[TranterLancs]

Have any other members been without their cars for long periods of time due to parts shortages and infrastructure capabilities. I've been without my 21 plate RS GT for over 4 months now and no end in sight for having the vehicle returned. Cells have been replaced in the battery, new heater, charge ancillaries and now it needs another 7k of parts that are on back order and the engineer is on annual leave when they are due to arrive.
The infrastructure for dealing with faults on these cars is woeful in the UK. We also have a 21 plate etron 55 black edition and it is perfect with no issues whatsoever but the GT is a different story. Not only are the majority of parts unavailable but the tooling and technical support is so inadequate it is taking months to resolve. The battery repair took 2 months alone as they didn't have the tool to apply the bonding to reseal the battery and the tool had to be manufactured and made available to dealers. I wonder how many Taycans have had cells replaced within their batteries, surely the knowledge and tooling is a shared resource. Audi's excuse of "its a new model" is not acceptable.
The dealer has ordered a replacement vehicle and have been the saving grace in all of this but the car won't be here til near Christmas but Audi UK have been little help at all. They have no sway over replacement vehicles or availability of parts and have not even tried to find a vehicle within their own fleet to appease the situation. I've effectively been told that they have no responsibility to me as Audi UK as I bought the car from the dealer.
4 months and counting without my new car I'm sure there are a lot of owners with similar stories!

 

[ace10]

My wife's Panamera e-hybrid developed severe driveability issues in October 2020. It took PCNA two months to approve a battery replacement. And then another seven of waiting for a refurb'd battery. Nearly nine months out-of-service, all-in. The original battery failed after ~60K miles.
The first year of ownership (back in 2014) was right at six months out-of-service due to sorting out multiple major wiring issues.
And then earlier this year it took five weeks to repair a broken battery "chiller." Mostly waiting on the part from Germany and arguing about warranty.

I can assure you that the grass isn't greener on the other side of the VAG fence.

 

[Malibu_Scott]

Does the UK have lemon laws?

In California if your new car is hors de combat for 30 days it triggers buy back or replacement obligations and can brand your car a lemon if you proceed. Audi will prefer not to take that hit and will negotiate something with you.

 

[Steve Derby]

Does the UK have lemon laws?

In California if your new car is hors de combat for 30 days it triggers buy back or replacement obligations and can brand your car a lemon if you proceed. Audi will prefer not to take that hit and will negotiate something with you.

Unfortunately, not as clear. I presume something like the Consumer Protection Act 2015 applies, (found
This helpful info link What is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase? ) but precedence is definitely not as clear cut and well known as the lemon laws of US

 

[ShenEtronGT]

Have any other members been without their cars for long periods of time due to parts shortages and infrastructure capabilities. I've been without my 21 plate RS GT for over 4 months now and no end in sight for having the vehicle returned. Cells have been replaced in the battery, new heater, charge ancillaries and now it needs another 7k of parts that are on back order and the engineer is on annual leave when they are due to arrive.
The infrastructure for dealing with faults on these cars is woeful in the UK. We also have a 21 plate etron 55 black edition and it is perfect with no issues whatsoever but the GT is a different story. Not only are the majority of parts unavailable but the tooling and technical support is so inadequate it is taking months to resolve. The battery repair took 2 months alone as they didn't have the tool to apply the bonding to reseal the battery and the tool had to be manufactured and made available to dealers. I wonder how many Taycans have had cells replaced within their batteries, surely the knowledge and tooling is a shared resource. Audi's excuse of "its a new model" is not acceptable.
The dealer has ordered a replacement vehicle and have been the saving grace in all of this but the car won't be here til near Christmas but Audi UK have been little help at all. They have no sway over replacement vehicles or availability of parts and have not even tried to find a vehicle within their own fleet to appease the situation. I've effectively been told that they have no responsibility to me as Audi UK as I bought the car from the dealer.
4 months and counting without my new car I'm sure there are a lot of owners with similar stories!

4 month is totally unacceptable! May I ask what's malfunctionfor your car?

