Dear Honest John, and readers

I bought an '06 Audi RS4 from an Audi Dealership (Hull) in October 2009, and have had an number of problems with it, including miss-selling.

I got in touch with consumer direct, trading standards and such like and eventually got a begrudged resolution with no help from the aforementioned bodies (April 2010).

A number of Issues still remained, but because I loved the car I put up with them and tried to get them resolved through the dealer network, which were never resolved completely (and are still evident today (parking sensors, etc).

In May 2010 the Clutch / Gearbox failed catastrophically. 6 weeks and £7500 warranted pounds, a new gear box, clutch and a number of other reoccurring niggles later, I picked the car up, spent £880 on tyres and then 30 mins later, grind, whine, and more problems. The engine sounded rough, like it wasnt firing on all cylinders and from vibration, niggly problems still remained and the aircon had stopped working.

Mid-June 2010, the new Gearbox sump plug had been left off… and the new gearbox whined itself to an early end as well as the engine still sounding and running rough, in addition to various niggles (parking sensors, aircon problems).

6 weeks encounting, bad customer service, slow action by the Finance company (Audi VW Finance) and I’m still struggling to get my issue resolved.

The first gearbox was done under warranty, and the second, I am not sure, but Audi Doncaster are covering the costs, because it appears to be their maintenance error (I picked it up, the morning after England’s first world cup match!)

I’ve explained I am willing to negotiate one of two options:

1) Full* refund plus compensation

for the time I have had to spend dealing with the issues (I had to take their hire car in for a service, because it was supplied 1000 miles passed its due and it was supplied in an disgusting mess), amongst the numerous travels to the dealership, and leaving the office to field calls (I am self employed).

* Negotiable, bearing in mind I have not had use of MY car for 4 months out of 9 whilst various work was carried out!

2) Repair the car to a safe state and warrant it for the remainder of my agreement plus compensation.

The car has had (amongst numerous other issues, too many to list in a quick email) two gearbox failures (no fault of my own) in a short time, I am concerned that the engine has also been damaged as it sounds very rough and out of balance, yet the dealers just don’t have the technical ability to deal with this or even discuss it. I have literally no confidence in these people and it worries me that had I not been on the ball, the gearbox failure could have locked the wheels and put me through the crash barrier upside down!

I spoke with Audi Finance and because the supplying dealer (Hull Audi) dont think its grounds for a refund, only an exchange (no details on the terms!) was offered. Bearing in mind, Hull Audi have not been involved in the issues since March, they dont know the full range of problems I'm still having. I said, the car is faulty, and Audi have had multiple chances and 4 months+ out of 9 to put it right, I want a refund.

Please can you assist and or advise me? I am in a desperate state. I want a refund, even though I love the car! I dont have any confidence in the technical staff at the dealer and the fact they havent investigated the potential engine damage further concerns me enough to consider the car unsafe.

If I was to accept it, I would be expecting the engine to fail, and with only 3 months left under warranty, it is not a risk I am prepared to take, no matter how much I love the car!

Thank you

Simon.