Fault on potential new car
Discussion
I test drove mk3 TTS yesterday at a non-Audi dealer which felt good on the test drive. Have been looking tentatively for a couple of months and only seen a few with the spec I want so when this came up 30 miles away it was a result. When I got back I asked the salesperson if it was ok to give it a scan with my OBD reader (which he said was fine).
It flagged an intermittent fault for the transmission selector lever sensor. I phoned my mechanic who's a well known Audi specialist and he said that's the microswitch that tells the car what gear it's in - it's becoming a more common fault on DSG cars and when it fails you'll get an error like 'park cannot be disengaged, please seek assistance' - and the fix is a £500 replacement part plus about 5-6 hours labour.
I told the salesperson this and he said he'd speak to the local Audi dealer they work with about it tomorrow. My previous cars have been £5k and £7k private sales so spending £20k+ with a dealer is a new one to me.
In terms of resolution - I was thinking about asking for an IOU with the Audi garage they use to repair in the event if fails - they might get mates rates, and if it never fails, I won't cash it in - but is this wishful thinking? I think he mentioned a standard warranty that comes with the car but didn't see the wording - although I'm not sure the fact we know about this would impact a potential claim. Certainly on insurance policies, you can't claim for something you know about beforehand.
It flagged an intermittent fault for the transmission selector lever sensor. I phoned my mechanic who's a well known Audi specialist and he said that's the microswitch that tells the car what gear it's in - it's becoming a more common fault on DSG cars and when it fails you'll get an error like 'park cannot be disengaged, please seek assistance' - and the fix is a £500 replacement part plus about 5-6 hours labour.
I told the salesperson this and he said he'd speak to the local Audi dealer they work with about it tomorrow. My previous cars have been £5k and £7k private sales so spending £20k+ with a dealer is a new one to me.
In terms of resolution - I was thinking about asking for an IOU with the Audi garage they use to repair in the event if fails - they might get mates rates, and if it never fails, I won't cash it in - but is this wishful thinking? I think he mentioned a standard warranty that comes with the car but didn't see the wording - although I'm not sure the fact we know about this would impact a potential claim. Certainly on insurance policies, you can't claim for something you know about beforehand.
HTP99 said:
This, you are getting a warranty and I can be confident the place you are purchasing from, won't agree to any form of IOU.
My work background is in insurance and if you took out an insurance policy to cover something you suspected was going to fall over/break soon, the insurer won't cover it. Insurance is about fortuity and doesn't cover things you know are going to happen.I haven't worked much with warranties but expect they will be broadly similar, i.e.
"Hi my DSG has a fault and I need to claim please"
"When were you first aware of the fault?"
"Well before I bought the car actually"
"Take it up with the dealer"
From a policy perspective too, I can imagine warranty companies don't want to be on the line for faults that dealers are aware of when they sell the cars, otherwise there's no incentive for the dealer to fix them if they know the warranty company will pick it up, but this burn the relationship. If the car has a fault at the time of sale that's potentially a Consumer Rights Act issue - but I don't know how the dynamic works in real life.
Assuming the warranty isn't going to cover something they know about at the time of sale, then I think they either need to cover the cost (through their friendly Audi dealer if they want), or discount?
Edited by wjheenan on Sunday 27th June 10:40
simion_levi said:
I'm aware of a ~£30 'repair kit' (=new microswitch to bolt on to the selector) sold by VW that fits some cars, but not sure if that also works for Audi.
I think it's the same unit across the marques, when i was searching online last night people were reporting the same issues on VW and Skoda forums.Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff