Issue Covered by Warranty?

[Koyakami]

Hi all,

Just wrote alot on the issue and then went to add an image and it erased everything I wrote. My warranty is valid until end of January 2018.

Basically alternator failed, wasn't charging battery. Audi then charged me £380 for a battery from them as my one wasn't from Audi, so they couldn't do anything more until it's got a battery which is accepted by Audi. + labour and coding into the vehicle.

Anyway they found the issue below, and said they wasn't sure where the bolt was from and that it's not covered under warranty due to a bolt causing the fault as the bolt has damaged some copper wires in it. They removed the bolt and tested the vehicle over night to see if it loses it's charge or doesn't charge properly in some form but all was well. They were happy for me to take the vehicle away but if it plays up again then it's recommended the alternator is replaced. Quoted me £583.57 as shown in the picture.

Drove it that day and was fine, the next day i drove it to work, all fine, after work on way home i got the same message again. So turns out it needs replacing. However, they didn't notice, nor I but my mate did when watching the video as shown in the picture. The bolt is from the engine directly above the alternator... how they could miss it being mechanics but I guess human error.

audi.jpg

None the less, I believe this should be covered by the warranty due to an issue with their build which has caused the bolt to come loose and fall into my alternator in the past 3-10K miles. (bought the car at 3K miles, and it is now 10K miles). So i'm expecting a call back from them but would like some second views from you folks.

[Alan02]

Not your fault they missed the snapped bolt being from the engine causing consequential damage to Alternator. I would be pushing for warranty too. You went and paid for an "Audi" battery so they could diagnose!

[Koyakami]

Turns out Audi said that their Warranty folks said it's not covered as "the bolt wouldn't come undone any other way except if someone had done some work on it. So undone it, and put it back on but didn't do it up properly".

So yeah i'm now having to pay. Unbelievable. Nobody has touched under my bonnet, it had a normal service when I bought it at 3K miles. Otherwise not touched anything under the bonnet. Absolute ********. Not sure if I should raise this? I've already booked my car in elsewhere (Audi Specialist) which will cost me £320 but for a Lucas alternator. Not really bothered about the warranty now, they don't seem to cover anything anyway. Should have got a Merc lol. Hear nothing but praise from folks I know which have them.

[chrishamer]

They are fobbing you off. Don't give in till they pay.

Argue that you bought the car from them - they are the only ones who have maintained it, so they should be responsible for fixing it. I'd recommend if they don't budge e-mailing the head of VW Finance who I think runs their warranty scheme, copy in the Audi UK CEO, VW Group CEO too.

If you make enough fuss, tell them it's their fault and don't budge you should win eventually.

[b206]

Something not right there - your car has only done 10k and is now on its 3rd battery ? How old is it ?
If you didn't replace the battery, Audi have missed the "non-audi" branded battery during their checks....assuming you bought it from an Audi dealership.

[Stavros_Davros]

If you don't get any joy out of the dealership and assuming that you purchased it from a dealer, I'd be considering a 'Letter Before Action' remedy and threatening court action, it's not hard or expensive.

Back in 2003 I bought a new Suzuki bike that a year later suffered a catastrophic engine failure due to poor crankshaft machine tolerances, they tried to wriggle out of it under warranty blaming end user incorrect run-in procedure, cost them over £10K to fix with Jap imported parts when the bike was only £7200 new. They put it right but it wasn't without significant inconvenience.

Send them a scary letter and watch them melt.