Audi say I am disloyal !

[AdeC]

Good day,
I am looking for some assistance with an issue I have with Audi UK Ltd. I own an Audi A4 1.8T ( 190bhp ), it’s on a 04 plate. The car broke down on Thursday the 4th June 2009 on the M6 Motorway. My oil pressure light came on, then went off, then came on again, after around 10 minutes of driving I heard a noise so I pulled over. I checked the oil level and it was to the maximum mark, so called the breakdown assistance who came out and recovered me and took my vehicle to Warrington Audi. I received a call on Monday 8th June from Warrington Audi to inform me that they have found the fault and that the con rod is cylinder 3 had snapped in half and collapsed cylinder 3. They are saying the only solution is to replace the full engine and the cost for me to do so is £5200. I told them to NOT go ahead with the work as I wanted to speak with Audi UK. I raised a call with Audi UK on 12th June, Audi ref number: 426999 informing them of the issue and what Warrington Audi have said regards to fixing the issue. Audi UK Contacted me on Friday 19th June and said they are NOT willing to offer any assistance in repairing the vehicle, as in their exact words " Mr Cunliffe you have shown no loyalty to Audi, by not having your car serviced with Audi" I then explained to the lady that the car had been in to Audi Warrington about 5 times for multiple issues over the last 2 years, and I must have spent £1500 + on repairs with them, all of these repairs could have been fixed at an independent garage for cheaper, but I felt that I should use Audi, of course this is not classified as loyal. The lady insisted I had shown no loyalty and also it was my fault that the engine had blown up as when the oil pressure warning light came on, I should have pulled over straight away and not drove for around 10 minutes with the warning light coming on and off. I did explain the car has a full service history and has been serviced on time every time, and just because it was not serviced at an Audi garage is irrelevant. I cannot believe that a car that is just about 5 years old, with 70,000 miles on the clock can blow up, and I am shocked as to the response I have received from Audi UK, and to be told I have not been loyal is a disgrace. I was buying a new Audi in July 2009, of course this will not be happening now, as my loyalty to Audi is no longer required.

I feel that I cannot just let this pass by, I am not a man to register complaints or such like, and this is a first for me as I feel let down and genuinely offended by comments made to me. Any help appreciated.

Ade "Disloyal" C

[Mook]

Welcome to Tyresmoke Ade

Sorry to hear of your troubles. The fact that you've not had your car serviced by a main dealer is the first hurdle. Despite all the EU regs saying you can have it serviced at any VAT registered garage and still retain the full warranty as long as OEM parts are used, this is by default the first reaction of Audi customer service.

Despite the age of the car, it's not in warranty. I think Audi are acting completely within reason to say "sorry, but no".

I think the choice of words on the part of the person you spoke to was wrong - loyalty has got nothing to do with it.

You could pursue it with them - you probably should do, but you'll need to push them in as constructive a way as possible. They don't react well to people getting p*ssed off with them or being rude.

[rottenbend]

Could you do a deal with them on a new car? You say you were thinking of buying a new car anyway. You could put your car in as part exchange. They could do the repairs at cost and move it on. They may be prepared to give you a good discount on a new one under the circumstances. Might be worth a try?

[AdeC]

I did say to them straight away that I would look to buy abother car if they take mine as part ex, repair it and sell on. But the local dealer i Warrington has said not interested as the car is an 04 so to old to sell on, they woudl jsut auction it !

I was indeed buying a new audi in July, loved my audi even though it has been in and out of the garage 5 or 6 times and now blown up, I still was goign to go ahead with a new one, but not now, the money will be spent on another marque.

Yes the car is out of warranty. But its 5 yrs old and the con rod snapped in two and blown the engine. The car had been in to audi 5 or 6 times and had all sorts of "collant" issues, the amoutn of time the collant warning comes on is unreal, had thermostats replaced, water pumps, yet the coolant light still come on and the water levels would drop. Maybe pointing to an issue with the engine head or such like, i have no idea on that one ?

Heck I didn teven get a free audi car sticker out of them

[shark_90]

Welcome to TSN Ade

Has your car been on variable or fixed servicing? As you say it has been at an independant I suspect that it may be on fixed but would be interested to know.

Unfortunately for you, your car is not under warranty and if your car was less than 6 months out of warranty then perhaps Audi would have helped towards the cost of repair. I agree that your car should not have such a catastrophic failure at 5 years old, however it is still not under warranty.

I also agree that when your oil pressure light came on you should have pulled over immediately. The 1.8T has a history of blocked oil pump pickups causing damage through oil pressure loss.

However, I'd be interested to know what their reason behind a snapped con rod is. If you were having problems with water loss then it could be a contributary factor.

You could either try to fight this with Audi UK (although on this occasion I suspect that your efforts might be fruitless IMHO) or you could get the car to an Audi specialist to get the problems sorted out at a much lower cost. Ben Williamson (technical author for Audi Driver magazine) has his own place in Burton-On-Trent called AVPerformance (AVPerformance) and if you decided not to pursue your case with Audi UK I'd strongly suggest you give him a call. I suspect you could get the car trailered to him and have it fully rebuilt for 25-30% of what Audi have quoted you.

