Let The Fun & Games Begin - Turbos Failing

[ZeroK66]

Well MRC had my car for the last couple weeks coming up to the meet last weekend. While MRC worked on the car the turbos developed an awful grinding/metallic rattly noise. When I then collected the car on Saturday this has evolved into a whoooooo (ghost) noise followed by grinding.

I called my local dealership & booked the car in. No courtesy car for 2 weeks... (Called Audi CS - they will sort courtesy car if it takes more than a couple days). I went for a test drive & the Top Mechanic came out wtih me. He said sounded like a split hose... I suggested the turbos & he said "Turbos are bullet proof" - I thought here we go. I mentioned knowing some enthusiasts & the S4s being known to fail. He then went to slate internet sites saying we are a bunch of nerds with nothing better to do and dont know a thing about cars. I kept quiet.

Anyway, come 5pm still no word... I call the dealership.

Reception: Sorry no one available on service desk they will call you back
Me: Fine
5:30
I call again speak to reception - saying if I need to collect car I have to come now I NEED AN ANSWER.

Finally get put through & the service desk response was:

Service: To check the car fully we need to take the engine out
Me: Okay... &
Service: Its a big job and we need you to authorise this work & pay for it
Me: Um, no - its an audi warranty. You need to find out what the fault it and fix it.
Sercice: Um, no cause if warranty co refuses to pay for the work then you are liable
Me: No
Servce: Okay you need to take car to the dealer you bought it from
Me: The dealer does not exist anymore. STFU & call audi warranty & get them to approve the work.

Then he goes on about non-standard exhaust & the chip blah blah - I said that is how I bought the car now just get it sorted.

I called Audi CS and am waiting for them to call me back about the work.

Oh yay Oh yay! This is going to be a long saga!

[MarkB]

Good Luck

[GrahamS4]

Intersting they even knew/noticed the remap.....or does it have an MTM label on it or something!?

I've heard garages that slate forums too - for some part they can be right - you certainly can't believe everything you read. The "turbo's are bullet proof" line must have nearly cracked you up!

Fingers crossed. Thanks for the update, I was wondering.

A thought - ask them to tell you what it could be at fault that isn't covered by them - then tell them you suggest they get on with it!

[springfield]

Keep us posted Zero,the main dealer(experts) manage to get my new cambelt tesioned incorrectly and i diagnosed the faulty exhaust manifolds and also had to tell them it was an engine out job to change which they disagreed with then rang me up next day to....inform............me that they would have to take the engine out to change the manifolds.
F***in Nerds the lot of them!

[DavidT]

There are good and bad dealers, we all know that from experience.

I think you will be fine Leon. The parts affected are exactly the same as when you bought the car with an Audi UK warranty. In my view, they cannot afford not to honour it, but it will help if you keep your discussions off the forums whilst they debate matters.

[fletchie55]

think of it as a blessing in disguise mate, now you have the excuse to hunt down parts for the BIG power you have been dreaming of and lusting after! your handling is sorted, styling is done,just brakes and engine to go

still, hope you can get the result you are after from the dealers, I would think they will honour your warranty as you have all the proof of how the car was sold to you etc.

[ZeroK66]

Well been running this over & over in my mind here is how I see it playing out - certainly how I would like it to...

Audi CS turn around to me and say the dealer who supplied me the car must okay footing the bill if the warranty claim is rejected. I will then have to contact them to get the okay.


Now thing is soon after I bought my car from the dealer that dealer was sold to a private individual. He kept the name but then sold on the audi franchise to a new company who opened a NEW Audi dealership in that area under a different name.

Now the director of this company which now holds the name, but not the Audi franchise is a fantastic bloke. Really helpful. I had a few non-warranty items that needed sorting. He said he would play it however I wanted offered me a courtesy car if I left it with him or to PAY my local audi dealer £4-600 to carry out the work that needed doing - honestly a shock & a pleasant surprise - we eventually settled on MRC doing the work & he pays them direct. What a nice guy - what a pleasure to deal with.

Anyway, I have left him a voicemail to contact me. What I will propose is this...

Either he agrees to cover the charge to remove the engine with my dealer if the warranty is rejected (Which is very possibly will because it is a chipped car) - so he will have to pay to take out & re-fit the engine + is required to honour the warranty & fix the fault.

OR which I will ask of him is:

I give him the car... he covers all labour costs & I supply parts. I will get a set of shiny BIG turbos, manifolds & a new clutch down to him & ask him to fit. I pay for parts - he covers the labour & we agree that from that point on the engine is not warranted by him any more.

I think he would be silly to turn up this offer.

Of course he may try get out of this one and refer me to the newly created dealership in the area, but I think legally he bought the customer base & kept the name but passed on the franchise.

**Cross fingers** I will update you when I know more.

As the car was in MRC's care when the turbos started to fail they have agreed to help if all attempts with Audi fail. As it is covered under warranty they prefer I go down this route - a real pain as you can see, but of course I understand why. I'm starting to understand why we all love MRC

[viperbl]

Bad luck Zero ... but every cloud ...

When my turbo's started to let go I went to a number of people, all agreed it was the KO3's on their way out ... anyway, I went for the big upgrade, and during it I got a phone call to tell me it was a hose that split!!!

But, its an engine out to find that ... thats the big problem with our cars ...

[DavidT]

Hmm, interesting approach. Good luck with it. I expect to see further posts on the forums then?

[MCB]

but it will help if you keep your discussions off the forums whilst they debate matters

Why?

[GrahamS4]

From working on another forum, where I have been privilege to the IP details of peoples connections (standard feature of pretty much all forum software), some of the addresses resolve to obvious domains, clearly showing people all over accessing the forums - even the odd dealership! That's one reason.

[DavidT]

but it will help if you keep your discussions off the forums whilst they debate matters

Why?

Simple. If you criticise an organisation publicly they are less likely to do what you want/they are obliged to do. It's better for these things to be resolved by the parties involved, rather than on forums.

It's not just the enthusiasts that read forums.

[viperbl]

It's not just the enthusiasts that read forums.

I agree, just need to be careful what is said.

I had loads of problems with my Noble, ended up trying many avenues to get the problems rectified but I had posted some stuff in a forum, which, even the factory read, along with some dealerships and they initially declined to do work on the car because I had done the gumball in it.

It would just have been easier all round if I had not posted in the forums.

Now, well I am shot of that piece of , so I can say whatever I want

[CliveH]

As Graham and David point out, you might be surprised who reads these forums

Whilst it may be helpful to air ideas and get input from other members, discussing strategy on an open forum in relation to a potentially litigious issue may not have the desired effect if the organisations/individuals concerned have access to your tactics and thought processes...

[QuantumJohn]

There are good and bad dealers, we all know that from experience.

I'd probably go further than that David. My experience is there is good and bad people to deal with in nearly every dealership.

John