# TTRS,TTS, S3 or S Line wing mirrors stolen... with ease



## N5BLE13 (Apr 21, 2011)

This is a letter I wrote to Audi UK and wondered has anyone had a similar problem if so please let me know as audi are denying all knowledge of this.. Next stop he Guardian news paper and then Which.

Dear Mrs X,

Firstly I'd like to make it clear that apart from the initial problems I have had some joy from owning/driving this car, I had previously had an issue with the brakes although this was eventually resolved via the dealership despite me bringing this to your attention at the time [Mr X], there was nothing you could do, its unfortunate that another year on I find myself in the same position, i.e. trying to convince you that there is a problem .

As per our tel-con and upon your advice I've taken to providing you with my thoughts on this issue to date. However, for ease of reference I'll start from the beginning to allow the audience the opportunity to understand the history.

My wing mirrors were stolen from my car from outside my house during the night of the 17/11/2011, sadly this did not activate the vehicle alarm system. The crime was reported to the Police on the same day [Crime reference No 3230263/11].The following day it was also brought to my attention, as we operate a neighbourhood watch scheme, that two further Audi's had wing mirrors stolen from them and to further compound this a friend of mine who lives a couple of miles from my home had his audi wing mirror also stolen on 15/11/11. Due to this recent spate of activity around audi's particularly, this crime has now been escalated to the next level in the crime investigation unit.

Obviously, I then started the process of calling the dealership from which I purchased the car and spoke to Paul in the parts department. I was told by Paul that this was not an uncommon problem and that clients local to the dealership have had their wing mirrors stolen on more than one occasion including one client who had their R8 wing mirrors [wm] stolen. Paul said what was either advised or instructed was to have the wm replaced in black (as these are less desirable) and this often appeared to resolve the issue. See attached quotes below for both painted and original. The cost of the repair is in the order of between £1,500.00 and £1,800 much to my shock and horror.

From this account and from the recent criminal activity in my area alone in relation to audi wm there clearly is a problem with the fixing detail of the WM to the body of the car. Surely it is totally unacceptable that Audi have made such a desirable item such as these aluminium wm so easily removed without even activating the alarm, I would have thought that either the wiring to the mirrors was somehow hard-wired into the alarm system or such that it would take a specialist tool to remove the mirrors or failing that, if the wm were removed in the way in which mine were removed, somehow the casing would break rendering them unusable.See you tube video

What I find totally unacceptable was the fact that when I tried to explain this issue to your colleagues it was met with a lot of resistance. Even to the point where I explained that this problem had been recognised by the Audi dealership, where in one conversation I had with Luke Russell who concurred with Paul's statement and further agreed that it often happens in spates. See email below from Paul confirming that they acknowledge this issue. As a repeat issue this can been seen from TT forum see attached CCTV footage of Audi S4 wing mirrors stolen, Liverpool UK






See CCTV footage of Audi S4 wing mirrors stolen, Liverpool UK






As I've explained I can only liken this to Audi providing a wheel locking nut to protect the wheels being stolen as not only can they be regarded as a desirable item, but also in the event they are stolen this renders the vehicle immobilised, that too could be regarded as a similar example as the WM. It is illegal to drive the car with no wing mirrors. Audi have provided a desirable item and created a situation where they can be easily removed and undetected. When Rolls Royce had a similar issue with the flying lady being stolen from their cars they reacted and made them retractable.

I have two dilemmas, the first of which is this:-

I've reported the incident to my insurance company who have told me that this will cost £950.00 in excess charges alone and I will lose my no claims discount for any further claims. So my issue is that if I replace the wing mirrors with the high likelihood that this will happen again,it will cost me not only an increase in yearly premiums, but also a further £950.00 excess on each occasion.
I was thinking of purchasing an RS5, [see email below] which again is affected by the above claim, as I'm hardly inspired with confidence firstly in the security of Audi vehicles and secondly in the support that you get from Audi after sales support should I have any problems. So what do I do? Maybe buy an BMW M5, which I'm told doesn't have what can only describe as a fundamental flaw in the fixing detail at the expense of the end user.

I appreciate that product development could take some time and would welcome an assembly diagram of the WM for further input from myself, I'm sure you'll agree that not all the technical development has come from GMBH, but some will have come from customer feedback in the real world.
If I had known this car was going to be a liability for the most simplistic of issues I would not have purchased it.

I do feel that if this issue isn't resolved in some way other Audi owners need to be made aware of these spates of crime which have such a high impact for individuals on cost and insurance, I would therefore consider taking this to the press if no action is taken.

Could you please let me know your thoughts by the end of the week so that I can work out what my options are.


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## TondyRSuzuka (Dec 3, 2011)

Just had mine stolen, any progress with Audi?


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## N5BLE13 (Apr 21, 2011)

Audi have said they will post a memo to all dealerships alerting them of the issue and will ask the dealership to notify them. Big LOL. I'll be getting an M5 next.


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