Audi Q7 - What is your take on this accident?
09-02-06, 02:30 PM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Audi Q7 - What is your take on this accident?
To all those who have an Audi Q7 or dream about having one
Before getting possession of your new Q7 or stepping once again in your Q7, I would like to invite you to take a look at the photos on this blog, illustrating an accident occurred on July 1st, 2006 with our new Audi Q7 (ordered in December 2005, produced in Germany in May 2006, delivered to us in Belgium on May 18th, 2006 and totally destroyed not even 6 weeks later, in France).
While driving on the highway in France (at approximately 130 km/h), the front wheel on the right side got loss (absolutely no obstacle on the way), stayed for a while under the car while the car went in one move to the right (the wheel pushed the interior side of the car inside breaking the leg of my daughter). The right wheel also got deformed, while the car was sliding to the right. The car flew into the outside landscape then hit (almost) frontally the land hill, obviously first with the right front side and immediately afterwards also with the left front side.
It went then up to an angle of approximately 45 degrees, then fell back on the ground and hit it first with its right corner at its bottom, then fell completely on its right side.
It is a model TDI 3.0 l (233 HP), 7 seats. It has a weight of approximately 2.5 ton.
The frontal airbags didn’t work (neither because of the frontal choke, nor because of the seat belts), the lateral ones neither, when the car (2.5 ton) fell on its side. The car was equipped with all possible airbags proposed by the constructor.
As if this was not enough, the central internal mirror also got loss at the moment of the choke and hit the head of my wife, who was driving the car.
I’m very happy that my wife and my daughter survived to this very severe accident (the car has been very normally declared as a total loss), these two members of my family being relatively lightly injured (broken sternum for my wife and hit on her head and broken leg for my daughter).
There are witnesses of this accident who can confirm what they saw.
Just to give you an idea about the attitude of Audi towards this accident (which could reveal some very serious technical problems with this car, problems that could endanger the life of people buying such a car), they didn’t do any technical expertise at all until now, even if the car is back in Belgium since July 11th, 2006."
Pictures and blog here:
http://accident-audi-q7.skynetblogs.be/
And look at the photos he posts from another Q7 accident :eek:
Modified by vag-tan-klan at 8:53 AM 9-1-2006
Modified by vag-tan-klan at 8:53 AM 9-1-2006
Taken from VWVortex.
Before getting possession of your new Q7 or stepping once again in your Q7, I would like to invite you to take a look at the photos on this blog, illustrating an accident occurred on July 1st, 2006 with our new Audi Q7 (ordered in December 2005, produced in Germany in May 2006, delivered to us in Belgium on May 18th, 2006 and totally destroyed not even 6 weeks later, in France).
While driving on the highway in France (at approximately 130 km/h), the front wheel on the right side got loss (absolutely no obstacle on the way), stayed for a while under the car while the car went in one move to the right (the wheel pushed the interior side of the car inside breaking the leg of my daughter). The right wheel also got deformed, while the car was sliding to the right. The car flew into the outside landscape then hit (almost) frontally the land hill, obviously first with the right front side and immediately afterwards also with the left front side.
It went then up to an angle of approximately 45 degrees, then fell back on the ground and hit it first with its right corner at its bottom, then fell completely on its right side.
It is a model TDI 3.0 l (233 HP), 7 seats. It has a weight of approximately 2.5 ton.
The frontal airbags didn’t work (neither because of the frontal choke, nor because of the seat belts), the lateral ones neither, when the car (2.5 ton) fell on its side. The car was equipped with all possible airbags proposed by the constructor.
As if this was not enough, the central internal mirror also got loss at the moment of the choke and hit the head of my wife, who was driving the car.
I’m very happy that my wife and my daughter survived to this very severe accident (the car has been very normally declared as a total loss), these two members of my family being relatively lightly injured (broken sternum for my wife and hit on her head and broken leg for my daughter).
There are witnesses of this accident who can confirm what they saw.
Just to give you an idea about the attitude of Audi towards this accident (which could reveal some very serious technical problems with this car, problems that could endanger the life of people buying such a car), they didn’t do any technical expertise at all until now, even if the car is back in Belgium since July 11th, 2006."
Originally Posted by vag-tan-klan
Pictures and blog here:
http://accident-audi-q7.skynetblogs.be/
And look at the photos he posts from another Q7 accident :eek:
Modified by vag-tan-klan at 8:53 AM 9-1-2006
Modified by vag-tan-klan at 8:53 AM 9-1-2006
Taken from VWVortex.
09-02-06, 03:08 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Glad the occupants all survived and are not seriously injured except for the girl's leg....my prayers go up for her complete recovery. 
The vehicle is obviously totalled, even considering its newness, expense, and high residual value....that doesn't seem to be a question.
What IS a question, though, is just what those front wheels did. I find it hard to understand his story here as he tells it, and what happened to the front wheels is hard to decipher....they all look pretty normal and in one piece to me.
He says the front air-bags didn't work. From the picture of the front end, it doesn't look as if there was a hard enough impact up front ( most of the vehicle damage in along the sides and back ) for the front air-bag sensors to work...that usually takes a G-force equivalent to about a 14-15 MPH impact for the sensors to work. Now if the side airbag sensors didn't work with all of that drivers' side door damage.....well, what can you say? Maybe chalk it up to the notoriously unreliable German electronics we've talked so much here at CL about.
The vehicle is obviously totalled, even considering its newness, expense, and high residual value....that doesn't seem to be a question.
What IS a question, though, is just what those front wheels did. I find it hard to understand his story here as he tells it, and what happened to the front wheels is hard to decipher....they all look pretty normal and in one piece to me.
He says the front air-bags didn't work. From the picture of the front end, it doesn't look as if there was a hard enough impact up front ( most of the vehicle damage in along the sides and back ) for the front air-bag sensors to work...that usually takes a G-force equivalent to about a 14-15 MPH impact for the sensors to work. Now if the side airbag sensors didn't work with all of that drivers' side door damage.....well, what can you say? Maybe chalk it up to the notoriously unreliable German electronics we've talked so much here at CL about.
Last edited by mmarshall; 09-02-06 at 03:15 PM.
09-02-06, 04:50 PM
#5
we all know what internet is, and we should take everything with a bit of caution.
We dont know what really happened. I dont think owner knows either.
It does not make his story not true, just caution.
Just recently, there was a lot of talk of Rav4 windshield cracking for no reason when one edmunds poster posted series of posts about his windshield gone bust for no reason. It caused some people to cancel their Rav4 orders, it got so serious. At the end, it turn out to be some kind of dirt that he managed to clean while washing his car.
So, just a bit of caution.
Now, with all of that being said. This is first SUV from Audi. There is learning curve to everything, as most of VW Touareg drivers know (with gazillion little and big problems). So they might have underdesigned some parts of the chasis.... oops.
Thats why we stick to Toyota's 55+ year history of making SUV's. :-).
We dont know what really happened. I dont think owner knows either.
It does not make his story not true, just caution.
Just recently, there was a lot of talk of Rav4 windshield cracking for no reason when one edmunds poster posted series of posts about his windshield gone bust for no reason. It caused some people to cancel their Rav4 orders, it got so serious. At the end, it turn out to be some kind of dirt that he managed to clean while washing his car.
So, just a bit of caution.
Now, with all of that being said. This is first SUV from Audi. There is learning curve to everything, as most of VW Touareg drivers know (with gazillion little and big problems). So they might have underdesigned some parts of the chasis.... oops.
Thats why we stick to Toyota's 55+ year history of making SUV's. :-).
09-02-06, 05:00 PM
#6
i suggest that you check the link if interested in story
This is definetly material/part defect. I would feel that good about Q7 until this gets checked out.
Here is part of the arm that broke off.
Here is the car:
Finally, it happened. All involved parties were there with their technical experts (Audi Belgium, the insurance company), a legal expert and me. All parts agree that something broke 
. This made the right wheel go away .
After removing more parts of the car, they all seem to agree that it broke on the arm that’s mounted on the wheel. There were no signs of an external collision with an unidentified object. They all took photos. Me too.
The experts decided to send the two “twin” parts to the University of Ghent, to let them analyze and say which part broke first and why it broke. I came home, completely disappointed, because we didn’t come to any final conclusion. Still have to wait. For them it doesn’t matter, it’s just a case among others. For me it really matters.
More than that, they weren’t able to read the data in the chip of the car (it was also damaged). The technical guys from Audi wanted to take it away and send it to Germany, but the expert of the insurance company didn’t allow this, because he wants to have the final conclusions on the cause of the accident first (it’s not his problem that the airbags didn’t work).
That’s life, I still have to wait.
. This made the right wheel go away .After removing more parts of the car, they all seem to agree that it broke on the arm that’s mounted on the wheel. There were no signs of an external collision with an unidentified object. They all took photos. Me too.
The experts decided to send the two “twin” parts to the University of Ghent, to let them analyze and say which part broke first and why it broke. I came home, completely disappointed, because we didn’t come to any final conclusion. Still have to wait. For them it doesn’t matter, it’s just a case among others. For me it really matters.
More than that, they weren’t able to read the data in the chip of the car (it was also damaged). The technical guys from Audi wanted to take it away and send it to Germany, but the expert of the insurance company didn’t allow this, because he wants to have the final conclusions on the cause of the accident first (it’s not his problem that the airbags didn’t work).
That’s life, I still have to wait.
Here is part of the arm that broke off.
Here is the car:
Last edited by spwolf; 09-02-06 at 05:05 PM.
09-02-06, 06:02 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
.
Now, with all of that being said. This is first SUV from Audi. There is learning curve to everything, as most of VW Touareg drivers know (with gazillion little and big problems). So they might have underdesigned some parts of the chasis.... oops.
Now, with all of that being said. This is first SUV from Audi. There is learning curve to everything, as most of VW Touareg drivers know (with gazillion little and big problems). So they might have underdesigned some parts of the chasis.... oops.
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09-02-06, 08:33 PM
#8
"While driving on the highway in France (at approximately 130 km/h), the front wheel on the right side got loss (absolutely no obstacle on the way)........."
Sounded like he wanted to say that the FRONT RIGHT wheel broke off???
That picture clearly showed the front right wheel.
09-02-06, 08:40 PM
#9
Now these second photos at least make me believe the accident occurred. I am hoping they get to the bottom of this soon, as it could very well be that all Q7 owners out there are at risk.
09-02-06, 08:41 PM
#10
Pole Position
I'm in the latter camp at this point. It seems like a materials failure and, barring reports of Q7s ripping themselves apart, would give them the benefit of the doubt regarding a design flaw until they have a chance to run their tests.
As for being part of the Internet: Sadly the implication is that there is no policing the Internet and as such it is easy to say many things without easily being able to deduce the veracity of those things.
Last edited by Mr Johnson; 09-02-06 at 08:43 PM. Reason: Clarifying statement
09-03-06, 03:50 PM
#12
Well, we in CL and CAR CHAT are part of the Internet ourselves....and in my opinion, a darn good part of it.
Audi had more than just the VW Touraeg to learn from. It has built the All-Road, an AWD wagon / semi-SUV along the lines of Subaru's Outback, Volvo's XC70 Cross-Country, and Ford's Freestyle, for years.
Audi had more than just the VW Touraeg to learn from. It has built the All-Road, an AWD wagon / semi-SUV along the lines of Subaru's Outback, Volvo's XC70 Cross-Country, and Ford's Freestyle, for years.
09-03-06, 04:18 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
I still stand by my earlier statement....there seems no reason to believe that the Q7's front wheel and AWD hardware should be radically different from the All-Road's or any other other AWD Audi Quattro product, given, of course, a somewhat different and taller suspension.
But I agree with you that THAT may be where the trouble actually lies......in new and untested suspension pieces. It is unlikely that metal fatigue would be affecting parts that new, but perhaps there is something in the load factor accumulating with miles that did not show up in the original proving-ground testing. That I will leave to suspension engineers....I am not metallurgical expert.
09-03-06, 05:10 PM
#14
Pole Position
But I agree with you that THAT may be where the trouble actually lies......in new and untested suspension pieces. It is unlikely that metal fatigue would be affecting parts that new, but perhaps there is something in the load factor accumulating with miles that did not show up in the original proving-ground testing. That I will leave to suspension engineers....I am not metallurgical expert.
09-03-06, 05:52 PM
#15
Lexus Test Driver
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The Q7 construction is very similar to the VW Toureag and the Porsche Cayenne, and if this Q7 problem was caused by a design fault, it would probably have shown up earlier.