[Pg220]

If I hadn't just spent the last eleven months dealing with various Audi people i would not believe what I was reading.

How and why are they rejecting the warranty claim for an obvious paint defect on a new car???

PS

Really tempted to get you going about the A3, is it that bad?

 

[MrRob]

To be honest I am not sure why Audi are rejecting it and if I were the dealer I would be pushing Audi to honour the warranty. The only thing I can think is something happened to the car after it arrived at the dealer which they are fully waware of and hence why they are fixing it as a gesture of good will. That term annoys me as it is clearly defective through no fault of my own (I have treated the whole car in the same manner and it is only the top surface of the bumper which has these marks under the surface).

Have writtena letter to the centre manager last night to see what he comes back with but not overely impressed.

As for the A3 (I know its a Q5 forum); it amazes me that an Audi dealer feels they can offer a FWD 3 door A3 as a replacement car for a 4WD 5 Door SUV. Luckily I made arrangements for my wife to use my company car and I dropped the Q in otherwise she would have had the fun of trying to fit the car seat in the back and putting our daughter in and out during the day. Also no bluetooth, wchich I find very poor - who does not have bluetooth handsfree nowdays - personally I think the government should make it mandatory on new cars along with DAB radio

The 1.4TFSI is not bad in terms of power and the car is reasonably nippy (compared to the Q5). However 35mpg at motorway crusing speeds is poor, I can only Imagine what the 2.0TFSI in the Q5 returns on that type of journey.

 

[Pg220]

I would have gone ballistic over this.

When I collected mine last week I found a deep scratch on the front alloy. The dealer said they would repair it but I demanded a new wheel. It's now on it's way from Germany. I told them I wanted to see it boxed with the invoice to prevent them swapping it with another wheel.

Can I suggest you involve Audi UK directly and demand an explanation for both the fault and the warranty rejection. You can always suggest that the motoring journals may like to hear about it. I find this tends to focus their minds!!!

 

[MrRob]

To be honest, I am annoyed but the fact that this is a minor cosmetic issue is what is keeping me from ranting and raving. Now if the car was broken I would be demanding they fix it ASAP. As it is I am, somewhat out of character, keeping my cool and when all is resolved I shall push for a dealer credit or some freebies.

This is not the first issue I have had with this dealer (previous saga with an RS3 that I cancelled after 9 months of waiting, as when thy got their demo car, which I had offered to purchase months before, they told me I couldn't drive it as they had sold it, despite telling me they had to run them fr 3 months minimum.

The Q5 purchase was their 2nd chance, i will call this incident their last chance and make this clear to them.

 

[Pg220]

i commend your self control, however there is a principle here.

If the dealer / Audi are not prepared to honour their own paint warranty over a relatively small issue what level of service can you expect if you encounter a major problem.

Surely the purchase of a £40,000 car from a prestige marque entitles the customer to a level of service above and beyond the norm.

good luck anyway and hope it gets sorted.

 

[MrRob]

Think I may have made this sound worse than it is. They are fixing it for free just that I now have to wait 3 weeks to get it in the body shop

 

[Steppy]

Wouldn't an independant bodyshop be able to tell if the bumper had been re-painted by using a paint depth measurer, then you would know if it was a genuine fault in the original paint job or whether damage occured in transit/at dealer and its being covered up?

Just a thought.

 

[MrRob]

Yeah I am sure they would, just cannot really be bothered with the hassle especially over something that 9/10 people would not even notice.

As long as Audi (whether that be Audi UK, Audi Worldwide or the dealer) sort it out then I will be happy with that, although I will be inspecting the final result to ensure it is as good as new (unlikely I know). My real annoyance is that they didnt realise it was in to be re-sprayed and have wasterd my time - life is short and all that

 

[Steppy]

life is short and all that

Very true

 

[5000cstq]

Not exactly what the original poster was talking about, but I have a new Q5 and I want to prevent little scuffs on the top of the rear bumper, I ordered a stainless finish Sline bumper guard on Amazon .. Anybody have any luck with these? I want to make sure it looks OEM/factory ... Will post a pic or 2 once I try it.