Going in for rust warranty - Any tips?

[SLWRTHNU]

I posted this in a different section but figured I'd post it here as it's more age-specific.

This past winter was a bad one. I got a lot of rust spots that have flaked the paint right off in some areas. Looks awful and I'm embarrassed to drive my car now. So I'm going to be going in to Audi to try to get them to cover the repair under the 12-year rust warranty. I heard it's really hard for them to approve though so my question is, what can I do, or not do, to up my chances to get them to cover repairs? Anyone have any inside information?

I drive a 2011 A4 Avant. A white one so the rust really stands out.

This is the bottom corner of the driver's door, closest to the front wheels:


Right behind the rear door:


Just above the rear bumper:


And finally the infamous 3rd brake light:


What do you think my chances are?

[mjfloyd1]

Warranty is usually for rust through and not just surface rust.

[misiak]

Not sure how your dealership will look at it, but when I went I was told that rust from rock chips is not covered. So anything on the fenders and sills was not covered.

[DUBDAWG]

Good Luck, let's us know how you make out.

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[jfo]

Stone chips plus winter salt= no warranty coverage.

[manxx]

I wish you all the best, but do not have your hopes too high. The dealership will take some pictures and send them over to Audi. I did this once, few months passed an dealer was still waiting for recommendations from Audi. I never got the final word as I traded in my old A4.

I think the general rule that Audi is using is that the rust must come from inside and penetrate the metal. They will most likely blame lack of maintenance (touch up) on your end that caused these spots (i.e. paint chips caused by rocks, etc).

If you search the forums you will get a better idea on the success rate with these kind of claims.

[a4lownslow]

If this was a VW you’d probably get something done. Audi on the other hand wants to see a whole in the panel, likely won’t help you.


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[19birel]

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like your car has had some paintwork in the past? looks like some slight paint runs towards the bottom of the front fender and some overspray on the plastic liner in front of the rocker panel. If this is accurate, then Audi might not cover it as the rust is likely a result of a botched repair rather than the Audi paintwork being defective.

Best of luck though!

[Zodiam]

If your car is service with authorized dealers AND the service reps at the dealers are good they may help you.
Also if it had a prior respray you can forget it.

Your car is slightly worse off than mine would have been if i had not had it repainted.

I have repainted all four quarters/fenders, front part of the sills (where i have now mounted mud guards, you should as well after you get that fixed) as well as the trunk.

Audi only covered the front fenders, rest i had to pay for myself since i service the car myself, 3 years later the front fenders have already started rusting again.


B8 paint/corrosion protection is absolute garbage, the B8.5 seems a lot better as i have yet to see one with the same issues.
I was at the dealers last week and there was a guy showing off rusty fenders on his 2015 Golf GTI. Quality stuff.

EDIT: Kinda looks to me like your front sill has been painted before judging by this:

The leftmost part of the sill is a small plastic piece that should be black, and yours looks to be covered in white paint?

[rcprato]

I have been to Audi Dealership 2X in last 18 months for this rust spot and no luck, has to be a hole through from rust that started on inside moving out. It’s obvious this is but no response from Audi


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[Theiceman]

my tip is this : you would be better off spending your time and energy finding a decent body shop, rather than trying to convince Audi to cover that rust repair.

[SLWRTHNU]

Jeez, you guys are next level observant. I, personally, have never painted this car or had it painted. Anything that may or may not have been done would have been from it's previous owner. I really hope that's not the case and is the determining factor of the rust not getting fixed. If that is the case, and it will never be covered due to having it painted, then I guess it would be time to get the sanding disc out. I probably won't do that, I'd probably bring it to a shop that will fix it.

Reading through all the comments, I'm definitely not going to hold me breath. Sucks that my wife's Toyota has a life-time rust warranty but my Audi doesn't. Maybe I'll buy new next time.

[rcprato]

my tip is this : you would be better off spending your time and energy finding a decent body shop, rather than trying to convince Audi to cover that rust repair.

I'm at the point where this car is an 09 with 145K and probably won't be in my garage a year from now so may not bother doing anything, I do keep my eyes open for a used Ibis White Lift Gate but most likely will have similar rust around the 3rd brake light

[Theiceman]

I'm at the point where this car is an 09 with 145K and probably won't be in my garage a year from now so may not bother doing anything, I do keep my eyes open for a used Ibis White Lift Gate but most likely will have similar rust around the 3rd brake light

yeah and i dont think B8.5s are any better , just 5 years newer so they are not as far down the timeline. I am under no illusions.

[19birel]

That's a lot of rust which will require a lot of paint and body work so the cost might be pretty high to repair all that on your own. Also, how much longer do you plan to keep the car? There's a good chance it might start rusting again in a few years.

My recommendation would be to either leave it as is, or do a DIY repair until you can replace it with a 2013-16 Allroad with good factory paint.

[orttauq]

There's paint on plastic directly adjacent to the rust. That's a slam dunk for it not being factory paint and therefore, no warranty.

And honestly, with the way it's painted indicates whoever did that work did a sub quality job. It's not just a bit of overspray, it was masked very carelessly. Which would explain why it's rusting.

If you have collision,you can see if maybe it could be covered that way.

Jeez, you guys are next level observant. I, personally, have never painted this car or had it painted. Anything that may or may not have been done would have been from it's previous owner. I really hope that's not the case and is the determining factor of the rust not getting fixed. If that is the case, and it will never be covered due to having it painted, then I guess it would be time to get the sanding disc out. I probably won't do that, I'd probably bring it to a shop that will fix it.

Reading through all the comments, I'm definitely not going to hold me breath. Sucks that my wife's Toyota has a life-time rust warranty but my Audi doesn't. Maybe I'll buy new next time.