I have recently purchased a 2009 Audi A5 Quattro, and in looking underneath the car there does seem to be a place for a shaft to connect the front axle to the rear axle (which you would expect) but there doesnt seem to be any there... is this normal?
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Could you post a picture of what you're seeing? We would certainly expect to see a driveshaft running to the aft end of the car: fotos.autozeitung.de/1024x768/images/bildergalerie/2009/06/… – Bob Cross♦ Apr 9 '13 at 11:55
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2for it to be 4wd there has to be a method linking the front wheels to the rear wheels. If there is no shaft between the front and rear diffs then the likely answer is no. You can ask a dealer to check if yours is actually a quattro or not by supplying the VIN. – Mauro Apr 9 '13 at 11:56
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@Mauro, actually if you have the VIN and the owner's manual, you can usually decode it yourself. – Bob Cross♦ Apr 9 '13 at 14:46
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@Bob Cross, how do you mean, what do you look for? – Hip Hip Array Apr 9 '13 at 15:31
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You can decode your VIN by referring to the codes in the owners manual. You can also use some web services like the following: audivindecoder.com/vins/waudk78t59a020347 – Bob Cross♦ Apr 9 '13 at 16:33
All Audi Qauttro's have a driveshaft that connects the front differential with the rear differential.
Your car does not have 4wd if it does not have a driveshaft.
In my country (Denmark) you can add the car to your profile at https://my.audi.com and add the VIN of the car. Then you can see all information about the car including factory installed options etc.
To answer your question, it seems like you didn't buy a Quattro. You bought a FWD car, unless Audi invented some way of transferring power without a drive shaft :(.
You might want to talk to the person you bought it from, and bring it to their attention.
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1Agreed. Worst case is that there was something wrong with the 4wd system and the guy ripped out the drive shaft to hide the fact. – Captain Kenpachi Mar 19 '14 at 10:02
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1Look beneath the rear of the car. Check if there is a rear differential or not. – JuniorCoder Mar 26 '14 at 8:45
Check under the rear of the car you should be able to see the rear differential. it is the aluminium finned item between the rear wheels
If you don't have on then you definitely don't have a quattro, you should also check the VIN to make sure. The driveshaft it self is kinda hard to see depending on the angle.
If your car was sold to you as a quattro and it isn't then you definitely need to take it back.