[Karensmith]

Bought a car from Audi in August. Car was 3 and a half years old so no warranty. Part failed in January, and cost £140 to fix at local garage. In February they tell me the part that broke should have been changed in a recall anyway. Audi refuse to pay the £140 bill because it wasn't repaired at Audi.

I understand their point, but.... At the time I had no reason to believe they would cover the bill, so why would I go 30 miles to Audi, not 30 yards to local garage? Plus, why didn't they take care of recall work when car was in their possession in August, July etc?

[Gubocang]

I reckon you have a case but speak to your solicitor, email Watchdog, or contact CAB. At the minimum they should pay for the part.

[mireOpekrhype]

I think you have a good point but in my experience, dealing with Main Dealers is a pain in the arse (Don't even get me started on my local VW dealer).

Anyway, I take it the £140 covered both parts and labour?

I'd try and compromise and ask for a refund for what you spent on parts as this would have been covered by a recall, but pay for the labour yourself as it was not done by the dealer.

They'll probably go for that.

P.S. I finally got somewhere with my local VW dealer once I'd reached a point of having to stand in the middle of the showroom and shout loudly 'Tell the Services Manager to ####ing talk to me out here, right ####ing now'.

Yes, I'd had a long day, they were messing me about and I'd had enough.

[Roneyslelry]

I think you got a case to stand on based on " why didn't they take care of recall work when car was in their possession in August, July etc" ?


They sold you a car that had a part that was recalled. What was the part that failed? Could a death be instigated from the failing part?

When you brought the car, who was the owner of the car? Audi should have known that that particular line was in for a recall, so they should have checked the service history.

I would fight this one tbh, but I know, being I work for a Dealership whom own various brands, that you get little sense until you reach line manager level, even then it can be a nightmare.

You could also say you are going to write to the local paper, they will love dirt, but local dirt can hurt a dealership

[Karensmith]

How would you recommend going about this?...

Argue my point when it has it's MOT next week.
Write to director of business/managing director at the dealer.
Email them instead.

?

My first draft is:
I purchased an 'Approved used' Audi from you in August of last year. In February this year an engine part failed, which turned out to be a coil pack. I had this replaced at the local garage. Upon booking the car in for an MOT a week or two later, I was told that the car was also due to have work done as part of a recall, which happens to be the replacing the four coil packs.
I understand that ordinarily I should have had the work done by Audi or approved garage, but in this instance I don't think I was to know it was a known issue that Audi would deal with. The main point though, is why wasn't this recall work carried out while it was in your possession in July, August etc last year?
"Our highly-qualified technicians subject all Approved Used Audis to a comprehensive series of stringent tests and inspections"
Are none of these tests to check for recalls? This may sound extreme, but what if it a safety issue recall that hadn't been carried out and it resulted in me being injured etc?
I'm pretty certain the only reason I've been left with a £143 bill is because work that should have been carried out was overlooked, and so I believe it's only right that one way or another Audi should pay for this work, or at least contribute.

[feqlmwtuqx]

While I would have expected the garage to have done the repair/replacement and been refunded by Audi, that doesn't seem to be the way things work.
As you bought it from an Audi dealer, second hand or not, I would expect there would be a requirement in the UK for things to be of "Merchantable Quality", ie, fit for use* - that the Audi dealer sold a vehicle with a known fault that they didn't remedy, as directed by their parent company, I would expect you to have excellent grounds for claiming a refund from them for the repair as their negligence made it neccessary!
However, as over a year has passed, you may just have to lump it.
I don't know about the UK cars, but down here the VAG cars are getting a reputation for unreliability and expensive repairs.

[uncoosesoge]

Bought a car from Audi in August. Car was 3 and a half years old so no warranty. Part failed in January, and cost £140 to fix at local garage. In February they tell me the part that broke should have been changed in a recall anyway. Audi refuse to pay the £140 bill because it wasn't repaired at Audi.

I understand their point, but.... At the time I had no reason to believe they would cover the bill, so why would I go 30 miles to Audi, not 30 yards to local garage? Plus, why didn't they take care of recall work when car was in their possession in August, July etc?

n/m.. didn't read far enough.

Sorry.
----

Okay, so it is a Coil Pack. Are you sure that if you phoned AUDI for repair that this would be on their costs?
Secondly, don't type hypothetical questions in your reply e-mail as written here: This may sound extreme, but what if it a safety issue recall that hadn't been carried out and it resulted in me being injured etc?

