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Tue 20 Mar 2012 21:15

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Y087

Hi,
This is my 1st post on the site, I have been lingering around for a while and though I would say Hi.

Anyhow I was hoping to get some advice. I Purchased an Audi A1 1.4 TFSI Sport Brand new from an Audi Dealer on the 22nd of November 2011. Since the 15th of December onwards a number of problems have been present with the vehicle and the car has now been in on the following occasions:

12/1/12 - 13/1/12
18/1/12 - Home Visit
23/1/12 - 14/2/12
23/2/12 - 8/3/12
9/3/12 - Home Visit
10/3/12 - RAC Callout
11/3/12 - Audi Dedicated Visist. Car towed back to the dealership.

The car has 16 issues, however the main issue for me is Water Ingress. When the car is left stationary overnight for example or during the hours I am at work, if there has been any rain/cold weather all the glass inside the vehicle will be very very misted and will be soaked in water. We are talking more than condensation and a few drops of water with all the glass absolutely drenched and water covering the whole dashboard and pop up screen. The dealer has witnessed this issue when they saw the car in this state outside my property. In the time they have had the vehicle they state they have been unable to replicate the fault and the only difference between my vehicle and the other A1's on their forecourt is the paint protection applied to the vehicle, this was applied by an Authorised Professional Detailer who has also applied the same product to 3 identical vehicles and none of those have suffered these issues.

The car is on a PCP Agreement and during the period they have had the car 50 Days out of the 120 days I have owned it. I sent a letter of rejection to the supplying dealer, Audi Finance and Customer services and was informed they would not reject the vehicle as they believed they could resolve the issue and an agreement was made for the vehicle to go in on 1 further occasion: 23/2/12 and they would keep it for up to 1 month. The vehicle was returned to me on the 8/3/12 and I was informed they were happy it was all fixed and they had removed the Paint Protection from the vehicle.

On the days following this the issue returned and both the RAC and Audi Assist guys stated they had never seen so much water in a car in the x number of years they had been doing this job. It was decided that Audi would need to inspect the car and one of the Audi Specialist viewed the vehicle on the 11/3/12 and has stated on the report "Suspect body shell not sealed" i have obviously pushed ahead with this.

The dealer seems to have finally accepted my rejection of the vehicle however they have since stated that; Audi UK would be sending me a cheque or BACS Payment for the deposit paid. When I asked about a replacement vehicle they said this was not an option under the circumstances and that I was a sometimes difficult customer who expected perfection etc. So unfortuantely I am now going to be left without a vehicle when my work depends on the use of the car, and for me to get a car of like for like specification will require the car to be factory built for me and this is unlikely to arrive until September. If I go to another dealer they will not do the same deal for me and also I wanted to know where I stand legally as I have been making monthly payments on the car and have paid my document fee.

Any advice would be appreciated

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Tue 20 Mar 2012 21:46

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - balleballe

Have you read the small print of your contract?

As far as I am aware they are not entitled to give you a courtesy car as they have agreed to refund the money paid for the car.

You may not get the same 'deal' from another dealer, but surely you'd get better service? If someone told me that I was a difficult customer and expected 'perfection' on a brand new car; i'd flip and give them an ear full.

I hope you get the problem sorted - have you obtained professional legal advice? Even a citizens advice bureau

I'd personally never buy an Audi based on inflated prices for a badge; and the reliability issues.

Edited by balleballe on 20/03/2012 at 21:47

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 09:45

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - oldtoffee

IMO the best you could hope for would be your deposit back, a portion of the rentals paid reflecting the time you had the car plus your document fee and perhaps some costs. You'd absolutely have to get this prepared by a professional and probably put to the small claims court if it is under £5,000 I think.

If when organising the deposit refund they ask you to acccept in writing this as full and final payment, you'll have to refuse and pursue them for the extra money.

You could ask them to loan you a car while your new one is being built although I'd struggle to give a dealer such as this another chance and I'd look elsewhere. But if you're smitten with it and want the car that badly then the dealer could take the view that loaning you a car is a better bet than being clobbered in the small claims court or wherever it ends up with potentially much higher costs. You definitely have a claim it is just a case of taking the appropriate legal advice and deciding what to do then and not now.

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 10:53

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - 659FBE

As a VAG vehicle owner I have two observations to make - unfortunately neither of which will help to resolve your immediate problem.

