Took my car to Audi for minor work and anti corrosion check and came back noisy

rhubarb4

rhubarb4

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Hi all, took the S3 in for cambelt, Haldex oil and filter and brakes all round, but when I picked it up Saturday afternoon as I drove off it made a clacking sound from the front when accelerating and breaking and pulling off from standstill. It is a really aggressive and loud sounding noise too, so its worrying me now what could be wrong with it. So I rang and told them this morning and dropped it back in tonight for them to check it tomorrow, I'm just dreading what there going to say.

On a plus side the paint guys are in on Tuesdays so I've asked them to book it in for the roof rails and boot handle area to be looked at, wonder what they will say as iv read so many posts were they have made excuses not to do it

Any ideas on the loud clacking, thats really how i can describe it
 
I would ask what sort of checks do they do after changing the brakes, etc. Sounds like it goes straight out into their car park for you to pick up.........absolutely abismale service. Apart from fixing whatever the problem is I would tell them you are not satisfied at all and very angry they let it out without a proper check before releasing it to you. I would guess you paid a fair wack for those jobs done and you want a first classs service. Mention that you will report your experience to Audi uk - now hopefully they will make sure you do not leave unhappy.
 
Hi thanks for that, I never thought of saying that. If they had drove it they would have noticed it, as its got to be something they have disturbed. I had 4 new tyres from them too after there free health check picked up that they were all different and not to much tread on them.
I am just worried they will turn around and say I need more new parts, as they must have been old when they put it back together and thats the reason its making the noise. I spent the best part of 2k with them mate so I hope they can be lenient.
 
I wanted to make sure everything was done right. especially as the main thing it went in for was the Cambelt and water pump there health check picked up the disks and pads all round and the other stuff. Guess I could have had it done somewhere else its just because it was there and I thought it would be easier to get it all sorted. They got me a free Taxi to the train station and free coffe while I waited to speak to the service guy though, I'm guessing thats where the money goes :shrug:
 
Never take older Audi's to main dealer, they are shyte and charge £120+ per hour. This is no guarantee of quality or customer service. Find a good VAG specialist who are usually ex-VAG mechanics who actually take pride in their work and charge a fraction of the cost. £45-50 per hour and OEM parts that don't have the expensive Audi rings on them.
 
That's still an expensive cuppa and taxi ride! i changed my front brake pads and discs (done it loads of times with other cars and now i have a similar clanking noise at slow speed acceleration and braking so would be interested in what they say. I want to get it back in the air to see if the driveshaft are ok and if the springs had moved at all.
 
I think they most probably took it for a nice spin. and managed to wear something out. I have seen it in Audi Finchely the way some of the guys drive the cars there! for a grand more you could have bought another S3 mate.
 
Here is a list of there prices

Repair kit £95.00
Water pump £33.98
Surcharge £30.00
Coolants x2 £14.90
Vbelt £41.47
Oil filter £26.86
Heavy duty oil £12.01
Brake fluid 1.5 £10.74
Brake lining £52.79
Brake disk 2 front £138
Brake pad 4x £76.09
Brake disk rear x2 £88.02
Tyres contis £508.76
Brake cleaner £3.25

Labour £434.85
VAT £299.90
just over £1800
 
AndyMac said:
Never take older Audi's to main dealer, they are shyte and charge £120+ per hour. This is no guarantee of quality or customer service. Find a good VAG specialist who are usually ex-VAG mechanics who actually take pride in their work and charge a fraction of the cost. £45-50 per hour and OEM parts that don't have the expensive Audi rings on them.
Click to expand...

Believe me Andy it was a one off it only went in for the cambelt, and I needed it back sharpish for a long drive this week just wanted it all done ready. Where I normally took my previous cars couldnt book it in till next week.
 
There were 2 surcharges I don't really know what there for
 
audi upgrades
rhubarb4 said:
Here is a list of there prices

Repair kit £95.00
Water pump £33.98
Surcharge £30.00
Coolants x2 £14.90
Vbelt £41.47
Oil filter £26.86
Heavy duty oil £12.01
Brake fluid 1.5 £10.74
Brake lining £52.79
Brake disk 2 front £138
Brake pad 4x £76.09
Brake disk rear x2 £88.02
Tyres contis £508.76
Brake cleaner £3.25

Labour £434.85
VAT £299.90
just over £1800
Click to expand...

why did they charge you a surchange when they're taking off the old pump?
they get that surcharge back when they return your old pump!!!
 
When I took my car in for it's Cambelt and Water Pump back in 2009 within two weeks of having teh work done (might have been less), I spotted a slight knocking/grinding noise whenever I turned left (had to be going faster than 10mph and be turning at least 45degrees). I still have this exact same noise and it's coming from my inner CV boot.

At teh time my car was standard and still have no idea how it's lasted so long. I was gonna take the car back into Audi but I think two weeks after the work they would just tell me to sod off.

You mentioned about Anti-Rust Corrosion check - how do you go about that? What did they tell you?
 
badger5 said:
why did they charge you a surchange when they're taking off the old pump?
they get that surcharge back when they return your old pump!!!
Click to expand...

I really dont know how they work Bill, I knew I would regret taking it there I just hope they sort out the problem without charging me any more money. I will be cheering myself up soon though Im going to go for one of your TIP's and remaps as im not too far from you :yahoo:

Wizza said:
When I took my car in for it's Cambelt and Water Pump back in 2009 within two weeks of having teh work done (might have been less), I spotted a slight knocking/grinding noise whenever I turned left (had to be going faster than 10mph and be turning at least 45degrees). I still have this exact same noise and it's coming from my inner CV boot.

At teh time my car was standard and still have no idea how it's lasted so long. I was gonna take the car back into Audi but I think two weeks after the work they would just tell me to sod off.

You mentioned about Anti-Rust Corrosion check - how do you go about that? What did they tell you?
Click to expand...

I rang them today they never mentioned the noise guess they didnt have chance to look at it, but the service chap said he's not sure if the paint guys will cover it because he doesnt think its covered by the 12y warranty, only by the 3y paint one as he said it has to be rusting from the inside out, not bubbling so im not holding out for much hope. :sob:

Really could do with it back soon as now.
 
How can it bubble from the outside.... there having your pants down the tosspots, if you take that bull****e from them i would walk in the showroom with just your boxers on to help them out.....:asskicking:
 
Let us know how you get on in here as I have a fair big patch of what looks like minor rust bubbles along the roof (well on the outside of the roof trim not the roof itself) which has ben there since before I had the car.

I may take mine into getting looked at but they will probably tell me to do one with me having my roof wrapped and a brand new set of roof rails fitted.
 
I agree im ringing them again tomorrow as the paint guys should have given him an answer. It has not broken through the paint yet its just bubbling up so its something from underneath thats caused it I cant see how he can say its anything else. I dont really know what to say to them, as one of the posts in the main corrosion thread they said its a paint reaction with Zink or something :uhm:
 
I think mine has been caused from trapped water under the rails and as ever so slightly spread over the past two years but not sure for definite.
 
When I removed my rails to have my roof wrapped it did look a tad rusty underneath (well it was more rust stained than rust itself). Was hard to tell if there was a small hole in the paintwork or not. Shouldhave got a picture and given it a proper examination but forgot.
 
rhubarb4 said:
Here is a list of there prices

Repair kit £95.00
Water pump £33.98
Surcharge £30.00
Coolants x2 £14.90
Vbelt £41.47
Oil filter £26.86
Heavy duty oil £12.01
Brake fluid 1.5 £10.74
Brake lining £52.79
Brake disk 2 front £138
Brake pad 4x £76.09
Brake disk rear x2 £88.02
Tyres contis £508.76
Brake cleaner £3.25

Labour £434.85
VAT £299.90
just over £1800
Click to expand...

JESUS! I just picked myself up from the floor! They charged you for brake cleaner?? I'm surprised there isn't extra for WD40 and copper grease on there!!

As a comparison, I just got a pair of rear brake disks and a set of pads also for my Passat for under 50 quid from ECP, Audi charge you £88.02 just for the discs with their fancy logo on them!

You should have gone to Midland VW rhubarb, my 156k S3 has a folder of Midland VW receipts(including 2 cambelt changes), the guys there know what they are doing at a fraction of the price! And my car runs perfect!!
 
To be constructive mate, you really need to toughen up. I understand from your comments that may be difficult if it's not in your nature, but try bringing someone else along with you (even your wife or girlfriend-sometimes they speak volumes!). Demand to see the service manager and explain that you are simply unhappy with service you have received after paying this amount of money. mention you are so angry you will argue the this with Audi UK. Admittedly there maybe something wrong , but that is their job to point anything out to you before or just after repairing your car - not simply handing it back with no comments !
As for the future, as JOJO above points out you can still get a decent garage to fit genuine oem parts (fair enough there's no logo on them), but again you specifically tell them that's what you want. A lot may say.... don't worry about the parts we fit , we fit loads from the micky mouse company and they never have any problems - just say no you want oem parts. Or buy them yourself and get a garage to fit them.
 
2 grand for what equates to a major service ****ing hell hope they used the Vaseline oh no wait they didnt charge extra for that so they can't of used it, think I'm gonna put an audi badge on my works van an see if we can get away with charging audi prices when I'm doing someones electrics!!!
 
jojo said:
JESUS! I just picked myself up from the floor! They charged you for brake cleaner?? I'm surprised there isn't extra for WD40 and copper grease on there!!

As a comparison, I just got a pair of rear brake disks and a set of pads also for my Passat for under 50 quid from ECP, Audi charge you £88.02 just for the discs with their fancy logo on them!

You should have gone to Midland VW rhubarb, my 156k S3 has a folder of Midland VW receipts(including 2 cambelt changes), the guys there know what they are doing at a fraction of the price! And my car runs perfect!!
Click to expand...

I normally take my car to jjody at midland but they were fully booked i needed the car for wednesday long drive but thats gone pear shaped but you live and learn oh sorry for my bad ceammer i been in the pub all nite
 
thegoal007 said:
To be constructive mate, you really need to toughen up. I understand from your comments that may be difficult if it's not in your nature, but try bringing someone else along with you (even your wife or girlfriend-sometimes they speak volumes!). Demand to see the service manager and explain that you are simply unhappy with service you have received after paying this amount of money. mention you are so angry you will argue the this with Audi UK. Admittedly there maybe something wrong , but that is their job to point anything out to you before or just after repairing your car - not simply handing it back with no comments !
As for the future, as JOJO above points out you can still get a decent garage to fit genuine oem parts (fair enough there's no logo on them), but again you specifically tell them that's what you want. A lot may say.... don't worry about the parts we fit , we fit loads from the micky mouse company and they never have any problems - just say no you want oem parts. Or buy them yourself and get a garage to fit them.
Click to expand...

Well bit of an update, they texed me this Morning saying the car ready, I rang them they said it was a loose bolt on the rear Subframe which they have tightened up and sorted, but he never said why it was loose hmmm.

As for the paint for the roof rails warranty, it's a no go he said it's due to water getting under a layer of paint and bubbling up but it's not from the metal work it's self so it's not corrosion it's just painteork problem :(
 
rhubarb4 said:
As for the paint for the roof rails warranty, it's a no go he said it's due to water getting under a layer of paint and bubbling up but it's not from the metal work it's self so it's not corrosion it's just painteork problem :(
Click to expand...

Total load of gash mate. Take it to another Audi dealership. The paint doesn't just bubble! The reason it tends to corrode in that area is apparently where the roof panel and the rear quarter panel meet as they are made from two seperate types of metal.

Another dealership wont mug you off so much.
 
I'm taking it to Tamworth Audi on Saturday to see what they say just need to think of something to say so they will take me seriously like I know what I'm on about. It's a poor excuse Wolverhampton Audi gave me. I suspect they must have had to drop or release the rear subframe to do some work somewhere, I can't see how else it would have mysteriously come undone if that is really what even happened.
 
Last edited:
rhubarb4 said:
As for the paint for the roof rails warranty, it's a no go he said it's due to water getting under a layer of paint and bubbling up but it's not from the metal work it's self so it's not corrosion it's just painteork problem :(
Click to expand...

I've got a few parts to pick up from Audi in the week so will ask at Warrington regarding an anti-corrosion test. How is paintwork problem any different to corrosion when god knows how many cars have this similar issue. Pathetic reposnse/excuse as Westle mentioned.
 
Hi all, well I picked it up tonight, the service chap couldnt explain why the rear subframe bolt was loose, he put it down to mild accident damage sometime in its life causing the subframe to be bent slightly. Just happened to be coincidense that when I took it in it suddenly came loose.

As for the paintwork he said it was definatley not corrosion, but where the 2 pannels have slight movement due to a fault in design, causing friction under the paint allowing water in which causes the blistering effect rather than it being rust from the underneath. He said sometimes Audi will do the work out of good faith if you have full Audi history, but as I didnt have full Audi service history they would not be doing it.
 
If teh car was brand new then you would get a respray simple as due to faults such as recalls on cars when they need new mechanical parts. End of the day it's manufacturer problem and it should be repaied.
 
They really are taking the ****, you just spent £2k with them on £800 worth of work, so much for good faith!
 
fingermouse said:
I didn`t have full audi service history and they did my roof rails try another dealer
Click to expand...

Typical dealer take take take, but if theres a problem they dont want to know. Im not sure what Tamworth Audi will say but I havent got my hopes up. Im not sure what to say to them, how did you go about it fingermouse.
 
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