2013 suspension issues

[WAF]

So a couple weeks ago i noticed the car riding alot stiffer in the rear and alot of noises" flopping and popping" on both sides. Did a drive with my GF in the back the noises are coming from the wheel wells. The car has 5700km on it s-line with ADS, feels like its riding on hockey pucks, has anyone came across this issue. Yes i know its winter and things get alot firmer with the temps, but my 20 year old Landcruiser drives better then the A4. I'm taking it in to the dealership in a couple weeks ill see what they say. 5700km on a 50k$ car and drives like shit... makes me wonder how everything will hold up. Maybe ill be car shopping again if this is handled bad.

[Wilbur]

So a couple weeks ago i noticed the car riding alot stiffer in the rear and alot of noises" flopping and popping" on both sides. Did a drive with my GF in the back the noises are coming from the wheel wells. The car has 5700km on it s-line with ADS, feels like its riding on hockey pucks, has anyone came across this issue. Yes i know its winter and things get alot firmer with the temps, but my 20 year old Landcruiser drives better then the A4. I'm taking it in to the dealership in a couple weeks ill see what they say. 5700km on a 50k$ car and drives like shit... makes me wonder how everything will hold up. Maybe ill be car shopping again if this is handled bad.

Really? Cars have problems occasionally. They will fix it.

[WAF]

I was more or less asking about any other known issues on rear suspension issues with ADS cars. Yes cars have problems.

[dylannorton]

To be honest... I got new control arms under warranty which did fix the steering wheel shudder, but when I'm on the highway I feel like I'm struggling to stay in my lane. Almost like I'm constantly battle wind. It's to late for me to sell the car and get a new one so I've been considering the alu kreuz option rather than the BMW option.

[dylannorton]

Sorry I didn't really address the problem in my first post. But yeah my car started to rattle and ride pretty harsh after about 27k miles which is when I took to the dealer and ended having my rear shocks replaced. Didn't cost me any money though, they had the used car department take care of it because I had been there multiple times about the same issue and it is CPO'd.

[NJRoadFan]

Take a look at the springs, sometimes during PDI they forget to remove the foam bump stops used for shipping.

Example photos can be found here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5302058

[dA4banger.au]

Because the noise and effects you described are coming from both sides, it's unlikely be a shock or mechanical failure of a part. The chance for two failings at the same time is really small unless they are either electrically controlled by a mechanism that is now failing or they are physically connected together.

Sorry I don't have a direct experience and cannot give a useful pointer. A clever suspension specialist who has experience with Euro cars can check out the issue. Unless there is a known problem or this issue generates an error code, I wouldn't generally put too much hope in dealership's diagnosis.

As much as I love Audi and its innovations, I do not have faith in their fancy suspension gizmos. The rate of their reported failure is too high to inspire confidence.

[NJRoadFan]

AFAIK, 2013 cars with Drive Select do not have the dynamic suspension dampening system that the earlier cars had.

[jlaudio]

this post sounds like more of an attempt to complain about the brand rather than ask for help in finding a solution. your car is warrantied and issues like this are the exact reason cars are sold with warranties.

AFAIK, 2013 cars with Drive Select do not have the dynamic suspension dampening system that the earlier cars had.

interesting, why get ADS then on 2013+ cars? the selling feature of ADS is the fact that you can adjust your suspensions firmness, without that, whats left?

[WAF]

this post sounds like more of an attempt to complain about the brand rather than ask for help in finding a solution. your car is warrantied and issues like this are the exact reason cars are sold with warranties.



interesting, why get ADS then on 2013+ cars? the selling feature of ADS is the fact that you can adjust your suspensions firmness, without that, whats left?

Yes I'll complain about suspension issues after only so little mileage, why would i be happy about it? The reason for posting is i'm curious on if others have had any issues, as i'd rather help someone in a similar situation then keep it to myself and tell everyone the car is great.

The car has ADS and yes you can control the firmness of your suspension in 3 settings "comfort/auto/dynamic"

[WAF]

Sorry I didn't really address the problem in my first post. But yeah my car started to rattle and ride pretty harsh after about 27k miles which is when I took to the dealer and ended having my rear shocks replaced. Didn't cost me any money though, they had the used car department take care of it because I had been there multiple times about the same issue and it is CPO'd.

how many times did you take it in for the problem to be resolved? The car feels the same as you describe on the highway sometimes and othertimes it's ok.

[WAF]

Because the noise and effects you described are coming from both sides, it's unlikely be a shock or mechanical failure of a part. The chance for two failings at the same time is really small unless they are either electrically controlled by a mechanism that is now failing or they are physically connected together.

Sorry I don't have a direct experience and cannot give a useful pointer. A clever suspension specialist who has experience with Euro cars can check out the issue. Unless there is a known problem or this issue generates an error code, I wouldn't generally put too much hope in dealership's diagnosis.

As much as I love Audi and its innovations, I do not have faith in their fancy suspension gizmos. The rate of their reported failure is too high to inspire confidence.

Thanks for the input.

[dylannorton]

The shocks took 3 visits to get them replaced because they do a "road test" instead of actually driving the car. Of course the road test says nothing is wrong and they tell me it's fine. So after my third visit I asked to take a tech on a ride and sure enough he agreed that the shocks needed replacing. That was then taken care of with no hassle. But the steering still feels like I'm fighting wind all the time, which really sucks, but I've sort of accepted this to be just the way the car handles. My moms 2013 Q5 feels the same way. I plan to get the alu kruez until I graduate college, move to a state with no snow in the winter and get a BMW 335i coupe.

