Trip to Manchester Audi

[reubs1981]

So, this was the first trip to a dealer with the A3 because it's playing up a little bit. Nothing mechanical mind, electrics. Sometimes after unlocking with the plipper, as you go to put the key in the ignition, everything goes dead. No electrical power whatsoever, almost as if the battery terminals were disconnected (I've checked, no loose connection). Happened yesterday in Sainsbury's. The manual reboot which sometimes works, locking and unlocking with the key in the driver's door, didn't reboot the system for half an hour, when it suddenly started working again.

Anyway, Manchester Audi are taking it in tomorrow to have a look at it.

First impressions of the dealer. Good customer service and very polite; a bloke on hand to see if you want tea or coffee, and then to get you to a service advisor. Very different from the grease monkeys I usually use. We'll have to see if they trace it and fix it before I give them the two thumbs up though. And I checked it should all be dealt with under warranty.

The visit also confirmed what I had long thought; being an Audi salesman is the easiest job in the world. People literally queueing up to buy cars. And nothing in the showroom was poverty spec. How about an A3 convertible like the one the guy on here had on test drive, with the 1.8 TSI engine, at £29,000 (!?). Some mug would spend it I bet. Did look good though.

They also had an Orange S3 they had just sold, and an Imola S3 ith the black optics pack on an 08 which looked incredible.

And in the car park a Sportback "RS". That's how it was badged. Black with black optics, S3 wing mirrors, 19 inch RS4s, LED strips next to blue tinted foglights. Looked the nuts. Obviously someone having a good time with mods. I might photo it if it's there tomorrow when I go for the car.

Sorry for the long post!

 

[phantom]

Anyway, Manchester Audi are taking it in tomorrow to have a look at it.

First impressions of the dealer. Good customer service and very polite; a bloke on hand to see if you want tea or coffee, and then to get you to a service advisor.

Sorry for the long post!

I was there yesterday , my wheel has started peeling ( whoever had the car before me must have had a refub at some stage ) the warrenty officer came out had a look and said " it's not a Audi warrenty job " me " well you'll will have to sort it then " all sorted booked in for next week with a curtesy car booked , the wheel fella only comes once a week.

He's great that " meeter and greater " who offers you tea and coffee isn't he? he even calls me SIR....thats saying something!

p

 

[reubs1981]

Yes, I was taken aback by the 'meet and greet'; never had it happen before. He didn't call me sir (was he trying to tell me something?) but everyone was very courteous even though I'm a young-ish looking 26 and was in t-shirt and trainers. Just the way it is supposed to be, but I'd braced myself for snobbishness.

They didn't have any courtesy cars until 4 June so i couldn't get my hands on some new Audi loveliness.

 

[phantom]

Yes, I was taken aback by the 'meet and greet'; never had it happen before. He didn't call me sir (was he trying to tell me something?) but everyone was very courteous even though I'm a young-ish looking 26 and was in t-shirt and trainers. Just the way it is supposed to be, but I'd braced myself for snobbishness.

They didn't have any courtesy cars until 4 June so i couldn't get my hands on some new Audi loveliness.

Tell him next time you want the sir treatment or you off to SmithKnightFay!

I got him to make me a brew while i went for a Cig

p

 

[Mikey]

is the guy who makes the tea/coffee a very tall bloke, dark skin? He's a proper funny guy, ive had loads of banter with him. My mate is a techy at Lancaster Audi in Manc too.

 

[reubs1981]

Yeah, tall bloke with a proper Manc accent. Maybe your tech mate will fix my wonky car!

 

[julians]

They were useless when I wanted to test drive an S3. Wouldnt assist at all despite numerous phone call, turning up in person etc. Bought from Harrogate Audi in the end, because they had a car in stock and were pleasant to deal with.

 

[arthurfuxake]

Think his name is Raff/Raef or something similar, nice guy. Pity about the rest of the place.

 

[reubs1981]

Well, I dropped it off this morning, so I'm waiting to hear from them. Hopefully they can get it sorted; got a round trip to Cardiff at the weekend and I'd like to know that whenever I come to the car the ****** thing will start!

Fingers crossed for the type of service from them; it seems like a mixed bag of responses. I suppose at any place of that size there are going to be some variables. Hope I get the decent people!

 

[phantom]

TBH i had a bit of sh*t when i was buying my car , and i was all set never to set foot in the place again ( apart from my free 1st service ) , but my issue was the past owner ( Audi uk ) had done a wheel refurb and the paints peeling.

I did go too Smith Knight Fay in Stockport first , they told me it was a dealer warrenty not Audi , so off i went.

TBH i was treated fine called sir, coffee, dealer will pick up the tab for the work , booked in next week with a courtesy car booked.

I'm happy with the place.

p

 

[s8craig]

Yep it's Raf, always makes me a brew when I go in and sneaks me a packet of biscuits.

 

[PNH80]

TBH i had a bit of sh*t when i was buying my car , and i was all set never to set foot in the place again ( apart from my free 1st service ) , but my issue was the past owner ( Audi uk ) had done a wheel refurb and the paints peeling.

I did go too Smith Knight Fay in Stockport first , they told me it was a dealer warrenty not Audi , so off i went.

TBH i was treated fine called sir, coffee, dealer will pick up the tab for the work , booked in next week with a courtesy car booked.

I'm happy with the place.

p

Funny that....My car was an ex demo only 6 months old and appears to have had a wheel 'refurb'.... or 'blown over with a can of hammerite' as it's better known. Appauling to be honest. You think it was a MKII Fiesta from a back street dealer.

 

[Imran]

Hi

This is my first post on this forum so please bear with me.

Seeing this topic i just thought i sholud shair my experiences with you guys.

I.. well my dad brought 2 cars from Audi Manchester a New B8 A4 1.8T (Lava grey) and a A3 Sprotback 1.8T DSG in spirit blue. The Sale people there as so c*** they dont even know what they are doing half the time.

When we first went there we met Raf such a nice guy he knows my dad from 10 odd years ago.

He intod us to a guy how gave us a good deal, Everything was rosey until after we paid for the car. After 3 weeks of waitng no one had phoned to let us know if the payment had cleared.

We then decied to go there our selfs and find out what was going on. to our suprise they did not even know them self if the payment had cleared and also that the sale rep we were dealing with has resigned.
After getting the car swhich are all ok we have been there hundreds of times just to get all the paper work sorted, this is after like 4 months.

We spoke to the manager and all he said was ye dont wory everything is soted you will get everything in the post. Two weeks later and after a letter we get half of the stuff.

So know we are £500 down, they wont refund the deposit we put down (which was agreed by the sales rep). we also took out GAP on both cars and they know say you only have it for the A4 and not the A3.

We are so annoyed that after all the messing around we still are back at square one.

We just dont know what to do.

Any help would the appreciated.

PS Sorry for the long story is my fist post ever.

 

[s8craig]

I know that they have gone through major staff changes over the past 3-6 months, in sales as well as service, both managers left about 6 months back and a new broom and all that.

I think only two of the sales people that I have known for the past 2 years or so are still there.

 

[reubs1981]

Raf is certainly the best thing about Mcr Audi. I have no real complaints as they've fixed the car (it scuppered itself while parked on their forecourt; had to put a power pack on it to get it going) but this was my first time in a dealership and you can tell the emphasis is on appearance rather than substance.

I took my dad with me when I went to go collect the car, and he's 'old-school' when it comes to these types of places, and he thought it unforgivable that you had to wait in a kind of holding-area before you could see the person who deals with you (and we never saw the person who had physically worked on the car). I suppose this may be different if you're in there for routine servicing and dropping the thick end of £200?

Can't comment on salespeople, but I'm no great fan of them anywhere, so doesn't surprise me that people have bad experiences.

Anyway, first and only issue with the car now seems resolved, so I'm a fairly happy bunny!

 

[Flat6]

I went to Mcr Audi for a test drive I'd arranged over the phone.. It's nearly 40 miles from where I live and when I got there they'd "lost" the car I'd arranged to drive only 2 hours earlier and didn't have another! The salesmans attitude was shocking. I'll never go back...

 

[steve184]

this is my local dealer.

Yes don't get me wrong very polite with all the bells and whistles niceties. For me tho this is all fake and rubbish. As behind the scenes they don't have a clue wht they are doing - very rarely fix something first time without any other problems like scratching ur car or whatever - id rather they got this right and spoke to me like **** in the showroom - thats far more important to me.

 

[Iggu]

My local dealer too - today I just took my S3 in for its first oil change "service". Got a coffee, a smile, a please and a thank you on arrival. Car was done, they phoned when it was ready - and it was there, washed and vacced when I went to pick it up. Couldn't fault 'em.

Until I got the bill - £277 for an oil change ....... no wonder they're smiling.

 

[phantom]

My local dealer too - today I just took my S3 in for its first oil change "service". Got a coffee, a smile, a please and a thank you on arrival. Car was done, they phoned when it was ready - and it was there, washed and vacced when I went to pick it up. Couldn't fault 'em.

Until I got the bill - £277 for an oil change ....... no wonder they're smiling.

NO WAY!!!??????!!!!!

Did you not ask them what it was for?

There must be £50 worth of parts there from GSF, the best oil known to man and a oil filter! 30mins to do it , one hour max!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p

 

[Iggu]

NO WAY!!!??????!!!!!

Did you not ask them what it was for?

There must be £50 worth of parts there from GSF, the best oil known to man and a oil filter! 30mins to do it , one hour max!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p

Got the full invoice here:

Labour - £150.40 (must be 2 hours that)
Filters - £17.90
Oil - £55 (long life oil but even so ... liquid diamonds might be cheaper)
Screws & Misc - £2.75
Some part I can't make out (no. UZGB 00A 504 "1LAUDIBRANDCAST) - £10.46.

Plus VAT - £41.39

Total - £277.90

Nearly fell off my chair. But what can you do ? Other than do it yourself and see if you can bribe an Audi technician to stamp your book for you. Robbery.

When's yours due ??

 

[phantom]

Roughly 100 days or so , i don't think , in fact i know i'm not getting mine done from Audi at that price!

Over £190 for labour and vat on a oil change! joke , with a ramp 30mins max , they take the ****.

I'll do it myself , or go to Awesome or somewhere like that!

Whats the rules on oil change/warrenty?

p

 

[Iggu]

Probably no rules - if you px it they're never bothered anyway. I didn't check in advance for a quote that was my mistake. I was genuinely expecting £90 - £100 tops. On top of my 4 new (not very good) tyres and Bluefin this is an expensive month !!

 

[phantom]

Long life oil ? is there any need for it really? we have long service intervals , but we have a mid season oil change which is working out at 8-9k , on that milage may as well put Silkolene,Motul,Fuchs super synth in instead!

p

 

[Brookie-S3]

ive just had myn serviced at wakefield audi, 1st oil change only plus had a few warranty issues.
steering wheel not straight - did it under warranty at 13500m ( 4 wheel alignement)
passenger seat rattling - all sorted

the bill £147

i know the lass on service, but i paid on my audi credit card ( you get a discount)

top service by wakefield audi, impressed

 

[Iggu]

This made me laugh. When I opened the boot a minute ago I noticed that they had left a litre bottle of this wonder oil (Castrol SLX) in the boot. Together with the bottle you get when you buy the car I must have about 3 million quid's worth - think I'll eBay it and buy an R8.

 

[Kontraband]

hehheh, they didnt leave it there, you bought it with the car!

 

[Iggu]

No they left a second - "TOGETHER with the bottle you get when you buy the car".

I've got more oil than the Saudis me !

 

[Kontraband]

OOOOoooo, so you did!! You lucky guy!! Look out for a Yank invasion soon!

 

[silentbrown]

Got the full invoice here:
Some part I can't make out (no. UZGB 00A 504 "1LAUDIBRANDCAST) - £10.46.

Couldn't resist the old thread resurrection, sorry!

"1L Audi Brand CASTrol" - that was the "free' bottle of oil you found in the boot!

(FWIW Mrs SB's 8V S3 had it's first service £180 all in )

 

[enc]

NO WAY!!!??????!!!!!

Did you not ask them what it was for?

There must be £50 worth of parts there from GSF, the best oil known to man and a oil filter! 30mins to do it , one hour max!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p

£77 for the oil change and £200 for the coffee ??

 

[lgooch]

I am off to MCR Audi in a fortnight to have my car sorted. I dealt directly with the service manager due to poor service of another local dealership. Very knowledgeable regarding my issue and seemed okay so far. Proof will be in the pudding !

 

[lgooch]

Met Raf this morning when collecting the car. Funny guy ! But can't believe they employ someone to show you to a service advisors desk and make you a brew. No wonder Audi prices are sky high !

Found the fault with my car though which Stockport couldn't find and didn't leave any of their tools under my bonnet ( inspection mirror and 1/2 socket and rachet) so can't complain so far. Only issue is I have to go through another oil test !