B8 A4 reliability?

[AUDILUX]

For those of you that own a B8 A4, know anyone that does, or have read anything on the topic, how reliable is the new B8 A4?

JD Powers gives the new A4 a 2.5 out of 5 for predicted reliability. They supposedly base this off of the past 3 years of A4 history.

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/Audi/A4/2009/Sedan/ratings

[DELUX]

JD Powers speaks on behalf of the average American who can't turn a screwdriver to save their own life. I would ignore it.

My 2004 Audi is holding up GREAT @ 70k miles. No major problems anymore. Not even any minor ones except for the coilpacks which I swapped to Beru coils 30k miles ago and haven't a problem with since.

[AUDILUX]

Someone posted a screen shot from JD Powers predicted reliability page for upscale cars on Audiworld -
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4b8/msgs/21063.phtml

What's interesting is that JD Powers overall gives the BMW 3-Series a 4 out of 5 stars for predicted reliability, but then when you look at each individual 3-series model on the predicted reliability scale 3-series (328xi)/335i AWD are below average, 335i rwd is simply average, and only the 3-series rwd (328i) is above average.

[quattro.it]

Ignore it. The 2.0T engine has won international awards in its class for the last three years in a row. Now it's improved even more with chain driven cam shafts.

[BMWBig6]

Ignore it. The 2.0T engine has won international awards in its class for the last three years in a row. Now it's improved even more with chain driven cam shafts.

Last time I checked, an automobile had a lot more components that could fail besides the motor. And I guarantee it's all of those other types of failures (transmission, accessories, electronics, etc.) that contribute the most to reliability records and ratings, and an owner's perception of reliability.

And winning an award for engine design doesn't necessarily equate with reliability either. I don't think Wards uses reliability in its award criteria anyway. There have been a few motors on the award list (BMWs come to mind) that have reliability problems, which come with the territory when dealing with high compression, high-strung motors that wind up to high RPMs.

[D's Avant]

Any first year model is going to have more problem area's than a car that has been out for a couple of years. Look at most German cars overall reliability in their first model year, not too good. I would wait for at least a 2010 B8.

[boomer]

We have had around 20 new audis in our family over last 21 years and reliability has NEVER been an issue. I have had the S5 for over a year (08 and 09) with zero problems after a total of 21,000 miles. The new A4 has so far (only 3,000 miles) been flawless as well. Likewise my 06 A3s both had 50,000 miles on them when traded and had zero problems. I could list other examples. To those who would wait years to get a new model simply over worries of potential gremlins in new models--damn you are you boring and lack any sense of adventure in cars. You are content to drive yesterday's model after most of the excitement of the new look and drive has worn off. Take a chance--who knows you may get to use your warrranty once in awhile but probably not very often based on my experience.

[BMWBig6]

Any first year model is going to have more problem area's than a car that has been out for a couple of years. Look at most German cars overall reliability in their first model year, not too good. I would wait for at least a 2010 B8.

While this is generally true for most cars, I'd say the case is better for the B8 A4 for 2 reasons:

1) Audi's MLP platform was first introduced on the A5 (which shares many components with the A4), and

2) The B8 A4 has been running around Europe for a year now too. By the time the B8 A4 hit U.S. streets, it was already in its 2nd year of production.

So hopefully some of the kinks have already been worked out.

[monkey323i]

AVK-3.0 engine famous prob:
the only german auto company that used plastic material for water pump.
some plastic made water pump failed at early 60-75k miles and broke the Belt.
rebulilt engine.
(BMW engines doesnt require TB job)



1.8T engine famous prob:
worldwide big recall for engine oil sludge (numerous number of engines are totaled even they're done oil change reguarly.)
famous coil-pack misfire ( forcing most 1.8Ters to have back-up coil packs and everyday the Audi parts department sells coil packs)



This reilabilty deserves lower than 3/5 in my opinion.. = =
I know this is B8 forum, but Audi is famous for poor engine reilability in the past..

[MTLA4]

Someone posted a screen shot from JD Powers predicted reliability page for upscale cars on Audiworld -
http://forums.audiworld.com/a4b8/msgs/21063.phtml

What's interesting is that JD Powers overall gives the BMW 3-Series a 4 out of 5 stars for predicted reliability, but then when you look at each individual 3-series model on the predicted reliability scale 3-series (328xi)/335i AWD are below average, 335i rwd is simply average, and only the 3-series rwd (328i) is above average.

The 335 had wastegate and fuel pump problems. On top of that the car is turbo with a recommanded maintenance interval of 16 000 miles. So yes the 328 is more reliable than the 335. Like it or not Bmw is more reliable than Audi.

[AUDILUX]

The 335 had wastegate and fuel pump problems. On top of that the car is turbo with a recommanded maintenance interval of 16 000 miles. So yes the 328 is more reliable than the 335. Like it or not Bmw is more reliable than Audi.

I think you are missing the point where the 328xi is below average...

[b6onboost]

How can anyone with a B8 really speak to reliability? If they're in the US the longest they've had them is a few months, and Europe possibly a year. That isn't enough time to really gauge reliability.

[MTLA4]

I think you are missing the point where the 328xi is below average...

I know I couldnt explain and still cant LOL I dunno maybe they're worried about the diffs and so compared to the long time proven quattro system LOL (JK)

[Mashko1]

I've had it since Nov 1st and its been in the bodyshop for three solid weeks. So I can't speak to the reliability. I do though, now have the "My wife crashed the car before we used a full tank of gas and it's still under 250 miles driven" story. Can't wait to get it back tomorrow.

[Fabelhaft]

i would say it's fine even i don't have a b8 yet...
but look at how bad the gtr is...and we want to talk about reliability?
on best motoring, on road, damn...gtr goes down after 5000km hardcore driving...
i bet the b8 can do a lot better than that...
plus, yes, I used own a bimmer, but no, i am not gonna say bmw is perfect, becuz my girls car was down after 24hr since she bought it.
i guess it's just luck, if your not lucky, it will break down 24/7...
my buddy's M3 is fuked, after 200km...another buddy's M3, totally fine, rape it 24/7 since he got it
just my opinion

[discoduck]

so much hype on how great the GTR is and it's reliability is crap

[monkey323i]

i would say it's fine even i don't have a b8 yet...
but look at how bad the gtr is...and we want to talk about reliability?
on best motoring, on road, damn...gtr goes down after 5000km hardcore driving...
i bet the b8 can do a lot better than that...
plus, yes, I used own a bimmer, but no, i am not gonna say bmw is perfect, becuz my girls car was down after 24hr since she bought it.
i guess it's just luck, if your not lucky, it will break down 24/7...
my buddy's M3 is fuked, after 200km...another buddy's M3, totally fine, rape it 24/7 since he got it
just my opinion

=)

how about this?
a german 1.8T car that does regular oil change, and engine still get sludge and fked up. (requires new engine). people change CP all the time.


also, you dont talk reilalibty between high performance race engines and regular engines.

think about this, every Formula-1 engine can only last 5000 km (2 races). u know what i meant.


some reference for past audi engine's reliability:
http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Re...l=A4&trimid=-1

Reliability data provided by industry-leading Automotive Information Systems. For more information, consult the Reliability FAQ or read About Reliability Ratings.


btw, i live in Vancouver too !! xD

[Kschroers1]

I haven't heard bad things about the B8 at all. But I will be the one to chime in that their is one with 2,000 miles on it with a blown motor already and a Assembly Engineer from Germany with Audi is here with our technician diag'ing the car to see what exactly happened. The owner was give another Audi of his choice from Audi because of this incident. The vehicle is in its 3rd week of being in our dealership. Kind of a sweet deal, but then again isn't. I am though jealous of the Engineer because he come's to the states for 3 months, then goes back to Germany for 3 months. They give him a Q7 to drive during his time here in the states and drive's from dealers to dealers that are having the worse of problems.

[piotrowr]

Agreed, I have a 09 A4 Avant Prestige and you can't even mention reliability at this point. I was skeptical of the Audi back in the day watching my uncles repairing theirs but there was something about working on one, it was manageable, made to be worked on. At least it won't perform any worst than a US model, any, GM/FORD - need to go bankrupt! The B8 is solid, sturdy and has great performance.. If you don't think so you simply have not driven one and shouldn't be voicing an opinion.

How can anyone with a B8 really speak to reliability? If they're in the US the longest they've had them is a few months, and Europe possibly a year. That isn't enough time to really gauge reliability.

[blgilles]

So found this when googling problems about my B8 A4 Avant (2009). Figured with hindsight being 20/20 and all, it seems JDPower was spot-on in regards to the B8 series. Some details on why, below:

The timing tensioner/chain bit was hard on the B8 reliability, with most engines popping around 100k miles (unless the faulty timing system (chain and tensioner) is replaced beforehand). If the timing system wasn't replaced, the timing would jump and the valves often ended up hitting the pistons, resulting in having to replace the broken valves, or if done at the dealer, the whole head (because labor at the dealer makes individual valve replacement more expensive than just mounting a whole new pre-assembled head).

Audi is in the process of settling the timing tensioner/chain lawsuit now, with some A4 Avant owners getting $6,500 repayment for the repairs they had to do to their cars, out of their own pockets.

The B8 A4 of course also ended up with the dreaded oil consumption issue. Most 2009 MYs ended up having to have the piston rings, pistons, and connecting rods replaced, in addition to already having had to replace the PCV system (more on that later).

piotrowr - did you end up replacing the timing tensioner and chain? If not, it might be worth doing it soon, depending on the mileage of your 2009. And did you have the oil consumption problem?

There was a lawsuit on the oil consumption issue also. Out of it Audi ended up covering the repairs to the engines, if the owner was able to prove the consumption w/in a certain mileage/year limit. Not super sure on the details.

So another problem points turned out to be the fuel injectors. These would fail before 100k (mine failed at 99k, but my car was always driven extra gentle), whereas most have them fail in the 70k range.
Another big one was the intake manifold, which had a flap controller that would crack and cause both lean and rich conditions (lean at idle, rich under boost). The manifold wouldn't strand you like the injectors or timing chain/tensioner would, so it isn't quite as bad.

The state of California actually ended up suing Audi over the fuel injector issue, so Audi was required (as a result of the lawsuit) to extend the warranty on them to 120,000 miles/10-years.

So another one is carbon build up. Usually before 100k miles it would be bad enough to cause cold-start misfires, and usually have poor emissions, sometimes failing emissions tests (depending on the state).

And another is the positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system failure. This one was common, and could result in lean and rich conditions, and also cause other issues as well (carbon build up, increased oil consumption, piston ring/land damage).

And another one was the 2009 models in particular came w/ a bit of a design fault in the suspension bushings. So instead of them failing in the 200k range (which was typical of B5, B6, and B7 years), they'd fail as early as 40k and wouldn't ever make it past 100k miles.

Beside those there's little stuff; the brake vacuum pump fails relatively early, at ~80k, and the sunroof has sensor issues and noise issues at ~70k.

I'm trying to think if I'm missing anything. Oh, the failing injectors, if left untreated, would cause damage to the rings, and sometimes result in needing to replace the engine. I'm actually helping someone replace their engine as a result of this (as of this writing). Ended up getting a replacement from NHTSA crash car w/ 800 miles on it. Hopefully all is good with it.

Anyways, it seems like the B8 series, particularly the 2009 MY, were actually one of the most unreliable vehicles that Audi has produced (probably behind the original Allroad, but it's debatable). You can see this in their super-soft resell value too.

Again, hindsight is 20/20, but figured it would be interesting to conclude such a thread now that there's data on the reliability of this model/year, flashing forward ~10 years, from the December 2008 posting to this update in September 2018.

Once you fix all the above, then it's just the normal car maintenance stuff, like brakes, brake fluid, transmission fluid, oil changes (more often than other models), power steering fluid changes, all the normal stuff to take car of on a high-mileage/old vehicle.

Oh, I forgot! The death wobble. So the 2009 (and maybe later as well), had the dreaded 'death wobble' under hard braking (where the car would lurch back/forth super-hard under braking, as the power-steering control loop destabilized). It was a result of a design flaw in the power steering, so almost all 2009 models had to have a power steering component replaced under warranty to prevent this.

EDIT: I forgot one more thing! The turbos usually failed at around 70k to 100k miles on these. The waste-gate flapper would get loose, preventing the turbo from producing enough boost.

Cheers!

[SDF1]

So found this when googling problems about my B8 A4 Avant (2009). Figured with hindsight being 20/20 and all, it seems JDPower was spot-on in regards to the B8 series. Some details on why, below:

I have an 09 and everything you mentioned above failed for me EXCEPT for Fuel Injectors, Brake Vacuum Pump and Failing Injectors but I'm only at 156,000km (97,500miles) LOL

[JD23]

It is interesting to see this 10 year old thread revived. I remember debating Audi reliability on another site at roughly the same time with people who were convinced that Audi reliability had improved to the point of being considered as good as that of Honda. LOL. The lesson, as always, is to never buy a completely redesigned Audi and expect decent reliability.

[Spawne32]

Hindsight is always 20/20 lol

[cuda2000]

I would suggest getting kicked squarely in the nuts. Because that will feel better than the day after buying a used b8.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[crystalline]

Thread has aged like a fine wine!

[dennej1985]

My late production 2012 has been great for the year and a half I have owned it. Sitting at 83k currently. I have done preventative maintenance and some modifications and the car has never even thrown a code at me except for not always liking the DV+. Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s my weekend*car and is used accordingly but hopefully my luck continues. I’m waiting for the turbo to start chattering so I can go K04.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blgilles]

I have an 09 and everything you mentioned above failed for me EXCEPT for Fuel Injectors, Brake Vacuum Pump and Failing Injectors but I'm only at 156,000km (97,500miles) LOL

Heh. So SDF1 - one thing on the injectors: If they're (one is) slowly failing, they/it can start contaminating the fuel with gas, which among other wear effects that probably happen, but I'm unaware of, will wear the piston rings, worst in the cylinder that has the failing injectors (as fuel will be removing the oil from the cylinder wall most aggressively, resting on and slipping past the ring), and not as badly in the others, but still damaging, (as the oil sprayers will now be spraying up fuel/oil mix which won't have the proper viscosity to protect the cylinder wall/piston.

That is to say, check your oil for (1) quickly turning brown and/or (2) a weird gas-like smell. I'm personally wondering if slow injector failure is actually the cause of some late-mileage oil consumption and ring damage. Just my own hypothesis though, I don't have anything to back it up yet.

Also if you upload a video of what your engine sounds like at startup, I bet I could tell you if you have one or more failing/in a degraded state. The engine is louder and more 'metallic' sounding when one or more are close to failure. The sound, I think, is a result of the injector having a hard time opening; the little bit on there that blocks/unblocks the fuel gets semi-stuck, and so when it does move it's taken more power to do so, and so moves really hard/quick and kind of 'slams' into the opposing location within the injector, producing the loud-running idle. Now that I've replaced mine, it's clear as day to me. The engine is SO much quieter. Also, the more power thing is why they fail stuck open. The spring is only so strong, but the electrical system has a natural feedback system in it to account for the stickiness, so it will still manage to open the injector as it gets sticky, but eventually the spring won't be able to close it. Here's a good video on it, by the way.

Anyways, in your boat (and given how aggressively mine failed, when they did fail), I'd probably just go ahead and replace all 4, and do a carbon cleaning while you're at it (if you haven't done that recently), should that be the sort of thing you like to do. Mine failed at 99,225 miles, and another guy on here had them fail right around there as well. On the 'aggressively failing' bit: At our mileage, when they finally completely go, they tend to get stuck very open, meaning they dump a ton of fuel all the time (round numbers, about 200x of what should be injected), resulting in being stranded with a no-start condition (from a flooded cylinder).

Cheers!

[blgilles]

My late production 2012 has been great for the year and a half I have owned it. Sitting at 83k currently. I have done preventative maintenance and some modifications and the car has never even thrown a code at me except for not always liking the DV+. Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s my weekend*car and is used accordingly but hopefully my luck continues. I’m waiting for the turbo to start chattering so I can go K04.

Ya, exactly. So I don't know a ton about 2012, but it does seems to be a trend that the further you get from 2008 (EU), 2009 (US) on the B8 model, the better off the reliability is. I would suppose that by 2012 they'd've figured a good amount of the problems out, without doing too-aggressive of redesigns which could've introduced new issues. Again, just a guess; I only have personal experience with having bought a used 2009 A4.

[blgilles]

It is interesting to see this 10 year old thread revived. I remember debating Audi reliability on another site at roughly the same time with people who were convinced that Audi reliability had improved to the point of being considered as good as that of Honda. LOL. The lesson, as always, is to never buy a completely redesigned Audi and expect decent reliability.

Yep. That's part of the reason I wanted to revive it; that attitude was prevalent in the ~2008-2012 timeframe, before the reliability issues of this era of cars initially started to come to light. That, and I remember finding this thread when I googled 'B8 reliability' before purchasing my used B8. Of course, it wasn't super useful as it was super-old, and a bit of a distraction in contrast to other threads which are unfortunately not as far up in the Google results.

However, from owning a B5 A4, Mk5 GTI, B7 A4, and now a B8 A4, I think I'm spotting a trend on Audi/VAG. On one series they'll have a slew of issues, which will get the brand a bit of 'bad-name'. And then the new series will come out, which fixes all that stuff. And there'll be a talk of how much better/greater the new series is, and how 'we're finally there' on reliability. And then, the slew of new issues will start to become apparent, will become the new well-known slew of issues. And so it starts again.

I was checking out B8.5s, because from the sounds of it on here, their much much better WRT reliability (and I don't doubt it), but in the Googling, I found this:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...eat/545548002/

Not as bad as the B8 issues - for sure - but I'll be interested to see as the B8.5 MYs start to get up in mileage, what/how many other things continue the cycle. And of course, some series are simply way better than others. B8 seems to be one of the worst. Late B5 probably one of the best.

And in talking to an Audi representative the other day, I asked him about design items/choices, like the air suspension on the old Allroad (which failed all the time), and the newer air suspension on the Q7 series. His response was fantastically candid: "When it comes to buying an Audi, it's really a decision of how long you want to keep the vehicle. The sweet-spot is about 4-5 year service life, as it's not a matter of if design items like that will fail but rather when they'll fail."

I didn't have any retort to him, as I appreciated his candor, as it totally re-affirmed my recent view as to how/why Audi/VAG continues to do well in spite of their reliability; those who buy new vehicles, their target market and of course how they make money, don't care about long-term reliability. They've bought a new one buy the time that stuff would matter.

And don't get me wrong, I really enjoy taking stuff apart and putting it back together, and I guess more importantly, having an excuse to do so. So I love owning VW/Audi. I've gotten to take nearly everything apart, fix it, and put it back together. It feels like a badge of pride to have a 2009 A4 running well.

The only thing I haven't done yet is complete disassemble the engine (taking everything down to individual components), which I'll be doing in a week or two on a friend's 2009 B8, to see how much damage a failed injector did to the cylinder 4 pistons/rings/cylinder. If the cylinder is OK enough we'll probably just replace all the pistons/rings/connecting rods and rebuild it.

What I'm trying to say is that there's a big upside to such lack of reliability - one gets to learn WAY more about how a car works and how to fix it. Take driving a Toyota for example: I have no idea how to do the timing work on my Highlander, or replace the brake vacuum pump, or suspension, and so on - because nothing has ever broken or even sounded weird. Which is a bummer if you like fixing stuff. :-) And or course on Audi's I know how to do all that (and have done it all, because it broke) and more, which is awesome.

As I like to say, you just have to choose what you want to buy, and why you want to buy it: If you buy Toyota, you get a reliable car. If you buy Audi, you get a reliable hobby.

I wanted a reliable car and a reliable hobby, so I bought both. :-)

Cheers!

[SDF1]

When I open the engine oil cap and smell the oil. I do smell gas ....

Here is two videos. After a 45min drive back from work and one after a few hours of cool down.

Hot Engine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwYiPBgO9fg
After a 2hrs. Startup and Shut Down (with weird clicking sounds after it has turned off...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIrwaNZnuI
Cold Start (next morning)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMV1aE_uHA

Oil Color
https://i.imgur.com/YK6jyEs.jpg

[JD23]

As I like to say, you just have to choose what you want to buy, and why you want to buy it: If you buy Toyota, you get a reliable car. If you buy Audi, you get a reliable hobby.

I think that's also why the Audi forums are fairly active and there are useful DIY threads, particularly for the B8. I have been browsing the forums for the new Accord and they are practically dead.

[blgilles]

When I open the engine oil cap and smell the oil. I do smell gas ....

Here is two videos. After a 45min drive back from work and one after a few hours of cool down.

Hot Engine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwYiPBgO9fg
After a 2hrs. Startup and Shut Down (with weird clicking sounds after it has turned off...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpIrwaNZnuI

Oil Color
https://i.imgur.com/YK6jyEs.jpg

I also don’t know what those shut-off clicking noises are. I’m guessing something to do with the secondary water pump which activated when the engine is off?

Anyways, I’ll check these out more thoroughly tomorrow and let you know what I’m thinking. I’m no expert of course... I’ve just had it happen to my car recently so hopefully I’ll be able to hear it if it’s there.

And thanks for uploading!

[blgilles]

So on first listen I’d say yes, your engine does sound like mine before my injectors failed. Relatively speaking, I think yours is a bit quieter though. So my guess is that mine were closer to failure than yours are.

So hard to say over video, but that’s my first thought. Tomorrow I’ll also find a video another guy uploaded of his with known-failing injectors so you can compare as well. I’ll see if I can find a video of mine pre-fix and post fix also.

Cheers!

- - - Updated - - -

I think that's also why the Audi forums are fairly active and there are useful DIY threads, particularly for the B8. I have been browsing the forums for the new Accord and they are practically dead.

Exactly. ^

[Hamza1230]

I have 2 e90 bmw. Love them. No problems. HATE the gas mileage. If you want to own a 328 you better own a gas station too. These cars are terrible on gas but other then that great cars. Love the handling. Changing the starter is a paint tho

[audrobotic]

To me keeping a 2009 B8 on the road is not a badge of honor. I remember how happy I was when my wife called me that the car had broken down and she barely made it off the freeway to a safe place. (injector failure on 2010 at around 25k miles).

[ducati]

I have 2 e90 bmw. Love them. No problems. HATE the gas mileage. If you want to own a 328 you better own a gas station too. These cars are terrible on gas but other then that great cars. Love the handling. Changing the starter is a paint tho

I thought the BMW 328 is suppose to have the best gas mileage of the 3 series.BMW has issues too Im on their forums and F30 series engines are not bullet proof but a tad better than Audis mess.

[SDF1]

So on first listen I’d say yes, your engine does sound like mine before my injectors failed. Relatively speaking, I think yours is a bit quieter though. So my guess is that mine were closer to failure than yours are.

So hard to say over video, but that’s my first thought. Tomorrow I’ll also find a video another guy uploaded of his with known-failing injectors so you can compare as well. I’ll see if I can find a video of mine pre-fix and post fix also.

Cheers!

- - - Updated - - -



Exactly. ^

Listen to it now
This is from a COLD Start this morning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMV1aE_uHA

The video doesn't show it but it also has misfires and you see the engine shaking

[blgilles]

Ya, it is definitely loud like mine was.

On the misfires: So carbon buildup’s main issue is cold-start misfires. I bet that’s the cause of those. The nice thing is if you do the injectors, the carbon cleaning is easy to do at the same time, as a lot of the work of carbon cleaning is just removing the intake manifold, which has to be done for replacing the injectors.

And if a shop does the injectors, they’ll usually give you a deep discount on carbon cleaning, if done at the same time, to reflect this. Even the dealership will give the discount.

[blgilles]

OK, here is the video from another member with the similar ticking:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...Failure-Thread

And here’s my debugging/resolution thread from when mine failed, in case anything in there is useful:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...e-appreciated)

And I’ll try to get a before/after video comparison of mine to hopefully give an idea of the difference in sound.

[SDF1]

OK, here is the video from another member with the similar ticking:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...Failure-Thread

And here’s my debugging/resolution thread from when mine failed, in case anything in there is useful:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...e-appreciated)

And I’ll try to get a before/after video comparison of mine to hopefully give an idea of the difference in sound.

I'm not getting any errors. Is there any way to find out which injector is failing? Or get them to give me an error? (I actually still have full warranty for another 9months lol)