Thread: The Jaffa arrived but....

As you know we have purchased a solar S3 from Guildford Audi. Now due to the distance which would be a 6 to 7 hour drive if not more we had received numerous photos of the car and assurances regarding it's condition. So when the car landed at the unit at 10am this morning we were very surprised considering the checks that the cars go through before being taken away.

I can't post a photo as I'm on my iPad and ive not loaded it to photo bucket but if you want to check out my Facebook page (Juicyjen Chambers) you can see a not so nice photo of the front bumper. On the passenger side just below the grill there was a large area where the lacquer is coming off. It actually looked like the bumper had been resprayed or smart repaired, to say I was disappointed was a big understatement as I've been excited for the last week with it's immanent arrival.

We were on the phone to the dealer straight away and tbh it ended with Andrew being told that we should expect this of a 2 year old car! The sales manager was annoyed with us as we wanted the car returned and issue corrected or simply we would pull out of the deal. The guy ended up saying to us well send it back and we'll stick it up for sale again, no compromise or anything....this got our backs up immediately.

So after the driver took the car Andrew decided to send an email to the General Sales manager (Kenny) regarding our treatment and how we felt. Within what seemed a matter of seconds Kenny called us to assess the situation. Funnily enough his back ground is detailing and knew exactly where I was coming from in respect that I'm going to use this as a show car and demonstration what I do. So rather than feeling like I was just OCD and should accept it he has taken ownership of the problem and will be bending over backwards to get this sorted out for us. In the end yes there was a mistake/issue but our faith has been restored (fingers crossed)!

My biggest concern is the colour match which I know from Ford ST orange is always hard but I'm hopeful that when we go down and collect it (they have agreed to pay for our fuel) it will be right.

On the plus side we are collecting the TTRS tomorrow

That sucks balls!!

I would be doing exactly the same as yourself. Main dealers have been know to do "smart repairs" and in my opinion they are crap. Never get the same amount of detail as before.

Hope it all gets sorted ASAP.

Sorry to hear that Jen, I'm often astonished by the quality of some of the cars on Audi main dealer forecourts, yet when you take your car in to trade it with them they tend to be picky as fook!

Hope they do a proper job of it for you and not some cheap fix. It's a bloody cheek really when you think of the money involved and the excitement people get over car to be let down like that. Seems at Audi these days everything is premium except the service.

Fingers crossed for you.

Looks ok in this photo...



When we got it the paint was like on the passenger side under the front grill..

Actually having seen it in the flesh that's fair wear and tear for 2 years, you both have got OCD

Cheeky bunch of *******s need lynching. It wasn't Guilfords R8 you drove was it Andy ;-). (them paying you back!)

Originally Posted by warren_cox

Actually having seen it in the flesh that's fair wear and tear for 2 years, you both have got OCD

Cheeky bunch of *******s need lynching. It wasn't Guilfords R8 you drove was it Andy ;-). (them paying you back!)

No fording comment..

How they could of missed it I don't know As it was the first thing I saw

yeah hoping you get this sorted!
the paint really is not upto scratch and if you were to queery this against the dealers checklist, there answers would be interesting!
and to to make matters worse there trying to sell this to a detailer! shame on them! give them grief!
as warren points out, audi dealers are the first to jump on the band wagon and wave there finger when something is not quite right! so make sure you get your pound of flesh!
after all this was a dealer forecourt car! and this is not good! threaten to show other nearby dealers what they have sold you and that should do the trick!
(p.s. lovely motor by the way )

I must admit I never trust a word a dealer says about how a car looks. I usually get my detailer to look over the car before doing a deal or ask for money off to rectify and get detailed myself.

It should work out in your favour, it's just frustrating especially when you build up your hopes.

Keep us in the loop on how this progresses.

Ah what! Sorry to hear that, couldn't see that on any of the photos I got either!

Hope it gets sorted out, I still love that colour!

Basically if we are still not happy when we go down to inspect it then its a full refund of all costs involved which is a nice position to be in...although to be honest we are still debating whether to just walk away and find something else. I think we'll be hard pushed to find another with the spec etc

I would stick with it, I mean you are detailers after all. So it shouldn't be too hard to spot any defects with the finished article under the right lights etc. Good luck though!

True, I would have my doubts about the quality of the repair.

The sprint blue one I looked at was a similar spec, but it was stronic.

Brings a whole new meaning to the term orange peal!

Looks like the cellophane wrap is coming off. Once bitten you always have doubts. Hopefully it'll make it back to Durham ready for some TLC. Just had a quick look locally for any S3's for you and there's diddly squit.

Aww Jen, I know I'm just a little bit OCD too, but that's just out of order!!! I really hope they sort it out to your satisfaction, Hun. I'm sure the thought of picking up the TTRS tomoz is keeping your mind off Jaffa's paintwork a wee bit, lol! Have fun, both of you!!! xx

It's actually a year ago today since I said goodbye to my Burg and said hello to my S3 and I was in kind of the same boat as you guys, only having seen 3 pics of my car before taking delivery of it. Lucky for me the car had been owned by the MD of a detailing company in Norwich, so the paintwork was absolutely tip top. It could so very easily have been the same for me, ..and what do you do when the Audi stealer you buy a car from is an 11 hour drive away from where you live?? I know you'll soon have your gorgeous Solar Orange S3 up to your usual impeccable standard. Lotsa luv you to and Andrew! xx

Love the car and all things orange, hope they sort it once and for all.

Now that is a PITA! I could never buy a car without seeing it for myself, but I suppose you had no choice and it is Audi approved after all. Maybe you could've got a local forum member to take a quick look, but I suppose everyone's standards are different. Hope it's all good when you get it back. And you enjoy the TTRS.

Typical Guilford Audi. My 3.2 that was no end of trouble came from there. Service was diabolical;. When i picked it up someone had levered the door lock out with a screw driver. Just a hole in the broken door handle. No one thought to tell me when i collected it that it had been broken in to on the forecourt. They promised to ring me as soon as the part arrived. After a month i rang them and the stores man said he had been sitting on the parts since the day after i picked it up. I also got less than a 1000 miles out of the tyres that were supplied on it.When it eventually packed up at 5 years old they charged me £2000 to diagnose the problem ...not fix !! just diagnose a stretched timing chain. The were charging £160/hour + vat. I could go on but you get the picture.

Needless to say the new S3 did not come from Guildford despite it being my local dealership. Appalling place !!

I added you to FB! (R-J)

Some audi dealers have real attitude problems, fortunatly you just go up the chain of command and anything gets dealt with immediatly with typical German efficiency!

You will be sorted out fine

LOVE the tt-rs

This is a common issue with the approved used Cars Audi sell. They use smart repairers to touch over marks and more often than not the
repair can look worse if not done properly.
When I bought my 2008 S3 from West London Audi the car had only done 20 000 miles but they had already had a smart repair done on the
rear quarter due to a small mark and the finishing was shocking. Visible mask lines, the colour was slightly different and the whole area was
covered with tiny pin holes and you could see the primer colour.
When I spoke to the sales manager his answer shocked me slightly as he said they were not concerned about the cars condition when they
get them in as they can have areas painted if needed, wheels refurbed etc. To him if the cars are 2 or 3 years old it's to be expected to which I completely disagree.
They had the rear quarter properly done for me in the bodyshop and the job was 100%.

Does indeed sound like a dealer to avoid;

Used S3 has mismatched tyres | Ask Honest John | Honest John

Really sorry to here that Jen!

Thanks for all your comments and I think we'll be forwarding on the 2 stories to Kenny just so he knows we mean business!

As for the collection today the TTRS is absolutely stunning (I'm so jealous lol), I'll give it a wash and quick clean up tomorrow so I'm sure Andrew will post some pics. We also popped into Shark Performance for a chat too on the way down

How are you getting on, any update from the dealers?

Originally Posted by TripleD

How are you getting on, any update from the dealers?

We've been told that this is a known fault with this colour of car.. And the car is having a full front bumper respray. We did plan on going to collect the car, but I've told them that if they're confident enough fr us to drive down there, then they can transport the car up to us. This save taking the kids down with us at the weekend.

If it arrives and it's no good, then t will be heading back and well have our money back.

Sorry to hear about the issue Jen. You would of thought they would of got that sorted before hand. Probably thought they would try there luck and hope you wouldnt notice or raise a concern as it was delivered to you. Glad they are getting it sorted but kind puts things on a downer and poor service on their behalf. Great choice in colour and good price you got it at. Well jealous of the new cars you both have

I'm not getting excited as there is no point in case I just get let down again. My focus at the moment is on planning my detailing the TTRS in a couple of weeks once the kids are away for half term

Hmmmmm. Nice.

I would be very tempted to chop my TDI in for that.

Originally Posted by Blackie

Hmmmmm. Nice.

I would be very tempted to chop my TDI in for that.

If you would like a Jaffa of your own Nottingham Audi have a very nice 60 plate 3 door!!

Originally Posted by TommyMac

If you would like a Jaffa of your own Nottingham Audi have a very nice 60 plate 3 door!!

I think i may have already found one matey

Originally Posted by TommyMac

If you would like a Jaffa of your own Nottingham Audi have a very nice 60 plate 3 door!!

Coulsdon Audi have a nice 11 plate 3 door too, which we could add JU11CYS too..

That is disgraceful to be honest. The cheek to deliver a car in that state and then claim it is to be expected. Its a 2 year old Audi not an old banger FFS

I'd have probably asked then if they would have footed the bill to get it repaired at a bodyshop of your choice locally. That way you would have known the job was going to be spot on and they probably would have gone for it to save the cost and hassle of transporting it back, repainting the bumper and transporting it back to you guys.

Look forward to pics of the TT-RS detailed and the S3 hopefully as well if all is well!

Originally Posted by ABYSS

Coulsdon Audi have a nice 11 plate 3 door too, which we could add JU11CYS too..

Coulsdon Audi's customer service is terrible! They are all nice and sweet when they are selling you something, but as soon as you go back to them with a problem, they dont want to know. Also they give you the usual " we will call you in a couple days with decision" and never do!!