Audi S3 Snapped Cam Belt advice?

[Adamb19]

Hey fellas,

So 6 months ago I bought myself a rather nice Audi S3. Only 29k miles, 11 plate and it is the top spec DSG model. I bought it from a very reputable garage who only deal with high end vehicles, my S3 was the cheapest car they had with most cars over £100k which they were selling.

Anyway, the cam belt was due when I bought it and I have an email and documents from them saying they changed the cam belt for me before I collected the car, but only 6 months and 5k miles later the cam belt has snapped.

I'm still waiting for full diagnostics to determine damage but I'must being told mixed messages. What sort of damage can I expect to occur? What's a ballpark figure for when this happens? And more importantly how strong of ah case do I have against the garage I purchased the car off? If they refuse to cover the costs what is my best course of action?

I appreciate any help you guys can offer, it was not a cheap car and is my pride and joy, absolutely gutted and I'm worried my engine is going to be wrecked

Thanks

[Adamb19]

Well i had it in manual but was sat in traffic, as I went into 3rd gear at about 4k rpm it just cut out. I pressed the accelerator a couple times and the revs just kept dropping and exhaust was popping. It then rolled to a hault and wouldn't restart. I'm pretty sure I have a receipt for the replacement of cam belt but it's in my book which is in the car so I can't check right now. I do have emails from them saying they have changed the belt.

If they refuse to cover costs who am I best speaking to? Would it be trading standards? The car itself is only out of warranty by 2 weeks but surely the replacement part had a seperate warranty?

[Adamb19]

I did ring them but I was asking for them to return the car as this is not the only problem I've had. In the 6 months since I bought it Ive had the air intake snap off, coils go, the gearbox fail and now this. Very disappointing given the garage I purchased it off. They did say when I have confirmation on what's gone wrong to email it over but no response yet.

Do you guys not think I'll be covered under a parts warranty cos it was only changed 6 months ago? Shouldn't be going so early?

[Adamb19]

I don't have confirmation yet on exactly what happened but best guess is cam belt has gone. Should be up on the ramp at some point tomorrow and inspected by the garage. I'm preying it's not.

Absolutely gutted. I'll post more info when I hear back from the garage.

[Adamb19]

RAC said it was most likely cam belt. Fingers crossed it is only a sensor, I'll find out tomorrow when it's been looked at by the garage.

Thanks for all the comments guys

[Adamb19]

So small update. The garage has rang me and said that it is not the cam belt but I have no compression in the engine, they said it is a timing chain which is also fitted on the engine which would have the same effect as the belt snapping.

Will get an approximate figure tomorrow. No news off the garage I bought it off yet

[Adamb19]

No apparently the S3 has a chain and a belt. Not sure how or why

[Adamb19]

Agreed but they shouldn't be snapped at 30k miles with no warning. I'm pretty much accepting now that I have spent £18.5k on a car and it's just gone down the drain. I can't afford another few thousand to fix it. Fml.

[Adamb19]

I haven't yet, I bought it from a high end dealership called Parkway Specialists in Mansfield. Waiting to see if they will be kind enough to resolve for me before I go any further.

[Adamb19]

Well it's not confirmed snapped but garages best guess without doing more work. They have confirmed it's not the belt and also tested the engine and it's got no compression. They have said it's most likely the chain but without taking the cams off they can't confirm. I'm waiting to hear off the garage I bought the car off before I give the go ahead for more labour as already cost £95 and don't even know 100% what's wrong with it -.-

[Adamb19]

It's a specialist audi garage but not official audi garage. It's because they had to take parts of the engine off to get to the belt to check it. To go further they would have to start stripping the engine to find out what damage there is internally apparently.

They have reduced the cost to £30 cos I only asked for a diagnostics, they just got giddy and started taking st and apart

[Adamb19]

Not much yet. I sent a chase up email tor the garage I bought it off but no reply. I'll follow it up with a call tomorrow.

[Adamb19]

Well it's been a pretty heated battle tbh. They aren't accepting liability as it's been over 6 months since I purchased the car but then I had a specialist audi garage inspect the car and produce a report saying that mechanically it has been well looked after and the cause of the fault is most likely defect. That along with along long winded email citing the consumer rights act and and a factual Google review and they seem to be playing ball.

I got an email today just saying "we are pricing up a replacement engine, I'll be in touch shortly" so fingers crossed it's getting somewhere.

[Adamb19]

Yea my garage just said they can charge me a few hours labour to take the engine apart and determine the damage but then it will cost between 1200 to 2000 possibly more to fix depending on damage. A new engine would negate any possibility of reoccurrence and would come with a warranty etc incase anything did. Either way they only charged me £54 for a diagnostics and an hours labour. Then I have paid £45 to have the car loaded and brought back to me house today so I'm only £100 down so far so not doing too badly.

Fingers crossed the garage I bought it from would rather pay for the repairs than get into a legal battle.

[Adamb19]

They aren't 100% certain but they believe that something caused the cam chain to snap, and they think it might be a faulty oil pump or something. But they said no point going through all the steps of trying to discover the cause because it will cost all lot and ultimately may not fix the problem. A new engine is going to be similar cost and more reliable.

[Adamb19]

So we have finally had some movement. The garage I purchased the vehicle off has offered me a refund (HOORAAAY) however there is a rather large but coming...

They have deducted £4000 from the refund. £2200 for the cost of a replacement engine and £1800 for mileage depreciation. They have justifies this by claiming they will be trading the car and not selling it and therefore they will only collect £2000 less than the current value of the vehicle if compared like for like.

I have gone back with a counter offer, offering for myself to cover the cost of an engine £1500 and them to cover labour costs. I have an also accepted a depreciation of £500 for the mileage based off of the cost of exact same models, year, mileage cars.

It's not ideal but given the circumstances it's better than nothing. Fingers crossed they reply and agree to my offer or at least meet me most the way. I won't move far from the offer I'm have made as it would cost me £2000 to replace the engine myself, therefore it makeseems no sense for me to accept less than a loss of £2000 :/

Hope this gets sorted, 3 weeks of driving a Toyota Avensis and immediately ready to top myself 😂

Also thanks all you guys for your input, it's really appreciated!

[Adamb19]

What's a CDL code? My garage to told me they could get a reconditioned engine for 1500 and it would cost approx 500 to fit.

[Adamb19]

Yes exactly and they are actually legally obliged to cover the costs of repairs. Citizens advice have encouraged me to take my claim to court if they do not amaccept the counter offer I have made.

[Adamb19]

Citizens advice have confirmed they are due to the range of faults extending throughout the entire first 6 months. It would have to go to court but the judge would undoubtedly rule in my favour.

[Adamb19]

Consumer Rights Act 2015. Any faults within the first 6 months must be repaired by the supplier, they have one chance to fix it and then you can demand a refund unless they can prove the fault is through miss use. Although this particular fault is past 6 months, there are multiple other faults inside the 6 months. Bearing this in mind and this faults proximity to the 6 month period, the supplier would have no chance in court.

Citizens advice have been following this all the way through and are strongly advising I ask to speak to their ADR, failing this I should take them to court.