Unknown

- Fayetteville, NC, USA

Due to the AT&T 3G turndown, Audi of America is removing a critical safety feature from certain MY 2018 vehicles, with no solution offered to the vehicle owner except to pay an additional $650-$1000 out of pocket to install a retrofit device to restore some of these safety features. As sold, MY2017-2018 and certain MY 2019 Audi A4/A5/Q5/Q7 vehicles came with an emergency call feature, both automatic in the event of a severe accident, and manual. From the owners manual: "The vehicle electrical system initiates an automatic emergency call under certain circumstances, for example, if an airbag deploys. The LED in the emergency call button (2) blinks green. The emergency call is made. This cannot be cancelled." Because of the AT&T 3G Sunset, Audi of America is providing a retrofit kit to restore this emergency call functionality in the event of an accident. However, they are not providing this retrofit free to all customers. All MY2017 vehicles qualify for free installation and subscription to the new emergency call retrofit service. However, MY2018 and 2019 vehicles with an in- service date of before February 22, 2018 will have to pay for the installation and subscription to this service. Making owners of MY2018 vehicles pay to restore a critical safety feature that the vehicle was sold with is highly unethical and can lead to safety issues. Instead of an automated call to 911 during a severe accident, Audi of America is forcing owners of certain MY2018 vehicles to choose between paying $1000 + subscription fees for this critical safety service, or relying on owner's being conscious enough to use their own cell phones, which may not be the case during a severe accident. The decision by Audi of America to enforce an arbitrary in-service cutoff date of 2/22/2018 for MY2018 vehicles is highly illogical and unethical. All MY2017 vehicles, which are older and more likely to be out of warranty, qualify for the free update while MY2018 are subject to an arbitrary cutoff.

- Irvine, CA, USA

I received a message on my dashboard to turn the engine off and check the coolant when starting the vehicle each morning for the last two days. I brought the car into the Audi Dealership in Paramus/Fair Lawn, NJ. They stated the water pump was not working. I researched and found that a recall for ALL ROAD station wagons (Audi) had occurred for 2013-2017 for water pumps that could start a fire in the car. My car, although a 2018 model, was manufactured in January 19, 2018 (the beginning of 2018; recall noted for 2017)- water pump is defective with only 56,000 miles on it. My car was manufactured with defective water pump from prior year...... They paid for water pump part but made me pay for labor to put a replacement part in the car. AUDI should be liable for this..... there should be a recall in my year car because of the potential for fire with a defective water pump.

- Kinnelon, NJ, USA