Audi Dealers - Time to let off steam!

[A3Monster]

Well, this has been boiling in me for the last few weeks and its time to let it all out! I am furious.

I thinks is ****** outrageous. I'm not saying all Audi dealers are like this; but I had a Ford before and had similar experiences with the main dealer.

Its a long story but I took my 51 plate A3 1.8T Sport to my nearest Audi dealer in Gloucestershire to replace the dash cluster. Never mind the trouble I had with them over that - they started sniffing around it for more work and came up with the following; what follows is their exact words and how much they wanted:

1) Cat heat shield loose/rusted. £281. (I knew there was a rattle)
2) Rear brakes binding Need new pads and discs. £350 (they have been binding for a while).
3) Rear Axle bushes 'weak' - £350

Took it to my reliable and very skillfull local garage today for its yearly service, along with the list of things that the dealer said were wrong, here's what they said/did:

1) Removed it.
2) Removed, cleaned and re-greased the brakes. Pads are fine, nothing wrong with them or the discs.
3) Nothing wrong with them - not even an advisory on an MOT.

They repalced the springs at the back as well, (why didn't the idiots at the dealer see they needed replacing!?)

So, my point is, how can they get away with trying to con people like this? I think its outrageous trying to get people to replace parts that don't need doing. You could argue my heat shield was sort of legit but you don't get any explanation from them - just a load of guff from the middle-man. He couldn't even tell me what the issue was with the Heat Shield exactly.

I had a similar experience last year when I took it to where I got it from the previous year for a service - THEY also said the rear axle bushes were on their last legs. Again, took it to my local garage where they said there was nothing wrong with them.

Are Audi dealers programmed to say 'Your rear axle bushes need replacing'?!

I feel like writing to them and asking how the pin-head wearing the overalls in the shop came to the conclusion that my bushes were knackered and I needed new rear discs AND pads because they were binding!!

Oh and they also tried to con me by saying I needed new door locks because the 'door open' screen stays on sometimes when you close the door (only after the door has been open for a long time). That problem mysteriously went away when I got home as it normally does.

Why don't they just wear Highwayman outfits and hit people over the head at the door and take their money instead of patronising them as well! Or perhaps provide a bin so people can just pop their wallets and purses into!?

They may as well because its ****** robbery and they probably con vulnerable people who believe what they say. Seriously, I don't believe this to be legitimate business when they behave like this.

Luckily I said I didn't want the work doing. The guy thought I was exasperated at 'what needed doing'; really I was just furious because I knew they were trying to rip me off!!

How can they justify this??????!!!!!

Car is great now anyway.

:sign_unfair:

 

[b16 will]

I had a similar experience recently, a family member of a friend asked me to go over a 1998 clio with 80k, fsh because it had been into renault for a safety check. I did £350 worth of work on it, work it needed, let alone the front wheel bearing that was hanging off, renault wanted £1200 and diddnt even pick up on the bearing !! Your paying for the empty ramps mate, simple.

 

[voorhees]

this is why we call them Stealers

 

[A3Monster]

Oh the fickled finger of fate. I just got emailed a web survey from Audi which I have filled in (honestly) and asked for an explanation....

It will be interesting to hear their excuses. Though I expect it will be just excuses and a case of 'no it isn't...'

 

[Fuzzy felt]

I had the misfortune of getting a golf GTI serviced at VW years ago, the car was in good condition and i expexted the minimum of fuss, how wrong was i, a phone call from their service department half way through the job and the list was a joke, they were trying to get me to agree to do about £1,200 worth of work on it. obviously the answer was no and to do the minimum to stamp the book.

Funny how it sailed through the mot with no advises for anything about a month later, never been to a main dealer since !

 

[a4quat]

I picked my S4 up from audi teesside today after a long life service and aswell as advising me for everything from air filter to tyres (not replacing most parts like air filter, spark plugs etc) they advised me on a sidelight bulb which was not working!!! why didnt they just change it???

 

[unkle]

they advised me on a sidelight bulb which was not working!!! why didnt they just change it???

Dealers can be pretty hit and miss, guess it just depends which mechanic you get that day.

I know its not an Audi garage but when my car went in to be serviced couple of weeks ago I told Listers VW in Nuneaton that one of my brakelights had gone out and asked them to change it, first they said they would do it for the price of the bulb and then in the end they just did it for free and also gave me half a bottle of engine oil, left it in the boot in one of those zip up bags. Also had the use of a courtesy car for the day no problems, I like little touches like this...

 

[yendall24]

my blood is boiling over a warranty claim going on with lancaster audi since the 15/6/09 cant say too much yet as it is still not resolved but once it is i am going to let off plenty of steam on this forum believe me

 

[NHN]

enlighten me on pm if need be, I'm intrigued yendall.

 

[Matt82]

whose to say the place you take your to for the "yearly service" was talking any sense either?

you clearly dont do the work on your car yourself so you have to beleive either one garage or the other. unless you see it with your own eyes (or someone you can trust) then youre just as clueless and because one place charged less doesnt make them better.

 

[NHN]

this is why we call them Stealers

I dont call them this anymore after 1st hand seeing what they go through with audi & what the technicians go through with audi.

my blood is boiling over a warranty claim going on with lancaster audi since the 15/6/09 cant say too much yet as it is still not resolved but once it is i am going to let off plenty of steam on this forum believe me

Jeremy.hicks@audi.co.uk & richard.starkey@audi.co.uk, send an email detailing everything thats happened so far every little crappy detail & how peed you are & see if anything happens then, explain the shocking service you've had & I'm sure something will get sorted pretty quick.

whose to say the place you take your to for the "yearly service" was talking any sense either?

you clearly dont do the work on your car yourself so you have to beleive either one garage or the other. unless you see it with your own eyes (or someone you can trust) then youre just as clueless and because one place charged less doesnt make them better.

I do 99% of my work tbh given I like to learn & get involved so at least I dont look like a dumb asss to the mechanics if I ever use anyone else & they then know they cant spin me a line, also saved me a fair few k on labour.

I doubt his local garage would have let him drive of with any major issues & I'd be more likely to believe them tbh given if there was genuine work to get out of the car they would have gone for it as they're cheaper than audi so the guy would of used his garage, so common sense prevails on this, audi unfortunately even if they see the even slightest of wear or rust etc that isnt detrimental to the car & would still last anyway they are programmed to say they need replacing, reason being if its worn it should ideally be changed even if there's 6 months in it still, its the way audi as I'd say a premium car brand work, but you also have to realise there's an awful lot of audi drivers who actually dont like to have any wear or tear on the car & any rust even if its tiny, lets be honest the badge does have some snobbery to it for alot of drivers, not me included btw but its true & I know 1st hand alot of these drivers like to know if there's anything wearing even minimalistic, so I can see the audi side of things aswell as the client side of things, they're advising you & you have the choice to have work done or not, I'd also hazard a guess his car did have some wear on these parts but his garage knew as maybe we do that it isnt a problem atm, so thats why they just left it & cleaned things up.

Look I'm no dealer lover, seriously trust me as I have no love for salesmen at audi at all & previous experiences have turned me away from using them unless its absolutely neccessary given rates & attitudes, but I've seen how they work, I know what the process is, I know my dealer very well & I do tbh have some sympathy for that dealer anyway & if you knew the rates they pay for parts then you'd futurewise keep your trap shut as I am privvy to some of this info & they make very little on this aswell, its not as clean cut as everyone thinks & it certainly opened my eyes overall since got to know them better.

In Yendalls case I just see lazy bar stewards who need to pull the finger out of zee backside as its quite pathetic tbh the service he's recieved.

But we all have to realise, they're all franchised anyway, not audi direct so its as mentioned before hit & miss given audi dont own these branches themselves, so they cant control the service etc, they just have to clear up the mistakes the dealer makes which given the numbers of cars they do work on yearly its probably much less than 1% that have any issues resulting from there work, shame though that there's even this, but as we say nobodys perfect & we as humans only highlight the bad things, do we often say how good they were on other things, not very often on this forum anyway.