Posted in TT forum,but your advice appreciated too

[Amchlolor]

MD's wife's TT is an 01 plate.
Only 36000 miles though.
They've just given him/her an estimate for anti-roll bars and bushes (£240) and a new timing belt (£350).

1/ should it need these at that age/mileage ?
2/ she has only done about 7000 miles since she bought it from that very dealer,so why the hell should she pay for work that was probably required whern they bought the damned thing ?!?

Any thoughts/advice ?

 

[co55ie]

bushes should laster longer than 36,000 miles but as the car is 5 years old the bushes well may have perished / gone hard etc.

So I guess it could be putdown to wear and tear. I cant see why anti roll bars would need replacing though .

 

[Amchlolor]

Timing belt though ?
The service schedule says it shouldn't need one until 115000 miles !

 

[solihul]

Took my car in for a service a couple of weeks ago, dealer noticed anti roll bar and bushes needed replacing - carried the work out under warranty. Told me that it was a common fault for the anti roll bar to need replacing on the S3 something to do with the sleeves. my cars a 2002 with 40K on the clock.

 

[god_thats_quick]

might have been a better idea to post this in the right forum (older A3) but yes they both probably need doing, the belt is probably something like 5 years / 60-80,000 miles and the ARB / bushes is a common very irritating fault with most A3/S3 cars and it's not a cheap on to fix if you need a new ARB (I've had quotes for a lot more than £240) I take it that's an independant dealer?

 

[dickys3]

As GTQ says, the ARB bushes and the actual ARB's cracking are common problems.

As for the cambelt, its up to you but there have been a few that have failed at low mileage so maybe its worth doing to be on the safe side.

 

[Covenant]

..and yes, the ARB probably did need doing, but there's a world of difference between MOT for something a dealer is gonna sell and MOT for a customer.

You can usually bodge the ARB if its just the bush mountings to squeeze a pass, but it will definitely fail the following year.

Always get an AA/RAC inspection on a car of that age - you can usually puch the dealer into rectifying advisory stuff to clinch the deal.

 

[Amchlolor]

might have been a better idea to post this in the right forum (older A3) but yes they both probably need doing, the belt is probably something like 5 years / 60-80,000 miles and the ARB / bushes is a common very irritating fault with most A3/S3 cars and it's not a cheap on to fix if you need a new ARB (I've had quotes for a lot more than £240) I take it that's an independant dealer?

Or it might have been an idea for you to read the title,in which I clearly state I have also posted it in the TT forum,as the car concerned is a TT...

;-)

 

[cdb2]

Send an email to Audi Customer Services re the Timing Belt to get a definitive answer and present the answer if necessary to the dealer.

 

[dickys3]

Or it might have been an idea for you to read the title,in which I clearly state I have also posted it in the TT forum,as the car concerned is a TT...

;-)

I think what GDQ was trying to say was it would have been better posting this in the A3/S3 Forum (8L) as the TT is the same as the S3...

 

[auroan]

The timing belt replacement isn't just fixed to a mileage, it's also age dependent. My 03 plate Bora TDI has only done 32K but it'll need the timing belt doing next year as it'll be 4 years old (the service says 4 yrs or xxK mileage)

 

[Amchlolor]

The timing belt replacement isn't just fixed to a mileage, it's also age dependent. My 03 plate Bora TDI has only done 32K but it'll need the timing belt doing next year as it'll be 4 years old (the service says 4 yrs or xxK mileage)

No mention of age in the TT handbook,only mileage.

 

[madvw]

have you asked them why they recommended the changing of the timing belt?

It may be because they have noticed cracks.. However, if they say that its because its at its interval, show them two fingers.

 

[Amchlolor]

I'm waiting for my MD to phone and create merry hell.
I don't know if they are claiming interval or excessive wear,all I know is that they want to charge him £600 and I want to help him fight it.

IF they claim excessive wear,surely this wear would have been present when he bought the car from them,only 7000 miles ago ?
Same with the ARB's.

From perfect to worn in 7000 miles ?
Nah,they're at it.

It would appear that an Audi employee's name badge is the modern equivalent of **** Turpin's mask.

 

[Covenant]

From perfect to worn in 7000 miles ?

One could argue that in reality its "acceptable" to "worn" in 7000miles.

No way any dealer would replace something not yet worn out before a sale unless you negotiate it - more ££ spent on the car comes straight off the bottom line.
I used to work for Land Rover - seen many cars go out knowing full well from experience that shock bushes or something similar would fail the following year's MoT. That doesn't mean that it wasn't acceptable and legal at the point of sale.
Remember this is an 01 plate car we're talking about, not a 12month "one-lady-owner-who-was-a-granny-who-used-it-to-pop-to-the-shops" car. 4-5 years is exactly the sort of time car maintnenance costs increase due to age.

Caveat emptor when buying a car from ANYONE.

One other thing to remember is that main dealers DO have reputation of a kind to uphold - if they didn't advise replacement and you had an accident in which the parts were contributory then THEY would be liable. Main dealers tend to err on the side of caution and "over-repair" in this scenario.

 

[god_thats_quick]

Or it might have been an idea for you to read the title,in which I clearly state I have also posted it in the TT forum,as the car concerned is a TT...

;-)

Or as Dicky says you could have posted it in the forum with the car that actually shares the same chassis and most of it's parts, that just happens to get lots of people looking at it, but don't let me trying to help get in the way of a good moan!

You don't say how long she's had the car? but I'll tell you now there are things on S3s / TTs that wear out in a lot less than 10,000 miles in my experience! Track rods / ends and ARBs are both good examples, I've had to have my rear ARB sorted twice and the track rods and ends have gone from being new looking with no play to beyond ******** very quickly more than once.

£600 is cheap for all that work and cheap for a performance car (assuming it's a 225), tell your boss to stop being tight and realise it's a 5 year old car.