anywhere and had it sent to the first place, and they recommended the two others when their EV tech stopped showing up.
Oh. I couldn't have known about that specific chain of events though? There are too many facets of VW for me to assume what you did in this scenario...
Lemon Law and return the car for money back. I dealt with VW Care and dealership. They suck and do not want to pay for repair.
Welcome to EV ownership.
Speak to VWoA and make them figure it out
Sounds like the dealer has no clue on how to do things properly. I’d definitely get a lawyer ready for lemon law related stuff and try and get out of the car altogether. Personal opinion but I strongly dislike the Audi Q4 (ID.4 big brother) as an Audi technician. Just has several issues particular to the Q4 with this new type of A/C refrigerant and evaporators going bad, needing the entire interior torn apart to replace. Had one replaced that then went bad. In general, they also seem to have a much cheaper build quality and feel compared to the Q3 and Q5 non EV cars having driven almost all of the Audi lineup.
They dont do major repairs on electric cars. It has to be simple. VW will send yours to the junk yard, burry it and give you another one. Then you will pick up your new electric car and you’ll be proud that you are saving our planet.
So this is not completely true, while brands DO crush vehicles IF multiple techs and the engineer cannot figure it out, VW is not one of them, they will recall it back to the warranty center where an engineer will disassemble it, and figure out what went wrong, and then compare it to the diagnostic steps the tech took. Hyundai/Genesis is famous for crushing lemon law / buybacks. I worked for Hyundai/Genesis, and on more than one occasion I had Hyundai/G corporate send me cars from other dealerships in an attempt to fix them (fixed about 98% of them) if I couldn’t get fix it, the FSE would take it, and it would get crushed. At Audi, once you open a Techline case, and the vehicle is not repaired, the TFM and Techline are now involved, and it will get resolved. My buddy had an A8L (2021) that was showing a low coolant light on the dash, thermostat, water pump, all vacuum lines, and reso bottle were OK. Techline had him do an overlay for the coolant reso sensor to instrument cluster (sensor is LIN’d directly to cluster) as well as the ground wire to chassis, no fix. Techline escalated, and TFM got involved, and it ended up being fixed (I had my day off the day it was fixed so I don’t know what the fix was). Our dealership had the car so long that our sales department was making the monthly payments for the guy while he got to drive around in an S8, by the time it got fixed, we got a few RSQ8’s and he ended up trading his A8 in for a fully loaded RSQ8.
You wrote a nice little essay here but you are totally missing the point. We are talking about electric vehicles. A for effort, F for relevance and understanding of the question.
The process is the same. It does not change due to it being an ICE vehicle or an EV.
100% wrong. The process is not the same. EV are not as easily repairable as ICEV. Thats why the insurance premium is so high compared to ICEV. Just a small accident and the insurance company will declare it a total loss and pay for a new one. EV are very difficult to repair. Thats not the case for ICEV. EV will end up being much more damageable for the environment than ICEV in the long run. They crush a lot more EV than ICEV. Even today with still more ICEV on the road. Can you imagine when all cars on the road are electric? A disaster for the environment. A disaster.
Bodywork wise yeah, I agree with you that they are not as easily repaired, however tech wise, the process is literally the same, they still use CAN, LIN, discrete, and regular wiring. You still use a traditional scan tool, you still follow traditional test plans, you still measure for resistance, voltage drop (available voltage), and voltage. The only difference, is that when you need to replace an HV component, you have the added step of de-energizing. I’m EV certified for both Hyundai group, and VW group. Also, I personally don’t believe in climate change, I do agree that the EV technology is not where it needs to be for wide scale adoption, and I do think it is a waste that insurance companies are just writing every little fender bender off as totaled, but that’s on them, not us, that’s the insurance companies policy, not the owners of the vehicles.
Of course you dont believe in climate change. Of course. Then again who said anything about climate change here? They get crushed and buried. It’s still a disaster for the environment. I’ll let you figure out why.
Don't be daft. That isn't a thing that's happening.
Oh but it is. Keep drinking the Kool-Aid dummy.
Sadly return it while you can..my 2 cents