What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks

Not remotely

I wonder if you have an input to help me here. Car failed to start - engine started but then died immediately. The RAC said the car no longer recognised the key. My wife brought the spare key and we had no luck with that either. The RAC towed it to an Audi dealership in Berkshire. I checked with my usual garage and they agreed that it was an Audi job. Repaired next day, problem said to be "wire for reader coil connector making poor connection". Replaced wires, recoded keys. Charge - £176.67 for one and a half hours labour at £99.99 per hour plus VAT. Drove 5 miles home – OK. Next day: same problem. They asked me to arrange to send the car back. They had no transporter. They said I could use the RAC. I refused and said it was their responsibility. Eventually, they arranged collection. I have no confidence in these people. Any idea what the problem is likely to be? Is the above charge reasonable? Should I be charged again? They refused to assure me that I would not be charged if it was a different fault.

Asked on 3 January 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
They have charged you £176.67 to fix a fault they failed to fix. They either have to refund the £176.67, or fix it at no further charge to
you. Give them that choice. If they choose to refund your money, take the car to an independent Audi specialist. In court they could claim that it's a 9-year-old car and therefore could be expected to become unreliable with no guarantee that a repair would solve a problem. But I think that's a weak defence.
Similar questions
Yesterday, my car was clamped. I was rather surprised because it was correctly parked, but it seems that the tax was out of date. I didn't know it was out date because I never received the relevant renewal...
Last week I went to Tesco for a newspaper. As it was only a paper I went for I parked in a disabled parking space and ran in, I was only a few minutes And when I got back I had received a parking ticket...
I have an on-going dispute after my wife was involved in a non-fault accident. I am making slow progress with the lawyers but, in the meantime, we have to re-new the policy on my wife's car. The renewal...
 

Value my car

Save £75 on Warranty using code HJ75

with MotorEasy

Get a warranty quote

Save 12% on GAP Insurance

Use HJ21 to save on an ALA policy

See offer