Is/ should mileage be a factor in deciding about the warranty? I've been refused from listers Coventry. Part with age ( just under 12yrs) and secondly mileage 120,000. Been offered my "contribution" of £300. Does this sound about right?
Your link doesn't work, but would you be able to email the bulletin to me?
jarrodm@hotmail.co.uk
I have just met my first bit of resistance, off the bat saying Audi no longer offer a full repair but do a 70/30 good will.
I would take what you can,read this thread in its entirety and you can see that some accept and some don't for different reason.I did think it was a bit of a urine extraction but where would I check that sort of thing?
Hello all... I am taking up the gauntlet on this obviously well-known fault now. I am the proud owner of a gorgeous 2002 BAM 1.8t S3. I too, of course, noticed the bubbling along the roof rails. Here is the story so far...
HOME TOWN - Portsmouth
YEAR AND VEHICLE MODE - 2002 Audi S3
DETAILS OF RUST FOUND - Both roof rails where joining to pillars, not on the actual roof itself.
TIME TO WARRANTY CLAIM FROM FIRST NOTICING IT - 1 week
HOW LONG YOU HAD OWNED THE VEHICLE AT THIS TIME - 6 months
DEALER APPROACHED - Audi Portsmouth
OUTCOME (APPROVED, REFUSED) - Approved on 70/30 basis, I was quoted £153 to have it fixed
REASON FOR REFUSAL - "Paint defect warranty only lasts for 3 years"
DATE OF CLAIM - Sept 2012
There's the basics, but after sitting on this quote which expires in late December and doing some more reading online, I realised I have been brushed off. Reading back through all of the threads on this site and others, Audi owners were getting this fault sorted for absolutely nothing!!!! What's changed?! My 12 year Body Protection warranty is still in force! I took the car to Audi within a month or two of buying it privately for a free Health Check and to have some recall work done on the coilpacks. From their records they said even the previous owner had some work done at Audi garages and brought parts from the official network. I asked about the bubbling on the roof and they said they would send out the person that deals with warranty claims. When asked what the initial problem was, the lad said "Oh right, we see that all the time on the 8L chassis models!". So, it's pretty well known to front line staff that's for sure.
The lady came out, had a look, took some snaps and said she would send these off to Audi. Within a week I had been contacted by the local VAG repair centre in Southampton and they asked me to bring it up for some more detailed photographs. The lad that came out from there, when looking around the car, said spouting about a paint job. The guy I brought the car from said nothing of the sort, and there was no paperwork in the logbook to suggest it had any paintwork changes. There were receipts in there from day zero. He said he "wouldn't mention it" in the paperwork. How kind.
So, I received a letter that said my claim had been refused as the Paintwork warranty only lasts 3 years. I specifically said at Audi, and VAG repairs, that I wanted to claim under the BODY PROTECTION warranty.... it is corroding from the inside out. I replied to VAG and pointed this out, stating I wanted this to be reconsidered. I then received a reply from the general manager stating the following:-
âAll current Volkswagen vehicles are fully protected during manufacture against through corrosion for 12 years from the date of first registration.â The issue with your vehicle is not through corrosion , basically from the inside out . Without getting too engulfed in VW terminology the issue with your vehicle is âEdge & fold rust , â itâs at the point where the roof panel meets the side panels and as such would only be covered under the three year paint warranty which has of course expired . Audi however is aware of this problem on some models and I believe it is for that reason a 70% contribution has been offered by VW group as a good will gesture ."
I sat on this explanation for 6 weeks and it didn't sit right with me. I had read a number of forums whereby the problem appears to be faulty roof guttering, and it is the rail itself rusting from the inside causing these blisters. Is this correct? It is little wonder from just photographs that it looks this way. Why then, is it occurring on an overwhelming majority of A3/S3 8L models? This must be a design fault or manufacturing fault.
I took the initiative today, after finding an invoice of a gent who got his TT repaired under the body protection warranty in Manchester for replacing the roof guttering/rails and a repaint. I contacted Audi UK today who were excellent on the phone and will be contacted tomorrow once someone has been assigned to my case. I have been asked to provide them with the invoice copy and expressed my dissatisfaction at how someone can judge the cause of corrosion from a single set of photographs. I made the Customer Service Assistant aware that I was certain this was a roof guttering problem (again, apparently stating "rails" gets you nowhere whereas "guttering" is classed as part of the bodywork.... terminology semantics).
I will simply not be accepting being fobbed off by Audi. I adore the cars, the build quality is excellent and the engines are superb. Their customer service appears to be completely polarising, akin to a postcode lottery. Given that my entire close family are Audi customers, and some of their more prestigious models at that, I may remind them of such.
I will let you know how I get on.
Stay safe!!
SHiNK
Did they send you to harwoods in southampton.
Ive just had mine done by them. 70/30 for the roof rails, i paid £228, but i wasn,t happy as i had to have the drivers side painted 3 times and the passenger side painted 2 times, and i had to fight them to paid it the 3rd time. had to pay £150 for a paint inspection to get them to rework it, although they did pay me back.
Also due to this they painted the lower part of my doors which had what audi call zinc inclusion, and some rust spots, harwoods got audi to pay 50% and harwoods paid the other 50%.
So i cant really so to many bad things about them as the work they did on the doors and the lower quarter panels. was a total of £1100.
Just if you do get a problem with them speak to Stew (the manager) not Graham (the assistant manager).
Yea i paid £226.08 I believe, or there about, for both sides. Plus the price they quote is excluding vat as I was quoted around the £190 mark and got surprised when they said £226, just to let you know.
Im not too fussed about the price due to all the extra work I ending up having done. But now it's all done.
I would think u would be out of ur warranty by now.