Just purchased this 2019 TTRS in Turbo Blue with 32k miles last week. Absolutely in love with the car and it’s my first Audi. Hoping to connect with others who own Mk3 TTRS and RS3 to learn more about the platform. However, I’ve got one issue that is keeping me from enjoying the car. The hood is stuck closed. I test drove it and did a thorough walk-around which included having the hood open and inspecting the engine bay, etc. Had no red flags other than that the oil was on the low side, but it wasn’t alarmingly low, just on the lower end. Arranged a deal and bought the car and waited about an hour for the dealer (non-Audi specific ‘luxury’ car dealer) to prep the car for me to drive it home. They said they’d wash it, check tire pressure, wiper fluid, oil level, etc. Finally got the car out and hopped in to drive the hour or so home when halfway there the low oil light came on. Thought, huh, that’s odd I figured they’d have topped it off. Oh well, I’ll just stop and top it off. Well, I would have done that if the hood wasn’t now stuck shut. The lever under the dash was in good shape, and I felt resistance as if it was still connected to the cable, but the hood wouldn’t ‘pop’. I tried a number of things to troubleshoot, but in the end I took it to an Audi dealer and had them take a look. They couldn’t figure out exactly what the issue was, but they said the only options to get it open was to basically disassemble from the inside to get to the latches from the wheel wells or from the interior (wasn’t exactly clear how). Or they could cut the hood and open them that way. Of course the quote for this work was astronomical at the dealer’s $200/hr labor rate. I’d texted the dealer that sold me the car right after I noticed the hood was stuck the first day and they said they would cover the repairs necessary to get the hood working. Now I doubt they expected it to cost them more than a few hundred bucks, but they at least committed to cover the repair in writing (a text). So basically, at this point I am working to get quotes for the same job from a couple other third-party shops because the selling dealer didn’t want to pay the quoted price at the Audi dealer I got the first quote from. Which is fair, because it did seem crazy expensive. I’m curious if anyone has had a similar issue; it feels like something that should have a simple fix. The idea of having to dismantle this beauty within a couple weeks of owning it seems like a shame. Just thought I’d share my experience. Weird stuff can and will happen. Looking forward to having this in the rear-view and getting to properly enjoy the car I worked hard for.
Have a friend or your partner apply some downward pressure on the hood as you pull the release inside the car. This has usually worked for me on cars when the hood release sticks or jams.
Ren said:
Have a friend or your partner apply some downward pressure on the hood as you pull the release inside the car. This has usually worked for me on cars when the hood release sticks or jams.
Thanks for the tip. I did try with two people, but like another commenter mentioned below, since it has two latches maybe having a third person might help.
I hit a deer and had to replace my hood/parts. It sticks like crazy now. I have an older TT, but what I do is take one of those Allen wrenches and stick that in the gap (if it’s wide enough), then have someone else pump the release a few times while I pull upward with the wrench. It has worked every time. It means that the cable is probably overstretched, or there could be something wrong with your latch. I replaced my latch and it turned out to be the cable, of course.
@Ellis
I’ll give that a try. Did you have to replace the latch yourself?
Devi said:
@Ellis
I’ll give that a try. Did you have to replace the latch yourself?
Yeah, it was a bit tricky but manageable. Just a few screws and it was out. Took me about an hour.
That is a beauty. Hope you get the hood issue sorted out without too much trouble.
Not specific to your car, but have someone help you and push down on the front of the hood as evenly as you can across the front and try to release it while holding it down. Try the same while pulling up. And then pulling the hood forward and pushing the hood toward the windshield. The reason I think two people may help is that my car has two latches and if one hangs, I think it would also hang the other as they are physically connected by the linkage. Oh, and maybe even a third person to mess with the release inside the car while two of you mess with the hood latch while pushing and pulling. Assuming the release cable isn’t broken, since it opened before, I think messing with it may pop it loose.
@Kelley
I was having the same thought, did try with two, but that’s a good point about the multiple latches. I did assume that the Audi dealer that inspected it would have tried something like this, but maybe I shouldn’t assume.
Is that the one from jsautohaus? They had one just like it for sale.
Vick said:
Is that the one from jsautohaus? They had one just like it for sale.
Hah, yes, the very same!
Apart from the obvious current issue, what was your experience with that dealer? I had my eye on a car there that was a unique spec and very hard to find. Live in California so it would’ve been flying cross-country and planning to drive the car home, so I couldn’t deal with any issues when it came time to buy.
@Orion
The overall experience with them has been positive. They gave me a fair deal on both my trade-in and the sale price for the TTRS. Didn’t have to do much haggling and they didn’t try to tack on any random additional fees. Remains to be seen if they actually shell out for this repair like they said they would.
@Devi
Glad to hear that. Just make sure to get everything in writing with them going forward.