NHTSA Complaint #11300896 — 2020 AUDI Q3

I BOUGHT MY AUDI Q3 ON DECEMBER 21 AND ON DECEMBER 22 I STARTED NOTICING ISSUES WITH THE STEERING, SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE AUTO STOP/START FUNCTION. NOW, AS DETAILED BELOW, I DID NOT HAVE A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WITH MY PURCHASE OF THE VEHICLE, SO WHEN I STARTED TO NOTICE THE SLOW BELABORED TURNING, I THOUGHT THAT I WAS MAKING MORE OUT OF IT BECAUSE I HAD SUCH A NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE AT THE DEALERSHIP. AND, I WISH THAT'S WHAT IT WAS. AS I CONTINUED TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE MORE, THE PROBLEM WITH THE STEERING WHEEL LOCKING UP NOT ONLY BECAME MORE FREQUENT, BUT ALSO MORE AGGRESSIVE, WHERE IT WENT FROM A SHORT SPLIT-SECOND DELAY TO A DELAYS THAT LASTED MANY SECONDS. THIS IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND TERRIFYING. THE LAST TIME IT HAPPENED WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION WHERE I WAS TRYING TO TURN LEFT, AND THE VEHICLE WAS MOVING FORWARD BUT THE STEERING WHEEL WASN'T ENGAGING - THIS OCCURRED AS TRAFFIC WAS COMING TOWARDS ME, ONE OF WHICH HAD TO SWERVE TO MISS SLAMMING INTO ME IN THE INTERSECTION. OBVIOUSLY, MY NEXT STEP WAS TO BRING THE CAR INTO THE DEALERSHIP TO FIX THE CLEAR DEFECT. SO YOU CAN IMAGINE MY SURPRISE, HORROR, AND DISMAY, WHEN DAYS LATER I RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT TELLING ME THAT NOT ONLY DID AUDI KNOW ABOUT THE DEFECT, BUT THAT TO THEM IT WASN'T A DEFECT AT ALL BUT AN ADEQUATELY PERFORMING 'SLIGHT DELAY.' OF ALL THE RESPONSES THAT I COULD HAVE IMAGINED, THAT WAS THE ONE THAT NEVER CROSSED MY MIND BECAUSE THAT WOULD ME THAT AUDI WAS WILLFULLY IGNORING THE SAFETY OF THEIR CUSTOMERS. THE SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE DID HIS BEST TO SHOW ME WORK AROUNDS FOR THE PROBLEM, BUT AS I SAID TO HIM, STEERING YOUR CAR WHILE DRIVING IS NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE TO BE 'WORKED AROUND.' THERE SHOULDN'T NEED TO BE A WORK AROUND WHERE SAFETY IS CONCERNED. THE UNSAFE DELAY HAS CONTINUED TO OCCUR.