Am I Expecting too Much??? (Long)

[Tom C]

Less than a month ago I walked out to my garage on my day off and noticed a decent sized pool of oil underneath my car. I started the car, there were no warning lights going off. When I checked the oil, it seemed to be ok. I ran over to Audi of Rockville, which is probably the closest dealer to my house. I got there, explained the situation to the service advisor. He could not offer me a loaner as I did not buy the car from his dealership. I said I would wait. To their credit, they put the car up on a lift and diagnosed the problem within 15 minutes. Apparently, a gasket on the transmission oil pan was incorrectly installed in a prior repair. The service advisor informed me that he wanted to call the prior dealer and have them authorize the repair as gaskets were not covered under warranty. I explained that I bought the car CPO'ed from a dealer out near Chicago and couldn't understand why it wouldn't be covered. I heard him leave a message for the service manager at the dealership I bought the car at. I was incensed when he said "I have a customer of yours here". My feeling is that I live 7 miles from this dealership (I gave him my personal info with my local address and I have MD plates on my car) and I am not THEIR customer. I waited 2 + hours and they would not touch the car to repair it and never even offered to give me an estimate of the repair. The service advisor suggested that I could take the car home and come back when they had heard back from the other dealership. I was assured that it was a small leak and I would hear back from them the next day. A month later and I am still waiting for a call.

Two days after not hearing from them and having the oil start smoking from underneath the car, I decided to try a dealership out by my work in VA. I brought the car into them and explained the situation. They were very helpful and were dumbfounded by the other dealership's refusal to cover it under warranty. They fixed the problem within a day. They even provided me with a free rental even though I did not purchase my car from them. It was an excellenet experience and restored my faith in Audi service. As I was picking up the car, I was going to set up an appointment for my next maintenance. I had mentioned it to them when I dropped the car off, but they said I hadn't had enough miles by like 500 or so. However, when they checked the records, I was eligible to have the maintenance done. They were going to need the car for another couple of days so I decided to wait a week as I wanted the car for an upcoming trip. I picked the car up that Friday.

That Saturday I took my car to a do-it-yourself car wash and was waiting in line. When I restarted the car the check engine light came on. The car did not go into any limp mode or seem any different than usual. The light was just annoying. That Monday morning I dropped the car back to the VA dealership. They gave e the free rental. The kept the car for two days. The fault code had something to do with the evap system which seemed fine. when I got the car back, they handed me the invoice (no payment due) and noticed they put 30 miles on the car. I was a little upset, given the road test after the trans oil pan fix was only 5 miles. I was assured that the car had a 10 mile cycle and because it was tested numerous times to try to get the code to trigger again. They even provided 5 gallons of gas. I didn't say anything more. I just scheduled the 35K maintenance for the following Monday. However, when I got to my work (literallly less than 2 miles away from the dealer) I noticed that the mileage-out on the invoice was understated by 11 miles, so they out 40+ miles on the car instead.

The car worked perfectly fine on my 500 mile trip. The Monday morning I dropped my car off, I let the service manager know about my displeasure about the mileage that was not accounted for and expected to be notified if the car was going to require additional mileage. I got the car back on that Wednesday with only 5 miles on the car (amazing). I drove to my house to grab some stuff and then headed back to work. When I left work later that evening, the coolant light started flashing and beeping on start up. The maintenance invoice reported that they changed the coolant. I drove out of the parking garage just in case I would need a tow. The temp gauges weren't moving. I tried to see if the coolant was low, but the resevoir is should shrouded I couldn't tell. the next day in my garage it started up and no coolant light. When I left work that evening, the light came back on. It became apparent that when I parked on a flat surface it was fine but when in the parking garage it was parked on the sloped ramp. The next morning (last Friday) I stopped back at the VA dealer. They took the car right in as they knew what the problem was. The coolant was drained and bled 3 times during the maintenance. Apparently there was an air pocket that prevented the coolant from colpletely filling. They filled it up and I was out of there within a 1/2 hour.

The saga continues.... yesterday I drove to lunch. when I restarted the car, the check engine light popped on again. I plan on taking the car in again by tomorrow. Am I justified in being very upset and frustrated? I just got a call from AofA (as I was writing the last paragraph) to do their survey for the last service. I told them I would like them to call me back by the end of the week so I can resolve some issues first. My servie advisor sent the standard letter saying anything less than extremely statisifed is considered a failure. I am not sure I can say honestly say that. I have zero confidence that they will resolve the check engine light (mind you, clearing the code isn't my definition of resolving the problem). Does anyone have any suggestions?

[LIRS6]

My concern would be the mileage that the dealer put on the car ... 40 miles is outrageous ... sounds like someone decided to take the car home for the night and impress their g/friend

[nene]

That is a tough one Tom. The only issue is that you may be running out of places to take the car to. It is quite difficult to build a long lasting relationship with your service dept, and even harder to build it when the car was not purchased there.

A few miles being put on I don't mind, however 40 miles is an extreme high number even for a test drive of problem. In the event a manager has to take it home to see if the problem re-appears, is one thing they should have called you up to confirm.

Sometimes it may be more than 1 thing that needs change in order to fix the issue. However, I hope that they are not simply doing a clear of the codes, as this is not a solution. Talk to the manager kindly again, and explain that you seem to take the same trip for the same issue, and this is your 3rd or 4th time back, and it may be that something is really wrong, and clearing the codes just not working.

Recommendation:
Always make appointments for first thing in the AM (I'm at their door at 7AM). Bring in coffee and some donuts and bagels. Granted most shops do have those already in the dept, however the fact that you thought about it, goes along way. After all, what's $30 to get a little more attention.


Good luck.

[Radiation Joe]

As with many marks, it is difficult to find a service department that shows a reasonable level of competence. My CPO arrived with the wrong tires, two quarts too much oil in the motor and an oil leak that would leave an eight inch puddle on the ground. Part of the deal was for the dealer to remove the phone cradle from the from the center arm rest along with repairing the oil leak and installation of the correct tires.
Two visits to the dealer to get the oil leak fixed. Center console has phone cradle cut out with pieces of the mounts still attached inside and SA tells me the center armrest is on back order.
Subsequently left the car with the dealer for three weeks while out in CA. Come back to find new set of wrong tires on the car, center console not replaced, oil still two quarts overfilled, and new key I requested is also on back order. Come on.....what dealer doesn't have Audi key blanks in stock?
This is not my local Audi dealership. Luckily, my local dealer, Knopf Audi in Allentown, is great.

[Radiation Joe]

As with many marks, it is difficult to find a service department that shows a reasonable level of competence. My CPO arrived with the wrong tires, two quarts too much oil in the motor and an oil leak that would leave an eight inch puddle on the ground. Part of the deal was for the dealer to remove the phone cradle from the from the center arm rest along with repairing the oil leak and installation of the correct tires.
Two visits to the dealer to get the oil leak fixed. Center console has phone cradle cut out with pieces of the mounts still attached inside and SA tells me the center armrest is on back order.
Subsequently left the car with the dealer for three weeks while out in CA. Come back to find new set of wrong tires on the car, center console not replaced, oil still two quarts overfilled, and new key I requested is also on back order. Come on.....what dealer doesn't have Audi key blanks in stock?
This is not my local Audi dealership. Luckily, my local dealer, Knopf Audi in Allentown, is great.

[mi021le]

ya tom,ive been warned of audi in rockville. i go to tisher. and like the service sofar. give me a call love to hear the story from u.

[Benman]

Originally posted by nene
That is a tough one Tom...

Recommendation:
Always make appointments for first thing in the AM (I'm at their door at 7AM). Bring in coffee and some donuts and bagels. Granted most shops do have those already in the dept, however the fact that you thought about it, goes along way. After all, what's $30 to get a little more attention.


Good luck.

Ditto all of that especially the Bagels comment. You would think that as the customer you wouldn't need to do that, but it does work and the level of attention they give you goes up quite a bit. That's politics for ya'.:D As for the mileage, yep, excessive big time. But again, as Nene says, tack and talking with "the manager kindly" should help.:thumb:

Ben:addict:

[CornersWell]

While there are mixed opinions on HBL's service, I've been reaonsably happy. Granted, the service requirements have been straightforward (OnStar, oil change, blown tire, regularly scheduled maintenance). It's relatively close, albeit over the river, they do provide loaners/free rentals for RS6ers (even if you didn't purchase the car there). One word of warning, I'm going to have to have the OnStar system gone over yet again (5th or 6th time) during the next service. So, I can't say that they've competently or completely fixed my problems.

