We have dealt with numerous similar cases for Honest John readers and will normally do them on a no win no fee basis.

They will begin by alleging clutch abuse and you may need an engineer's report to show it was not.

If you want assistance with this please contact me via letters@honestjohn.co.uk with full details of the case so I can advise further, possible costs and how to proceed with it.

I have an 07 plate A4 Avant 2.0TDI which is basically the same mechanically. My clutch used to judder slightly on cold damp mornings and sometimes after a lot of town driving. However, it seems to be okay now i've done 42K miles.

The clutches do feel 'weak, on these, but I am thinking that some of my problem was contamination of the friction plate somehow. I have never in my motoring carreer worn out a clutch in any car I have owned or driven, but I did think at one stage that I would talk to the dealers about this, but never did.

Its a good point. I'm trading on their "Audi Approved" scheme. Its supposed to be a mark of quality, one generally pays a bit more buying second hand from Audi rather than from an independant dealer, so I'm claiming that "quality assurance" should mean they don't sell me a car that's been thrashed for 2 years.

As a fellow VAG customer, mercifully with much better luck with regard to product reliability, I would respectfully suggest you do not waste your time with these people - life's too short.

My dealings with VAG M-K have clearly identified a sophisticated wallet-raiding machine coupled with an utter contempt for the customer. When I change my car, I will be very glad to be rid of both them and their trading practices.

For customer service, try John Lewis - a pleasure to do business with and in a different galaxy (not that one) from VAG. They don't sell cars though.

659.

Without in any way defending VAG UK, who could and should be more helpful to their customers, they take the view that as the contract of sale was with their dealers, the customer should deal direct with them, and that any request for goodwill payments should be made to them by the dealer.

Skoda get a much better press, not I suspect because there is a different attitude in their part of VAG at M Keynes, but because their dealers are mostly family-owned and therefore care about their customers Their service receptionists usually know both customers and cars (Roy at Jewsons in Oxford is a fine example), as opposed to the junior ('Ooh, what's a DPF?') pen-pushers in the chain-owned glass palaces who don't seem to have any connexction with the workshop.