multitronic light PRNDS flashing

[mj62mj62]

Originally Posted by Warren

I thought i would add an update now the job is done. Inde-Tech did the taking off, fitting and gearbox oil. Autotek did the repair on the ECU. Total job came to around £600 compared to Audi's £1500 so i would recommend both these companies to anyone.

Hi Warren,

Just a quick thanks for posting the update. Whilest searching the forums some people don't come back to provide the final result.

I'm in a similar situation and waiting to hear back on diagnosis of the issue. Has everything been okay for you since? Milton Keynes is a long way away and if I needed a follow up visit, the savings would start to cost my business (as I'd have to take time off to travel there).

In your original message you talked about the part costing £570 - how did the final bill from the other company come to only £600?

(lol - only £600 - lots of cash!!!)

Thanks,
Matt

[Warren]

Everything went well and still going strong so well recomended both companies

[mj62mj62]

Originally Posted by Warren

Everything went well and still going strong so well recomended both companies

Thanks for the update I'm in a terrible position -- '04 A4 multitronic gear box has gone in under 40k miles. (only 40k miles!?!!!!)

Local audi main dealer (where I bought it) is asking for £4300 and is contacting Audi about one of these goodwill payments. That amount of money seems astronomical to me (as I'm sure it is to most people!!!) - the gearbox is apparently £3200 on it's own - leaving me some room to barter with the local dealership as £1100 in labour seems like a lot of money as well.

Do these prices look correct?
Any idea how much others have gotten in goodwill payments?

I will also contact some specialist garages but my first instinct was to stick with where I bought it.

I'm a bit stuck because the issue is getting worse and soon I won't be driving anywhere. Any advice on how to bargain for the best deal?

[mj62mj62]

A final update from my original saga:

During the weeks of haggling with my local main Audi garage and Audi UK (who offered £900 towards a £4500 bill - on a car with only 40k miles - terrible customer service!!!!), I had the gearbox oil independently checked and there was no problem with it found.

Therefore there seemed no justification for changing the whole gearbox. I think they wanted me to change it because these gearboxes are known for a succession of failures after the first problem occurs. Of course when another problem happens, the garage is blamed...

So I took my car to Bath Audi instead who were really friendly and helpful. They checked the gearbox oil, confirmed it was fine, called Audi UK and I came away for a subsidised bill of £600 instead of the original £4500.

With the ECU changed (aka. MCU, gearbox computer) everything is working fine now.

I hope nothing else will go wrong but for now it feels like a good result.

I can't help but feel my local main Audi garage was dishonest and that's disheartening.

During the whole thing I received a lot of help from Inde-tech in Milton Keynes (they did the original diagnosis), Basingstoke Audi and of course Bath Audi who did the final work.

If you have a multitronic gearbox, my only advice is to change the gearbox oil every 20k instead of every 40k and make sure you have the 7 plate clutch installed.

[a4_jim]

I am one of the unlucky owners with a faulty TCM in my 2004 A4 1.8T. Car has only travelled 40,000miles and needs a replacement TCM which my local dealer quoted at 1,000 pounds. Dealer also quoted a replacement valve body (gearbox pump I believe) which cost 1,300 pounds. Total repair costs with labor and fluids is 3,000 pounds which is insane.

Even though my car is out of warranty I strongly believe that Audi AG should take responsibilty for their products. The CVT is an inferior product that prematurely fails which owners are charged thousands of pounds to repair. Could this be Audi AG tactic to make their profit by using parts that tend to fail AFTER your warranty has expired.

My local dealer provided a free check since my first complaint letter. The check only confirms what I already know, faulty TMC. Written reply to Audi AG and pending their official reply.

Are Audi owners willing to group together as one force to complain against them to seek some form of compensation. Owners should not settle for Audi reply stating our cars are out of warranty and needs a new replacement gearbox!!!

I have owned BMW and Merc cars with automatic gearboxes and guess what? No problems with the gearbox with one travelling nearly 200,000miles. Now that is what I call German engineer that owners can be proud of. Shame on Audi for selling us expensive cars with inferior parts, time bombs for owners but profit makers for Audi.

Jim

[mj62mj62]

I'm in - where do I sign?

There seem to be some main dealerships, like Basingstoke (or so I've been told) who are knowledgable about the gearbox issues and will fight Audi UK on your behalf to get compensation. I had good success at Bath Audi.

I feel quite jadded about the whole thing, but I have also driven 'older' style transmissions that switch the gears, (which can last forever), and I find that there is nothing quite as nice as the gearless unit. Bitter sweet -- even though I've had the TCM replaced (must be pretty common if Audi subsidise them...) and it's now driving really well, I can't help but feel I'm driving a car that could at any time, cost me a lot more just due to the gearbox.

My local main garage was insistent I should change the whole gearbox, because they've replaced TCM's before and then later you need to change the valves/etc. They went as far as to LIE about there being swarf in the gearbox to prevent me coming back and presumably complaining to them about their labour during the first job. Two other garages found no swarf... So even main dealers are scared of the gearboxes failing!

I'd love to have the exact numbers. How many of the gearboxes have something going wrong with them?

Lastly, when I go to Honda or Toyota they seem to really care about my business and Audi always seems a touch snobby... if the price of their cars do not equate to extremely high quality, then maybe I bought the car from the wrong company.

[a4_jim]

Shall we start a new thread with those willing to just list their car model, year and problem with gearbox?

If we have enough numbers we can use this list to argue with Audi for goodwill.

Regards

Jim

Originally Posted by mj62mj62

I'm in - where do I sign?

There seem to be some main dealerships, like Basingstoke (or so I've been told) who are knowledgable about the gearbox issues and will fight Audi UK on your behalf to get compensation. I had good success at Bath Audi.

I feel quite jadded about the whole thing, but I have also driven 'older' style transmissions that switch the gears, (which can last forever), and I find that there is nothing quite as nice as the gearless unit. Bitter sweet -- even though I've had the TCM replaced (must be pretty common if Audi subsidise them...) and it's now driving really well, I can't help but feel I'm driving a car that could at any time, cost me a lot more just due to the gearbox.

My local main garage was insistent I should change the whole gearbox, because they've replaced TCM's before and then later you need to change the valves/etc. They went as far as to LIE about there being swarf in the gearbox to prevent me coming back and presumably complaining to them about their labour during the first job. Two other garages found no swarf... So even main dealers are scared of the gearboxes failing!

I'd love to have the exact numbers. How many of the gearboxes have something going wrong with them?

Lastly, when I go to Honda or Toyota they seem to really care about my business and Audi always seems a touch snobby... if the price of their cars do not equate to extremely high quality, then maybe I bought the car from the wrong company.