I have an audi A3 which I bought new in July ´01 and so far it has just 15000km on the clock. I use my faithfull and hardworking MkII Golf for the city and the Audi rests most of the time inside the garage for small weekend trips. Last month I noticed that the leather around the gear shift is falling apart. It has already two holes, one on the front and another on the back of the shift where the leather folds. I personaly think that such quality is simply unacceptable in a car which costs that amount of money or for any car for that matter. I have this car less than 2 years and I always used the official audi garage for the service. I believe that the guarantee (which would cover such cases) is only value for the first year however I do think that they should replace it for free as such wear in such a short time and use is simply a big fat joke!
Please do tell me if you had similar experiences or mine is one off (a sick cow maybe?). Do you think I should go back to the audi dealer for a reclaim or I just have to live with it?
(I bet the replacment must costs a hand and a leg as it´s an audi thing and therefore synonimous to quality HA!)
Thank you for your patience, Stavros.
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After 5yrs and 120,000 miles the leather covering the armrest box on my old M.B. C220 started to crack very badly. When it was in for a routine service at the dealers I mentioned it and they replaced it F.O.C.
What a result!
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My Dad has an 1997 A3 Sport with leather wheel and (I guess from your post) gaiter around the gear lever. No problem with his car.
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I would have thought that such an incident would be covered as 'unacceptable' and 'unfit for its purpose'.
Just because an item falls out of warranty period doesn't mean cover expires completely.
We've returned TVs 18 months after purchase and had them fixed, had washing machines replaced 2 years after purchase and (having run a double glazing firm) replaced handles, lock and hinges for many customers FOC out of warranty when the supplier had provided sub-standard goods to us or we'd genuinely made a mistake in mannufacture.
You're well within your rights if you can argue you have not neglected the item in question. I video player, for exampl, should work for two years, even if it is only covered for the 1st 12 months otherwise it is not fit for its purpose .. You get the idea ..
rojer@lycos.co.uk
1.3 'A' Astra
'W' Renault 18
'H' Renault 25 TXi
'H' Astra Est
'K' Passat
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Can't understand why you've bothered to post this unless its a dig at Audi, simply take it to the dealer and have it replaced under the three year warranty, my warranty runs out on the 25 of this month so I've just had tested, any faults would have been rectified by any Audi dealer, i have found them first class.
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Jud, I may be wrong but from Stavros' mentioning km rather than miles, I would guess that he's not in the UK and therefore the car would have had only a 1 year factory warranty.
In the UK, I would expect this to be looked at by the dealer and replaced FOC or with some contribution from Audi if outside warranty, but as I don't know where you are and have no experience of your local standards and laws anyway, I can't really help you.
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Jud said :
?Can't understand why you've bothered to post this unless its a dig at Audi, simply take it to the dealer and have it replaced under the three year warranty,?
Well Jud for a start the warranty in most south european countries is valid for one year (may be we are getting the good ones and the bad ones are dumped up north!) therefore things are getting a bit more complex after that period.
Then again I have a quite different story(ies) to tell about how dealers in general (and not just Audi) work in this part of the world.
I have been on the move for the last 15 years around europe and what might seem to be normal or logical in one place doesn´t necessary apply to the rest of the world. I can tell you for a bright new A3(mine) going for its first service and coming home with the oil puring out of the engine because somebody forggot to screw the cap in place (Oops!).We are all humans-indeed we are, but how about the cooling liquid tank almost empty and the headlights completely out of balance?
You think this is a joke? I ´ll say I am glad I was not driving abroad that weekend.
Well even the service book was not stamped but that´s small insignificant details!
It seems to me yesterday, when I was still looking for a new car and I asked to do a test drive to the VW Golf 1.6 . The big breast lady said to me that they sell soooo many that it wouldn´t be that hard for ME to find someone with this car and ask him to drive it. ARE YOU REAL????
What is the conclusion? My impression is that in this part of the world the delears sell (and I mean they sell a lot) an expensive product (which generally speaking has good build quality) but then they don´t realy want to know about it. What I am not sure about is if from now and on is meant to be like this. You get 2-3 years to pay the car in the bank (joined with a big fat isurance bill) and then by the time is yours you should get a new one and start all over again.
When we bought this car we thought about it as a kind of long term investment for a vechile that with the proper maintance and with no extras come go to garages will get us there safe and sound for the years to come. Just like the self-maintaned MkII ´85 Golf has done so far (still a member of the family) and the ´79 BMW R65.
Jud and the rest of the forum thank you once more for your replies. Just for the sake of it I´ll send a feedback note when I´ll get some time to resolve this,
Stavros.
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