Aluminium Fatigue

Me too!

You can add our car to the list - small crack above the top hinge on the front passenger door!
 
Me too! I've got a small crack on the passenger side door. I'm the third owner of my A2 though so I'm not sure whether I can still get anything done about it anymore!:(
 
Its not the easiest place to view but I have a suspect line/scratch above the drivers side door hinge, was previously only looking at the passenger side which appears to be OK.

Will definitely get it in to be checked over now.

Doctor
 
With the number of affected vehicles apparantly increasing daily, would it perhaps be prudent to start a poll going? This may be useful to convince Audi to take this matter seriously and highlight just how problematic it is.

I was thinking along the lines of including, whether or not the car is ehibiting symptoms of fatigue, which doors are affected, age of vehicle, left or right hand drive etc...

Don't know whether this would be beneficial or not, but it would offer an insight into what ratio of A2OC members are affected and which door(s) are suffering the most.

Thoughts people...

Cheers,

Darren
 
What is the cause?

I need to look in a good light but so far I think I'm OK but I wondering is it caused by vibration or by the weight of the door when opened - my hunch would be the latter.

I ask as my mother is now very infirm and she pulls herself up on the door grab from her wheel chair and then leans on it to get into the car. Ditto getting out of the car. On a positive note, the grab above the glove box is very useful for her.
 
Re What is the cause ?

A contributing factor may be the adjustment of the door lock catches on the centre pillar. On my 2001 car, in the first weeks of ownership I lowered the catches about 3mm to make the doors eassier to close. Prior to the adjustment the doors needed a good slam and the top edge of the door visibly lifted as the lock mechanism engaged with the catch. Not sure if this is a common problem but this would certainly stress the hinge area of the door. Touch wood there are no signs of the dreaded cracks yet

Cheers Spike
 
I understand what you are saying Spike and it may well have a contributing factor, however I have a 24 year old VW Golf. The doors drop over time and with it being a 2 door Cabriolet, they are long and heavy, yet while adjustment is constantly referred to on the Mk1 Owners Club forums, ranging from moving the door lock bolt, to a jack under the door to move the hinge and even shims. I haven't got any cracks and neither has anyone else. While I think the mk1 Golf was over engineered at the time and things and made well, I can't see the actual metal being as thick in the golf as the Audi due to the need to meet modern safety standards and quality control. So I don’t really know where this leaves us. My 24 year old Golf hasn’t got cracks, and yet my 3 ½ year old Audi has…..


I won’t be allowing Audi to see my car until I hear of a fix that doesn’t involve replacing the doors. Over the last 15 years I can’t think of any car I have owned where a non factory spray on a car has ever been to the quality or lasted like a factory job. I wish you guys luck and look forward to the results, But I am staying well clear of the Dealer on this one for the moment………..


One F*#ked off A2 Owner
 
worried

Hello folks, I have just purchased my A2 and dont pick it up till nex Friday, and having just read this thread and not knowing to check this when looking at the vehicle, wondering If I have done the right thing.......someone give me hope.
 
After all this fuss thought I'd better check. There is a small V (about 5 mm high) above the outer corners of the upper hinges of both front doors. They are so fine that they look like just flaking paint. Pushing the doors firmly doesn't seem to tempt them to open up. I'm not sure I could get agreement that it's a corrosion issue at this point, but I'll keep tabs on it.

Dev

1.4 tdi, Feb/Mar 2001, 85 k miles
 
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OK I have my car booked in for next Tuesday where the Service Manager and Director will be available to inspect and call Audi UK if necessary. I did ask them if they had made asked Audi UK/Gmbh (as requested) but they felt an initial inspection by them prior to taking it further.

I shall go down with Photos from thread and show them where the crack is. Its best to know what I want before I get them to look, from reading the threads it seems that there is no perfect fix at this stage, therefore I will be quite happy if they agree to check it once a year and if/when Audi come up with their official repair have it sorted. I am certainly not keen on doors being resprayed etc.

I shall keep the thread posted.

Doctor
 
Checked mine. A 4-5mm crack in the paint on both doors. The car is a late 2000 1,4 petrol with 51000 kms on the clock. Damn.
 
I've sent the following email today to Jeremy Hicks, the MD of Audi UK, as well as to other key directors of the company:

Dear Sirs,

I write to you in a final attempt to resolve the issue of cracks appearing in aluminium door panels on the Audi A2.

I am the Technical Director of the International Audi A2 Owners Club (as such, I am able to comment with some authority) and this issue is one that has affected a great many of my members vehicles, my own included. We have individually tried to resolve the issue with our respective dealers, but so far, we have all been curtly brushed away. It really does seem, if the dealer network is indicative of Audi UK’s stance, that the A2 is no longer ‘supported’ or seen as anything other than an embarrassment to Audi UK.

For more information on the door failure problem, please see the posts on the following link:

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?t=5862

There are no photographs there but I can supply these on request, in addition to the 2 attached to this email, for your information.

In many ways, the Audi A2 was ahead of its time and it is only now, over 2 years since its deletion from the model line-up, that many of its ground-breaking technologies and features are finally making it into current Audi models. This does not bode well for the future of the Audi marque – could it be that the aluminium doors of current TT and A8 models will start to crack in a little over 12 months time? Obviously, failings such as this are not expected by owners and they bring into question the integrity of the Audi brand.

Please can you ensure that this matter will be dealt with promptly and to the satisfaction of owners, most of whom are perfectly happy with their cars in every other way. Speaking from experience, I can say that the treatment we receive from the dealer network generally falls far short of that which we would expect from Audi and that we generally get the impression that we are looked down on for owning a defunct car!

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss the matter further.

Kind Regards,

Mike Hill
Technical Director – International Audi A2 Owners Club

I decided to approach the head of the UK business because of the way in which some of you have been treated. I have also been 'put on hold' by my bodyshop, possibly pending the end of my warranty in a months time, or is that just being too cynical?

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi Mike.

Really pleased you've made this stance. There are many of us, me included, that leave it up to others to get things sorted.

On my wifes A2 (pine green, Sept 2002), I can't see any obvious cracks but perhaps I need to use a mirror?

Our silver A2 (now my daughters Oct 2002) does have a 4 to 5 mm crack on the drivers side.

Obviously, our cars are way out of warranty but, I also intend writing to Jeremy Hicks in the next day or so.

I agree with Emm and other members that I wouldn't want new doors fitted - there is no way that the new paintwork would match.

Thanks for taking this problem further
Chris
 
Chris, if you rub the pad of your index finger along the top of the hinge plate, where it bolts to the door, you'll feel the crack if it's present.

As for new doors, they wouldn't solve the problem anyway, unless they were re-designed models with a thicker plate at the attachment points.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Skipton01 said:
Chris, if you rub the pad of your index finger along the top of the hinge plate, where it bolts to the door, you'll feel the crack if it's present.

As for new doors, they wouldn't solve the problem anyway, unless they were re-designed models with a thicker plate at the attachment points.

Cheers,

Mike
Click to expand...
Ive been paraniod about this ever since Alan Started this thread having checked both my hinges everyweek for the last month and not being able to see any cracks i know no what to look for ........

Its only a thought as im no expert on these things ,but do you suppose Audi might have seen this as a future fault on the A2 , and stopped production rather abruptly as it could be rather a big headache for themselves as well as the unsuspecting A2 Owner ....
 
wooly A2 said:
Its only a thought as im no expert on these things ,but do you suppose Audi might have seen this as a future fault on the A2 , and stopped production rather abruptly as it could be rather a big headache for themselves as well as the unsuspecting A2 Owner ....
Click to expand...

I can't see that being the case Carl - if they'd identified it, they could have just made a new, thicker panel for that part of the door and incorporated it into all future cars and had stock of parts ready for warranty claims when they landed.

If that were the case, pretty much all models using coil packs would have been axed.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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