[Biradallo]

When you say "Recall" was it a VOSA enforced compulsary recall or just a recall Audi decided to do off their own backs?
If it was VOSA backed then that is usually a dangerous fault and you would have a very good argument that it should have been done.
If it was a recall that Audi decided to do off their own back it maybe more difficult.

[Roneyslelry]

How would you recommend going about this?...

Argue my point when it has it's MOT next week.
Write to director of business/managing director at the dealer.
Email them instead.

?

My first draft is:

Right.....

I've spoken to one of our very nice Dealer principles about this. We don't own an Audi, but we do own a couple of BMW Franchise's so make of this what you will.

His attitude is this. They should have mentioned this at time of purchase as they should of checked the car, for recall parts, they would have been aware of this as an approved dealer.

He suggests going over all your paperwork to see if this was mentioned. If there is proof that there is no written evidence of this, verbal can't be proved unless they monitor calls etc, then it was really down to them to notify you. Which in this case they didn't.

The only factor against you is really having the parts installed by a non authorized dealer. Now a good kicker is if these are genuine parts, in which case it should be np really. If they are pattern parts, then this can put a hurdle in the DP decision.

He suggests, in this case, no one below the Dealer principle will make this call. Either write to him, or ask for an arrangement of a telephone conversation with him and explain the matters.

His attitude is if it were him, if its the Coil pack then you could have potentially been stranded if the car wouldnt start, so he would honor the £140, as realistically it shouldn't have gone out without the recall parts changed, and as duty of care for a customer.

Just ask to have a chat with the DP or write him a letter/ask for this email address. if they are a bit dodgy about giving that out, which they shouldn't, you can speak to Audi directly and ask them for that dealerships DP contact details.

[Karensmith]

Thanks for that, you've been very helpful.

[Roneyslelry]

No problem

[soprofaxelbis]

thats what you get for owning a shite german car !!!

[feqlmwtuqx]

thats what you get for owning a shite german car !!!

Wasn't it you that owns a BMW?

[provigil]

Wasn't it you that owns a BMW?

Yeh, but he seems to like criticising people for making the same mistakes he has.

[Karensmith]

It wasn't a mistake! He's only having a laugh anyway.

[provigil]

It wasn't a mistake! He's only having a laugh anyway.

I know, I was just winding him up.

[Zwnkkvle]

Was the Audi a "certified" car? A used car is a Used car. However, if a car has been "certified" by a manufactuer then they were suppose to check the car for recall parts and perform all recall repairs regardless of the said part not being broken at the time. There's a recall for a known manufacturer defect and they are required to fix it.

So you only had 1 coil pack fail?

Well guess what, if the recal was for 4 coil packs then Audi is still responsible for performing the recall service as you have 3 coil packs left that fall under the recall.

As others have said though, you are probably out the labor charge unless it was an Audi certified shop that performed the repair. If so, then the shop can charge the labor and parts to Audi.

[feqlmwtuqx]

I know, I was just winding him up.

So was I - then I remembered my Opel is German, as is my sisters Audi, my niece's VW and the bro-in-law's BMW (which is a REAL POS, btw!)

[Karensmith]

Was the Audi a "certified" car? A used car is a Used car. However, if a car has been "certified" by a manufactuer then they were suppose to check the car for recall parts and perform all recall repairs regardless of the said part not being broken at the time. There's a recall for a known manufacturer defect and they are required to fix it.

So you only had 1 coil pack fail?

Well guess what, if the recal was for 4 coil packs then Audi is still responsible for performing the recall service as you have 3 coil packs left that fall under the recall.

As others have said though, you are probably out the labor charge unless it was an Audi certified shop that performed the repair. If so, then the shop can charge the labor and parts to Audi.

I have a kind of inspection report that states the car was checked for recall's, so I'm going to wait and see that it definitely hasn't had that recall done. They're really at fault if it hasn't.

[Roneyslelry]

As others have said though, you are probably out the labor charge unless it was an Audi certified shop that performed the repair. If so, then the shop can charge the labor and parts to Audi.

If it was their negligence that posed a cost to Kyros, it would be quite realistic that the DP may cover those costs as duty of car/goodwill, or in English, sweep under the carpet.