£10k gbox bill on 4yr old Audi. Was it ever fit for purpose?
Discussion
funkyrobot said:
I bought a blu-ray player from Argos. It failed at around 10 months old. I went to Argos and they gave me a free replacement, which happened to be the next model up.
Argos are just as good as Apple in my book.
If I were paying a premium for something like an Apple product, I'd expect that level of service.
Thing is, a blu-ray player sits stationary and is in a generally warm and dry environment. We expose our phones to all sorts of wear and tear that cannot be compared to a household appliance. Apple products aren't really a premium any more, they were years ago, definitely. But these days, the flagship android phones are just as expensive as iPhones. Most of them are made from the same components anyway.Argos are just as good as Apple in my book.
If I were paying a premium for something like an Apple product, I'd expect that level of service.
Jonno02 said:
The OH's 1 year old iphone 6(something) button on the side (volume I think) felt a little spongey and wasn't clicking like her friends one. We walked into an Apple shop, told them the problem and they opened a brand new sealed box for her, transferred her data and wiped her old phone without so much as a complaint.
You might not like them, but that's damn good customer service.
Yet had two iPhone fail with well known problems. Had to make an appointment and then do a 90 mile round trip to an Apple shop where they rebuffed both and said buy refurb phones. You might not like them, but that's damn good customer service.
Apparently sometimes they'll do this and then, right as the last moment as you're about to pay, they waive the charge - how random is that?
briang9 said:
giggity said:
Update OP?
Audi auto boxes are chocolate s
t.
really? I have 126k on mine, and a mate has nearly 180k on his, the mistake most people make is believing that they are sealed for life, get them serviced and ...well you probably won't understand anyway...Audi auto boxes are chocolate s
t.t. Which of course they aren't, but ignorant people will be ignorant people.xjay1337 said:
deadscoob said:
405, you are spouting some bks.
If people were to believe you, every VAG car would have some issue as soon as its out of warranty, if not before.
What data exactly are you basing your comments?
I've owned 3 VW's, all modified, all over 100k, never been let down by any of them. Aside from when a clutch pipe let go on my Scirocco but with my upgraded clutch what can you expect.ks.If people were to believe you, every VAG car would have some issue as soon as its out of warranty, if not before.
What data exactly are you basing your comments?
Quite. There are 1000s of people like you who've had an easy life running German cars, but you will never convince the naysayers and haters.
SuperchargedVR6 said:
briang9 said:
giggity said:
Update OP?
Audi auto boxes are chocolate st.
really? I have 126k on mine, and a mate has nearly 180k on his, the mistake most people make is believing that they are sealed for life, get them serviced and ...well you probably won't understand anyway...Audi auto boxes are chocolate s
t.t. Which of course they aren't, but ignorant people will be ignorant people.No not just ZF. Multitronic CVT - made by LUK, but ignorant people will be ignorant people.
Their manual boxes are also s
t, see DUU box issues - dog st), There is plenty of reliability issues with VAG / Audi only have to look at the oil consumption issues too.
Edited by giggity on Friday 14th April 02:47
Sheepshanks said:
Jonno02 said:
The OH's 1 year old iphone 6(something) button on the side (volume I think) felt a little spongey and wasn't clicking like her friends one. We walked into an Apple shop, told them the problem and they opened a brand new sealed box for her, transferred her data and wiped her old phone without so much as a complaint.
You might not like them, but that's damn good customer service.
Yet had two iPhone fail with well known problems. Had to make an appointment and then do a 90 mile round trip to an Apple shop where they rebuffed both and said buy refurb phones. You might not like them, but that's damn good customer service.
Apparently sometimes they'll do this and then, right as the last moment as you're about to pay, they waive the charge - how random is that?
About 15 years ago a friend moved to Audi as a senior tech. He was tired of newish cars in bits and felt the brand had a good quality of engineering. The only dealership in a fairly big city there wasn't enough warranty work to keep one person employed full time.
Fast forward to now and they have warranty work coming out of their ears, granted this will be in part due to Audi selling more cars but what he sees is poor engineering. He's lost count of how many engines he's replaced or renewed due to the oil consumption issues. Multitronic boxes are known as "multichronic". Newer DSG boxes apparently aren't the best either. Look at the cam tensioner issues on golfs from a few years ago. They are still replacing coilpacks under warranty from that whole fuss a few years ago! Fun with updating deisels for the emissions farce and then dealing with unhappy customers is ongoing too.
He often gets lumbered with odd electrical problems - waterlogged ECUs are more common than you'd expect. Poorly terminated wiring on new cars as well. He had one new car that was found to have every earth point on one side of the car loose from factory.
There has been cost cutting - roof grab handles secured with plastic clips instead of screws for example. His issue with this is when he needs to drop the headlining to fix aerial wiring there is no way to remove the plastic clip, other than prise them out with a screw driver, makes it difficult to put the car back as it was.
