Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems

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Thu 30 Jul 2015 10:48
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - Spa*star

My daughter purchased an Audi a3 (2010) from a dealer..car wasnt cheap, nearly £12000.. told that cambelt had been changed..new mot...90 point check..from what she thought was a reputable dealer. Upon driving home, the cars tyre had blown causing injury to her and passenger, left at night stranded..dealer did not help with repair/recovery, etc..managed to get family n friends to change tyre and drive home. Next day took it to kwikfit who picked up that other tyre had hole/cut..the first tyre had nail in it and some filler to cover it..they confirmd it had been there for sometime..wouldn't let car off premises until tyres changed..again she contacted dealers who would only pay for the lowest value tyres..not recommended by kwikfit and not suitable for this spec of car.She paid for tyres appropriate for car herself. Kwikfit guy suggested contacting trading standards as vehicle was sold faulty. She did this and still no reply from them despite repeated calls. She took car to Audi for free healthcheck, they picked up on oil leak on engine..turbo jet gone..cambelt not changed...brake fluid not changed..alignment out..tyre condition..fail..not looking good. Contacted finance and dealer to let them know..no one seems to be taking responsibility...she paid for full check from Audi as now worried what else could be wrong..and it cost another £150..they wouldn't let car go until oil leak fixed add another 30 quid...fair do to them that courtesy car was provided...my daughter has contacted dealers who have admitted they 'misinformed' her about cambelt change, but refuse to pay for work or approve it through warranty or finance company. They dispute Audis check and work done..This car has cost in terms of financial loss, injury,ongoing stress,don't know who to turn to or what to do..I'm concerned as it is having a stressful effect on my daughter who works full time and is at her wits end with what to do...a huge commitiment has been made with hp..and now the ongoing problems and financial losses to her are taking their toll and only a few weeks into purchasing a car that was neither cheap, high mileage(over 50000) very old or from dodgy dave down the lane..

Can anyone advise what course of action she can take..where she goes from here as dealers are not being reasonable or co-operative...oh forgot to say she spoke to dealership yesterday..and now they want her to return car...its miles away from us...they haven't offered to pay to take it or offere another car..just said they need to check repair done by audi...

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Thu 30 Jul 2015 11:29
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - RobJP

Quite simply, she is obliged to give them an opportunity to fix the problems.

However, she could probably reasonably say that she has lost all confidence in them, and that any trust has been destroyed. As such, there is an argument for her to take the car to another garage for the work to be done, to pay for the work, and then to send the bill for the work to the garage which sold the car. If they refuse to pay, small claims court.

I would really suggest that she gets professional legal advice before doing anything. Most legal firms will give 30 min or 1 hour for free, and paying a small-ish amount for a consultation and a solicitors letter to be sent might just get the garage to get their act together.

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Thu 30 Jul 2015 11:45
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - pd

I would really suggest that she gets professional legal advice before doing anything. Most legal firms will give 30 min or 1 hour for free, and paying a small-ish amount for a consultation and a solicitors letter to be sent might just get the garage to get their act together.

Before she does that she needs to establish exactly what, at this point in time, is wrong with the car. The tyre is done and dusted, the other stuff at the Audi dealership the seller was within their rights to ask the car to be returned to them so is also past history. She can't say she has "lost trust" when they have been given zero opportunities to fix anything.

You can't claim for "I think something else may go wrong in the future".

Cambelt is possibly a future extra cost she wasn't anticipating so maybe some goodwill from the dealer on that would be appropriate. What engine is it and how many miles has the car done?

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Thu 30 Jul 2015 11:36
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - pd

To sum it up, the car clearly hasn't been very well prepared, but it basically amounts to:

(a) A tyre with a nail in it.

(b) A slight oil leak (if it cost £30 to fix at an Audi dealership it clearly wasn't the crankseal!).

(c) Dealer stated the car had previously had the cambelt changed, which it hadn't.

OK, so a pain, but not exactly the piston rings having gone so I think you need to keep it in perspective.

The problem with these "free" health checks is that they will always find something amongst a load of sucking in of teeth and "well, Sir, you could ignore it but if the car explodes and kills your Children" sort of way of presenting it so it is always difficult to judge exactly how bad anything is. I think the supplying dealer may well have a point here.

The tyre is obviously done and dusted, as is the oil leak, so what are you actually after? Does it even need a cambelt? If it is only 5 years old and hasn't done many miles why would one have been done?

I think you need to clarify in your mind exactly what you are after. Thus far it appears to have cost a tyre and £180 at an Audi dealership so your "financial loss & injury" appears to amount to that. With respect, it isn't exaclty a new clutch or engine.

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Thu 30 Jul 2015 14:31
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - Palcouk

A tyre can 'fail' at any time & as such is not the supplying dealers problem.

Unless KwikFit supply written confirmation that the tyre was subject to a previous 'bodged' repair, which I doubt they will do.

If the suppying dealer offered to pay for a tyre of the recommended type they were being more than helpful & you cannot insist on a specific brand, unless that specific brand was on the other axle

A charge from an Audi dealer of £30 to fix an oil leak is a minimum charge and as such any oil weapage was minor & of little consequence.

The cambelt is due for change every 5 years or XX miles whichever is the soonest, so unless the cambelt requires changing in the next 6 months, from purchase you may have cause to expect a goodwill gesture from the supplier.

Sorry, but you / your daughter have no cause to complain or demand any recompense

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Fri 31 Jul 2015 18:55
Audi a3 cabriolet - Audi a3 cabriolet..problems after problems - csgmart

A tyre can 'fail' at any time & as such is not the supplying dealers problem.

I beg to differ. From what I've read above the nail in the tyre had been deliberately hidden in some way - presumably the dealer knew of this or at the very least should have agreed to replace that tyre and the other one which was faulty.

If I'd paid £12k for a 5 year old car I would have expected something better than this.

The cambelt is another expense which the dealer has skimped on and now the new owner has to either pay for it to be done or try and get the dealer to stump up = hassle.

I know it's easy to be wise after the event but I would have checked the condition of the tyres closely on collection of the car and insisted on seeing an invoice for the replacement of the cambelt AND made it a condition of the purchase that it was documented on the invoice.

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