Aluminium Fatigue

Dealers never cease to amaze - the new parts are quite prominent in ETKA7, as is the door distance plate for use with the new doors (there is no plate for the old style doors).

Cheers,

Mike
 
Doesn't Audi inform their dealers about issues like this? As a dealer I would be embarrassed if customers knew more than I.

Mike, did you have cracks in both doors since you had them both replaced? What is your opinion, should I try to make them change both doors even though the right side seems okay?
 
My passenger door was fully cracked, the drivers door was only just starting to go.

They replaced both the doors and check straps as they acknowledged that the doors would go in time.

It really does seem to be a design fault - the existence of a distance plate is evidence of this, as it has only recently appeared in the catalogue.

I would urge Audi to treat this issue as a recall, because at some point, it will be an issue on all cars, regardless of how careful owners are.

Xiter, you need to get both doors done, as they are both going to fail, regardless of what they are like now.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Would it be very costly to get the doors done properly??.
Also would it help just to replace the strappes and how easy is this job??
 
I think you should have both replaced because mine didn't show on the passenger door. A couple months later it showed
 
alanm said:
If that were the case there is no way the door would be able to close! Even if it is 6mm that's a considerable drop.

When I bought my 2003 A2 in September this year, the driver's door was misaligned by about 3mm. It was adjusted by Lincoln Audi and has been fine since. I also got their workshop to check whether there was any sign of cracking/tearing of the door skin around the door hinge plates. Fortunately there was no sign of this - not yet, anyway.

I'd suggest taking your car to your nearest Audi dealers and get them to check the hinge area of all the doors and realign the door that has dropped.

Hope you get things sorted soon.
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Yeh, 60 mm was probably an exaggeration, probably 6 or 7 mm. Never was very good with measurements. Anyway, I'm afraid to go to dealer as they will probably charge me a fortune. Just paid £400 to have the bonnet re-sprayed (£250) and get the driver side of front bumper repaired (£150 insurance excess). I was sure the door and bumper damage were related but not according to the garage.
I usually give the door a good pull and that will stop it catching for a while but wind noise still present. Suppose I'll have to bite the bullet sometime and take it in.
Stephen:confused:
 
Um - hello - Newbie here.

I've just been to look at a 51 plate A2 TDI. I'm going for a test drive tomorrow.

Today it was parked between an A5 and an A8, so I couldn't open the doors very wide, but feeling around the hinges I felt a slight 'scratch' or tear there. Is this really just cosmetic as some have said here (Erstens)?? If it is, surely you never see it as it's usually concealed by the door? Should I be wary of buying a car with this problem? I want it to last me at least 5 years if at all possible - I'm trying to make a relatively 'green' choice, so the combination of economy, emissions and build quality seem a winner to me - if I can keep it long enough..!

So far my impression is that it is a *lovely* little car though :)
 
Hi & welcome

I have the same issue regarding the light 2mm scratch or rip. I also will be keeping mine for a loong time having bought it from new nearly 4 years ago I am more than happy with the car.
I think that some will want to get this issue sorted and pursue it till the end, others will think its just cosmetic, both will agree that it shouldn't happen but it just depends on how much OCD you have about your car (only joking :D)
 
Has anybody recieved a formal repsonse to this issue, from Audi?
I thought Skipton had penned a letter to Audi UK sometime ago and would be interested to know what there response was, if any and if they accept responsibility for this regrdless of age of the vehicle.
 
I did indeed send a letter to Audi, but no response as yet.

I will get on their case again and see if I can get a reply this time round.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Nothing heard from the dealer since I reported the crack.
Unfortunately, I don't expect them to call me back, even though they said they would.
 
Well, the rubbing strips were finally fitted to my car today, bringing to a close the warranty work to replace the doors with cracks in them

I had an interesting chat with one of the aluminium technicians there and based on this conversation and also on the evidence I saw there, I will be contacting Audi UK to further press for action on replacing the doors on any A2 found to be suffering from the cracking problems.

Basically, there is a new design of door being used on all A2s, regardless of age, which has a much stronger hinge plate area.

I now have this new design and I saw a red A2 which had been in a side-damage accident, where the drivers side front and rear doors have been replaced.

It is a 2003 model and still has the old style original doors on the nearside, with a small crack apparent at the front!

There is also a newly modified door check strap fitted, although it still allows the door to open as fully as before and it appears to be of the same design (I haven't removed the door card so can't comment on its hidden workings).

To my mind, the situation is this:

There is and always has been, a design flaw in the front doors of the A2, which over an undefined period of time will lead to metal fatigue and cracking around the top hinge point.

Audi have now introduced a new design of door which overcomes this problem and are now fitting it where necessary, although they are not acknowleding that the reason for a redesign is the apparent weakness of one area, namely the top hinge attachment point.

I will be calling on Audi to acknowledge this design flaw and fit the new door to any A2 that is showing signs of metal fatigue in this area, regardless of its warranty status.

The issue is not caused by wear and tear and is not limited to cars over a certain age, as examples of the fatigue have been seen on cars as little as 18 months old. The issue is caused by poor design and as such, should be rectified by Audi UK at no cost to the owner.

If anyone wants to contribute to my intended letter, please get in touch in the next week or so.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Mike,

Fully agree with the comments you intend to put forward to Audi and only to happy to contribute, as I feel quite strongly with the lack of commitment being shown to us Audi owners and our invetsment in their product.

Thats the rant over, but I would suggest we need a plan B if Audi continue to put their head in the sand and hope we just go away or pay up for new improved doors.
What I woiuld suggest is that we collectively think about making this issue public as did the TT guys with various warranty issues with their vehicles via Watch Dog. Did Audi wake up or, did they wake up.

Colin
 
Colin said:
What I woiuld suggest is that we collectively think about making this issue public
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I quite agree with you Colin and it's certainly a route we can go down.

What we must remember though is that we don't want a new, improved door, we want ones that are correctly designed and made to do their job over the life of the vehicle.

Audi's commitment to the A2 is now even more in doubt though.

I've just had a conversation with the Technical department at Valeo, over a matter that DriveForward needs resolving. It appears that the A2 headlamps are now obsolete and no longer made!!!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Re Valeo and the headlamp issue - I am pretty certain that it's law that manufacturers must produce spare parts for a vehicle for a minimum of 10 years after production ceases. Anyone know for certain?
 
richardaudi0 said:
Re Valeo and the headlamp issue - I am pretty certain that it's law that manufacturers must produce spare parts for a vehicle for a minimum of 10 years after production ceases. Anyone know for certain?
Click to expand...

You're quite right, but from what Valeo said, what happens when a model is deleted is this:

the manufacturer of the car contacts all its suppliers for that model and gives them a projected requirement for spare parts for the next 10 years. The parts supplier then makes that number and then the line is closed down and the machinery and tools are then used to make parts for another model, meaning that the supplier can work at optimum efficiency, i.e. they don't keep a load of tools or machines tied up for a part that is used on an obsolete model of car.

So, Valeo has fulfilled its order for A2 headlamps and when they run out, that's your lot!

I would have thought that the same was true of most other parts too.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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