[jlaudio]

Yes I'll complain about suspension issues after only so little mileage, why would i be happy about it? The reason for posting is i'm curious on if others have had any issues, as i'd rather help someone in a similar situation then keep it to myself and tell everyone the car is great.

The car has ADS and yes you can control the firmness of your suspension in 3 settings "comfort/auto/dynamic"

but if 2013+ doesn't have the active dampers then you cannot change the firmness of the suspension, only the weight of the steering and throttle response. so you don't have an active suspension.

wow audi what a ripoff, from the website:
Letting you match the car to your mood, this package enables adjustment of steering effort, throttle response, and transmission shifting style

[NJRoadFan]

wow audi what a ripoff, from the website:
Letting you match the car to your mood, this package enables adjustment of steering effort, throttle response, and transmission shifting style

I'll have to pull the MMI manual and see if it mentions the suspension at all. My 2009 A4 brochure touts the active dampers, but there isn't a single word about it on the website or brochure for the 2013 A4. The S4 still has the option of active dampers. Also note that Audi removed the lane departure warning system option from the A4 as well.

[WAF]

The car I have has adaptive suspension, not sure if your trying to tell me i dont have it. It's on page 111 of the '13 manual also.

[jlaudio]

The car I have has adaptive suspension, not sure if your trying to tell me i dont have it. It's on page 111 of the '13 manual also.

canada may be different, but us spec cars here is the option code with features that would be on a US window sticker... you have to have the fluid filled shocks to have adaptive suspension, and in '13 it doesn't look like ADS equipped cars came with adaptive dampers

PDD Driver Assist Package - $3,250
Adaptive cruise control; Dynamic steering; Driver modes includes engine mapping and steering; Requires: [WPT] Prestige

[ekyp]

In Canada, S-Line package comes with ADS w/ adaptive damping suspension (Pretty good deal for S-Line and ADS for $3k). Don't think this is offered in the states. I have the same car and so far no problem with my suspension. Although I only have <2000km.

Hope you'll get yours fixed and let us know what the problem is =)

[WAF]

In Canada, S-Line package comes with ADS w/ adaptive damping suspension (Pretty good deal for S-Line and ADS for $3k). Don't think this is offered in the states. I have the same car and so far no problem with my suspension. Although I only have <2000km.

Hope you'll get yours fixed and let us know what the problem is =)

Thanks, i will post any info i have on this.

[NJRoadFan]

In Canada, S-Line package comes with ADS w/ adaptive damping suspension (Pretty good deal for S-Line and ADS for $3k). Don't think this is offered in the states. I have the same car and so far no problem with my suspension. Although I only have <2000km.

Hope you'll get yours fixed and let us know what the problem is =)

Looks like Canada gets the fancy suspension. They also get the option of rear heated seats!

[WAF]

I guess we do.

[_magic_marco]

I have the same issue. Then I lowered my car...same issue. The suspension shop actually told me they noticed it too and tried to figure out what it was. No one knows. #mystery

[WAF]

Thanks for the input magic. I was thinking of changing susupension if i have issues with the dealership, but i guess that might not be an option. Oh well ill see what they say and if this drags out for awhile, bye bye audi. I dont feel like fighting with the dealership on this and have no patience for paying for something i dont want. Cross my fingers but we will see.

[WAF]

Update on the car. The rear suspension issues are now on both sides and the front is feeling floppy now and harder than normal. Another week and a half till i can bring it in. The car is really rough and i dont even want to drive it, let alone give anyone a ride.

[Dave Puckett]

To be honest... I got new control arms under warranty which did fix the steering wheel shudder, but when I'm on the highway I feel like I'm struggling to stay in my lane. Almost like I'm constantly battle wind. It's to late for me to sell the car and get a new one so I've been considering the alu kreuz option rather than the BMW option.

sounds like excessive Toe OUT setting. Possibly need alignment checked.

[iconoclast]

So a couple weeks ago i noticed the car riding alot stiffer in the rear and alot of noises" flopping and popping" on both sides.

does the car look taller than usual? perhaps the shipping blocks were left in and this is causing the problems along with the harsh ride.

[WAF]

I'll check for the shipping blocks. The car doesn't feel taller.

[Wilbur]

The shocks took 3 visits to get them replaced because they do a "road test" instead of actually driving the car. Of course the road test says nothing is wrong and they tell me it's fine. So after my third visit I asked to take a tech on a ride and sure enough he agreed that the shocks needed replacing. That was then taken care of with no hassle. But the steering still feels like I'm fighting wind all the time, which really sucks, but I've sort of accepted this to be just the way the car handles. My moms 2013 Q5 feels the same way. I plan to get the alu kruez until I graduate college, move to a state with no snow in the winter and get a BMW 335i coupe.

If you want reliability issues, 335 is your car. I just got rid of one.....brutal.

[Wilbur]

does the car look taller than usual? perhaps the shipping blocks were left in and this is causing the problems along with the harsh ride.

The car would be about 2-3" higher than normal and virtually undrivable.

[WAF]

yah i didn't see anything as far as blocks, and the car drove good before.

[c3A4]

On a similar note, my H&R coilovers have been making a similar popping noise this last week. Any time the car shifted weight in the slightest I hear popping noises, seems to be coming mostly from the back. Not sure if it is the weather or a coilover settling issue. Didn't happen before in even colder temperatures though.