Best,

CW

[Leadfoot]

Tom C,

That's a bum deal they gave you, but I bet I have it beat.

A few years back my brother bought a second-hand Jaguar XJ from the only main dealer in the country and dealt with the sales manager. Over 18 months of ownership the car had lots of differing problems, main one was suspension damage which was noticed during a service, this was there when the car was purchased, but they still expected the brother to pay the repairs, stuff like that.

But the thing that took the biscuit, was when he was trying to sale the car privately and a second-hand car dealer came to view the car told him the car had been totally respray. On hearing this he returned to the dealer who sold the car and spoke to the sales manager. He didn't seem that surprised by this and told the brother this was common practise on second-hand cars, the brother then asked why he wasn't told about this at the time of purchase. The reply and get this "well would you have bought it if you would have known", this still cracks me up.

By the way they wouldn't buy back the car and trading standard said he should have asked the question, he told them, he did ask if the car had been damaged, their reply was, but the car wasn't damaged it was just resprayed. So he had no claim and had to take £3K below bottom book to get it sold. He has never bought another Jaguar since.

I hope this makes you feel better.

[Aronis]

That fact that you got the car elsewhere is not an issue.

The service department ONLY makes money when it does service. So if you show up with a warrantee item they MAKE money FROM Audi. They should not give a rats ass if you bought the car from them. Sure they would be happy to sell and service all you cars....more customers more profit.....but to turn you away or treat you like a leaper because you got the car elsewhere is simply poor business sense.

As far as the extra miles on the car is concerned, I too don't like that happening as a friend of mine had a Honda Prelude in for service and they took it to get lunch for the shop...made a mess in the car too.

To the service department YOUR car is just another 'job', while to you it's YOUR CAR.

Mike

[Tom C]

Thanks guys for "listening" to me vent. The funny thing is, that last night the check engine light disappeared on start up. Not sure if the "problem" is solved. However, I really would like to keep the car out fo the shop for the whole week.

Tom

[Aronis]

The check engine can be something as simple as a loose gas cap.

I have the VAGCOM software on an old notebook computer which allows one to check the error codes before running to the dealer.

Check you gas cap, make sure the seal is not flipped over or missaligned.

Mike

[JAXRS6]

As Aronis (another MD) says, the check engine light (CEL) can come on for something as simple as a loose gas cap. That has happened to me. The CEL also can come on for hundreds of other reasons. If it's on steadily, there's a problem that can wait; if it starts blinking, you should stop the car because that means there is an urgent problem that CAN'T wait...per the owner's manual.

As for the car being driven 40 miles, I try to check the odo when I go in, let them know I checked it, and ask that they call me first if the car needs to be driven more than a couple of miles. Once I forgot to do that and the nearly empty gas tank, in which the car computer said I had 30 miles left when I dropped the car off, showed 0 miles when I picked it up. Some of that may be part of the fuel tank and everything else cooling off, since it has gone from 15 miles left to 5 just by sitting in my garage overnight. But 30 miles probably does mean someone drove it more than they needed to.

I try to schedule my appointments on Monday so that I get it back by Friday, thwarting any opportunity for a dealer employee to take my car home -- or anywhere else -- for the weekend. I have been around enough Audi dealers to know that the RS6 is one very coveted drive among employees.

[Aronis]

Originally posted by JAXRS6


Some of that may be part of the fuel tank and everything else cooling off, since it has gone from 15 miles left to 5 just by sitting in my garage overnight.



the estimated miles left is also based on the average consumption over the prior time period, (an hour, half and hour, whatever) so leaving the car parked and off changes that calculation...the moments in park and running changes that estimate...after running toward the gas station with it saying 5 miles left, you probably would notice it saying 20 miles left......

Mike

[PeterH]

Just to add to the gas cap issue: The CEL as mentioned - a loose gas cap can do it. We found on mine some "crud" on the rubber seal that was causing an improper seal and the resulting light. So check to make sure it is properly "clicked" into place and really check the gasket and the area it seals to on the car to make sure it is clean and intact.

This issue is not specific to our RS6's - it is across the entire Audi lineup.