Frustrated owner of new beast (multi problems, water pump, abs, esp)

[seattle]

Hey, new guy here in seattle. Got black '03 RS6 (46K mi) a few months ago and have had serious troubles.

1. Literally the night I bought it...overheated 2/2 water pump blowing. Luckily the dealer covered replacing water pump and they had to replace the timing belt while in there, several thousand dollars. Felt great to have it covered.

2. Then I replaced brakes, not a problem, just needed it. approx 2k.

I then put in an aftermarket pioneer GPS a few days later. Since then the ESP light and ABS light have been on. The mechanic diagnosed that the ABS module had shorted out. I got charged for new esp switch/brake light switch and diagnostics to the tune of approx 500$ and quoted approx 3k$ to replace ABS module. He said it was probably the fault of the gps installer that shorted out the module.

Question 1: Do you think this could be related to GPS install? I am submitting a claim to the installers insurance.

Question 2: I can't afford 3k right now. How bad is it to drive the car without esp/abs capabilities?

Other than continually doing expensive service the car is so much fun to drive, it has been my dream car since it came out, and I don't want to let it go, but I am getting pretty frustrated.

[RS6-4dr911]

Hopefully you'll have nothing but smooth sailing for many months to come after this gets sorted out.

Not to judge, but if $3k in repairs is going to put you in financial distress, you bought the wrong car. We all feel the pain at a $3k repair bill, no fun no matter who you are, but these are pricey cars to own and maintain. I spent $400 replacing the horns, which turned out not to be faulty, maybe, and another $700 repairing the real culprit in the steering column. That was shortly after roughly $1k in brake pads and rotors and another $700 in upper control arms and another $500 give or take replacing a torn outer CV joint. All somewhat normal wear and tear, so build up that rainy day fund or sell it.

[AndrewNC]

Question 1: Do you think this could be related to GPS install? I am submitting a claim to the installers insurance.

Question 2: I can't afford 3k right now. How bad is it to drive the car without esp/abs capabilities?

Other than continually doing expensive service the car is so much fun to drive, it has been my dream car since it came out, and I don't want to let it go, but I am getting pretty frustrated.

1. If they didn't disconnect the battery or did something worse, it could definitely have caused a problem. Did you have the amps and speakers replaced, as well? Not too many installers are familiar with integrating a HU with Blose properly. Are you positive the units are shot? The code could be a temporary result of them doing naughty things with the battery connected. Do you have a vag-com?

2. As long as the system is completely disabled, probably not too bad.

[seattle]

RS6-4dr911,
I agree I shouldn't have the car if 3k is going to put me too out. But it is also partially the principle and the 3k wouldn't be so bad if I didn't just do 2k in brakes and 1k in gps system.

AndrewNC,
Unfortunately I don't have my own vag-com. I do know that they did the install without disconnecting the battery b/c nothing was reset(ie clock, seats, windows) when I got the car back. The mechanic is private, but works on lots of audi's. Is is worth getting another opinion, possibly from dealer?

[mmaturo]

Hopefully you'll have nothing but smooth sailing for many months to come after this gets sorted out.

Not to judge, but if $3k in repairs is going to put you in financial distress, you bought the wrong car. We all feel the pain at a $3k repair bill, no fun no matter who you are, but these are pricey cars to own and maintain. I spent $400 replacing the horns, which turned out not to be faulty, maybe, and another $700 repairing the real culprit in the steering column. That was shortly after roughly $1k in brake pads and rotors and another $700 in upper control arms and another $500 give or take replacing a torn outer CV joint. All somewhat normal wear and tear, so build up that rainy day fund or sell it.

What he said ^^^ so I'm not the only one with goose horns huh. Replaced them twice under warranty.

I would be concerned about running the car in the wet with the systems off. I think the systems help more than not if you were in an emergent situation. In the dry other than remembering to brake correctly if something bad does happen in front of you i would not be as concerned.

I've never heard of anyone loosing the modules yet (failing on their own) so it seems it must be related so follow through with the claim.

Otherwise your issues seem not bad to me...I drove my car off the lot and had a transmission go within the month. If the modules had not been messed up it sounds like the car has been fine. If you went back through my history with my car I'll trade you. Good luck with the claim. I think I agree that if they were playing around without the battery disconnected or playing in the fuse box they may have tweaked them.

[mmaturo]

RS6-4dr911,
I agree I shouldn't have the car if 3k is going to put me too out. But it is also partially the principle and the 3k wouldn't be so bad if I didn't just do 2k in brakes and 1k in gps system.

AndrewNC,
Unfortunately I don't have my own vag-com. I do know that they did the install without disconnecting the battery b/c nothing was reset(ie clock, seats, windows) when I got the car back. The mechanic is private, but works on lots of audi's. Is is worth getting another opinion, possibly from dealer?

I would have a dealer tech check out the modules and get an opinion to make sure they are really dead and the cause. The RS6 is not just another Audi so it does require specifically trained techs for the difference between an A6 and the beast.