I have just e-mailed Jeremy Hicks and Richard Starkey at Audi UK concerning this matter.
I've copied the e-mail below. I will let everyone know as soon as i have a response.
Dear Mr Hicks / Mr Starkey,
Re: Audi 12 Year Anti-Corrosion Warranty
I am writing on behalf of the members of Audi-Sport.net, which is the largest enthusiasts' website for owners of Audi vehicles. I myself have been a member of this website for the past 5 years. I would like to make a representation on behalf of many of the owners of 8L Audi A3s who frequent this site.
I would like to bring to your attention an issue that myself and numerous other Audi owners are currently having with the implementation of the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty. My partner is the registered owner of an 8L Audi S3 (registered in July of 2000) and we recently noticed paint bubbling along the roof rails on both sides of our vehicle. Under the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty i presented this to a local dealer (Birmingham Audi) for correction of this defect. I was contacted several days later to be informed that they had been told by the cental Audi Warranty department that the "rust had been there too long" and that our warranty claim had therefore been refused. Naturally, i was surprised at this outcome as i had presented the claim as soon as the manufacturing defect was noticed, the vehicle was only 9 years old (and therefore well within the warranty period), the paint was only bubbling in small isolated areas, and there was no rust breaking through the paintwork. I HAD NOT neglected to present this and left it to rust further before doing so.
As you may be aware, this is not an isolated incident. A large number of the owners of 8L A3s who frequent Audi-sport.net have experienced exactly the same rust issue, in exactly the same location i.e. along roof rails. These owners have also presented warranty claims with local dealers. Many have had the warranty work approved and remedial work carried out. However, a significant proportion of owners have, like myself, had warranty claims refused and been given the explanation that the "rust has been there too long". A couple of months ago i decided to collate the results of warranty claims for this issue amongst the members of Audi-sport.net. You will be able to view the results of this by going to the following web address
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=74306. To summarise the results of this - so far 34 owners of Audi 8L A3s who are members of Audi-sport.net have posted details of their warranty claims for rusting roof rails. Of these:
22 are S3 owners and 12 are A3 owners;
All of these cars are less than 12 years old and most are less than 10 years old - All are therefore within the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty period;
All have signs of corrosion along the roof rails, in the same postion;
15 have had these claims approved and remedial work to address the manufacturing defect carried out under warranty;
18 have had claims refused; 1 is pending;
Of the 18 refused 14 were justified on the basis that the rust has 'been there too long' as detailed above.
Of course members of audi-sport.net who have had warranty claims refused are probably more likely to have posted details of their claims in this thread. We are not claiming that over 50% of submitted warranty claims are being rejected. However, a number of things are clear from this:
(1) There is a manufacturing defect with the roof rails of 8L A3s. As well as the owners detailed above many other members of audi-sport and other enthusiast internet forums have experienced rust in exaclty the same position on 8L A3s. Anecdotally, members of audi-sport.net have also been told that audi approved body shops are well aware of this defect and have guidelines for remedying the fault. Of course we are unable to verify this. Most dealers also seem to be aware of this fault through discussion with them, indicating that many 8L A3 owners have made warranty claims for this very issue, not just members of audi-sport.net.
(2) A significant number of owners have had warranty claims refused and been given the explanation that the "rust has been there too long". The vehicles in question are all covered by the Audi 12 year anti-corrosion warranty.
(3) Most of the owners have presented their warranty claims as soon as they have noticed early signs of rusting from this manufacturing defect. This is not a case of neglect on the part of owners. Additionally, owners with seemingly similar signs of rusting (verifiable through photographs taken by owners at the time of claim submission) have not had consistent outcomes. Some have had remedial work approved, some have been refused.
(4) Audi UK customer service are unable to bring a satisfactory resolution to this issue for individual claimants.
On behalf of the members of audi-sport.net i would like to ask you to examine this issue and comment on the refusal of seemingly valid warranty claims. We are all Audi enthusiasts, and mostly value the experience of owning Audi vehicles. However, of course the continuing relationship between a manufacturer and a customer is dependent on aftercare post purchase and the honouring of terms (including warranty terms) under which vehicles are purchased. In most respects, Audi seem to achieve this and the customer experience is a good one BUT in this case many owners of audi vehicles are feeling let down, and are being put off the brand.
I am continuing to collate details of warranty claims, including the personal details of those who have claimed. In the near future, if there is not a satisfactory resolution of this issue i on behalf of these owners intend to notify this matter to the relevant authorities (e.g. trading standards), and if necessary to the media.
Of course before taking any further steps the members of audi-sport.net wanted to give Audi UK the opportunity to comment to us on this issue, and we hope to indicate how this breakdown in customer service will be rectified.
Of course i would be happy to discuss this issue on behalf of the other owners concerned.
With kind regards,
idiots
....
![[Dave B]](/xf/data/avatars/s/0/100.jpg?1478806902){kind=avatar}
