Like many of you I waited a very long time for the software update I was originally promised within 3 months of taking delivery of my car. Had the car booked in at the dealer for 2 days last week. It became apparent they were having problems when they wanted it for a third day. Late in the day on Friday they contacted me to say they wouldn't be able to get the car back to me for the weekend and admitted that since the software update had finished the car was "dead". On Monday morning they said they would need the car for the rest of this week and were waiting for a senior technician who would know what to do. He was due on Tuesday. This morning they have said the car needs replacement parts (engine management?) which will not be available until at least mid August and they are not confident of delivery by then because they have another customer needing the same part who has waited 3 months. In the meantime they have been gracious enough to allow me to keep the loan vehicle a little longer. It's a crappy petrol Q2.
It was a software update. What the hell have they done?
I will never, ever buy another Audi.
Audi Have Bricked My Car
Hi,
My car had the update, and like you, got a call saying the car wouldn’t start and they need the support from Audi technical to fix the issue. The following day they got the car working again. But where your car has been ‘bricked’, they discovered the issue with my car was a firewall problem, and once that was sorted, the car started. After a few weeks the car is ok, but the question I keep asking myself is do I keep the car when the PCP ends and extend the warranty, or hand it back and look elsewhere? So far my head says hand it back, my heart says keep it.
My car had the update, and like you, got a call saying the car wouldn’t start and they need the support from Audi technical to fix the issue. The following day they got the car working again. But where your car has been ‘bricked’, they discovered the issue with my car was a firewall problem, and once that was sorted, the car started. After a few weeks the car is ok, but the question I keep asking myself is do I keep the car when the PCP ends and extend the warranty, or hand it back and look elsewhere? So far my head says hand it back, my heart says keep it.
Audi Q4 e-tron s-line 35, Narvarra Blue, Comfort & Sound pack.
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
I would 100% swap it for something else.
We have about a year and a half left in our lease and we're never getting another Audi.
At this point, I'm going to leave it until our 2-year service in November and see if they even mention the fact that there's a software update. Knowing our local dealer, they won't even know there is a software update, but I'm going to tell them in no uncertain terms to update that car before they give it back to me.
We have about a year and a half left in our lease and we're never getting another Audi.
At this point, I'm going to leave it until our 2-year service in November and see if they even mention the fact that there's a software update. Knowing our local dealer, they won't even know there is a software update, but I'm going to tell them in no uncertain terms to update that car before they give it back to me.
I’m heading that way as I’ve never spent so much of my time sending emails, making calls, and visiting the dealer to get the car to a point where it’s what I expected when I purchased it 20 months ago. I will have the car serviced in November as I have a service plan in place and see what the cars worth then and go from there.
Audi Q4 e-tron s-line 35, Narvarra Blue, Comfort & Sound pack.
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
Update ...
Audi promised to get us a more suitable, electric hire vehicle. We were contacted by Europcar who offered a "Funky Cat". WTF?
After that we could not get anyone at the dealer or Audi to speak to us. In the end we contacted a company who deal with motor insurance claims who suggested we speak to Audi Customer Service before going the legal route. I have to say they were very helpful, rattled some cages and suddenly the Audi dealer started talking to us. Definitely suggest this for anyone having similar service issues.
Still can't get anyone to explain how a software update has damaged hardware. It isn't possible. As a result I am less than convinced the car is going to get fixed but I hope I am wrong.
Parts now expected 31st July. The car will have been off the road for 3 weeks minimum if I get it back within a couple of days of delivery.
The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is that Audi can't properly maintain this vehicle. Their technicians are inadequately trained and their stock of parts equally inadequate. Perhaps other manufacturers are better or maybe it isn't just the charging infrastructure in the UK that is lacking but everything else round EV's as well.
By the way, the only reason I'm not naming and shaming the dealer involved is that this may still end up in a court of law and I don't want to prejudice anything. I do however want to make sure other owners are aware of the potential issue. The Audi dealer concerned say they are now telling customers before they apply this software update that there is a possibility it will damage their car. They also admit to never having given me the same warning despite now saying they previously had several other vehicles affected in the same way. To me that seems negligent.
I worked in IT for 30 years before retiring a coupe of years back so I've done literally thousands of computer software updates. The golden rules are you first check compatibility of the update with hardware and existing software, you test the update and you make very sure that you have backups and can back out the change if it fails. The dealer say they followed Audi's instructions to the letter yet none of these things seems to have been done. Again, this appears negligent.
Audi promised to get us a more suitable, electric hire vehicle. We were contacted by Europcar who offered a "Funky Cat". WTF?
After that we could not get anyone at the dealer or Audi to speak to us. In the end we contacted a company who deal with motor insurance claims who suggested we speak to Audi Customer Service before going the legal route. I have to say they were very helpful, rattled some cages and suddenly the Audi dealer started talking to us. Definitely suggest this for anyone having similar service issues.
Still can't get anyone to explain how a software update has damaged hardware. It isn't possible. As a result I am less than convinced the car is going to get fixed but I hope I am wrong.
Parts now expected 31st July. The car will have been off the road for 3 weeks minimum if I get it back within a couple of days of delivery.
The bottom line as far as I'm concerned is that Audi can't properly maintain this vehicle. Their technicians are inadequately trained and their stock of parts equally inadequate. Perhaps other manufacturers are better or maybe it isn't just the charging infrastructure in the UK that is lacking but everything else round EV's as well.
By the way, the only reason I'm not naming and shaming the dealer involved is that this may still end up in a court of law and I don't want to prejudice anything. I do however want to make sure other owners are aware of the potential issue. The Audi dealer concerned say they are now telling customers before they apply this software update that there is a possibility it will damage their car. They also admit to never having given me the same warning despite now saying they previously had several other vehicles affected in the same way. To me that seems negligent.
I worked in IT for 30 years before retiring a coupe of years back so I've done literally thousands of computer software updates. The golden rules are you first check compatibility of the update with hardware and existing software, you test the update and you make very sure that you have backups and can back out the change if it fails. The dealer say they followed Audi's instructions to the letter yet none of these things seems to have been done. Again, this appears negligent.
It would be interesting to know how many other Q4 owners have also experienced this kind of problem regarding the software update.
My Q4 50 is at the dealer now having the software update. There was no mention of a possiblity of damage to the car .
My Q4 50 is at the dealer now having the software update. There was no mention of a possiblity of damage to the car .
My update a few weeks ago didn’t go to plan as the car wouldn’t start after the software was installed. Needed support from Audi technical to sort and told it was a firewall issue that the technician resolved. I’m going to visit the dealer to get more details. Events like this make keeping the car long term a big risk, especially as I would be paying for any out of warranty issues. I did ask about the extended warranty, but no costs are available when I asked.
Audi Q4 e-tron s-line 35, Narvarra Blue, Comfort & Sound pack.
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
EDF referral scheme where we both get £50 added to your account if you sign up using this link.
https://referme.to/grahamh-586
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maybebricked
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:07 pm
Took my Q4 in last week for the software upgrade and now enjoying a sadly parallel experience. Day after taking it in for the two day software upgrade I was told it has to go to specialist battery centre in a week's time as the upgrade failed. Went to pick some bits out of car and dealer then discovered they couldn't start it. First slot for it to be collected is now three weeks after I took it in for the upgrade and no info available on the length of time it will be in the battery hospital or when it will make it back to my dealer. Getting nervous about the potential for future problems when the warrantee has ended.