 

[pellemando]

Been without mine for almost 2 months. First month due to shortage of parts etc, and now due to, as the shop puts it: “Its an GT, we had to order some special tools for the repair”. I asked why did they not do it at the same time when they ordered the parts? Did not got an answer on that…. Have to wait 3-4 weeks more now for the tool. And I just had the car for 3 weeks.

I feel you pain!

 

[Chasing Cars]

Does the UK have lemon laws?

In a sense the answer is yes but the law is not specific to cars.

The situation in the UK is completely different to that which exists in the US. In most US states there is very little consumer protection for everyday purchases which has meant that specific laws have been introduced for the purchase of vehicles (often referred to as 'lemon' laws) which gives certain rights to consumers based on factors such as term of ownership, mileage, days not available for use and so on.

In the UK, purchases of all retail goods receive comprehensive protection through the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (formally the Sale of Goods Act 1979 but with the addition of protection for the purchase of digital goods and services). The four principles contained in the legislation relating to products cover just about every aspect of the consumer experience and give an absolute right to recover any losses associated with a purchase. Although case law has now put a framework on those principles, the courts tend to interpret them very widely. Importantly, these rights cannot be signed away as part of a contract of purchase which means that a buyers rights are still in place even when a good is sold off as part of a special deal, sale or end of line type arrangement.

It is the first of the four principles that is of most importance in the case of car sales and that states that the buyer can expect the goods to be "Of a satisfactory quality (including appearance and finish, free from minor defects, safety, durability)".

From what TranterLancs says, it would appear that his car clearly fails to meet this test. Audi is definitely not the port of call for this though. Ultimately it is the retailer (or Dealer in motor industry speak) which is liable and that is where he should send his formal complaint followed if necessary by his letter before action.

 

[philipsubhan]

I've been without mine for two weeks waiting for a replacement rear right tire due to a puncture. I've been told by the dealership not to expect a replacement for at least two to four more weeks. They did provide a Q5 as a loaner but now I am paying for gas and driving a far lesser car than I paid for!

 

[ace10]

I've been without mine for two weeks waiting for a replacement rear right tire due to a puncture. I've been told by the dealership not to expect a replacement for at least two to four more weeks. They did provide a Q5 as a loaner but now I am paying for gas and driving a far lesser car than I paid for!

Do you have the Audi tire insurance?

 

[Snorlax]

I've been without mine for two weeks waiting for a replacement rear right tire due to a puncture. I've been told by the dealership not to expect a replacement for at least two to four more weeks. They did provide a Q5 as a loaner but now I am paying for gas and driving a far lesser car than I paid for!

for a tire?! you could have had a replacement in 2 days from tire rack

 

[scottaylor83]

My experience on compensation for time and difficulty with repairs:

I had a pesky parasitic battery drain that was very difficult to diagnose. I had a loaner, the dealer was doing their best but was waiting back and forth with Audi engineering team in germany to give them next steps in troublshooting. I was out of the car for about 3-4 weeks. I then sent a letter requesting buy back under texas lemon law and the tune changed dramatically. I was able to drive the vehicle while the part was on backorder and was able to reach a settlement with VW financial equivalent to ~2 months lease payment for my trouble. Perhaps escalating with VW finance in UK might work as well?

FWIW I have also been successful posting on twitter and copying @Audi about my bad experiences and that generally gets people more motivated as well.

 

[ShenEtronGT]

My experience on compensation for time and difficulty with repairs:

I had a pesky parasitic battery drain that was very difficult to diagnose. I had a loaner, the dealer was doing their best but was waiting back and forth with Audi engineering team in germany to give them next steps in troublshooting. I was out of the car for about 3-4 weeks. I then sent a letter requesting buy back under texas lemon law and the tune changed dramatically. I was able to drive the vehicle while the part was on backorder and was able to reach a settlement with VW financial equivalent to ~2 months lease payment for my trouble. Perhaps escalating with VW finance in UK might work as well?

FWIW I have also been successful posting on twitter and copying @Audi about my bad experiences and that generally gets people more motivated as well.

That's a fair settlement~
May I ask how did you find the pesky parasitic battery drain?

 

[scottaylor83]

The Audi techs found the drain. In talking with them I think they let the car sit and used some probes or something to work back from the 12V connections to find it. A bit archaic but given the fact that so much of these cars is new, not surprising.

 

[sina_rez_esq]

I'm an e-tron GT owner as well as a California lemon lawyer (with colleagues licensed in other jurisdictions). I would strongly recommend any of you who are having extended repairs or repeating issues to consider contact a lemon lawyer rather than dealing with the manufacturer directly on your own. Here in CA and in every other state, you are entitled to have the manufacturer pay for your attorney's fees if you have a lemon, so there is an extremely low barrier to entry.

Also, it's very important to know that each state will have it's own requirements, but in my personal experience, the majority of my clients' approved cases do not meet these requirements to a tee. That's why it's important to speak with someone who knows the gray areas rather than to simply assume you do not qualify. There are also some instances where you may be entitled to more than just your money back.

I'd be happy to speak with anyone on this forum (for free, of course).

 

[Etrizzle]

To the original question, mine just hit two months, they haven’t even put it on the rack yet because an E Tron GT has been on the rack the whole time and they only have one rack compatible with a battery hoist… I have a very well priced lease and wouldn’t want to be bought out of it unless I was going to get the same car at the same price, I still love the car, just wish it worked. My issue was a battery and drive system malfunction leaving me stranded in the middle of the Los Angeles Freeway

 

[Scrich7]

Have any other members been without their cars for long periods of time due to parts shortages and infrastructure capabilities. I've been without my 21 plate RS GT for over 4 months now and no end in sight for having the vehicle returned. Cells have been replaced in the battery, new heater, charge ancillaries and now it needs another 7k of parts that are on back order and the engineer is on annual leave when they are due to arrive.
The infrastructure for dealing with faults on these cars is woeful in the UK. We also have a 21 plate etron 55 black edition and it is perfect with no issues whatsoever but the GT is a different story. Not only are the majority of parts unavailable but the tooling and technical support is so inadequate it is taking months to resolve. The battery repair took 2 months alone as they didn't have the tool to apply the bonding to reseal the battery and the tool had to be manufactured and made available to dealers. I wonder how many Taycans have had cells replaced within their batteries, surely the knowledge and tooling is a shared resource. Audi's excuse of "its a new model" is not acceptable.
The dealer has ordered a replacement vehicle and have been the saving grace in all of this but the car won't be here til near Christmas but Audi UK have been little help at all. They have no sway over replacement vehicles or availability of parts and have not even tried to find a vehicle within their own fleet to appease the situation. I've effectively been told that they have no responsibility to me as Audi UK as I bought the car from the dealer.
4 months and counting without my new car I'm sure there are a lot of owners with similar stories!

If your vehicle is financed or leased through VWFS (Audi Finance) I would strongly advise going through the complaints process there instead. The regulation is far stronger due to the financial element and you will have significantly more success than going to Audi UK (who have far less in the way of regulation to be worried about).

 

[TranterLancs]

The dealer has been superb and has indeed ordered a replacement vehicle which should be here by Christmas. They are not the repairing dealer though as they are not an authorised high voltage centre. The car was purchased outright and whilst I have been offered a full refund there is nothing else I want. I need the original car back as i paid over 5k for a set of Vossens that were only on for 5 days when it failed. Im hoping its a one off with that vehicle and the new one is better as I have had lots of issues with it. Its taycan tech with the batteries so there should be no excuse that “its a new model” . Tools and parts should be available before models are allowed to be sold!

 

[Etrizzle]

If your vehicle is financed or leased through VWFS (Audi Finance) I would strongly advise going through the complaints process there instead. The regulation is far stronger due to the financial element and you will have significantly more success than going to Audi UK (who have far less in the way of regulation to be worried about).

Im actually in the states, California to be specific

 

[Scrich7]

Im actually in the states, California to be specific

I was replying to TranterLancs who is UK based. The US will obviously be a very different scenario.