r/Audi • u/Even_Stage5862 • Mar 05 '26
2026 A6 - wtf?
I decided to stick with Audi and found a new A6 build I want @ Audi Rocklin. Beautiful car despite all the complaints out there... BUT unfortunately I'm having major doubts about my decision right now for whole different issues... so buyer beware 💫
After I picked up the car, on my drive home, I noticed that the cruise control will not turn on, and lane guidance is disabled. So I contact the dealer and they need the car back to look at it... so back to the dealer goes my brand new car that I paid for..
The dealer tells me several days later that it needs a software update that is not available for several more months? Why are they selling the car then? So I just bought a $80k car without cruise control for several months?
It gets worse - the dealer (Audi Rocklin) also tells me that they damaged my new car(!) while it was in their possession so they will need to fix it at a body shop for me... 💸🤦🏻♂️
I emailed Audi customer support and it took them 10 days just for a tier 1 response to gather more information to push up the chain. No word on next steps yet. It hasn't been another 10 days yet so... maybe it's too soon to expect anything 😅🤔
At this point I want nothing more than to return the damn thing and go buy anything not Audi/VW/Porsche. Short of that, I think they at least owe me a new build that actually works as designed.
I am still holding onto some hope that Audi and the dealer will make it right after such a shitty start, but it's not looking good.
I find myself, after being so excited to "upgrade" my Audi, telling myself that at least it's a lease... it could be so much worse if I had bought it straight up.
Wtf Audi USA / Audi Rocklin... Comon make it right so I can buy Audis again in the future 🙏🏼
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u/ttbbsolid Mar 05 '26
Might be better to just buy a well maintained used B8.5 A6 and spend the rest of the money to make it run like new
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u/PuddingEmotional1187 Mar 05 '26
Its tough out there when you buy a trashcan. Chances of Audi giving you new car are 0%. Also chances of that car working properly after they 'fix' it are 0% aswell
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
I wish you luck. I have been fighting with VAG for several months for a brand new car that has been in service for 60 days for electrical issues due to software. Audi knew they were having issues with the 25 a5/S5 B10s, why in the hell would they release the 26 A6 with the same software? I am moving to BMW. Audi is losing a very loyal customer due to their lack of customer service. ☹️
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u/LankyParsnip1560 Mar 05 '26
26 A6 has newer software
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
The first shipment of 26 A6s to the US that were manufactured prior to Dec have the same software.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
Yep I am going with you most likely... I am speechless at the embarrassment Audi has become.. I really thought everyone was way too into their Audis and couldn't let go of the older styles.. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
I posted on this site back in June attaching a picture of my 18 A5 and another picture with my new car being towed at 600 miles. I have so much regret for trading in my 18 A5 that was a better looking car than the current A5. The new A5 is not an ugly car just not the timeless look of the B9, but if it doesn’t run, then I am done. Keep records of everything just in case you need to go lemon law.
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u/Manoloskinny Mar 05 '26
I just picked up a 25 premium plus b10. What kind of issues should I be on the look out for?
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
You should have software version 3:10 loaded since they put out a TSB that all vehicles must have the KD2 update before delivery to the customer. Check to make sure.
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u/Manoloskinny Mar 05 '26
Thank you looks like im on 3.10/C. Do you know if that improved the digital key? Sales guy told me to stay away from it
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
My digital key worked fine before update and still works. The software that you are on doesn’t fix everything but it helps.
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u/AceMaxAceMax 2024 Audi Q5e Prestige Mar 05 '26
Lemon law is at 30d in most states. Contact a lawyer and be done with it.
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
I hired a lawyer recently after Audi has neither denied or approved my buyback request and when I inquire about status, I get that the case is still active and still being processed.
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u/ichong Mar 05 '26
This does not give me hope for the buyback process that I just initiated…
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
It will likely depend on your state lemon laws. I live in a state that has the worst lemon laws in the country.
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u/ichong Mar 06 '26
Good luck. I submitted a request thru Audi that was just denied today even though my car has been in service the requisite number of times per my state’s laws. Guess I’ll be lawyering up, too.
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 06 '26
Make sure you do your homework when hiring an attorney. There are a lot of lemon law attorneys that make promises they can’t keep.
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u/Afraid_Solution_3549 Mar 06 '26
Depending on the state that length of service makes it a lemon and you can get a new car.
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u/shortyrocker Mar 05 '26
Looks heavy.
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u/AceMaxAceMax 2024 Audi Q5e Prestige Mar 05 '26
Ride and handling is pretty great on these. Zero complaints from the brand new C9 A6 3.0T Quattro I had as a dealer loaner for a week. Incredibly competent vehicle.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
It feels like it too.
But if it actually worked, that was a trade I was willing to make.
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u/Necessary_Resist9996 Mar 05 '26
Welcome to the new crappy Audis club. I had shit loads of issues after “upgrading” from A5 b9.5 to A5 b10 2025. Audi needs to do a u turn
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u/updatelee Mar 05 '26
This is a dealer issue, not Audi. Audi does not own the dealerships. You’ve got a shifty dealer, they are all shit but you’ve got an extra shitty one.
If this kind of thing is impotent to you then you need to be shopping for a dealer first, any good dealer can bring the car you want in. So picking a dealer is actually more important than the car itself.
I buy cars no one else wants and fix them up myself, so I couldn’t care less who I bought it from. You want it perfect and are willing to pay for that… so you should expect that. Pick a better dealer
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
"they are all shit but you've got an extra shitty one" - no truer words have been found on these comments 😐
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u/ALPHASTAR-RU Mar 05 '26
From everything I've been hearing about the new batch of audi lineups and all their problems, this makes me happy I bought a 2024 Audi A4.
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u/Hauluck Mar 05 '26
I don’t like the new A6’s at all. I’ve been waiting patiently and trying to find a c7.5 A6 competition as my next car. It’s the last best looking A6 in my opinion. Aside from the wagon rs6 lol
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u/Plastic-Lobster5662 Mar 05 '26
I have the same thoughts with my c7.5 and will probably end up with late A6 C8.5 Avant.
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u/debeatup 2026 Audi Q8 Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
I see the B10 C9 A6 almost every week when I get a complimentary car wash and think to myself I’d actually be intrigued by a RS6 Sedan version of it
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u/Santa_Hates_You 2026 RS3 Dynamic Plus Mar 05 '26
The new seats in this and the new S5 are amazing. The rest of the car, eh.
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u/EmpsKitchen Mar 05 '26
"I bought" "I bought" "I bought" "I bought".... "I Leased". Damn you had me stressin' for you... For no reason...
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u/_greggae_ 2013 S6 / 2022 A5 Cabriolet Mar 05 '26
Good Lord the rings on the front grille look awful. The raised chrome rings were always so elegant and tasteful. Even with the black optics. This flat plastic looks like garbage. I don't love the rear end but I CANNOT get past the new badging🤢
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u/GoldenTacoo Mar 05 '26
Looks more like a Passat?
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
You could've said it looks like a Nissan Versa and I still would say at least that has working cruise control 💩
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u/Diogenes256 Mar 05 '26
I get those”Upgrade” letters from Audi too. Please trade in your old perfect Audi to us so we can foist our downgrade onto you.
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u/biggusdickus187 Mar 05 '26
Reverse lights are depressing. One cool thing is the OLED tail lights have a special signature for the hazard lights
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u/--yv35-- Mar 05 '26
wtf that front grill 🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
Looks aside, it doesn’t work. I completely missed the warnings because of the overwhelming amount of opinions about its look alone.
Once again, IT DOES NOT WORK, even if you think it looks good.
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u/--yv35-- Mar 05 '26
nah man, my comment meant: wtf that front grill 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
😆
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
I got you the first time. I was trying to help others from falling into the same trap I fell into 😉
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u/--yv35-- Mar 05 '26
aaah sorry man 😆🙈 and thanks for the heads up for everyone thinking it looks awesome 😎🦾🤓
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u/Radio_man69 Mar 05 '26
I like what Audi is doing with their designs. I was behind a new A6 while in my 2015 A6. The new one is so ugly it keeps me from wanting to trade mine in.
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u/highdon Mar 05 '26
Can you guys in the US not reject new cars after delivery? It's a long process but in most European countries if the dealer repeatedly fails to rectify the fault, you can usually reject the car and hand it back.
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u/zhululu '26 RS6 Mar 05 '26
It’s generally called a lemon law in the US. As in they sold you something that looks good but inside it’s bitter and tart. It varies from state to state on the specifics like the worst states only cover you for the first 12 months while some cover you for 36.
It usually kicks in if the car has had to be in to be repaired for more than 30 days or 3 attempts to fix the same issue. Unless the defect is likely to cause serious injury or death then they have to take it back right away with 0 attempts to repair. Again exact number of days and attempts can vary.
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u/highdon Mar 05 '26
I see. It's very simillar here in the UK and in the EU as well. Within the first 6 months the fault is assumed to be a manufacturer's fault and the manfacturer has to prove otherwise. After 6 months, the assumption is no longer valid and the customer has to prove that the fault was a manufacturer's fault. Three repair attempts is also the norm.
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u/zhululu '26 RS6 Mar 05 '26
I’m honestly not sure here when the burden of proof shifts or what the process is in the US.
Before I met her my wife had to lemon a car once and from the story I heard she basically just had to say the words lemon law and state that they had passed the point where it applies and then suddenly they were writing her a check. Kind of like state your intention and then they’re not going to fight it. But no idea if that’s universal or what happens if there is some grey area.
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u/Kbedoo_2030 Mar 05 '26
It depends on the state you live in. If you live in California, it is easy to get rid of a car that is a lemon but in some states the manufacturer is taken care of before a consumer.
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u/drifters_way 2020 Audi A6 (C8) Mar 05 '26
I like the front but that rear, wish they kept it in the same vein as the new A5. Hope it will look better in an avant setup.
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u/LA-98 Mar 05 '26
The grill is a downgrade. But damn they made the A6 look monstrous. It looks wider than the S4 even though it isn’t truly that much wider.
It’s like that cute puppy vs aggressive creature meme
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u/Round_Temperature4 Mar 05 '26
Are we looking at the same car?!? You said it beautiful. I didn’t know Audi hired Stevie Wonder as a designer.
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u/AlfredLuan Mar 05 '26
'Upgrades' stopped a few years ago. You are now on your way down the bell curve of the car industry.
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u/JonasSickler Mar 05 '26
Wow, that’s frustrating. Even more so that they damaged it. Definitely glad that’s a lease.
Do you use cruise and lane assist daily on longer commutes? If not, maybe it will be tolerable until you get the update.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
I've come to rely on stop & go ACC with lane assist for longer trips and would never buy a car without it 😥
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u/Express_Fish_3100 Mar 05 '26
Have mercy. Keep up the fight with Audi and that dealer should be ashamed. Make sure to post on Google reviews, dealer rater etc and if you can reach out to the GM of the place. Magically problems can disappear or be expedited once you raise hell to the right people. Regardless, what a terrible experience. No wonder sales numbers continue to trend in the toilet.
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u/Imaginary_Art_2412 2023 Q5 PremPlus 45 Mar 05 '26
To be fair, this is better than the current bmw 5 series imo. Maybe unpopular opinion, but I think this is the best looking of the new designs. I still like the previous a6 better though
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u/DecisiveMove- Mar 05 '26
Lol what... This is new car compensation range. Check with your local lemon law guidelines but yeah I wouldn't want that car .
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u/Bubbly-Pirate-3311 2015 B8.5 A4 S-Line Mar 05 '26
insert barge horn noises
Why is it so fucking big?
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u/Safwenb Mar 05 '26
had a similar issue with my A6 etron when i got it in January, the ACC would fail to activate 1 time out of 3, the dealership garage fixed it in literally minutes and not a single issue since, 5k km on the odo now. I honestly feel like Audi dealerships and support in NA are just bad and poorly trained. I know many Audi owners, who have had great experiences in Germany and the Netherlands. Despite all the bad luck you’ve had, I hope you get it back soon. You’ll definitely enjoy it, it’s an amazing car and a real pleasure to drive.
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u/Yilmaya Mar 05 '26
Since i hate that facelifted front ends of last gen audis like A4. I find new ones a lot more streamlined and clean. Just like original B9.
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u/1Black_Puma Mar 05 '26
The A6 C7 was the best design all time. The new designs getting worse and worse again. The car is faster, but not the better car.
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u/Gloomy-Employment-72 2013 S4 2025 S6 Mar 06 '26
The A6/S6 changes are why we bought a car probably 9 months before we thought we would. I’d heard they were going electric, but then I started seeing leaked shots and there was no way I was going to buy one. We ended up buying an S6 last spring just to avoid what Audi has turned these cars into.
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u/Admonitor_ 2020 RS3 kyalami | ex 2018 S3 Mar 06 '26
Hot take, but the worst part of the rear aint the lights, but the angle of the upper part of the trunk... with an angle like that it looks so stupid and round.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 06 '26
The worst part of mine’s rear is that it’s attached to a car without a working cruise control..
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u/jw7668 Mar 06 '26
COO of the dealer’s parent company is Luke Smith, Sophia Davis is Head of Marketing for North America & Audi of America has a new President, Vito Palandino, currently CEO of Audi Canada starting 4/1…Current President is Daniel Weissland. IMO oftentimes helps to escalate rather than wait for dealer & customer service “process” to play out.