1. VAG still don't understand the relatively simple actions of water and gravity. My car has a design defect in this respect (fixed by my own efforts and materials) and their engineering expertise here is laughable.

2. Much more seriously, my experience is that VAG hold their customers in utter contempt and a perusal of this Forum will support these findings.

They have had to be bullied into recalling safety-critical design defects which says it all. Vote with your cheque book - Toyota will treat you with respect.

659.

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 11:22

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - balleballe

My brothers Seat has also had a problem with water ingress; and it's a 10 year old car. One would think that they would have corrected such issues by now

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Fri 23 Mar 2012 14:56

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Armitage Shanks {p}

AND replace your faulty throttle control too!

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 11:59

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - bonzo dog

You say the dealer has accepted the rejection? Good but have Audi & Audi Finance?

I would contact Audi Finance pronto & ask for a full refund of all monies paid - use the phrase Merchandisable Quality & tell them you will be pursuing a complaint via the Financial Ombudsman unless they pay up quickly. The Financial Ombudsmen allows them a short period to agree with the customer complaint before they charge the finance company for the privilage of being investigated.

It may be that Audi then agree to provide a replacement vehicle although as others have said - why would you want to buy the same model car that you are unhappy with & from a dealer you are unhappy with?

Good luck

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 13:22

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Happy Blue!

A friend rejected a Jaguar which was constantly unreliable. He simply cancelled all future payments once he had made the decision to reject, advised the dealer and the credit company of his decision and the reasons behind it.

Several months later he got a full refund of his deposit and something towards his trouble. However he did not get nor did he think it reasonable that he should get a loan car.

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 20:16

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - bazza

Interesting that VAG have never sorted this. I once owned a Mk2 Golf which leaked like a sieve, all 4 doors. My father bought a Mk 3 Golf that leaked so much water we floated a plastic duck in the footwell. Years later, my recently departed Octavia also leaked through the rear door, a friend's 03 Passat leaks so much it has damaged the electrics with random door lock failures and warning lights. I looked at a Roomster last year and guess what? Wet rear carpets through the door. It beats me how they maintain such a high reputation for build quality!

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 20:26

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - gordonbennet

''It beats me how they maintain such a high reputation for build quality!''

Advertising to those who covet image status, especially Audi and VW.

Couldn't agree more with 659's post above, every word.

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 20:40

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Y087

Hi,
Thanks everyone for your responses.

I have indeed checked the small print of my agreement, the PCP is listed as a Hire Purchase Agreement, therefore the rejection of the vehicle has to be done via the Finance Company according to Trading Standards.

I know once I take the money they have no obligation to do anything for me, however I would like to feel my loyalty to the brand is valued as we have several vehicles from VAG and this is the 2nd vehicle I have purchased from this 'Group' in the space of 11 Months. I have already been speaking to other dealers and to get a car of like for like is going to mean a factory order and waiting until October for the car which is disappointing, but more so is the fact I will have to take the financial hit on this. I was livid when I was told I was a difficult customer and expected perfection, damn right I do when I spent this much money on the car but I am entitled to the sameway if you purchased a house if the garden wall wall was falling down you would go mad.

I have spoken to Consumer Direct and Motor Codes regarding this issue. They had advised me though the dealer is not obliged to sell me anything from parts through to a vehicle, so I cannot argue this decision. However they had advised me under the Sale of Goods Act they have to return me to the 'Pre-Contractual Position' i.e. Deposit and the monthly payments made, however there will be some charge for the use of the car otherwise it would class as betterment and free use of the vehicle. In the finance agreement it states £0.72 is the charge for excess mileage and I would be happy to pay this for the 1000 miles i have done in the car as I would not be loosing as much.

I shall be speaking to Citizens Advice regarding this, I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with the dealer so shall see what they say. If they give me anything to sign, Trading Standards have said I can ask them to state this is not full and final payment and can pursue them through the courts if I wish. I Assume the rejection has been accepted by all 3 as my meeting is to sign some paperwork and arrange for payment of my money via cheque/bank transfer from Audi. I shall mention the FSA to them, that said they told me to contact them already if I wasnt happy with them.

I dont think it is unfair for them to assist me given all the problems, I am likely to get another Audi (maybe an A3 insteaad) but need a car in the interim period, for this I shall speak to Audi UK CS.

