[Steven682004]

The interior of my 2003 A4 1.8T is peeling and delaminating. It looks like all the controls and coomponent buttons have some sort of covering and in my car it is wearing off. I understand that there will be some wear over the course of the cars life, but it only has 20,000 miles on it and one driver.

I have brought the car back to the dealership where I purchased it to have them evauluate the interior for warranty replacement and was told that Audi would't warranty the interior because they consider the interior of the car to have outside influences.

Has anyone seen this problem before and what steps did they take with Audi in getting it fixed?

 

[rix1974]

I have had the same problem with the same outcome. My ESP button started delaminating...I went as far as contacting Audi customer service, and they told me it was up to the dealership whether or not it would be covered under warranty. They would not cover it, and a new one was $85. I just removed it, painted it in flat black and put it back. It looks better, but still bothers me.

 

[AOV]

Is it just the 2003's just because ours is a 2003 and the buttons have the same problem, looks awful. Trying to sell it as well....would someone understand that this is a problem that one has to overlook?

 

[simsam18]

Is it just the 2003's just because ours is a 2003 and the buttons have the same problem, looks awful. Trying to sell it as well....would someone understand that this is a problem that one has to overlook?

It's gotten better but has not gone completely away. I had a 2003 A4 until last year and I had the radio, the headlight knob, the floor vents, and the driver's window buttons replaced under the factory warranty. Once they were replaced, I didn't have any issues afterwards. I now have a 2006 A4 which had a very light issue with that around the radio area and was told that those issues were now only covered for 1 year. Apparently, Audi must have gotten tired of replacing those shoddy parts.

I'm not sure exactly what the cause is. Heat and sun may be one issue (my car was in Southern California when the problem was at its worst). Long fingernails probably don't help, and a service advisor told me at a dealership that lotion will take that stuff off as well.

As far as overlooking it, I guess it depends how much you care about that stuff and how hard it is to fix. Replacing a few radio knobs doesn't cost that much, but replacing the radio itself? That's another story. Of course, a 2003 A4 is likely going to have much bigger issues than button peeling to worry about (I speak from experience )

 

[Dreamert]

I'm in the market for a 2002 or 2003, why do you say that year would have much other problems to worry about that this ?

 

[alexbnk]

I think Audi and VW are already well aware of this ugly issue but they dont seem to give up this rubber cover on the buttons even on today's versions and i guess it's because the fancy feeling it gives to your fingers and subconsciously provides the "mood" of luxury car .

Main reasons for the peeling :

1) Women use MOISTURE HANDS CREAM @!#@!#! and that attacks the rubber (mine was pre-owned by a woman .. grrrrrrrrrrr )

2) The usage of "shining" sprays when they clean the car !!! NEVER LET ANYONE USE IT WHEN YOU WASH THE CAR !!!!

Since i have a good friend working at Audi dealer , i spent few days with him in their garage while they were servicing my car , and i was amazed to see the number of all sort of Audis and VW Tuaregs they replace the peeling switches and buttons (under warranty !!!) .

Since mine is a 2002 i was forced to replace all widows switches , and the main light switch due to the ugly peeling issue and paid for it !!! at least the fancy look was recovered .. almost ... cause i have this problem on the AC control buttons !!! and this panel has no replacement part so if i want to fix it i will have to change the entire unit which here in IL = 2500$ , so mean time i took a black permanent and painted the white areas on the AV controller ... and it drives me crazy !!!!

 

[mac17790]

hey i have this problem with my 2002 audi A4. is there any way u could repaint the detailing with that coating. i dont want to have to pay 2500 for a head unit again

 

[johnabritton]

My '03 A4's interior buttons lost their lamination long ago

I just wanted to write that I too have experienced delaminated buttons in my 2003 A4's interior. Friends who aren't familiar with A4s don't know which buttons to press when adjusting the air conditioning. (I live in Texas; basically, all I do is turn it on high, but apparently people get cold.)

It's a pain. When my car had 10,000 miles, I showed this problem to the dealer. They said they couldn't cover it, just as someone else has written.

Awesome.

 

[jinsoojoo]

A quasi-solution, permanent marker...

I have had two 2003 Audi A4 avants and I now have an Allroad. The wearing rubber on the buttons and switches is the worst in my Allroad.

My quasi-solution is to take a permanent marker and dab the areas where the rubber has worn off. You can tell it's not perfect, but it's better than having white spots lighting up at night. This may be worth giving a try instead of replacing an entire radio, climate control unit, light switch, window switch, or mirror switch.

It's important to "dab" with the marker tip, not swipe...