Car fault occurs while at Dealer
Discussion
Just got off the phone to a main Audi Dealer.
Wifes 2004 Audi S4 car was taken in for a simple water pump/alternator belt failure. The car was confirmed as having no additional faults and no additional work was asked for. I would normally do this myself but my wife is working away from home at the moment.
Firstly they tried to insist there was an 'excessive' oil leak from the front of the engine that will need attending to as it may have caused the fan belt to fail - I looked at the video they sent and told them that there had no been no change in the weep for the 60k miles that I've been servicing the car and that I had been underneath the car the previous weekend changing the oil.
They are asked to ignore the oil leak and just change the belt and tensioners.
Next day they call to say they've changed the belt and tensioners and cleaned up the oil around the area - they were not asked to do this and were asked to leave it alone. They also report they've changed all eight engine spark plug coils as part of a recall/technical update - again they were not asked and did not seek permission to carry out this work.
I pay over the phone (circa £600) and they agree to drive it the few hundred yards to my wifes work.
The next call informs me they have an ABS light up. I tell them this has never happened in the six years and 70k miles that we have owned the car.
The next call informs me the ABS controller has failed and that it will be circa £2,500 to fix
What is my Legal position with regard to a fault that they seem to have caused?
Wifes 2004 Audi S4 car was taken in for a simple water pump/alternator belt failure. The car was confirmed as having no additional faults and no additional work was asked for. I would normally do this myself but my wife is working away from home at the moment.
Firstly they tried to insist there was an 'excessive' oil leak from the front of the engine that will need attending to as it may have caused the fan belt to fail - I looked at the video they sent and told them that there had no been no change in the weep for the 60k miles that I've been servicing the car and that I had been underneath the car the previous weekend changing the oil.
They are asked to ignore the oil leak and just change the belt and tensioners.
Next day they call to say they've changed the belt and tensioners and cleaned up the oil around the area - they were not asked to do this and were asked to leave it alone. They also report they've changed all eight engine spark plug coils as part of a recall/technical update - again they were not asked and did not seek permission to carry out this work.
I pay over the phone (circa £600) and they agree to drive it the few hundred yards to my wifes work.
The next call informs me they have an ABS light up. I tell them this has never happened in the six years and 70k miles that we have owned the car.
The next call informs me the ABS controller has failed and that it will be circa £2,500 to fix
What is my Legal position with regard to a fault that they seem to have caused?
not a lot you can do - your word on thiers - the ABS may have been ready to go...
Garages get a lot of bad press and some deserved some not - they were doing you a favour by highlighting all that was wrong and obviously they would be looking to get more money out of you. Have it checked over by an independent and see what they say....
Garages get a lot of bad press and some deserved some not - they were doing you a favour by highlighting all that was wrong and obviously they would be looking to get more money out of you. Have it checked over by an independent and see what they say....
From the sounds of it they have done a pretty good job, they have carried out the work you asked and not carried out the work you asked them not to do but taken the time to clean off the residue oil and replace all 8 spark plugs FOC......I fail to see how your unhappy about that? Regarding the ABS fault it is totally unrelated to what they have been working on and its a 60,000mile+ car that's 11 years old. I think it may be one to take on the chin and see if there is a company that can refurb/supply a refurbished unit.
Sheepshanks said:
I know it's not the same thing but going back a few years it was common for drum brake cylinder seals to fail during MOT.
When they got exercise above and beyond their normal light braking, and poor maintenance had seen the fluid changes ignored, leading to corrosion in the bores, which then buggered the seals up. Cambelts also went ping when the diesel smoke test was also first brought into the MOT, when engines that'd never been north of 2,000rpm were suddenly reminded that there was a rev limiter.I can't see how this can be anything other than a complete coincidence, unless the dealer's done something stupid like steam-cleaned the engine bay because of the oil leak.
As far as that goes, what to the OP is clearly an acceptable weep is obviously not acceptable to the dealer. I don't think there's any laws against different people having different standards. Given that oil contamination is death to belts and the like, and the car was in the dealer for an unexpectedly failed belt, the dealer may have a point. It's a bit pointless NOT to clean up around the "weeping" seal while you're in there, especially if you're needing to see if there's any obvious cause for the leak. It may also be worth checking engine mounts and other rubber.