Thanks

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 21:45

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - balleballe

Good luck

Your loyalty to VAG is indeed suprising to me though

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 21:58

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - daveyjp

I am stunned you are even considering another Audi. The advice you have is correct. Full refund, less a cost per mile which should be much less than 72p, unless they also paid you for the fuel you used and expect this back in the mileage rate.

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Wed 21 Mar 2012 22:06

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Y087

Well I like my VW & Audi otherwise I would have gone elsewhere. Definitely purchasing from another dealer.

I will definitely push to get some of my PCP Payments back as they cannot justify keeping it, yes i have used the car, but am willing to negotiate on a cost per mile. No fuel provided just been paying each month like an idiot, and no compensation whatsoever to date for all the problems I have had.

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Thu 22 Mar 2012 21:22

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - oldtoffee

Good luck with your quest for a reasonable outcome, you kind of deserve it for your unswerving loyalty to the brand.

You're clearly quite particular about your cars so I wish you well with a few years of doing business with the main dealers. Most Audi dealers have their heads up their nether regions so unless you get very lucky you can look forward to a few years of below average service on a decent enough product. It will drive you mad each time you have to deal with them. I have experience of buying or running from new, two VWs, two Skodas and three Audis either personally or on the company and I'd now only ever go back to Skoda based on dealer and manufacturer customer service experiences.

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Thu 22 Mar 2012 22:16

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Tonto1

Dealer experience really can make or break a brand. I know that most (perhaps all?) manufacturers now go through the motions of phoning or mailing to check on the service you've received, but in many cases these courtesy calls do not seem to have improved matters.

Over many years of motoring I have built up my own list of good and bad. Not scientific, but looking across this and other sites, I think my experiences have been shared by many:

Ford - Cars pretty good, but I never found a decent dealer. This was back in my company car days and even our fleet manager despaired at some of the shocking service. Decided to avoid even though some of the recent cars look good.

Vauxhall - had some problem cars (Vectra and Corsa) but the local dealer was great at getting things fixed. They then got taken over by a large chain and everything went downhill. No point having a dodgy car and an even worse dealer. Decided to avoid.

VW - cars mixed. Had a great golf but Mrs t had a truly terrible Polo (worst car we've ever had). Dealers (tried a few - local one was also Audi) were shockingly bad and hugely expensive. Decided to avoid.

Honda - Super reliable cars and very good local dealer. Still have a Jazz in the family, but have recently purchased Mini/BMW as we felt that Honda had lost the plot a bit in terms of pricing and model range (aside from the civic just a bit too bland).

BMW/Mini - Cars have so far been very reliable. Not totally conviinced on the dealers - Sales fine, but on the service side they certainly aren't as helpful and friendly as our Honda dealer.

I'm sure I am not unique. Manufacturers really need to keep a grip on their dealers as they are their main customer interface. To be fair, they also need to ensure the good dealers are suitably rewarded. A duff dealer can cost a manufacturer a lifetime of sales. I won't ever buy another Ford or VW, and I doubt my 3 car owning daughters will either.

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Thu 22 Mar 2012 22:21

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - balleballe

Indeed - I was very happy with my local mazda dealer and was stuck between a Honda or another Mazda. Due to dealer experience; I chose another mazda.

I have never seen/'visited the local honda dealer but I doubt they would have topped the mazda dealership

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Thu 22 Mar 2012 22:21

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Avant

There are good and bad dealers for every make: the most reliable rule is that family-owned dealerships are likely to make more effort, in both their own interest and their customers', than the big chains.

Ford, Vauxhall and VW seem to have a higher percentage of big-chain dealerships, and this is one of the reasons why Skoda score consistently higher in customer satisfaction surveys than VW, despite most of the models being mechanically identical.

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Thu 22 Mar 2012 22:40

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Tonto1

Balleballe. Never owned a Mazda, but understand your comment as I have certainly picked up lots of positive comments on both cars and dealers - would consider one going forward.

Avant. I agree with you on the split between small Vs big-chain dealers, but I still don't understand how manufacturers can't sort out the truly bad ones?

I know big can equal impersonal and a focus of profit numbers, but you might at least expect big to also equate to decent quality control, as well as consistent ( if bland) levels of service etc. Big chain doesn't and shouldn't = rubbish. John Lewis get it right, even the likes of Mcdonalds and Starbucks get it right, so why can't more of the large dealer chains?

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Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:09

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Y087

Hi All,
Well I love my Audi's and to be honest this is the 1st Bad one I have had.

I had my meeting with them yesterday and the outcome of the meeting was I shall be receiving a full refund to put me back into the position I was in when I entered the agreement, I fought my corner and they wont be charging me for the useage of the vehicle and subsequent miles (1000) put on the car. This however has come at a cost as they were unhappy about rejecting the car and did not wish to supply me another vehicle, they are part of a BIG Group and have suggested I use another franchise. They have though have agreed to allow me use of the hire car I am currently in until the 1st of April or later if they cannot get the full payment to me by then.

Yep dealer service is one of the big things I look at prior to purchasing a vehicle, and the sales side were brilliant just somewhat dissapointed things have come to this point. Unfortunately the 7 Audi and 2 VW Dealers in my local area are all owned by the same franchise. So no local family owned dealerships.

Thanks

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Wed 28 Mar 2012 01:13

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - schneip

This however has come at a cost as they were unhappy about rejecting the car and did not wish to supply me another vehicle, they are part of a BIG Group and have suggested I use another franchise.

Unfortunately the 7 Audi and 2 VW Dealers in my local area are all owned by the same franchise. So no local family owned dealerships.

Awwww, bless their cotton socks. Seems a little constructive criticism and sound legal advice made them throw their rattle out of their pram! Did they seriously expect you to throw money at the same group? No chance if it were me!!

Something similar happened to me when I rejected a new Fiesta in 2002 for a full refund - I spent a little more on a new MINI Cooper and felt more than satisfied. I haven't bought a Ford since (and their dealers still seem duff to this day) whereas I've only had positive experiences from my BMW (and their main dealer in Cardiff) and also from an old (seemingly almost infallible) Hyundai I bought as a second car. Hyundai dealership excellent too, but that's a long established family dealer in Cardiff. I like the way Audis look but then keep thinking they're only really a VW in a cocktail dress. If I'm spending BMW or Mercedes money, I'd much rather have BMW or Mercedes engineering. And a car that doesn't leak.

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Fri 23 Mar 2012 11:42

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - TeeCee

Ford - Cars pretty good, but I never found a decent dealer. This was back in my company car days and even our fleet manager despaired at some of the shocking service.

You too huh? I had a Mk1 Galaxy as a fleet car. Whenever it went in for a service it was accompanied by a list of faults to rectify. When it came back it would have had about half of them looked at, a couple fixed and a few new ones to replace the fixed ones.

Worst was when third gear synchromesh on the gearbox went south and the car came back with the carpet chucked in the general direction of the footwells.

Shocking. If anything I was in a slightly worse position than you as there was no way I could describe that thing as "pretty good". It was a right pig of a car.

I've avoided Fords ever since.

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Fri 23 Mar 2012 13:04

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - madf

I had an A4 TDI which had shockingly poor component reliability: but the local Stoke delaers were excllent. ALl work done under warrnty costing c £3k. I would never buy another as I keep cars for a long time and those kind of repair bills are unacceptable.

Our local VW dealers have a poor reputation : high costs and poor service.

Best I have found is Toyota: can't fault them. (Pinkstone SToke on Trent).

But I know there are poor Toyota dealers.

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Sat 24 Mar 2012 08:55

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - PatrickO

What a nightmare. I can't believe you're going to buy another Audi. I know every make can have lemons but once bitten, twice shy i'd say.

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Wed 28 Mar 2012 07:21

Audi A1 - Reject New Audi - Armitage Shanks {p}

I agree strongly with giving one's business to a small(ish) family owned concern. Near where I live there is a medium size Kia franchise, which was Rover until a few years ago, and I was in the other day for a brochure and the workshop manager was the same one who was there in1999 which I thought was a good sign.

Since then I have used a Peugeot dealer in Stamford Lincs and a Ford dealer in Cottesmore Rurland. Both owned and run by a selection of family members (Father, Son, Uncle etc) and good service. In summary, big enough to know what they are doing and small enough to give a personal service.

HJ's Good Garage list is a good place to look and these 3 garages .are in it.

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