He thinks that the diesel scandal is provoking more cost cutting too. Every time we catch up he has a tale of woe which is the latest problem.
He said recently that ultimately the product fails his expectations from an engineering viewpoint, which was one of the main reasons for going there in the first place.
They may not be significantly worse than your Fords, Vauxhalls etc but they don't appear to be much better.
Fast forward to now and they have warranty work coming out of their ears, granted this will be in part due to Audi selling more cars but what he sees is poor engineering. He's lost count of how many engines he's replaced or renewed due to the oil consumption issues. Multitronic boxes are known as "multichronic". Newer DSG boxes apparently aren't the best either. Look at the cam tensioner issues on golfs from a few years ago. They are still replacing coilpacks under warranty from that whole fuss a few years ago! Fun with updating deisels for the emissions farce and then dealing with unhappy customers is ongoing too.
He often gets lumbered with odd electrical problems - waterlogged ECUs are more common than you'd expect. Poorly terminated wiring on new cars as well. He had one new car that was found to have every earth point on one side of the car loose from factory.
There has been cost cutting - roof grab handles secured with plastic clips instead of screws for example. His issue with this is when he needs to drop the headlining to fix aerial wiring there is no way to remove the plastic clip, other than prise them out with a screw driver, makes it difficult to put the car back as it was.
He thinks that the diesel scandal is provoking more cost cutting too. Every time we catch up he has a tale of woe which is the latest problem.
He said recently that ultimately the product fails his expectations from an engineering viewpoint, which was one of the main reasons for going there in the first place.
They may not be significantly worse than your Fords, Vauxhalls etc but they don't appear to be much better.
Alucidnation said:
Wow,
Where did he get that information from?
I guess he must be quite high up in the company.
I'm guessing head of engineering, or at the very least a member of the test team. Where did he get that information from?
I guess he must be quite high up in the company.
You don't just walk into a job "Looking for mistakes"
Edited by 98elise on Friday 14th April 07:25
Crafty_ said:
About 15 years ago a friend moved to Audi as a senior tech. He was tired of newish cars in bits and felt the brand had a good quality of engineering. The only dealership in a fairly big city there wasn't enough warranty work to keep one person employed full time.
Fast forward to now and they have warranty work coming out of their ears, granted this will be in part due to Audi selling more cars but what he sees is poor engineering. He's lost count of how many engines he's replaced or renewed due to the oil consumption issues. Multitronic boxes are known as "multichronic". Newer DSG boxes apparently aren't the best either. Look at the cam tensioner issues on golfs from a few years ago. They are still replacing coilpacks under warranty from that whole fuss a few years ago! Fun with updating deisels for the emissions farce and then dealing with unhappy customers is ongoing too.
He often gets lumbered with odd electrical problems - waterlogged ECUs are more common than you'd expect. Poorly terminated wiring on new cars as well. He had one new car that was found to have every earth point on one side of the car loose from factory.
There has been cost cutting - roof grab handles secured with plastic clips instead of screws for example. His issue with this is when he needs to drop the headlining to fix aerial wiring there is no way to remove the plastic clip, other than prise them out with a screw driver, makes it difficult to put the car back as it was.
He thinks that the diesel scandal is provoking more cost cutting too. Every time we catch up he has a tale of woe which is the latest problem.
He said recently that ultimately the product fails his expectations from an engineering viewpoint, which was one of the main reasons for going there in the first place.
They may not be significantly worse than your Fords, Vauxhalls etc but they don't appear to be much better.
That last quote sums it up for me I agree they're probably no worse than the Ford/Vauxhall/Renault etc but they COST a lot more (if spec'd to the same level) & are no better.Fast forward to now and they have warranty work coming out of their ears, granted this will be in part due to Audi selling more cars but what he sees is poor engineering. He's lost count of how many engines he's replaced or renewed due to the oil consumption issues. Multitronic boxes are known as "multichronic". Newer DSG boxes apparently aren't the best either. Look at the cam tensioner issues on golfs from a few years ago. They are still replacing coilpacks under warranty from that whole fuss a few years ago! Fun with updating deisels for the emissions farce and then dealing with unhappy customers is ongoing too.
He often gets lumbered with odd electrical problems - waterlogged ECUs are more common than you'd expect. Poorly terminated wiring on new cars as well. He had one new car that was found to have every earth point on one side of the car loose from factory.
There has been cost cutting - roof grab handles secured with plastic clips instead of screws for example. His issue with this is when he needs to drop the headlining to fix aerial wiring there is no way to remove the plastic clip, other than prise them out with a screw driver, makes it difficult to put the car back as it was.
He thinks that the diesel scandal is provoking more cost cutting too. Every time we catch up he has a tale of woe which is the latest problem.
He said recently that ultimately the product fails his expectations from an engineering viewpoint, which was one of the main reasons for going there in the first place.
They may not be significantly worse than your Fords, Vauxhalls etc but they don't appear to be much better.
At the end of the day I'd say this is down to cost cutting, the diesel scandal wasn't even in the wind when the CVT issues coil packs started creeping out of the woodwork, remember their main priority is market share & the dividend for their shareholders they know a lot of people have become badge snobs & will walk straight past the Ford dealership as image counts.
He was told some years ago that Audi's mission was "To beat BMW", the caveat he adds is "at all costs" because whilst they sell a boatload of cars he doesn't think the product is any better for it, quite the opposite.
I think Audi are a lot like Apple really, they sell the image more than the product. The number one expression from customers is "I don't expect that of an Audi" when some problem or other arises, that pops up for anything from consumables wearing out to a warranty job to an out of warranty bill.
Ultimately its just a car and problems do happen but the customers have been sold more than that, which ends up in disappointment.
I think Audi are a lot like Apple really, they sell the image more than the product. The number one expression from customers is "I don't expect that of an Audi" when some problem or other arises, that pops up for anything from consumables wearing out to a warranty job to an out of warranty bill.
Ultimately its just a car and problems do happen but the customers have been sold more than that, which ends up in disappointment.
405dogvan said:
I'll tell you but as you've decided I'm talking bks what's the point - you'll just continue being ignorant and rude I'm sure?
Of course not every car fails 2 mins out-of-warranty BUT I genuinely believe (based on spending half my working life staring at broken cars and talking to dealers/owners) that we're going backwards in terms of how long a car can be economically used and the cost of maintaining some cars is getting out-of-control.
Manuf. focus is on meeting Govt standards (worldwide), offering toys and getting new lease/PCP prices to the absolute rock bottom. What happens to cars once their initial ownership is over is of less concern and what happens to cars that their dealers aren't even interested in (which can be as young as 5-years with some dealers) is really not a priority.
People who have problems with 'older cars' do not deter people buying new cars "because they're new". Hell, I've met people who had bad experiences used and so bought THE SAME CAR new instead!!
I'm not convinced that many manufs really cared that their cars lasted 20 years - at least not anytime in the last few decades - but I'm thinking now that 10-years is ambitious for some modern cars and the local scrapyard has plenty of cars FAR younger than that...
and no, I have no idea what they think will happen to the middle-ground of cars 'too old to be new and too new to be cheap' either...
I also spend my time sucking teeth looking at broken cars, and I think every word of this is true.ks what's the point - you'll just continue being ignorant and rude I'm sure? Of course not every car fails 2 mins out-of-warranty BUT I genuinely believe (based on spending half my working life staring at broken cars and talking to dealers/owners) that we're going backwards in terms of how long a car can be economically used and the cost of maintaining some cars is getting out-of-control.
Manuf. focus is on meeting Govt standards (worldwide), offering toys and getting new lease/PCP prices to the absolute rock bottom. What happens to cars once their initial ownership is over is of less concern and what happens to cars that their dealers aren't even interested in (which can be as young as 5-years with some dealers) is really not a priority.
People who have problems with 'older cars' do not deter people buying new cars "because they're new". Hell, I've met people who had bad experiences used and so bought THE SAME CAR new instead!!
I'm not convinced that many manufs really cared that their cars lasted 20 years - at least not anytime in the last few decades - but I'm thinking now that 10-years is ambitious for some modern cars and the local scrapyard has plenty of cars FAR younger than that...
and no, I have no idea what they think will happen to the middle-ground of cars 'too old to be new and too new to be cheap' either...
Monkeylegend said:
DanSkoda said:
Work for Audi. I've got a Renault, missus has a Ford.
In our workshop less than 50% of the techs own VW group cars. Read into that what you will!
They don't pay you enough.In our workshop less than 50% of the techs own VW group cars. Read into that what you will!
I own a Ford and the materials it's built from are far inferior to my previous Audis. Is the Ford more reliable? Time will tell. Is it better built? Nope, shocking plastic qualities and the metal panels flex when cleaning where the Audi felt bullet proof.
djc206 said:
I own a Ford and the materials it's built from are far inferior to my previous Audis. Is the Ford more reliable? Time will tell. Is it better built? Nope, shocking plastic qualities and the metal panels flex when cleaning where the Audi felt bullet proof.
That's just it thought isn't it. If you put the money into the bits the customers feels you have to save elsewhere on the metal oily bits which go round and round they don't see. Audi are very good at making cars which feel bulletproof but that doesn't mean they are necessarily well engineered, reliable or last any longer on the bits which actually make the car go.Personally, I'd take a slightly iffy bit of dashboard plastic and have an oil pump properly engineered which didn't round off all the edges on its drive at 50k miles and wreck the engine (as many owners of a 2.0 TDI balancer shaft equipped Audi know all too well....)
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff