NHTSA Complaint #10228380 — 2001 AUDI ALLROAD

I BOUGHT AN AUDI ALLROAD 2001 2.7T A6 AT A DEALERSHIP IN ALBUQUERQUE NEW MEXICO. THE CAR, AT FIST, WAS HANDLING SO WELL. EVERYTHING SEEMED TO BE IN GREAT SHAPE AND WELL MAINTAINED. I TOOK A TRIP TO COLORADO AND UPON MY ARRIVAL TO MY DESTINATION, THE YELLOW "CAR UNEVEN SUSPENSION" LIGHT CAME ON. THE CAR IMMEDIATELY MADE SOME WEIRD NOISES AND SHIFTED WEIGHT WHILE I WAS DRIVING AT 80MPH ON THE HIGH WAY. I PULLED OVER AND VISUALLY INSPECTED THE CAR. NOTHING COULD BE SEEN. I TOOK IT TOO A VW DEALERSHIP TO HAVE THEM TELL ME WHAT THEY THOUGHT WAS WRONG. LONG STORY SHORT. NO ONE KNEW THE AUDI ALLROAD WELL ENOUGH... HOW CONVENIENT!! UPON MY RETURN TO NM AFTER COLORADO, I HAD THE CAR TAKEN TO AUDI IN ALBUQUERQUE. THEY TOLD ME THAT MY AIR RIDE SUSPENSION BAD WAS TORN OR DEAD. EITHER OR, IT WAS THE REASON FOR THE EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF SHAKING AND VIBRATING WHILE DRIVING AT SOME SPEEDS. ALTHOUGH AFTER 80MPH THE CAR WOULD STOP SHAKING. AFTER 2 MONTHS OF HAVING MY AUDI ALLROAD SITTING AT AUDI, I SAVED UP ENOUGH MONEY TO HAVE THE AIR BAG REPLACED. YOU WOULD THINK THAT ON SUCH A VITAL PART OF THE CAR, THERE WOULD BE SOME SORT OF COVERAGE. I GUESS NOT. IN THE END IT COST ME $700 TO GET JUST ONE AIR RIDE SUSPENSION BAG REPLACED. IN THE END I WAS DISAPPOINTED MY AUDI'S RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEM AND THE PRICE THEY GAVE ME FOR THE PART. IRONICALLY, AUDI ACTUALLY TOLD ME THAT I NEEDED TO REPLACE TO AIR BAGS. THAT WAS B.S. I BOUGHT ONE BAG FROM AUDI AND DROVE MY CAR BACK TO ANOTHER DEALERSHIP AND HAD THEM REINSPECT AND REPLACE THE AIR BAG. ALL SEEMED WELL AND THE ONE AIRBAG FOR THE RIDE SUSPENSION WAS REPLACED. I DID NOT NEED 2. SO BE AWARE THAT AUDI WILL BLINDSIDE YOU WITH UNNECESSARY COSTS. BE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM WITH THIS CAR. IT IS EXPENSIVE AND A LONG AND ROUGH ROAD TO REPLACE. THE CAR OVER ALL HAS A PRETTY GOOD REPUTATION AND WOULD RECOMMEND IT EVEN MORE IF IT DID NOT HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM. *TR