From Bad to worse - opinions?

[dgannon]

Hi guys,

Before i start, my car is a dolphin grey 2007 S3 with approx 15k miles on the clock. I bought it in December 2008...

Unfortunately, last night, after going shopping i came back to my car to find a scuff on the rear wheel arch (looks like a bumper has rubbed against it when someone pulled in) and no car parked next to me!!!


I've tried my best to buff it out but its just too deep . It's located on the drivers side rear arch just above where the trim finishes.

It doesn't get any better...

I took it to audi and they quoted £540 - bear in mind this is for a 50mm x 5mm scratch and 3 others all about 25mm x 1mm. I went to a reputable respray shop in worcester, who i've used before, and he told me he would do it for £250 - however he said the whole rear panel has been resprayed in the past and showed me how he identified it. Looking from the side the paint filler was noticable, although very faint and not a bad job from respray jobs i've seen in the past!! He said that if he were to remove that filler and do the proper job i could be looking at up to £500 anyway...

Since getting this info from the spray shop techy i've been checking the area with a fine tooth comb, as you do!!

The drivers door, when closing slowly just before it latches doesn't latch smoothly because from what i can see the latch it hitting the mechanism on the door and as a result lifting the door about 2mm before it closes!! - Sorry for the poor explanation!

I've just got a couple of concerns about the above...

1) I've been told by my local dealers the paint work in the area of the respray is no longer covered under warranty due to its condition - If this is the case where do i stand with the warranty, should the dealer I bought the car from be sorting this and getting the job done properly?

2) if the car has had some damage from a previous bang, should I have been made aware of this by the dealers and I didn't think Audi sold cars as Approved Used if they have been involved in any accidents?

I guess my question really is, apart from raising the issue with Audi, do i have reason to be P***** off and want some answers and the bodywork to be sorted by them?

Cheers,

 

[Iggu]

If you believe the dealer has patched up this car before selling it to you and not mentioned it during the sale then you have a strong legal case against them for contractual misrepresentation and a breach of the "satisfactory quality" section of the Sales of Goods Act. If it goes all the way to court this would allow you to rescind the contract (get a full refund and give the car back).

Don't let this lie for a second. I'd do the following:

1. A strong letter from you to the MD telling him he has 7 days to given you total satisfaction in this matter
2. Then contact Jeremy Hicks - head of Audi UK who has intervened in customers' favour before (search for L6ON's seats on here)
3. Then get a solicitor to write a strong letter (they might charge you £75 or so) telling them it will be taken further quoting the relevant judicial precedent or statutory section numbers.

They won't want the hassle. Take lots of photos and be courteous and professional at all times and they'll fix this I'm sure.

 

[markwiggy]

Obviously you did not check the car properly when you bought it, if in doubt always take someone who knows about paint, sorry probably not what you want to hear but i suppose we have all been stung in the past.

Anyway Audi do sell cars that have been repaired, I have spotted loads in the past. If the repair is not covered by the Audi warranty as stated then maybe you have a comeback, my guess would be they will say they will cover it should it go rusty. Maybe worth a try though as you were buying the car in good faith and as you have only had the car 6-8 weeks.

Good Luck !!

Mark

 

[dgannon]

Iggu, thanks i've been down this route already with BMW previously because of issues with the car after purchase, i found the more i threatened legal action the less obliged they felt to help, anyway i couldnt afford to go to court so i just had to bite the bullet because the dealer didnt play ball.

I really don't want to have to go down the route of SOGA and rejection because i really like the car, just want the paint work sorted...

Markwiggy, like i said, the paintwork is very good and i really didnt notice or doubt it until after the respray guy pointed it out - i spent hours on the weekend mopping it and didn't notice then either!!

Cheers for the adive guys,

 

[kaz219]

TBH - i would do what Iggu said...

Its £20k+ car and if i spent that much on it - I'd want it to be perfect - even if it had a bit of a bang or spray....

I'd take it all the way to Audi to get either professionally sprayed and sorted so that tis under Audi warranty again or returned and a new S3...

Audi should have defo noticed this when they sold the car to you...

 

[PaulAr]

You might do well to settle with a contribution from AUDI to have the whole panel repaired on the basis that they did not make you aware of previous damage.
However in reality its a 2nd hand car and a large percentage of `nearly new` used cars have had some kind of repair, infact many new cars go direct to the body shop before the plastic even comes off because of damage in transit.
A mate of mine used to work for AUDI and said you would be amazed at how many brand new zero mile cars have had paintwork.
TBH, and from experience, I would hazard a guess that the dealer even noticed the previous repair.

Anyway, if AUDI can organise the repair through an approved shop or their own shop at least you can insist the car is spot on before it is returned to you and you will get a 12month warranty on the paintwork AND AUDI will be obliged to honour the manufactures corrosion warranty.

Its a real pain in the **** but they are 1000s of nearly new cars in circulation with repairs and I reckon this will be AUDI attidude towards the whole thing.

At least if you can get the the whole panel re-done through AUDI, you will have some piece of mind and come back in the event of any future paint problems.

Regarding the door close, I have this with my S3 and it hadnt had any repairs in that area, the catch had simply moved and the dealer adjusted in FOC and its fine.

Once its sorted you can get on with enjoying your car!

Good luck:icon_thumright:

cheers
Paul

 

[dc240969]

l had my s3 for about 4 months and when l was giving it a hand wash l noticed a 20p size cover up just close to a parking senor. straight on the phone to the salesman who arranged for it to be fixed and a TT-tdi as a courtesy car for the day.

 

[dgannon]

I've had no such luck yet, my salesman has been on the phone to the dealership it came from to see if they can shed any light, if not he's going to ring the previous owner. Either way he seems to think they would not pay for it to be re-sprayed and that audi "group" (his words) would respray the area should it need repairing in the future...

Can't say fairer really, i don't want a bun fight, i had 2 years of that with BMW and it just makes ownership c**p...

thanks for the advice guys..

Dave