Dealer ignoring obligation to repair

[MinuteMan]

Hi,I bought an Audi TTRS in Jan for £35k from a dealer and discovered that its burning oil around 1L every 400-500 miles. I didnt take out any finance or anything. Still had my second car and wasn't driving it much so didn't realise the issue until March

I text the dealer this twice (in March and April), he has read my messages but not replied
I've sent him a letter by recorded delivery asking him to repair under CRA 2015 giving him 10 days to respond but he's ignored that too

What should my next action be, am I okay to get the issue diagnosed and repaired and then go to court for the repair cost?

I only fear that it's going to cost in the thousands

[Voldemort]

Use the phone. Talk to them, not text.

[Monkeylegend]

Did the car come with a warranty of any description?

[MinuteMan]

But everything was done via text up until I flagged the issue- radio silence after then. Plus afraid that a dealer who ignores issues is also the type to:
A) Take the car to check over and "find no issue"
B) Drain the oil and fill it with a thicker one to try and mask the issue


Yes it came with 3 months RAC warranty with a £1k limit. But I went to dealer because the only local RAC approved garage doesn't have the best rep, plus the warranty doesn't cover diagnosis of the issue

[Belle427]

Some Vag cars of old were known for drinking issues, two Mk5 Golf's I owned used quite a lot.
I'm sure VW stated 1 L per 1000 miles was normal.
Not much help sorry but I believe on the Golf's it was a piston ring issue responsible for it.
People claimed theirs was more than halved by going to a Millers Nanotech oil.

[OverSteery]

Write to them before you take the car to another garage, explaining you have taken this action due to their lack of response and you will look to recover the money from them.

Again, if further work is required, let them know before you start the work

[Trevor555]

OverSteery said:

Write to them before you take the car to another garage, explaining you have taken this action due to their lack of response and you will look to recover the money from them.

Again, if further work is required, let them know before you start the work

I presume the OP will have to get a diagnosis done declaring it as a fault that needs repairing?

When I had an issue with Bmw, and I finally got them to talk to me, they said I'd have to get a DEKRA approved garage to confirm the fault.

[DickyC]

Live with it. Too much stress. Use man maths: IIRC Audi reckoned one litre of oil per 1,000 miles was acceptable, 500 miles is nearly 1,000, it'll be fine.

Have the car a while and then chop it in.

[Driver101]

DickyC said:

Live with it. Too much stress. Use man maths: IIRC Audi reckoned one litre of oil per 1,000 miles was acceptable, 500 miles is nearly 1,000, it'll be fine.

Have the car a while and then chop it in.

If an engine is burning a litre of oil every 400-500 miles something is wrong.

I wouldn't be accepting that on a car I had just paid £35k for.

[Sheepshanks]

Weren’t Audi fixing this issue under Goodwill in the past?

[DickyC]

Driver101 said:

DickyC said:

Live with it. Too much stress. Use man maths: IIRC Audi reckoned one litre of oil per 1,000 miles was acceptable, 500 miles is nearly 1,000, it'll be fine.

Have the car a while and then chop it in.

If an engine is burning a litre of oil every 400-500 miles something is wrong.

I wouldn't be accepting that on a car I had just paid £35k for.

The problem is more complicated than that. There's the passage of time before the fault was discovered. Trying to have the fault rectified now will be so much grief. If the garage are compelled to fix the car by legal means they will do as cheap a job as they can just to win more time to increase the distance between purchase and now on a sliding scale of diminishing responsibility. The garage is currently not playing ball. All my instincts tell me they won't suddenly start cooperating. Think of Minuteman's quality of life during all that agro. Buy the oil, enjoy the car for a bit, then part-exchange it through a garage in the same group. Give them back the problem.

[Driver101]

DickyC said:

The problem is more complicated than that. There's the passage of time before the fault was discovered. Trying to have the fault rectified now will be so much grief. If the garage are compelled to fix the car by legal means they will do as cheap a job as they can just to win more time to increase the distance between purchase and now on a sliding scale of diminishing responsibility. The garage is currently not playing ball. All my instincts tell me they won't suddenly start cooperating. Think of Minuteman's quality of life during all that agro. Buy the oil, enjoy the car for a bit, then part-exchange it through a garage in the same group. Give them back the problem.

If the car hasn't been used much then raising the issue within 2 months sounds fine to me.

I'm sure it will be agro for Minuteman. There's a significant problem that needs fixed. It could potentially be leading to a larger failure. I don't follow the let the dealer off the hook approach.

Edited by Driver101 on Sunday 14th May 11:06

[Muzzer79]

MinuteMan said:

But everything was done via text up until I flagged the issue- radio silence after then.

So…..pick up the phone or, even better, go down and talk to them.

Why do people think that problems can be resolved via text? Is it a fear of confrontation thing?

Is this an Audi dealer or an Indy?

[OutInTheShed]

MinuteMan said:

Hi,I bought an Audi TTRS in Jan for £35k from a dealer and discovered that its burning oil around 1L every 400-500 miles. I didnt take out any finance or anything. Still had my second car and wasn't driving it much so didn't realise the issue until March

I text the dealer this twice (in March and April), he has read my messages but not replied
I've sent him a letter by recorded delivery asking him to repair under CRA 2015 giving him 10 days to respond but he's ignored that too

What should my next action be, am I okay to get the issue diagnosed and repaired and then go to court for the repair cost?

I only fear that it's going to cost in the thousands

How can a repair for this not cost thousands?
Engine out, dismantled, new rings at least, re-assemble, re-install.
Possibly it's bores.
Maybe valve guides and seals.

Maybe step back a little and prove it's burning not leaking.

You either need to live with it or reject the car if you can.

How old is the car? What mileage? Any Audi warranty or possibility of them getting involved?

A mate of mine had a car using similar amounts of oil, it failed the MOT on emissions.

Some people claim much reduced oil consumption with top-end fully synth oils.

[biggbn]

Muzzer79 said:

MinuteMan said:

But everything was done via text up until I flagged the issue- radio silence after then.

So…..pick up the phone or, even better, go down and talk to them.

Why do people think that problems can be resolved via text? Is it a fear of confrontation thing?

Is this an Audi dealer or an Indy?

If I was really bothered about something like this, and I would be, I'd be straight down to the garage. Texting doesn't indicate you are serious at all.

[davek_964]

I know of somebody who bought a used car with the same issue - different marque and more expensive car - but the same excessive oil use. The dealer claimed it was normal.

Eventually, I believe he returned the car to the dealer as rejected (it was more than 30 days since purchase) and started legal proceedings. The dealer did replace the car with another - before any legal conclusion I think.

[samoht]

You are correct to ignore the "warranty" and rely on your consumer rights. You raised the fault within six months of purchase, so the presumption is that the issue was present at the time of purchase.

I think ideally next step would be to get a diagnosis (not repair at this stage) from a garage with an estimate of what needs doing to fix and how much it might cost. That way you have a professional independent confirmation that there is indeed an issue, and that it's not just eg a leaking sump.

[ZX10R NIN]

Speak to the dealer either over the phone or in person, personally I'd take the car back to them (to make sure you're within the 6 months) they can't not speak to you when you & the car are there.