A4 Tdi oil pump chain woes
Discussion
Aaarrgghh!
Just booked my car (2005 A4 2.0L Tdi manual) in for it's first service at my local independent, and he is saying that there is a grinding noise coming from the engine which on investigation is a worn oil pump and balancer shaft drive chain. Questions are as follows:
1-I checked with Audi and they are not aware of any such problem existing (although the web seems to throw up similar Passat issues on what I believe is the same engine), altough I might not really be typing the right thing into Google or PH search. The indy says you can't buy a VAG chain and it's now a gear system as a replacment. Is this a known issue?
2-On tickover, I can feel (through the seat, not hear) something like a "misfire", unlikely on a diesel obviously! As soon as the car is revving, it's fine, but this occasional judder is noticebale, and something I never felt on a Bora PD150 that I had previously. Could this balancer issue be responsible?
3-The Audi parts are a bit "bend over sir" and converts the engine from a chain drive to a geared drive system. My indy is going to see if German & Swedish or similar do a replacement chain, or is this a false economy and I should just, well, bend over and get the geaer conversion fitted?
Thanks
New and gutted Audi owner :-(
Just booked my car (2005 A4 2.0L Tdi manual) in for it's first service at my local independent, and he is saying that there is a grinding noise coming from the engine which on investigation is a worn oil pump and balancer shaft drive chain. Questions are as follows:
1-I checked with Audi and they are not aware of any such problem existing (although the web seems to throw up similar Passat issues on what I believe is the same engine), altough I might not really be typing the right thing into Google or PH search. The indy says you can't buy a VAG chain and it's now a gear system as a replacment. Is this a known issue?
2-On tickover, I can feel (through the seat, not hear) something like a "misfire", unlikely on a diesel obviously! As soon as the car is revving, it's fine, but this occasional judder is noticebale, and something I never felt on a Bora PD150 that I had previously. Could this balancer issue be responsible?
3-The Audi parts are a bit "bend over sir" and converts the engine from a chain drive to a geared drive system. My indy is going to see if German & Swedish or similar do a replacement chain, or is this a false economy and I should just, well, bend over and get the geaer conversion fitted?
Thanks
New and gutted Audi owner :-(
IF the chain didn't break yet and the upper gear isnt worn, you CAN just replace the chain and the tensioner and the oil pump drive gear(the one that bolts too the oil pump). Audi still sell them, I did one last week, and the week before, its a perfectly acceptable repair. !!HOWEVER!! if the upper gear on the end of the crankshaft has had its teeth worn or damaged by running with what will now be a misshaped chain, then its a really bad idea, unless your driving it straight to an auction.
Its a 50p plastic chain guide that breaks on the chain tensioner, causing the chain to rub on the metal plunger which very quickly destroys the chain. Not everyone hears the noise, chain breaks destroys all the gears and no oil pressure destroys the turbo, if not all the engine as well. Count yourself lucky you heard it.
BE WARNED, we have had a number of these where the gear would not come off the end of the crank, or the gear has broken up and made it impossible to remove from the crank, even had a technician injured by the exploding tool. These cars have had to have engines. Now I try one time to get if off with the Special audi puller, if it doesnt happen first time, I say it needs an engine. If you indy man hasn't done one before he wont like it much.
Found this guide with google. Advise you show it to your indy mechanic before he starts.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3419/BHW_Balance_Shaf...
That lumpy tick over is a bit of a 2.0TDI PD engine trait, nothing to do with the balancer shaft. You can improve it by having the injectors cleaned and new injector seals fitted at the same time, But most of the 140bhp A4's did it from new, so it will never go away completely.
Its a 50p plastic chain guide that breaks on the chain tensioner, causing the chain to rub on the metal plunger which very quickly destroys the chain. Not everyone hears the noise, chain breaks destroys all the gears and no oil pressure destroys the turbo, if not all the engine as well. Count yourself lucky you heard it.
