2013 Audi S5 V6 reliability question

[gary442]

I have a low mileage S5 ( 2013 V6) with only 38k miles and it seems like a lots of things are starting to go wrong. All of the repairs have had to be done at the dealer as they exceeded the equipment in my humble shop and it is starting to get expensive. Also the car is our of warranty.

I am seriously considering getting rid of this car and moving on....can anyone comment on the reliability , generally speaking, of this car ? thanks

[SixShifter]

my '13 S5 only has 4k more miles than yours, and except for yearly maintenance as outlined in the manual, its never been in the shop. its been so problem free to date that its gonna take a lot of 'something' to move me out of it ... and the garmin-style nav screens currently in vogue across the Audi line and the MB C43 Coupe in and of themselves are enough to keep me around for the short term.

[theedge111]

What's going wrong?

[JohnEnglish]

My 2013 with 33k miles has only ever had a burned out headlight. Other then that it's just regular maintenance. Did you buy the car new or used?

[gary442]

Bought the car used about 2 months ago with 38K miles and looks new. Car has been very well cared for and has no repair history because nothing has gone wrong. Repair history was basically zero and always serviced on time and at the dealer..until a week ago.

Started it in the garage and the dreaded "Gearbox Malfunction" light came on ( Yellow) . Pulled it out of the garage and the light turned to red and all other dash lights started blinking ( TPMS, Emergency Brake, Check engine light etc.) and the car went into neutral. So I parked it and called AAA for a tow to the Audi dealer. ( note: I originally went to an independent Audi shop and they referred me to the dealer as they could not handle this repair). Audi informed me that the culprit in this is the driving mode sensor which is , of course, located inside the trans. So to get to the worst part: They had to drop the front suspension and remove the engine and transmission, separate the trans from the engine and replace the module. Bottom line is this cost me $6508. total !! Of course, the car went out of warranty, 3 months ago.

Got the car back day before yesterday and drove it for 9 miles and the Gearbox Malfunction light came on again !!! The Audi dealer picked up the car last night and I await the verdict. I am now officially pissed.

[gsmoov3]

Have a 2013 s5 also, 36k miles (bought it CPO at 21k miles) and my car is in the shop for the same thing...was driving on the highway and then the yellow gearbox malfunction came on but it was driving normally, then as i was getting off the highway a few miles later, the transmission jerked and the message came up in yellow again, so i "crawled" to a parkinglot and then it turned to the red gearbox malfunction message.. ended up getting it towed to the dealership... same thing "selector lever sensor" and thats part of the mechatronic unit which is within the transmission, so the tranny had to be removed and dis-assembled for the mechatronic unit to be repaired... these "mechatronic unit failures" are way more common in the s4s especially the 2010-2011, and less frequently 2012+ but there are a couple threads in the s4 section, just search "mechatronic" in the s4 forum..thats a noted weakness in the dsg
You definitely should not pay anything else out of pocket, Whatever the verdict, the dealership or AOA will have to foot the bill moving forward, this may require some "fighting" on your part, but definitely do not let them force to pay anything else as that is a defective part of the dsg that audi doesn't want to admit fault on


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[gary442]

The latest from Audi service this past Friday is that the TCU is not communicating with the ECM...so on Monday they will try to reload the software ....we'll see. But once I get this back I am probably going to bail...too much drama for me, plus the real question is: what's next ??

Frankly, even my Mercedes SL600 V12 twin turbo is more dependable.

[Rshane]

Whether or not it's warranted, I tend to get rid of my German cars before the warranty expires because of things like this. I've had no problems with my '14 S4 ... just turned 35K miles. I have all service done at Audi ... bought the service plan with all my Audi's. Wife leases hers, so no prob there. My RS5 was CPO'd with 5K miles when I bought it. Bought the Platinum coverage. Just turned 19K miles with no problems so far. Had all kinds of issues with my BMWs, mostly service department related, so dumped my M3 and 135i and switched to Audi. So far so good. Best of luck to you.

[JohnEnglish]

Hate to say it but it sounds like you bought someone else's problem. Car might have been in a flood or had some weird electrical problem.

[namvar]

Have you tried to escalate the issue, through the service manger, to AoA?

[gary442]

The car has been tagged as having a tune ( prior owner) so any discussion with audi is useless

[RVJ]

The car has been tagged as having a tune ( prior owner) so any discussion with audi is useless

Not 100% sure how this all works but don't they have to be able to prove that the tune was directly responsible for the failure? In my mind, the question would be, could the tune have caused that module to fail? Might still be worth your time to contact AoA. I found that dealing at the corporate level often gets better results than a dealer.

Someone with first hand tune experience may need to chime in here.


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[seandon_792]

It's really a case by case basis As far as being flagged for a tune goes. My Mkvi golf r wasn't flagged but dealer saw that I had a tune and avoided it like the plaque

[bruno7652]

The car has been tagged as having a tune ( prior owner) so any discussion with audi is useless

When you purchased your S5 did the dealer make you aware that the vehicle been previously tuned and that you were not under warranty?
I have owned my 2013 S5 for three years now and the only costs that I have incurred so far are self induced with mods or regular maintenance.
I purchased my 2013 S5 as a CPO vehicle.
I would think that if the dealer did not disclose the previous tune on the vehicle prior to finalizing the sale or implied that you were under warranty you might have a recourse on the dealer for your $6508, I would consult with an attorney on this.

[gary442]

Bought the car used about 2 months ago with 38K miles and looks new. Car has been very well cared for and has no repair history because nothing has gone wrong. Repair history was basically zero and always serviced on time and at the dealer..until a week ago.

Started it in the garage and the dreaded "Gearbox Malfunction" light came on ( Yellow) . Pulled it out of the garage and the light turned to red and all other dash lights started blinking ( TPMS, Emergency Brake, Check engine light etc.) and the car went into neutral. So I parked it and called AAA for a tow to the Audi dealer. ( note: I originally went to an independent Audi shop and they referred me to the dealer as they could not handle this repair). Audi informed me that the culprit in this is the driving mode sensor which is , of course, located inside the trans. So to get to the worst part: They had to drop the front suspension and remove the engine and transmission, separate the trans from the engine and replace the module. Bottom line is this cost me $6508. total !! Of course, the car went out of warranty, 3 months ago.

Got the car back day before yesterday and drove it for 9 miles and the Gearbox Malfunction light came on again !!! The Audi dealer picked up the car last night and I await the verdict. I am now officially pissed.

3/28/17 Update: Car has been at the dealer for another week. At the factory request they did a transmission oil sampling and found nothing. I can only guess the factory wanted to replace the transmission at my expense but after the results of the test...no such luck Audi ! So today, they are reloading all the software and retesting. I cant wait to get the car back so I can dump it.....

[Tangerined]

Wow that sounds terrible. I've owned my 2013 since day one and it's at 72000 kms now. No major mechanical problems but problems so far:

Front wheel bearings replaced as they were making noise, Audi said they said it was a design flaw and replaced them with better sealed bearings.

Radiator took a rock and sprung a leak, Audi said this was also a design flaw and replaced it with a new, sturdier radiator.

Headlight washer cracked and was leaking washer fluid.

All that was covered under warranty though.

[JimWB]

That really sucks. I know if I paid 6k for a repair I'd be looking to move on. I take mine in for the 35k service tomorrow and no problems so far...except for the dreaded rock stuck in the brakes dust cover. It sounded like the entire back wheel was going to fall apart

[b6onboost]

Honestly its just bad luck. Overall the vast majority of cars are very reliable and problem free.

You just happened to experience the worst known potential issue that can happen to an S5 3.0T, DSG gearbox malfunction and/or failure, and in happened in the first 2 months of ownership outside of warranty. Everyone with a DSG out of warranty dreads this possibly, even though its much less prevalent on the 2013+ cars.

[doug97gxe]

Hate to say it but it sounds like you bought someone else's problem. Car might have been in a flood or had some weird electrical problem.

Honestly its just bad luck. Overall the vast majority of cars are very reliable and problem free.

You just happened to experience the worst known potential issue that can happen to an S5 3.0T, DSG gearbox malfunction and/or failure, and in happened in the first 2 months of ownership outside of warranty. Everyone with a DSG out of warranty dreads this possibly, even though its much less prevalent on the 2013+ cars.

i agree with both gentlemen here.. from the fact the car was TD1 and the problems you're having it sounds like the car was abused.. from my reading in the S4/S5 forum i havn't seen much cars with these issues.. however all cars arn't created equal.. sometimes there are bad apples aka lemons... my coworkers 2017 E Class had so many problems .. one of which was the collision detection software malfunctioned on the FDR at 60 mph shutting the car down in the middle of the highway almost causing a major accident .. car had so many problems Mercedes replaced it for free

[Vanimal]

If you paid $6k to fix the most expensive thing that can go wrong with these. Why not keep it at that point? If the car is in good shape thAt is. You'll only lose another few grand trading it in as well. The only other thing that can go is the water pump, and that happens to everyone at some point. Just food for thought. There is the other side of wiping your hands clean and getting rid of it, but technically you really aren't coming away clean so why not enjoy it now that it's fixed?

The DSG issue I'm not sure makes it a lemon. But it's been just a case of shitty luck. There's a full thread of pages and pages of people who have this issue even with the B8/B.5 S4.


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[new2s5]

I concur with Vanimal. What would you replace it with a Toyota?

[doug97gxe]

I've chased repairs and seen a couple chase repairs .. you fix that one prob but others do arise and sometimes it's best to let it go or explore 3rd party warranty


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[doc280]

My S5 had the same DSG symptoms right before I purchased it. Yours has all the signs of the circuit board separating and there is a Technical Service Bulletin on this and a new upgraded circuit board to fix the issue. Point is, if it is the circuit board, I believe they owe you a refund. I will have to look for the TSB, I may have a copy of it, I will look. But I will tell you the dealers seem to forget this TSB.

[doc280]

Here is a link to the TSB http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/attachm..._2-pdf.107010/

Good luck.

[gary442]

OK here's the latest. The dealer reloaded the software yesterday and drove it for about 50 miles and no fault codes. They wanted to wait until this am so they could start it cold to be sure we are good to go...I said ok. Dealer called me this am...started it up and boom !! Gearbox Malfunction. They are now starting to make noises that it could be some residual software from the tune ( APR Stage 1) in the TCU... I called APR and told them what is going on, they state that once the ecu is overwritten with the factory software that is the end of it and there is never any APR software resident in the TCU anyway. I have called the dealer and left a message......looks like they are running out of answers...and so am I.

I also asked the dealer to put the car on a lift and check all the electrical connectors removed during the engine/tranny removal to be sure they are secure...it's a long shot but we are getting desperate here.


Frankly, all I want is for this to be drivable so I can trade it in for a non-Audi. But am concerned even if it behaved itself , after the deal is done and the trade-in dealer starts the car and the Gearbox Malfunction lights up I will have a liability problem. The last thing I want to do is part this piece of crap out but at this moment this problem makes it worth a whole lot less than it should be. Having a $35000. lump of useless unsaleable metal does not make me happy, not to even mention the crap I am getting from the wife.

This is a crying shame because my daily driver is a 2017 A4 AWD loaded to the teeth and with the Stronic and its a great car...but it IS under warranty.

[wangshuo1989]

my S5 is at 56K miles and it's been mechanically problem free. Had alternator replaced once and that's it.

[Vanimal]

my S5 is at 56K miles and it's been mechanically problem free. Had alternator replaced once and that's it.

What's the bill for something like that on this type of car? I'm sure it's buried, that's seems like a short life dying at 56k as well. Hoping mine lasts a quite while longer. I'm at almost 90k on my 2010.


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[gary442]

Todays update: Went personally to the Audi dealer..only 2 miles from me. They still can't figure why the Gearbox Malfunction light comes on whenever it feels like it. Everything else works as it should and the car drives perfectly. The light is intermittent and sometimes wont go on for many miles....clears by itself. So the latest plan is they are clearing all codes and reflashing the ECM and performing the adaptive drive test this am and I will pick up the car this afternoon. They want me to come back in a month and they will do a trans fluid test, looking for foreign matter in the fluid. But the SA believes this is a strange software issue that may just go away. I am not so convinced but will pick up the car this afternoon.

So who do you think is going to dump this car tomorrow as a trade in ? ....( assuming the malfunction light is off) that would be me.

It's a shame because it's a bitchin' car.

[Sinrule]

Todays update: Went personally to the Audi dealer..only 2 miles from me. They still can't figure why the Gearbox Malfunction light comes on whenever it feels like it. Everything else works as it should and the car drives perfectly. The light is intermittent and sometimes wont go on for many miles....clears by itself. So the latest plan is they are clearing all codes and reflashing the ECM and performing the adaptive drive test this am and I will pick up the car this afternoon. They want me to come back in a month and they will do a trans fluid test, looking for foreign matter in the fluid. But the SA believes this is a strange software issue that may just go away. I am not so convinced but will pick up the car this afternoon.

So who do you think is going to dump this car tomorrow as a trade in ? ....( assuming the malfunction light is off) that would be me.

It's a shame because it's a bitchin' car.

You know, after reading the entire thread, I realized you never addressed doc280's posts about the TSB. Have you taken a look at it and asked the dealership about it specifically? I know it seems like a no-brainer, but it's very possible in the dealership's technician's frustration of trying to trouble-shoot your car that they may not have even thought about the TSB.

It very much sounds like your issue may be connected to the TSB if it's software/ECU related. Worth asking about? If it resolves the issue then you may get to keep the car and not have to lose any more money on a trade-in. Unless you want a new car and nothing will deter you from that, which is a personal choice and I completely understand!

[gary442]

Thanks for all the input....yes, went the TSB route...this is not it

[wangshuo1989]

It's covered by warranty, but I saw the bill, it was $1200 including labor and part, part was like 700 bucks, ouch!

[gary442]

Todays update: I picked up he car last night. Runs ok but doesn't shift crisply as it should and downshifts are a bit sketchy. When I picked it up the SA told me he thinks the TCU is also defective but to bring it back in a month for review....cost to replace the TCU is $3500.

I hope to trade in this pile this morning ...I'll still have my A4 B9 daily driver which appears to be much better car quality wise.

[SixShifter]

at this point, its probably better for you to get out of this car - regardless of whether they can fix it or not. seems you'd always be suspicious of something/anything down the road ... especially since (it seems) you don't have complete knowledge of the history (if there is any) of what it has been thru.

[gary442]

OK ..so I am out of this car...traded it Friday morning for a ( yes, I went back) BMW 3 series. Luckily, when they checked out the car it didn't have any malfunction lights and they haven't been going off since I picked it up from the dealer this last time but my confidence is done on this car.Crazy thing is, the car may behave itself for the new owner but I didn't want to take the chance. I still have my B9 A4 which is a great car.

[doug97gxe]

OK ..so I am out of this car...traded it Friday morning for a ( yes, I went back) BMW 3 series. Luckily, when they checked out the car it didn't have any malfunction lights. I still have my B9 A4 which is a great car. Crazy thing is, the car may behave itself for the new owner but I didn't want to take the chance.

Reliability is the most important thing than brands.. glad to see the bleeding is stop and the maintenance nightmare has stopped same feeling I had when I got rid of my last 2 cars


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[Vanimal]

OK ..so I am out of this car...traded it Friday morning for a ( yes, I went back) BMW 3 series. Luckily, when they checked out the car it didn't have any malfunction lights and they haven't been going off since I picked it up from the dealer this last time but my confidence is done on this car.Crazy thing is, the car may behave itself for the new owner but I didn't want to take the chance. I still have my B9 A4 which is a great car.

How much of a blow was the trade in? Although in your case still at this point probably the best & safest choice. I can see those problems making me miserable and up and night!


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[gary442]

Including the repair bill of $6500 , I lost about $12,000 including taxes and license etc. but I am happy that POS is gone.