Whatever you do, best of luck. And don't give up on the car, Audi have a blanket replacement policy when repair could cost you a heck of a lot less

[AdeC]

Originally Posted by shark_90

Welcome to TSN Ade

Has your car been on variable or fixed servicing? As you say it has been at an independant I suspect that it may be on fixed but would be interested to know.

Unfortunately for you, your car is not under warranty and if your car was less than 6 months out of warranty then perhaps Audi would have helped towards the cost of repair. I agree that your car should not have such a catastrophic failure at 5 years old, however it is still not under warranty.

I also agree that when your oil pressure light came on you should have pulled over immediately. The 1.8T has a history of blocked oil pump pickups causing damage through oil pressure loss.

However, I'd be interested to know what their reason behind a snapped con rod is. If you were having problems with water loss then it could be a contributary factor.

You could either try to fight this with Audi UK (although on this occasion I suspect that your efforts might be fruitless IMHO) or you could get the car to an Audi specialist to get the problems sorted out at a much lower cost. Ben Williamson (technical author for Audi Driver magazine) has his own place in Burton-On-Trent called AVPerformance (AVPerformance) and if you decided not to pursue your case with Audi UK I'd strongly suggest you give him a call. I suspect you could get the car trailered to him and have it fully rebuilt for 25-30% of what Audi have quoted you.

Whatever you do, best of luck. And don't give up on the car, Audi have a blanket replacement policy when repair could cost you a heck of a lot less

Thankyou for the reply. Not sure what you mean about teh servicing. I simply have all my cars repaired by my friend who owns his own garage, he used the audi parts, but charges me a tenth of the audi cost, The service book is stamped and all reciepts are kept by me. No point paying £400 for a job I can get done for £100 is there.

I understand the audi is out of warranty, but the failure is so huge that I cannot beleive any help is not coming my way, I am not asking for a new engine, I am askign for some sort of assistance with the cost. I beleive this failure to be huge, a snapped con rod and yet they wont say why it snapped, it may be a fault on teh part, a failure in the metal, I realy have no idea. The fact the car has constantly had coolant issues makes me beleive it is linked, and every single collant issue has been looked at and fixed by Audi Warrington.

I have registered this with trading standards and some motor body federation I found, and also contacted 2 local newspapers about it, to be told I am disloyal is rather shamefull, especialy when I bought the car from an audi dealer and paid for it in cash upfront, and then spent £1500 + on repairs.
Once I had an issue with the coolant light coming on, took the car in and they repaired it, this was under warranty. The same issue occured a few months later, this time my warranty had run out, but it was the exact same fault, they would not repair it untl I paid £380, they then told me "sir, if you had paid 1p towards your warranty work, thsi would have meant this work would have been done free" hahaha thanks for rubbing salt into my wound audi. Also, all the times the car has been in with them, I have hardly ever been given a courtesy car. I would say the car has been out my hands for 20 days and probably had a courtesy car for aroudn 4 of those days. "we have none avialable sir" is the common answer.

LOYALTY !

[Mook]

Ade, put the word "loyalty" to one side - don't get hung up on that word. If you want to pursue it with the media etc, then you need to be very careful about your choice of words.

Getting pissy with Audi because they said you weren't loyal won't do anything for you.

Also, the fact that you paid cash is irrelevant - anyone has to pay for a car by whatever means before they collect it. Also, spending £1500 doesn't mean much either.

[AdeC]

Originally Posted by Mook

Ade, put the word "loyalty" to one side - don't get hung up on that word. If you want to pursue it with the media etc, then you need to be very careful about your choice of words.

Getting pissy with Audi because they said you weren't loyal won't do anything for you.

Also, the fact that you paid cash is irrelevant - anyone has to pay for a car by whatever means before they collect it. Also, spending £1500 doesn't mean much either.

Sounds like you work for Audi ! What would mean something? Me buying an audi leather jacket and wear it daily along with my audi socks and underpants and shirt and tie? Me call my son Audi ? Or my daughter S-Line ? I am simply relaying my conversation I had with audi, the whole conversation was recorded to I believe. I just feel let down and think that the fact my car has suffered constantly from coolant issues somehow links into this majoy fault leaving me carless.

[shao_khan]

Audi have no concept of Loyalty, so forget what they have said. I have had a couple of audis over the years, main dealer services and when something goes wrong - Audi still treat you like some moron. I guess in this instance they just used it as an excuse, but had you have used Audi they'd have found a different one.

Best you can use now is to have the engine rebuilt by a specialist - good opportunity to have the bottom end done and a new larger turbo and lots of BHP .... sorry getting carried away.

I think you will get no where with Audi UK, so i'd now try to resolve it in the best way you can and that will not be within the Audi network as they do not employ anyone competent enough to rebuild an engine based upon my experiences.

Anyway I'll stop ranting now...... good luck.

[shao_khan]

Now I think about it - I am not sure that Audi has ever show loyalty to customers in any way, so its a bit ironic them accusing someone of disloyalty......