BE WARNED, we have had a number of these where the gear would not come off the end of the crank, or the gear has broken up and made it impossible to remove from the crank, even had a technician injured by the exploding tool. These cars have had to have engines. Now I try one time to get if off with the Special audi puller, if it doesnt happen first time, I say it needs an engine. If you indy man hasn't done one before he wont like it much.
Found this guide with google. Advise you show it to your indy mechanic before he starts.
http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3419/BHW_Balance_Shaf...
That lumpy tick over is a bit of a 2.0TDI PD engine trait, nothing to do with the balancer shaft. You can improve it by having the injectors cleaned and new injector seals fitted at the same time, But most of the 140bhp A4's did it from new, so it will never go away completely.
Edited by Tame Technician on Thursday 8th October 18:49
TT I've only been on the VAG forum a couple of times but it does not take long to work out you know your onions!
Many thanks for passing this info on, and I will in turn pass it to my indy. I'm absolutley gutted as I've just kissed goodbye to most of the saving of buying privately but at least if it's done now, it's done.
Thanks again!
Many thanks for passing this info on, and I will in turn pass it to my indy. I'm absolutley gutted as I've just kissed goodbye to most of the saving of buying privately but at least if it's done now, it's done.
Thanks again!
IF your going for a new chain tensioner and lower gear the part numbers are
Chain - 03G 115 230
Gear - 03G 103 333 E
Tensioner - 03G 115 124 D
I took some pic of one I did this week, you can see the broken plastic guide causing the metal pluger to rub on the chain and the gears have have there teeth warn away.
This one had a short block as the gear did not come off the shaft. Block like that is £1500 ish + vat and its a big job swapping the head and other components, 15-20 hours labour.
Chain - 03G 115 230
Gear - 03G 103 333 E
Tensioner - 03G 115 124 D
I took some pic of one I did this week, you can see the broken plastic guide causing the metal pluger to rub on the chain and the gears have have there teeth warn away.
This one had a short block as the gear did not come off the shaft. Block like that is £1500 ish + vat and its a big job swapping the head and other components, 15-20 hours labour.
Edited by Tame Technician on Friday 9th October 19:46
Edited by Tame Technician on Tuesday 17th November 00:12
Edited by Tame Technician on Wednesday 3rd August 20:58
TT - very interesting post. Is there sensible (affordable!) preventative maintenance that can be done to avoid all these unpleasant outcomes?! If the root cause of all evil is a plastic wotsit, can that be replaced without undue wallet ache?
I ran a 2.0 TDi Golf for four years as a company car and it's now doing sterling work with my brother at about 60k - if there's something he could usefully do to stop the engine lunching itself in due course that would be handy to know!
I ran a 2.0 TDi Golf for four years as a company car and it's now doing sterling work with my brother at about 60k - if there's something he could usefully do to stop the engine lunching itself in due course that would be handy to know!
Regarding the plastic tensioner and preventative measures, there isnt really anything you can do.
VAG replaced the entire assemblky with a chainless setup on later cars, (see the Passat link above somewhere). Its 'technically' posible to convert the older ones, but not really a cost effective, far to exspensive to do when there is absolutly nothing wrong with the chain etc.
You could put a new tensioner on if your really worried, the ones we have done have failed between 70 and 120k. But the new bit is the same as the old bit just newer, they didnt modify the tension specifically, rather updated the entire assembly eliminating the chain and tension.
I think the most important things is, not to worry to much I dont know how many 2.0TDI's there are in the world, but if we see a few fail every other month, even if we do one a week, thats still a very small percentage.
Just be aware if it ever starts making a chain like noise from the front, might be better to have it recoved than drive it home.
VAG replaced the entire assemblky with a chainless setup on later cars, (see the Passat link above somewhere). Its 'technically' posible to convert the older ones, but not really a cost effective, far to exspensive to do when there is absolutly nothing wrong with the chain etc.
You could put a new tensioner on if your really worried, the ones we have done have failed between 70 and 120k. But the new bit is the same as the old bit just newer, they didnt modify the tension specifically, rather updated the entire assembly eliminating the chain and tension.
I think the most important things is, not to worry to much I dont know how many 2.0TDI's there are in the world, but if we see a few fail every other month, even if we do one a week, thats still a very small percentage.
Just be aware if it ever starts making a chain like noise from the front, might be better to have it recoved than drive it home.
I think I have same problem on my 2005 TDi A4, rattly engine was first thing I notices with slight grinding noise when on motorway, Note I am also due for timing belt change. Indy (A4Audi) mechanic thought I would need this conversion. He suggested trying for goodwill. I have booked in for diagnostic next Friday with official dealer but get feeling this will not get any where except a very large quote. I am told in region of £1000 for parts and £600 at least on top of this for labour.
I read the article quoted above about how to undertake the conversion. http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3419/BHW_Balance_Shaf...
I also see it lists the conversion parts. But this of for Tdi Passat, I assume they will be different for Audi. I thought I could save some cost by getting them from elsewhere, other than from dealer, Note a relative has parts business? Any thoughts on this and if so, where would I get the correct parts Nos.
I am also hoping I can just replace the chain and this 50p micky mouse design bit mentioned!!!! Then say keep car for another year then sell. I only bought it 6 months ago!!.
I assume that they only way to ascertain whether a replacement can be done is to strip it down?
If replacement is all that is required any idea on cost of parts? and labour time. Note I have to get timing belt done any way so I assume some of the time would have been required anyway?
Finally, I am trying not to drive motor, sounds like if this part failed it would right car off!!! any thoughts on this also?
I read the article quoted above about how to undertake the conversion. http://pics.tdiclub.com/data/3419/BHW_Balance_Shaf...
I also see it lists the conversion parts. But this of for Tdi Passat, I assume they will be different for Audi. I thought I could save some cost by getting them from elsewhere, other than from dealer, Note a relative has parts business? Any thoughts on this and if so, where would I get the correct parts Nos.
I am also hoping I can just replace the chain and this 50p micky mouse design bit mentioned!!!! Then say keep car for another year then sell. I only bought it 6 months ago!!.
I assume that they only way to ascertain whether a replacement can be done is to strip it down?
If replacement is all that is required any idea on cost of parts? and labour time. Note I have to get timing belt done any way so I assume some of the time would have been required anyway?
Finally, I am trying not to drive motor, sounds like if this part failed it would right car off!!! any thoughts on this also?
Edited by weggie on Thursday 3rd December 17:19
I did a bit more digging on the net, there does seem to be more issues with the Passat tdi than audi. this link has a survey and nearly 20% i.e 38 out of 160 respondents surveyed have either had complete failure ore report a noise.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=202297.
A number of horror storeys on this thread also. ( i hope i sleep tonight!!!!)
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=202297.
A number of horror storeys on this thread also. ( i hope i sleep tonight!!!!)
Edited by weggie on Sunday 15th November 20:14
Unlikely the parts will be any different between the Passat and the Audi, there basically the same. The engine code is different because thats a US spec passat and they have different emmissions regs so a few different components but basic engine is the same.
Doubt very much you would be able to source the parts else where as they are fairly new designs, engine internal components like that are often only available from the dealer. Unless you can find who makes then for VAG and get them direct, but they could well be cast at a VAG engine assembly plant in which case that wont be posible. They do make a lot of engine bits on house.
If the sproket on the end of the crank has no wear on its teeth you can replace just the chain + tensioner + oil pump drive sproket and thats it, (new cambelt at the same time obviously)
If the teeth on the sproket are damaged then you need the conversion, only whay to tell is to expose the sproket, which is sump off, cam belt off and front crankshaft oil seal housing off (5-6 hours ish)
Good luck to whoever does the conversion, that sproket is a pain to get off the crank, if it comes off at all. Not sure what the labour time is for that, we've never had much luck getting them off.
Doubt very much you would be able to source the parts else where as they are fairly new designs, engine internal components like that are often only available from the dealer. Unless you can find who makes then for VAG and get them direct, but they could well be cast at a VAG engine assembly plant in which case that wont be posible. They do make a lot of engine bits on house.
If the sproket on the end of the crank has no wear on its teeth you can replace just the chain + tensioner + oil pump drive sproket and thats it, (new cambelt at the same time obviously)
If the teeth on the sproket are damaged then you need the conversion, only whay to tell is to expose the sproket, which is sump off, cam belt off and front crankshaft oil seal housing off (5-6 hours ish)
Good luck to whoever does the conversion, that sproket is a pain to get off the crank, if it comes off at all. Not sure what the labour time is for that, we've never had much luck getting them off.
My symton is a rattly engine, I am not sure what a chain grind would sound like, but I suppose it could be the same thing. No oil light warning though. However I am too scared to drive it at present!!!!, I am booked for diagnostic with Audi on Friday and will have to drive it there!. 7 miles.
My current reseach is to get options so I can decide what to do if Audi say i have a problem.
I guess they will say they need to stip car down as you mentioned above, I need the timming belt done in any case as 76K miles so would have had to spend 350 anyway. Do guess to strip down it may be £600.
If i do have this problem, I am preying that the gear isnt worn, you CAN just replace the chain and the tensioner and the oil pump drive gear. Not sure what the cost of the replacement chain would be over an above the 600, but would hve to think this as being a bonus.
If it is worn, well, I cannot contiplte that, I am pretty skint, and job postion is not so secure. But I am sure I will not be able to afford Audi undertaing the work!
I could always get an indi to do the above work which might save a bit, but I thought perhaps Audi may give some "goodwill". The only thing I can do at moment is to see what Audi say on Friday. I will let you know.
PS thanks for the trhreead and comments it is opening my eyes and gives some intel on what may be the problem.
My current reseach is to get options so I can decide what to do if Audi say i have a problem.
I guess they will say they need to stip car down as you mentioned above, I need the timming belt done in any case as 76K miles so would have had to spend 350 anyway. Do guess to strip down it may be £600.
If i do have this problem, I am preying that the gear isnt worn, you CAN just replace the chain and the tensioner and the oil pump drive gear. Not sure what the cost of the replacement chain would be over an above the 600, but would hve to think this as being a bonus.
If it is worn, well, I cannot contiplte that, I am pretty skint, and job postion is not so secure. But I am sure I will not be able to afford Audi undertaing the work!
I could always get an indi to do the above work which might save a bit, but I thought perhaps Audi may give some "goodwill". The only thing I can do at moment is to see what Audi say on Friday. I will let you know.
PS thanks for the trhreead and comments it is opening my eyes and gives some intel on what may be the problem.
With a bit of luck, it wont be the oil pump chain at all. While we have done a few, its a very small percentage of the hudge number 2.0TDI's engines our there, given there in just about every VAG car and van of all shapes and sizes.
Did it just start making a ratle or has it always done it, does the A/C work, the A/C compressors can make a ratly noise when it fails.
The noise from the chain is quite destinctive, not really like an engine ratle, sounds just like a timing chain grind on a 6 cylinder jag actually.
Did it just start making a ratle or has it always done it, does the A/C work, the A/C compressors can make a ratly noise when it fails.
The noise from the chain is quite destinctive, not really like an engine ratle, sounds just like a timing chain grind on a 6 cylinder jag actually.
I went to local Audi dealer today, they had a good listen, even with stethoscopes, and, yes they think itis the oil pump chain. They said they do not replace the faulty part like for like as "there are no parts", so it requires a costly conversion to a positive system, this is £770 plus vat and about 10 -15 hours at 75 per hour, "and the rest I thought".
I am thinking about taking this further with Audi UK, perhaps small claims court or something, any thoughts or advice anyone???. Perhaps watchdog, the papers, motor magazines, or even the internet!!!
I asked local dealer "why is there a known problem now, and nothing has been done about it!". No real answer apart from them. "They say that there is not a huge problem with engine so need for re-call. "
So apart from what you read on the net about "a known problem", nobody is alerting the owners of current cars. It seems to me that if they no longer sell the parts to replace the chain and the tensioner and the oil pump drive gear, So you now have to spend min of 1000 on a new system, i.e "replaced the entire assembly with a chainless setup" and also pay for 15 hrs labour for the pleasure of fixing their own dsign cock up. And that is if the problem that tame technician does not occur, i.e "one car he had - had a short block as the gear did not come off the shaft. Block like that is £1500 ish + vat and its a big job swapping the head and other components, 15-20 hours labour".
"
So tell this to the hundreds or thousands of people like me in this current position!!!
very pissed off Audi owner.
I am thinking about taking this further with Audi UK, perhaps small claims court or something, any thoughts or advice anyone???. Perhaps watchdog, the papers, motor magazines, or even the internet!!!
I asked local dealer "why is there a known problem now, and nothing has been done about it!". No real answer apart from them. "They say that there is not a huge problem with engine so need for re-call. "
So apart from what you read on the net about "a known problem", nobody is alerting the owners of current cars. It seems to me that if they no longer sell the parts to replace the chain and the tensioner and the oil pump drive gear, So you now have to spend min of 1000 on a new system, i.e "replaced the entire assembly with a chainless setup" and also pay for 15 hrs labour for the pleasure of fixing their own dsign cock up. And that is if the problem that tame technician does not occur, i.e "one car he had - had a short block as the gear did not come off the shaft. Block like that is £1500 ish + vat and its a big job swapping the head and other components, 15-20 hours labour".
"
So tell this to the hundreds or thousands of people like me in this current position!!!
very pissed off Audi owner.
Chain - 03G 115 230
Gear - 03G 103 333 E
Tensioner - 03G 115 124 D
Parts do exists, You can actually go into the same dealer that says they dont and order them if you like numbers above.
No car manufacture will do anything about higher milage cars well out of waranty, this isnt Audi letting people down, this is normal stuff for cars, Jaguar BMW Volvo Audi VW etc all the same.
For example (look in the jaguar section on here if you dont believe me) Jaguar had a major problem with timing chain tensioners from 1997 to 2001 ish and many failed in the same way as the oil chain tension on the Audi, blowing up many engines or damaging many cylinder heads. Most of the problems occcured out of waranty, cars with full dealer history and less than 100,000 miles had somthing like 50% good will contribution. And the repair bills were much larger than those on the Audi 2.0TDI.
Later jaguar droped teh plastic tensioner guide and used alloy ones, which are apparently bullet proof.
I think every dealer we have done a few of these by now, as they do more there will be more chance of getting the gears off the cranks, better tooling etc. SO I wouldnt be too worried about that aspect.
I'm really sorry your in this situation, but you have to remeber the car has a 3 year waranty, after that it can break, its made of thousands of moving parts etc things do go wrong.
If you T.V with a 1 year warranty broke down when it was 2 years old would you expect teh manufacturer to fix it?
Cheapest option.
Take it to you indy, have him fit the parts at the top of the page with a new cambelt, and if the gear looks worn, sell it when its done..
And as for running to the papers, watch dog etc, you had better not be quoting me at any stage.
I dont apriciate finding my comments on other forums (where people have no idea what there talking about) as it is.
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?p=8464...
Gear - 03G 103 333 E
Tensioner - 03G 115 124 D
Parts do exists, You can actually go into the same dealer that says they dont and order them if you like numbers above.
No car manufacture will do anything about higher milage cars well out of waranty, this isnt Audi letting people down, this is normal stuff for cars, Jaguar BMW Volvo Audi VW etc all the same.
For example (look in the jaguar section on here if you dont believe me) Jaguar had a major problem with timing chain tensioners from 1997 to 2001 ish and many failed in the same way as the oil chain tension on the Audi, blowing up many engines or damaging many cylinder heads. Most of the problems occcured out of waranty, cars with full dealer history and less than 100,000 miles had somthing like 50% good will contribution. And the repair bills were much larger than those on the Audi 2.0TDI.
Later jaguar droped teh plastic tensioner guide and used alloy ones, which are apparently bullet proof.
I think every dealer we have done a few of these by now, as they do more there will be more chance of getting the gears off the cranks, better tooling etc. SO I wouldnt be too worried about that aspect.
I'm really sorry your in this situation, but you have to remeber the car has a 3 year waranty, after that it can break, its made of thousands of moving parts etc things do go wrong.
If you T.V with a 1 year warranty broke down when it was 2 years old would you expect teh manufacturer to fix it?
Cheapest option.
Take it to you indy, have him fit the parts at the top of the page with a new cambelt, and if the gear looks worn, sell it when its done..
And as for running to the papers, watch dog etc, you had better not be quoting me at any stage.
I dont apriciate finding my comments on other forums (where people have no idea what there talking about) as it is.
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?p=8464...
Thanks for the reply TT. And sorry for copying my last comment on another forum! But I did say "some one reported a car he had ". which I did not think would be too much of an issue however I apologise if I should not have put this text in another forum.
I take your point about the TV and warranty, however i don't agree to some extent. Reason. Well I am an Engineer, that is a civil engineer. If a design of one of my companies bridges was wrong, then the design company has a liability. A recent bridge near where I live was proven to have such a design problem, 10 years after construction, this had a £30M repair bill and the liability was with the designer, and their PI insurance paid for repair. I hasten to add it was not my company.
I use this example as a comparison to the situation I am in. The Question is,do Audi have a faulty design?. If they do, IMO they should contribute in some part to the future repair. They confirmed to me that they cannot put old parts back in as they cannot give warranty for this repair, probably because they know there is a design fault, therefore I think they have some responsibility to cover some of the cost of the replacement for the new system, even if my car is outwith warranty.
So assuming I get nowhere with this argument, I then have to decide what to do.
As you have elaborated, i can do the replacement, Audi tech guessed about 10 -12hours but I am not sure if this was realistic, so that would be about £700-750. They quoted a few parts to do the reaping at a cost of about £750. So about £1500 plus vat. I am tempted to go this but still concerned about the risk the block problem occurring, but if your gut feel is that there is less risk then I might go down this avenue. The indys rough guess was same value last week. Any thoughts on these costs, Audi are £70 per hour
The alternative is replace with parts already on, Not sure what this would be but i would guess £600 - £700 for perhaps only 50% of the above. But if the gear was worn, i don't think I could be deceitful and sell a dodgy motor to someone. (Unless it was back to Audi LOL!!!) Is the 600 - 700 about right do you think?
I suppose I could take the car to the indy and keep option open, if gear is not worn, go for option 2. however if it was worn, perhaps Audi have better chance in getting the gear off as they will have the correct tools to remove the bits and bobs.
Choices Choices, oh what a dilema
I think I will try to get better feel of likely costs before deciding I think so any comments would be appreciated on the above guestimates.
Any how thanks for the comments and debate, it at least is opening my eyes and i have a more info to allow me to decide what to do.
And if anyone else has any experience fighting a car company when the refuse good will , then please let me know. I may still have to try this approach if I get nowhere with good will application.
I take your point about the TV and warranty, however i don't agree to some extent. Reason. Well I am an Engineer, that is a civil engineer. If a design of one of my companies bridges was wrong, then the design company has a liability. A recent bridge near where I live was proven to have such a design problem, 10 years after construction, this had a £30M repair bill and the liability was with the designer, and their PI insurance paid for repair. I hasten to add it was not my company.
I use this example as a comparison to the situation I am in. The Question is,do Audi have a faulty design?. If they do, IMO they should contribute in some part to the future repair. They confirmed to me that they cannot put old parts back in as they cannot give warranty for this repair, probably because they know there is a design fault, therefore I think they have some responsibility to cover some of the cost of the replacement for the new system, even if my car is outwith warranty.
Way forward
The reason for this tact in this thread and the one you quoted was to see if anyone has ever been in a similar situation and made this argument and to see if they got anywhere. I was also trying to get opinion on whether there is any chance of success if I were to take it further. Assuming that Audi UK say no goodwill.So assuming I get nowhere with this argument, I then have to decide what to do.
