Audi main dealer failed to pick up faulty aircon compressor. Bought the car, what now??? Help?

[ntp]

Hi all, I need some urgent advice on how to deal with a problem with Walton AUDI main dealer.

A week ago I took an Audi A4 car for a multipoint check at Walton Audi. The reason was I wanted to buy the car and therefore make sure it was all checked up by a main dealer. They offered this Multipoint check and said that they would do it before they sell a car so I thought, well, this is safe. Paid a huge amount of money for an hour work and later on that day received a report. Mainly the report displayed only ticks and the issues found were only a headlight range control problem and some minor brake pads and disc below the minimum warning. Well I knew that aircon was not working either but didn’t mention it because I thought if it was a problem they would have found it. On the basis of this report I bought the car on the next day.

A couple of days later I took her down to KwikFit for a gas refill although it did seem strange that 3 year old car would need this done. KwikFit said the aircon compressor wasn't engaging so I had to have it fixed first.

Today I had an Aircon Direct specialist checking the car who found that the compressor needs to be replaced. He hasn't given me a quote just yet but mentioned that it would between £500 and £700. I was amazed. After paying so much money for a multipoint check by an audi main dealer I still got stung with a serious problem. I showed him the report and clearly the tick box for Air-conditioning Working was checked. He advised me to get back to Walton Audi and get it fixed by them since they have failed to pick this one up. He also mentioned that this issue must have happened quite some time ago.

Well, I will definitely pay them a visit on Monday but can you advise me on something that I should be prepared for in case they come up with some stupid excuses i.e. it broke later or the report is not legally binding? Shall I call Audi UK and discuss this with them. What are my legal chances to win this case? I still have the report with my receipt stapled to it.

Nik

[zollaf]

this is, imho, a bit of a tricky one. firstly i would have a word with the audi dealer that did the check, but then you say you knew the aircon wasnt working and they had ticked the box that said it was. really i think you should have taken it up with them there and then. i presume you purchased the car privately?your best course of action would have been to get the seller to sort out the aircon before you bought it, but obviously its too late for that now. personally, i would find a good garage that deals with aircon, not kwikfit. if there is low pressure in the system it wont engage the compressor.i really dont think youve got much chance of getting the audi dealer to pay though, might be worth a try just in case.obviously its not very professional of them to say the aircon was working, when you knew it wasnt.

[ntp]

this is, imho, a bit of a tricky one. firstly i would have a word with the audi dealer that did the check, but then you say you knew the aircon wasnt working and they had ticked the box that said it was. really i think you should have taken it up with them there and then. i presume you purchased the car privately?your best course of action would have been to get the seller to sort out the aircon before you bought it, but obviously its too late for that now. personally, i would find a good garage that deals with aircon, not kwikfit. if there is low pressure in the system it wont engage the compressor.i really dont think youve got much chance of getting the audi dealer to pay though, might be worth a try just in case.obviously its not very professional of them to say the aircon was working, when you knew it wasnt.

Hi Zollaf,

Well perhaps I should have highlighted this at the time they did the multipoint check. I simply thought that if there was something wrong they would have found it. Isn't this why I am paying £150 for an hour work. The problem is that I am not sure now whether they really checked the car. I hope I won't be up for more nasty surprises. The thing is I still like the car and I would have bought it anyway but maybe was going to get a bigger discount. Do you think AUDI UK would be able to help? The car has just come out of warranty but again it's one of their dealers behaving unprofessionally so they might want to say a few words.

[kite]

"Well I knew that aircon was not working " and you brought the car without it being fixed.
I don't think you have any recourse with Walton Audi, they will tell you it could have broke after they done the check.

[ntp]

"Well I knew that aircon was not working " and you brought the car without it being fixed.
I don't think you have any recourse with Walton Audi, they will tell you it could have broke after they done the check.

Hmmm, not even to get my multipoint check money back?

[kite]

They did the check !

[ntp]

They did the check !

Sorry did you mean they did the check? They did the check and but failed to check the aircontioning. Well it's ticked on the report but did they really tried it on?

[kite]

They carried out the Multipoint check.
They failed to find your Aircon was u/s, I would ask how they check the aircon, maybe they just check that the fans work. But you already knew it was broken and were prepared to buy the car,now it looks like its gonna cost to fix, you seem to be placing the blame on Audi
and trying to get them to pay for a repair you knew was on the car.

[ntp]

They carried out the Multipoint check.
They failed to find your Aircon was u/s, I would ask how they check the aircon, maybe they just check that the fans work. But you already knew it was broken and were prepared to buy the car,now it looks like its gonna cost to fix, you seem to be placing the blame on Audi
and trying to get them to pay for a repair you knew was on the car.

On the day when I got the report I asked in the office (not the actual mechanic) if they have checked the aircon because it wasn't working. They said they did and it was ticked as ok. I didn't go further. One thing they mentioned was that they would check the car thoroughly because if there was a problem after that it would fire back.

Also the fans are specified as a different check box.

Kite, what makes you think that Audi are not to be blamed. Once you pay for the service it is fair to complain if the service hasn't been done properly. What is the point of Multipoint check if you can trust it?

[kite]

Why ask Audi to check for faults when you already know the fault exists :confused: