How do i complain to audi about the dealer...

[Nathan_jones2002]

Basically, from the day I signed the paper and payed my deposit, my experience of buying from audi has been terrible.

The story,

We agreed a price for my part exchange and i payed my deposit and signed the papers and was told I could pick the S3 up on Saturday 29th december, 1 week after the deposit was payed. All excited I patiently waited and got Christmas out of the way. Getting even more excited, I told my insurance company I was picking the new car up on the 29th so they changed my policy over. Later that day (28th December) I receive a phone call from the salesman.

while valeting your car we have found a scratch under the side skirt and will repair it but you can't pick the car up tomorrow.

My mind starts racing, thinking someone at the dealers has had a bump in it and they are repairing it. They assured me that this wasn't the case so I agreed to pick the car up on the following Thursday (3rd jan)

bare in mind my tax for the part ex car is now out, if the original date was kept all would be fine but now I am £137.50 out of pocket.
i had to re organise insurance, very difficult when working 12 hour shifts and the new year bank holidays.

so finally sorted, I payed for 6 months tax on my part ex for the sake of two days. Getting excited again ready to pick the car up first thing in the morning, I receive a phone call at 5:30pm today.

hi nathan, I'm just ringing to let you know that your car is not ready for pick up as the body need to bake the paint to ensure the best possible finish so will now not be ready for pickup until Friday.

1. I would have preferred them to have just told me to pick the car up on Friday or even weekend.
2. To ring me the Night before supposed pick up at 5:30pm seems out of order.

this buying experience has been nothing but disappointment after being so excited. i am now thinking the job the dealer is repairing is actually more serious than they are making out.

I'm thinking of complaining to audi. How do I do this.

thanks and sorry for the rant and rambling.

 

[quattrojames]

I'd ring Audi UK and ask who you should address your complaint to:

0800 699 888

To be honest, I don't think you have too much to complain about. They found damage which they want to put right before they're happy to release the car, yes it's a pain and a disappointment, but they're not contractualy obliged to have the car ready on that date I don't believe? As per your previous post, re the VEL I'd speak to the selling dealer, explain the situation and try and blag something to cover your costs.

 

[NICK-C]

I think James is right mate, at least they are trying to put it right and I know calling at 5:30pm the day before is not good, but maybe they were hoping it would be finished and were trying to get it done so waited until the last minute.
Also surely you can claim your tax back as yours had ran out so your agreement with Audi was without tax anyway so take the disc off and claim it. You will probably lose a month's worth though so maybe if you speak to the dealer they will put some fuel in it for you to compensate?
Hope you get it Friday.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

I know what your saying... I think I'm being a bit paranoid.

should a scratch take that long to repair, are they making out that it was a small scratch when infancy it was more serious. Surely the audi approved 145 point check or whatever it is should have picked it up.



i am very glad that they aren't releasing a car that isn't perfect and that most dealers will probably try an get away with selling the at and hoping that I wouldn't notice.

its just disappointing when and you expect more out of a supposedly better car brand.

 

[quattrojames]

Paintwork takes time, whether it's a scratch or a whole panel, smaller area's don't cure quicker! Without knowing the details of the scratch it's hard to know why they didn't pick it up, but at least they have now.

Sit back and enjoy the anticipation!

 

[Spider]

The dealer won't want the tax disc so take it out when handing over
Then cash it in you only lose a month
Get to dealer to fuel car to compensate for the lost month

 

[NICK-C]

I know what your saying... I think I'm being a bit paranoid.

should a scratch take that long to repair, are they making out that it was a small scratch when infancy it was more serious. Surely the audi approved 145 point check or whatever it is should have picked it up.



i am very glad that they aren't releasing a car that isn't perfect and that most dealers will probably try an get away with selling the at and hoping that I wouldn't notice.

its just disappointing when and you expect more out of a supposedly better car brand.

I know how you are feeling, it is hard to trust anyone these days but at least they are doing something about it and I am sure you won't be disappointed the S3 is a great car. I will be sad to see mine go in a few weeks.

Get some pics up when you collect it.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Ok so the story gets better.

phone call at 6pm today.

Hi nathan,

hows your day, I answer not bad... Salesman, well I'm about to make your day a lot worse.

the paintwork is now sorted and the car looks brand new... BUT

On the way back from the body shop to get the car valetted, the speedo and rev counter wasn't working. They think the spray booth ovens have now fried the dash so I can't pick it up tomorrow. He said they are getting it on the diagnostics machine in the morning to find out exactly what's happened.

a few people are advising me to forget the car, others think someone has made a better offer and Crewe Audi are trying to put me off.

I'm really on the verge of just telling them to forget it and getting my deposit back.

 

[NICK-C]

Hmmm.... Ok mate, I must admit its beginning to sound a bit suspect now! How could they fry the dash? Leave the door or window open or fry the wires somewhere?? Sorry don't know anything about spraying but does sound a bit odd. Also for them to do that how good a job have they done on the repair?
I think now I incline to agree with the others that have said forget it.
Recently I almost bought my wife a new car and was about to pay the deposit when the garage rang and said there was an issue with the hpi check and it had a log book loan, the hpi check I did had no issues and I had the feeling he realised he offered too much for the part ex as I did manage to get a good deal. The Mrs was upset and wanted to keep checking with him if he go it sorted but I said no, it sounded like he didn't want to do the deal so we walked away and a month later got a better car and better deal elsewhere.
I may have said before, but unfortunately I have learnt you can't really trust anyone these days!

You could go to the dealer and ask to see the car to check it and also check the repair job and then decide what to do.

Good luck.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Thanks for the reply Nick

The plan now is,


See what audi say, if I'm satisfied, take Michelle's (my fiance) dad to look at the car. He is very mechanically minded and bought and sold lots of cars and he will give me an un biased opinion of the car.
If the car is good and sound to him then at least it reassures me and family.


After talking to different people ,I personally do think that the car is a good one and it is feasible that the scratch was painted and the heat may have caused problems during repair. Someone else said the dials may jave been un plugged so any milleage on the car isnt registered, maybe the car has been used for a couple of hundred miles since me payong the deposit and they have forgotten to re plug the dials. (Very naughty if that's whats happened, but again doesn't really bother me) At least then it's a simple fix.


Anyway, like I said, if it passes The father in laws scrutiny and he says its alright and looks fine then I will probably still go for it. If he finds something that he thinks is majorly wrong then that will turn my decision.


I will have warranty anyway for at least 12 months so that covers me to some degree.


The spec is exactly what I want and looking all night on autotrader there is nothing that meets the same standard as this car.


Thank you to all who have advised, helped, put me off, told me to go for it but its my mistake to make and if its the wrong one its my fault.

 

[NICK-C]

Hi Nathan,

Sounds like a good plan to me and it is good you have someone who knows what to look for.

I have been fairly lucky in respect of having new cars since I was 21 so don't really know too much what to check and when it comes to sorting my wifes car out I hate having to do the checking of the cars, haggling, paperwork, etc etc... Just hope our recent purchase is OK too!

As I said it is difficult to trust people sometimes and it could well be genuine and there is no issues, but when you are spending a lot of money you don't want any problems. Warranty does help as well though.

Let us know how it goes.


Cheers,
Nick

 

[fallmonk]

Sorry. To hear you have had such a poor service with Audi so far. Hope the car lives up to hat you want assuming it passes the father in laws tests
I would still chin the dealer about at least a tank of fuel / new set of mats etc or better yet first service free!!!!

 

[hughjass]

Sorry. To hear you have had such a poor service with Audi so far. Hope the car lives up to hat you want assuming it passes the father in laws tests
I would still chin the dealer about at least a tank of fuel / new set of mats etc or better yet first service free!!!!

^^^^
+1
You've been messed about for sure, and if they say the heat from the spray booth has fried something? Wtf.
I've never in my life heard of that happening.

What else could go wrong, usually 1 day after your warranty expires.

Get an independant check done as may be a time bomb.

Good luck
Carl

 

[johnnythepie]

Something isnt right.Frying the dash? If thats the case what else has fried.Sounds like a load of bbollx to me.Personally I think that they have someone else waiting for the car at a higher price.But I would request to see the damage report.This will be logged onto the vehicles record with Audi.Ask to see it, and if they refuse get the dealer manager involved.A bit fishy to me mate.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Been pressing audi for extras...

i have got £200 cash back for the messing about and a full tank of fuel to cover my fuel costs of going down there and back.

do the S3s not come with mats as standard, I can't remember if it had them on the test drive or not.


Im going to check the car over tomorrow morning.

i have been talking to Graeme at GNJ and he said his mate had a similar problem after being in the body shops ovens.

My way of thinking is, if its getting sorted now, it won't break later on. Plus I've got a years warranty for if it does go wrong.

 

[NICK-C]

Well they seem to be doing something to help mate so that's good and I assume you are taking the tax off your part ex too so you can claim most of that back?
Yes, my S3 had mats in.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Yeah, I'm taking the tax too...

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Been down again today and the car looked absolutely spot on.

the problem with the Dials is now fine. I think what's happened is after being in the paint booth oven, it has softened the solder which has cause a poor connection.
Ponce it had cooled and been left over night, it's all fine again.

The mrs' dad had a look at the car and said there doesn't look to be a thing wrong with it. Paintwork is now all spot on without a mark.

The only thing he did see were the rear break pads were getting a bit low.

 

[hughjass]

The heat from a spray booth won't melt solder! That's bull mate, honest.

I bet it gets hotter inside during a summers day.

If it was as hot as they imply the plastic would melt.

Get your electrics checked over independently, as you may regret it if something is bodged.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Maybe not melted it, just softened it causing a poor connection. It's got 12 months warranty so if it goes again I'll get them to sort it.

Been reading up on painting and your standard paint is baked at 45ish degrees C, stoved paints at 160-180C so this could have easily softened the solder which starts to melt at 182C. A very small amount on a circuit board just may have gone soft enough to produce a poor connection.

 

[NICK-C]

If it looks ok mate and you are happy & covered on warranty then sounds good. Are you going to have it?

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

If it looks ok mate and you are happy & covered on warranty then sounds good. Are you going to have it?

Hopefully pick it up early next week, Tuesday was mentioned but I'm not holding my breath with everything that's happened so far.

 

[marktdisport]

So the car as just fixed itself.? That's bad news it will almost happen again then ?? It won't be the spray booth at all.... It probably has not even been in a spray booth.... Most dealers just have a scratch repair bloke like dents away etc touch up things.... Do they even have a paintshop lol

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Yeah, they had a spray shop and the car was parked at the back of it.

ive been talking to GNJ about it and his mate had similar problem after the car went into the spray booth. His cars electrics totally died, car wouldn't start at all, next day, it fired up all fine.

If it happens again, I've got warranty anyway and they know about the problem. I do think they are genuine, why would they lie.

They originally said I could take the car with the scratch and take it back but I said whats the point, I'd rather just take the car when it's sorted.

They have also offered me compensation for the messing about which was good.

 

[NICK-C]

Sounds good mate, gets some pics up when you have collected it.

 

[NHN]

Never heard so much ****** in my life, a booth heat melted the solder inside the car, a closed cluster encased in a dash & other shielding materials to a degree, sorry but I solder almost everyday, if that booth had so much heat the dash itself would of started to melt, the seats, plastics etc, paintwork maybe, grills, it takes a feck load of heat directly on the solder joint to make it soft & then melt, so they're talking out of the anal.

Anyway as long as you got a warranty on these parts for 2 years as new anyway & your tax back along with some little thing for compo & inconvenience, then all good imho.

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

So, picked the car up this morning... Absolutely stunning, looks wise and drive wise. (I will get some pics soon)

I am over the moon with the car...

Apart from the late phone calls and frustrating dissapointment of not been able to pick the car up when we arranged a few times audi have been pretty good.
to be fair, I don't think they had a clue what was going on with the dials and they have said they know about the problem and if it does happen again it will be sorted under warranty.

They also offered me £200 compensation for the messing about but to be fair, I did have to fight for that.

So now I am just getting on with enjoying the car and hoping the dash doesn't fail.

 

[NICK-C]

Nice one mate, look forward to the pics. Shame it wasn't plain sailing but glad you got it sorted.

Next... remap maybe? I had mine put back to standard at the weekend before it goes back to the lease co. and I am missing the difference!

 

[Nathan_jones2002]

Nice one mate, look forward to the pics. Shame it wasn't plain sailing but glad you got it sorted.

Next... remap maybe? I had mine put back to standard at the weekend before it goes back to the lease co. and I am missing the difference!

plans are large bore milltek in feb/march and remap wont be far after I don't think...

 

[NICK-C]

Nice, you won't regret it!

 

[sweetmeister]

I found Crewe Audi to be a bunch of cowboys! I went in to try and sort out a deal on a A4 3.0tdi quattro black edition.They told me they would pick one up from Stoke Audi for me to test drive the very next morning and ring me when they had it.Im still waiting for the phone call!!
I`ve since ordered and now picked up (just today) my A4 from Cheshire Oaks Audi who couldnt do enough for me.
Audi customer service rang me a few days ago to ask about the service I had received from Crewe,so I told them exactly what I thought.