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Audi TT: Difference of a pinion
My Audi TT 3.2 Quattro broke down with an almost complete loss of power on a dual carriageway in late December during the freezing weather. The car just about staggered to the verge without anyone colliding with me. The fault turns out to be a completely trashed rear differential and the repair cost is estimated at over £4.5k.
The car has only done 38k miles and was serviced just 3 weeks before the failure, so although it was just out of warranty I don’t feel I should be paying all of this for a complete part failure on a car of this age and mileage. The service was carried out by a garage labelling itself as a VW Audi specialist, but which is not an Audi approved service centre. Audi service centres are saying they won’t take any responsibility because they didn’t carry out the last service and they have internal bulletins that imply this kind of damage can occur after a wrongly carried out oil change around the rear diff. The servicing garage are saying no way they did anything wrong. They have got their insurers involved who have sent out an engineer.
Perhaps not surprisingly the engineers report apparently says the fault is unrelated to the service but probably due to a mechanical failure but I am not allowed to see the report itself. So they say as a result their client is not liable. They suggested I might want to pay to have the part stripped in case that revealed any more. I have got nowhere talking to Audi UK and even less far trying to talk to Audi AG. I am now trying to talk to the garage that sold me the car in the first place (over 2 years ago), but my initial contact suggests they are not going to be very sympathetic either.
My limited legal understanding is that if the service was done incorrectly the servicing garage may be liable and if the fault was simply a part failure the people who sold it to me may be liable since it would not have been of "satisfactory quality". Personally I would like them to talk to each other and agree an analysis of the problem and at least make some kind of an offer to help me out with the cost, but at present I am just getting completely blanked by Audi and don’t feel I have much of a case against the servicing garage given their engineers report.
My only options seem to be to spend more money on my own assessment or a stripping down, neither of which I suspect will reveal much more of the true root cause of the breakdown. Any suggestions as to what I do next would be very gratefully received
The car has only done 38k miles and was serviced just 3 weeks before the failure, so although it was just out of warranty I don’t feel I should be paying all of this for a complete part failure on a car of this age and mileage. The service was carried out by a garage labelling itself as a VW Audi specialist, but which is not an Audi approved service centre. Audi service centres are saying they won’t take any responsibility because they didn’t carry out the last service and they have internal bulletins that imply this kind of damage can occur after a wrongly carried out oil change around the rear diff. The servicing garage are saying no way they did anything wrong. They have got their insurers involved who have sent out an engineer.
Perhaps not surprisingly the engineers report apparently says the fault is unrelated to the service but probably due to a mechanical failure but I am not allowed to see the report itself. So they say as a result their client is not liable. They suggested I might want to pay to have the part stripped in case that revealed any more. I have got nowhere talking to Audi UK and even less far trying to talk to Audi AG. I am now trying to talk to the garage that sold me the car in the first place (over 2 years ago), but my initial contact suggests they are not going to be very sympathetic either.
My limited legal understanding is that if the service was done incorrectly the servicing garage may be liable and if the fault was simply a part failure the people who sold it to me may be liable since it would not have been of "satisfactory quality". Personally I would like them to talk to each other and agree an analysis of the problem and at least make some kind of an offer to help me out with the cost, but at present I am just getting completely blanked by Audi and don’t feel I have much of a case against the servicing garage given their engineers report.
My only options seem to be to spend more money on my own assessment or a stripping down, neither of which I suspect will reveal much more of the true root cause of the breakdown. Any suggestions as to what I do next would be very gratefully received
Asked on 21 January 2010 by RW, via e-mail
Answered by
Honest John
Our legal advisor, Lucy Bonham Carter, responded: 'The car was out of warranty and hence any liability Audi may have comes under goodwill. The position of the selling dealer is more complex. Technically you have a potential claim against them for six years, but after two years of ownership there is considerably less likelihood of success unless you can show that this was a common or inherent defect - in which case Audi would probably agree to settle - at least partially - on a goodwill basis and we might seek some contribution from the selling dealer. Whether the repairing garage will have any liability will fall on whether they failed in their duty of care to follow proper servicing procedures.
'If they can show they did not then there is no case against them. Other than that, much will depend on the service history of the vehicle. For a failure under warranty it would be illegal for the manufacturer to treat you differently because your vehicle was not serviced within their dealer network. However "goodwill" claims are slightly different in that the manufacturer may be "going beyond" their legal responsibilities and hence you may not have a legal claim. There is no prospect whatsoever of Audi contributing to the costs of a repair undertaken by someone outside the dealer network. Because the selling dealer has some (possible) responsibility the first thing to do is to get the vehicle into them and try to get them to agree to deal with Audi to secure a contribution.
'You will not normally get very far dealing with Audi directly yourself. To have any prospects for success you will need to show that the car has been serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. This *does not* mean that it has to be serviced by an approved dealer - to require this would be a breach of EU competition rules - but it does mean it will have to be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer required standards and intervals.
'Assuming you have a full service history I may be able to persuade Audi to make a contribution but this is the kind of case that would need careful consideration before I would advise risking court. Please advise the service history of the vehicle and where it is currently stored along with the precise nature of the defect in order that I can advise further and more fully.'
'If they can show they did not then there is no case against them. Other than that, much will depend on the service history of the vehicle. For a failure under warranty it would be illegal for the manufacturer to treat you differently because your vehicle was not serviced within their dealer network. However "goodwill" claims are slightly different in that the manufacturer may be "going beyond" their legal responsibilities and hence you may not have a legal claim. There is no prospect whatsoever of Audi contributing to the costs of a repair undertaken by someone outside the dealer network. Because the selling dealer has some (possible) responsibility the first thing to do is to get the vehicle into them and try to get them to agree to deal with Audi to secure a contribution.
'You will not normally get very far dealing with Audi directly yourself. To have any prospects for success you will need to show that the car has been serviced in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements. This *does not* mean that it has to be serviced by an approved dealer - to require this would be a breach of EU competition rules - but it does mean it will have to be serviced in accordance with the manufacturer required standards and intervals.
'Assuming you have a full service history I may be able to persuade Audi to make a contribution but this is the kind of case that would need careful consideration before I would advise risking court. Please advise the service history of the vehicle and where it is currently stored along with the precise nature of the defect in order that I can advise further and more fully.'
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