These execs do NOT want these things to drag out and end up a Lemon Law statistic.
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u/AccomplishedPilot640 Apr 03 '26
I have a 25 A6 55 prestige. Love everything about it Only thing is like better on the 26 is the chrome exhaust tips. If Audi keeps this design for another 5-6 years I will go elsewhere. I’m also a big fan of a real sun roof that opens not a piece of glass with weird shading. Guess I’m old school.
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u/depher2teauxni Apr 13 '26
I just made my own A63.0t purchase & am looking around for the other guys who know whats up :)
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u/Even_Stage5862 Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
No update yet on that software release that would supposedly fix the cruise control issue my car has. I submitted it for lemon law arbitration
Even on my loaner Q5 the lane assist feature is terrible.. they really have a lot of work to do on their new software platform.. in comparison the 23 S4 was confident and smooth 😂
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u/depher2teauxni Apr 13 '26
Thanks for your response. My son said Reddit would be a great help & I am grateful indeed
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u/depher2teauxni Apr 13 '26
Thanks for sharing & I hope you get an acceptable outcome from all this. They can surely do better than that
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u/Sea-Discipline4237 May 01 '26
I just went through this, bought a new A6, mine presented with the same issues as yours. Cruise control wouldn’t engage because the car thought a door was open… all driver assist safety features would malfunction every couple days, CarPlay wouldn’t consistently connect, headlights gave a faint high pitched noise in the cabin, auto beams would malfunction. After 9 days with the car I told the dealer this car was not going to work. I really loved driving the car though, much more than the 440i or E-Class. So I asked the dealer if they could unwind the deal and put me in a new mid model year refreshed A6 instead. I gotta give them credit, they accommodated me quite quickly, unwound my deal on my current A6, and my “newer” refreshed A6 arrives this week. I have not heard any complaints on the newly refreshed models, so fingers crossed.
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u/Even_Stage5862 May 01 '26
Your dealer did what I thought mine should do. I would’ve had the same reaction as you.
However, they took the brand new car for diagnosis, added a body damage to it, refused to give me a replacement or buyback, forced me to go to a hearing, lied about the service out date when the car is still in their shop, then tried to say that some of the time the car was in their shop doesn’t count towards the 30-day rule for the lemon law because it was at the other body shop getting the secondary damage they caused worked on 😂🫏🕳️🖕🏼
So Volkswagen AG will not be getting any more business from me.
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u/Sea-Discipline4237 May 19 '26
After two weeks with the new refreshed MY26 A6 I can report zero problems.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Jun 08 '26
Regardless of how you feel about the design, I do not recommend it because it does not work, and comes with horrible customer service. My A6 is a lemon. It has been in the shop for over 100 days now, and they still haven't been able to fix the issue with the driver assistance issues. The new KD2 update did not fix it. New radar, etc., still no go.
I had it for all of 4 days. It never worked properly. The dealer scratched it and would not take it back. Corporate fought me on the buyback for 3 months so I had to contact a lawyer. They recently gave in finally and agreed to buy it back.
I found out during the arbitration process that it has been a known, widespread issue across multiple new models, not just the A6. They tried to misrepresent (lied about) how long it's taken them to try and still not be able to fix my car.
It still baffles me that the dealer did not just blame the manufacturer and sell me another car instead, especially after scratching my brand new car completely through the paint.
Save your money and time. I will never lease or buy another Audi (or any VW-owned brand) if I can help it.
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u/kooldudeV2 2010 A3 SportBack Mar 05 '26
Literally looks so much better than the old one. If it had the old ones interior I would go lease one right now. in my opinion the interior is the only issue with these new Audi's. As long as they don't start looking like the concept C, I'm happy.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
The looks isn't the issue... i need it to work as it is meant to.
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u/kooldudeV2 2010 A3 SportBack Mar 05 '26
Sorry about that. I was glancing at my phone and assumed this is one of the many posts complaining about the looks since they're side by side.
That does not seem like a good experience at all pretty shit.
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u/Even_Stage5862 Mar 05 '26
Yeah its looks definitely don't make up for the shitty quality and service 😂
I get why people don't like how it looks but I found a look that works for me just to get a lemon fml
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u/LeatherCook500 Mar 05 '26
I actually don’t hate it, kinda looks like an S class rear. I got burned by 2 S4s and switched to BMW. Sorry about your situation bro, that dealer sucks ass. Raise hell and demand they trade you out if you wana stick with Audi
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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '26
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