I'm also boggled as to why a complaint about eight new coil packs as part of a TSB/recall? If the final main dealer bill was only £600 for a job that looks like it needs the entire front of the car dismantling, it seems highly unlikely they've been invoiced...
E24man said:
They also report they've changed all eight engine spark plug coils as part of a recall/technical update - again they were not asked and did not seek permission to carry out this work.
The coil packs will have been swapped free of charge - major ongoing recall on them (again!)I managed to catch the guys at Unit20 who are just around the corner from me; in their words its not unheard of for Audi ABS Controllers to fail suddenly but pretty rare on the B6 platform.
I think its a take it on the chin exercise but with yet another reminder to steer clear of Dealers as Unit20 reckon even if it is the £1900+vat controller they can remove them, have them fixed and tested (with a lifetime guarantee) and popped back in the car for not much over £500.
Their testing will confirm or unravel the Dealer story.
It's a wedge of cash I could have done without spending but aside from this episode and the necessary fluids the car has taken nothing but tyres, brake pads and a few brake discs from us in 70k miles.
C'est la vie and it could be worse.
Good evening and thanks for the replies to my stealer vent.
Oh, and as an ex-Nuclear Tiff I know the difference between a slight weep and an 'excessive oil leak'
I think its a take it on the chin exercise but with yet another reminder to steer clear of Dealers as Unit20 reckon even if it is the £1900+vat controller they can remove them, have them fixed and tested (with a lifetime guarantee) and popped back in the car for not much over £500.
Their testing will confirm or unravel the Dealer story.
It's a wedge of cash I could have done without spending but aside from this episode and the necessary fluids the car has taken nothing but tyres, brake pads and a few brake discs from us in 70k miles.
C'est la vie and it could be worse.
Good evening and thanks for the replies to my stealer vent.
Oh, and as an ex-Nuclear Tiff I know the difference between a slight weep and an 'excessive oil leak'
GCH said:
E24man said:
They also report they've changed all eight engine spark plug coils as part of a recall/technical update - again they were not asked and did not seek permission to carry out this work.
The coil packs will have been swapped free of charge - major ongoing recall on them (again!)Ouch was it really £600 just to replace an aux belt?
On an old car like this you (sadly) have to expect loads of attempted wallet emptying antics from main dealers, hence the reason to avoid if at all possible.
Reset it a couple of times and see if comes back after a weeks use if not get them to send it off (places like BBA reman fix these for a reasonable fee plus a 12 month guarantee).
On an old car like this you (sadly) have to expect loads of attempted wallet emptying antics from main dealers, hence the reason to avoid if at all possible.
Reset it a couple of times and see if comes back after a weeks use if not get them to send it off (places like BBA reman fix these for a reasonable fee plus a 12 month guarantee).
I am not convinced by BBA Reman, by the way. They repaired an E39 ABS controller that came off my car, it failed within a week of going back on the car, and the 12 month guanratee turned out to be a guarantee that they'd look at it, decide it was now unrepairable and wash their hands of it.
Bought a new old stock one from Germany and it's been fine.
Bought a new old stock one from Germany and it's been fine.
Puddenchucker said:
If they've replaced the coil packs, they presumably disconnected the battery.
Is it possible the reconnection of the battery has 'spiked' the ABS electronics?
If they're just the "normal" VAG coil-packs then the battery isn't disconnected to replace them - we had several fail (separately) and replaced at the roadside / on our drive by VAG Assistance.Is it possible the reconnection of the battery has 'spiked' the ABS electronics?
Lowtimer said:
I am not convinced by BBA Reman, by the way. They repaired an E39 ABS controller that came off my car, it failed within a week of going back on the car, and the 12 month guanratee turned out to be a guarantee that they'd look at it, decide it was now unrepairable and wash their hands of it.
Bought a new old stock one from Germany and it's been fine.
A very common story. It appears that the repairs do work on many occasions but the majority don't last long before they fail again.Bought a new old stock one from Germany and it's been fine.
Sheepshanks said:
E24man said:
I managed to catch the guys at Unit20 who are just around the corner from me;
In that case I'm wondering what made you use the dealer for this job, especially if the car's not normally dealer serviced?Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff