Complaint re Audi dealership

[leecrease]

Hi, this is my first post and I am looking for some advise please. I took my 2008 Audi Sline 2.0 (170) tdi avant, which I have owned for 3 month to a local Audi dealership for a winter health check. They advised me that there was excessive smoke from the exhaust and wanted to carry out further checks, which I agreed to. When I went to collect the car the technician advised the turbo needed replacing along with the intake flap motor. They said this was definitely the case as there was excessive play in the impellor and oil in the intercooler. I declined the work being carried out and took it to a local independent Audi/ VW specialist garage. They checked the turbo and confirmed there was nothing wrong with it. I decided then to take it to another garage for a third opinion. This garage also confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the turbo. They did however replace the air filter as it was clogged. Is this a case of the main dealer trying to fabricate work that wasn’t required? Has anyone else had similar experiences? Who should I complain to?
I have now been left out of pocket with all these checks that was carried out to confirm Audi’s wrong diagnosis.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[jugghead]

Id never take my car to a main *******. Only unless the car was brand new to upkeep the warranty. Most of the main ******** don't want to touch a car after 4yrs old anyway. Most of the good mechanic / technician that work at the main dealers set up on themselves and become independent. The main issue I have with the dealer's is that you can't get to speak directly with the mechanics in the workshop round the back. My car has had the intake manifolds replaced by three main dealers costing £1335, from the previous owner when apparently there is a manifold repair kit costing £30..Dealers are there for a business of making money. Glossy showrooms. Female receptionists that don't know nothing about the cars themselves. Sales managers that don't know nothing about routine maintenance. They only know figures.

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[Cockney Boy]

My advice is not to waste any more of your time dwelling over this as the dealer will just p*** you off even more.

Forget about claiming any money back as the piece of paper you signed while at the garage will cover their ***.




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[mikeybutch]

This is so easy for them to get away with cos most have to trust them anddont have the knowledge or resources to challenge them.Its vital to find an inde you can trust ours has a family backstreet workshop but is handy helpful and cheap but no frills.

[leecrease]

Thanks for everyone's comments. You live and learn. That's the last time I will be taking the car to the dealership for anything. I wonder how many people get ripped off on a daily basis for work that isn't even required on their vehicles

[Doctle Odd]

A main dealer should have done a diagnostic scan. The data should show that the turbo was below par. You are entitled to a copy of the scan

[vwcabriolet1971]

It is possible to do a rudimentary turbo impellor end float test/shaft run-out test with an "educated" finger test and oil in the intercooler pipes could be leaking turbo seals, so don't totally discount the dealer comments.

[wheely88]

I think the main dealers serve their purposes and as with any garage you get your good ones, ok ones and crap ones. B7s are getting on now, so other than fixed price regimes (which arent too badly priced and also keep Audi stamps going in the service book) I would no longer choose to have diagonistic work or non-fixed price work performed by them any more. I do also use them for my MOT as they still offer their £750 insurance and last year that saved me >£300 in wheel bearing replacement. And I've spoken to my Audi dealer mechanics on more than one occasion - including sitting with him on a test drive to show an issue.

As for the comment regarding dealers only wanting to make money - well that stands for every garage in the country, even the crappy back-street ones. But with Audi yes you are right, they have more overheads as they present a more prestigious look for their customers. And overheads have to be paid by someone! But lets face it, we all knew that when we bought our cars - else we'd have a Focus, Mondeo or Octavia!!