Option 1
As you have elaborated, i can do the replacement, Audi tech guessed about 10 -12hours but I am not sure if this was realistic, so that would be about £700-750. They quoted a few parts to do the reaping at a cost of about £750. So about £1500 plus vat. I am tempted to go this but still concerned about the risk the block problem occurring, but if your gut feel is that there is less risk then I might go down this avenue. The indys rough guess was same value last week. Any thoughts on these costs, Audi are £70 per hour
Option 2
The alternative is replace with parts already on, Not sure what this would be but i would guess £600 - £700 for perhaps only 50% of the above. But if the gear was worn, i don't think I could be deceitful and sell a dodgy motor to someone. (Unless it was back to Audi LOL!!!) Is the 600 - 700 about right do you think?
Option 3
I suppose I could take the car to the indy and keep option open, if gear is not worn, go for option 2. however if it was worn, perhaps Audi have better chance in getting the gear off as they will have the correct tools to remove the bits and bobs.
Choices Choices, oh what a dilema
I think I will try to get better feel of likely costs before deciding I think so any comments would be appreciated on the above guestimates.
Goodwill
You mentioned the jaguar case, and I picked up on the 50% goodwill, if I got something from Audi then I would definitely go down this route. Yesterday, the Snr mechanic in Audi who gave a second opinion to the main mechaninc looking at the car y felt I might get something, but perhaps he saw how depressed i looked and tried to me make me feel a bit better!! From what you have said, I think you are saying that they probably will not give any "good will"? I hope you are wrong!!!! or Christmas is going to be fairly bleak!!!!!.Any how thanks for the comments and debate, it at least is opening my eyes and i have a more info to allow me to decide what to do.
And if anyone else has any experience fighting a car company when the refuse good will , then please let me know. I may still have to try this approach if I get nowhere with good will application.
Edited by weggie on Saturday 21st November 20:54
The dealer that did the diagnosis should be able to apply for goodwill for you and tell you what percentage you will get, if any, before you commit yourself to the repair, no obligation basically. To get goodwill generally the car has to be less than 5 years old and under 100k miles and have full dealer service history, but it does vary quite a bit.
Also you can ask the dealer for the phone number to Audi UK customer services (It might be on teh Audi.co.uk website) and see how you go there, put your point across as you have here and that may improve your chances of goodwill.
The cheap repair is cheap, parts cant be more than £80 + the belt kit, its just the labour and presumably your indy is more like £40/hour than £75. We're arround £100 and most London dealers are upward of £120 so it could be worse.
You may have been joking, but you could of course have the car repaired cheaply and trade it stright in at an Audi dealer, there is no way they could know, and if they resold it retail (it would probably be traded out but you never know), it would have used car waranty on it at that stage so any repair would then be free for the new owner.
If it was mine, I'd be puting a new chain and tensioner of it no question, if the gear looks bad, ebay.
Also you can ask the dealer for the phone number to Audi UK customer services (It might be on teh Audi.co.uk website) and see how you go there, put your point across as you have here and that may improve your chances of goodwill.
The cheap repair is cheap, parts cant be more than £80 + the belt kit, its just the labour and presumably your indy is more like £40/hour than £75. We're arround £100 and most London dealers are upward of £120 so it could be worse.
You may have been joking, but you could of course have the car repaired cheaply and trade it stright in at an Audi dealer, there is no way they could know, and if they resold it retail (it would probably be traded out but you never know), it would have used car waranty on it at that stage so any repair would then be free for the new owner.
If it was mine, I'd be puting a new chain and tensioner of it no question, if the gear looks bad, ebay.
Tame Technician said:
If you T.V with a 1 year warranty broke down when it was 2 years old would you expect teh manufacturer to fix it?
Yes. It should last 5 years. I don't know how car manufacturers get away with the stuff they do. In fact evidence is that if you sue them, they pretty well always settle out of court.
Tame Technician said:
The cheap repair is cheap, parts cant be more than £80 + the belt kit, its just the labour and presumably your indy is more like £40/hour than £75. We're arround £100 and most London dealers are upward of £120 so it could be worse.
I'm going to contact my dealer shortly, don't suppose there is anything official about this i.e. with a VW/Audi stamp on?How long does it take to fit replacement parts, is it still a faff on?
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