[LewisTiburon]

So, shortly after I bought my S5 down in England in August, I noticed some issues, most notably the steering wheel media controls and flap gears being inoperative. I later found out about a few more issues, including an inoperative front left fog light, inoperative stop/start engine (battery confirmed low), inoperative rear window heater (light doesn't turn on on the switch too) and a few error messages on the computer when connected, including lambda errors, Fuel cap circuit error and vent error. Also, my mechanic noticed the water pump at the front of the engine was vibrating a little which he said was a sign it was needing replaced.

Having informed the warranty company who deals with issues post sale, provided by the garage, the car was booked in to Audi garage today for a full diagnostic which is required to proceed with a claim.

I'm not long off the phone with the service manager who has informed me that the majority of the issues will need parts stripped down, like the steering wheel, and that water ingress was suspected in the rear offside which could explain those problems, but would need extensive work and stripping to find from the body shop. He did note the front fog light was unplugged at the back as if the car has had work done on it before.

He essentially told me it'll cost thousands to fix, and advised me to go back to the garage and reject the car. So to say I'm gutted is an understatement.

I now need to prepare emails and calls tomorrow for the warranty company and the garage regarding all this to see what they will do, but I'm suspecting they would not be willing to pay out. The garage is over 200 miles away so I would expect them to collect the car and refund me for the purchase and possibly even the train journey down there? Certainly the cost of the diagnostic Audi did I will not expect to pay. It's pretty poor that this has happened to my car. Just 45,000 miles on it.

 

[nigelbat]

If you cant get anywhere with ethe seller contact trading standards. If you get a refund on the car thats a result ourt of pocket expences and just par for the course. I get car i reguard as risky or expensive I get a n independant check saved me £££s in the past. Good luck.

 

[HTB]

Check out the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

If you were not made aware of the issues before you bought it by the seller, then the car is not of satisfactory quality.

If you had complained to the dealer within 30 days of buying the car you would have the statutory right to reject it and get a full refund.

After that but within the first 6 months you have the right to a repair, replacement car or refund. If the seller chooses to repair they are only allowed one attempt and have to carry out the repairs in reasonable time. Within the first 6 months the burden of proof is on the seller to show that the faults did not exist when the car was sold to you.

You need to contact the seller and ask for a refund. They can offer you a repair or replacement as an alternate remedy.

If they play hardball you need to complain formally in writing. Check if the seller is a member of a motor trade organisation that has a dispute resolution process and tell the seller you will be complaining to them too.

If none of that solves it write a formal Letter Before Claim giving them 14 days to sort it out before you file a Money Claims Online/small claims court claim.

See more here (and consumer advice contact number):

Getting help from a motor trade association

How to find out if a dealer is a member of a trade association and whether they can help you sort out a problem with a dealer.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk

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[Dippy]

I know you said you are gutted about it, but I'd agree that the car should be rejected. The water pump is not too surprising - they have been know to fail prematurely - but these cars do not have a reputation for the other failures you list. If the tech is correct that the electrical faults could be the result of an ingress of water then there could be more problems lurking.

 

[nigelbat]

I have always thought unless you know exactly what an issue is and the full cost of fixing it, dont buy a unknown problem. Reject the car. Thare iare plenty more out there without the issues you mention.

 

[SimonRoma]

Mate you are protected by the Sale of Goods Act. The car is not fit for the purpose it was sold. REJECT the car.

 

[LewisTiburon]

Thanks for the replies. So I've just gotten a phone call from the garage, and they've been given an estimate from Audi of £3500+ for the work, and they basically are offering to get the car repaired in-house. I wasn't expecting that. Basically they can get it done much cheaper by carrying it out in-house but I still would need to drive down there, 200 miles away.

I told her I have concerns with their mechanics doing this since they didn't find those issues in the first place when they supposedly done the inspection/check before selling it and even didn't notice the bald tyre when I picked it up.

I said I would probably need more warranty if I was to accept their repairs, just to keep me covered if anything comes up related to that again, and would need some form of compensation for driving down 2 times more and back and possibly being without a car for say a week. I told her I'd need to think about it and I'd need an email with their proposal for written records.

I know folk are saying reject the car but I don't know... this one has the full MMI, reversing camera, sunroof and extra tech which I really like and I have gotten attached to it already and rejecting would also be hassle as I'd have to drive down again and possibly be without a car for a while...

I should add that audi didn't find any issue with the water pump, and apparently the car has an aftermarket air filter, and the tyres don't match on the axles.
Ugh. Hate the position I'm in. 😒

 

[HTB]

Unless you advised the seller within 30 days of buying the car, you don't have the statutory right to reject it. The seller can either offer to repair, replace or refund but it's their choice.

They've obviously decided to repair. It's worth noting that they are only allowed one attempt to repair the faults. If the faults remained after one repair attempt you would then be able to reject it.

If you are not happy with what the seller is offering at this stage you could try Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) through a motor trade organisation. Check if the seller belongs to one and complain to them. You would have to complete ADR as a pre-action protocol anyway if you wanted to take the seller to court.

Another option if, and only if, you paid at least £100 of the total price on a credit card, you could make a Section 75 claim to the card provider to try and get your money back from them .

As I said previously your rights and what you can do are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The following is a useful summary!

What is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase?

If you bought your car after 01 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies. This means that, when you buy the vehicle, it has to be of satisfactory

www.themotorombudsman.org

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[HTB]

You can also make a Section 75 claim against a finance company if you bought the car on HP.

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[LewisTiburon]

They were advised of the initial problems within 30 days. I was immediately told to go through the warranty process, which I did, and followed instructions from there.

The dealer wants to repair the car at their own garage, and now want to run their own diagnostics first. I have a real unease Iver this as I feel they might try and get out of repairing some things and I'm not sure the standard of quality will be good enough.

I have real concerns for their plans.

I will then also be without a car and supposedly have to drive down, but honestly I'm starting to think that unless they accept the Audi garage's diagnostic and repair, I intende to reject the car.

I've read I have to give them a chance to repair first, but if they're refusing to go through the audo garage and want me to take it to their in-house garage and "Following the outcome of the diagnostic, we will action any repairs accordingly" then I really have a bad feeling about this. I don't think for a second if I let them repair it it'll be the end of this.

 

[HTB]

@LewisTiburon

If you have proof that you complained about the faults within the first 30 days, i.e. in writing, then you can reject the car for a full refund.

The seller's choice to repair, replace or refund only kicks in after 30 days.

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[Dippy]

Looking at the list of faults it would seem that the labour would be high compared to the parts costs so without doubt it would be cheaper for the seller to fix it rather than accept dealer labour rates. If your heart is ruling your head here then at least get everything in writing: A clear list of the faults and what constitutes an acceptable fix to you. Assurance that you won't have to pay anything. A statement of what warranty is provided for the work done.

I'd still be concerned about the water ingress. What was the cause and has it been fixed. What is the full extent of the water damage - how can you be certain that there are no hidden faults?

 

[LewisTiburon]

They told me they wanted to use their in-house garage to save on costs. But the fact they want to do another diagnostic concerns me. I am wary they may overlook or deny a fault with some of the issues present, or fail to secure the car's water ingress issue. I don't even know if I should ask for some kind of compensation for the 3 hour drive down there, keeping in mind I would need a train or hire car to get back home and then run around with for the week it is in getting diagnosed and repaired.

Overall, I'm not certain what to do. And yes, the garage and warranty company were initially informed of some of these issues within 30 days of me purchasing the car, and subsequently more issues were found and reported to the warranty company. I don't know if I can demand a refund or if I have to give them a chance to repair it. How can you repair water ingress? The boot even has rust in it. I'd be worried there will be more issues months or years down the line...

On a side note, the lane assist doesn't seem to function (not sure what it's supposed to do but nothing happens when switched on), and there is no vibration warning for the brake guard which may be related to the steering wheel control issues.

 

[HTB]

@LewisTiburon

The seller has proposed a scheme of repairs, which they are entitled to do at this stage. You could ask them to replace the car with a like-for-like but they can object to having to replace it with another as being disproportionately expensive compared with repair.

If you are unhappy with what's being offered by the seller you MUST WRITE to them saying why you are unhappy with what they are offering and spelling out what remedy you want.

If they reply and don't budge on their initial repair offer you are in deadlock.

You will then have to complain to a recognised motor trade Alternate Dispute Resolution Scheme. Check which one the seller is a member of.

In parallel with the above, you should start a Section 75 claim against the finance/credit card company. This course of action is open to you if you bought the car on finance/HP/loan or if you paid at least £100 of the cost of the car on a credit card.

So the first thing I would recommend that you do now is write to the seller, along the lines that @Dippy suggested in post #12. In other words spell out in full and in as much detail as you can all the faults that you require them to fix.

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[LewisTiburon]

Thanks for your reponses. I got in touch with a Scottish lawyer who advised I have the right to get the car repaired at a local garage due to the significant inconvenience in driving 3+ hours to Wigan and back two times to get the car repaired there which is what the garage wants. I also have conerns over what will be repaired and what they won't cover. I intend to draft them a letter to inform them of my intention to get the car repaired at an Audi specialist local to me at a resonable rate of £86/hour and that I intend to hold them responsible for the cost of the repairs. That way they can't claim I didn't mitigate excess costs for the repairs. I may need to seek advice from an English lawyer too due to the nature of the Scots/English law differences. The section 75 may be a way to claim from them if they don't pay the cost of the repairs.

 

[LewisTiburon]

Update: So after a constant back and forth with the director of the garage, offering me £1000 for repairs, offering to buy back the car at £18k (£4k less than the purchase price) and finally offering to repair the car, but unwilling to give a rought timescale or set out that the issues will get dealt with, nor collecting the car from me (I live over 200 miles away from the garage), I finally informed him that I was going ahead with repairs locally and did just that.

2 leaks were found in the rear causing the water ingress - boot seal needed replaced and there was a small seal that was letting in water through the tail light. The cimate control module fixed the rear window demister problem, a corroded wire from the battery was replaced, the fuel actuator was fixed and the steering wheel was fixed (kinda).

Essentially, they put in a new unit for the steering wheel but it didn't give button functionality back, ony illumination. So a second unit was needed. Then, they told me me window wipers and washers weren't working, even though they worked before I put the car in. After a brief argument, they offered to fit the part needed for free and I sourced a whole new wiper/indicator stalk for a few hundred. I still think they did something that messed up the signalling in my steering wheel and causing the wiper issues, but who knows.

Now, everything works and I've had the car back for over a month now. However just the other day I noticed I couldn't go into a lower gear using the paddle gears, so now they aren't working. Added to that, the lane assist function isn't working. This was something I mentioned to them at the time but I'm not convinced it was ever fixed.

In the meantime, I'm awaiting a hearing date from the court to settle my claim against the garage for the cost of the repairs, over £2000.

Has anyone had any of these issues with their car?

As much as I love driving my Audi, it's been so much hassle since last year with the problems. Maybe I got incredibly unlucky but I've just been left a bit pissed off with the whole experience. Sigh.

Oh, and another problem I think... when I'm at 1150 revs the car has a weird vibration and noise my mechanic is somewhat concerned about, so I'll need to post a video of this and see if anyone has a clue what it is...

 

[Dave Kwatro]

Think I would be a little fed up after all that time. Thank you for coming back with an update though, like me, most are interested to hear the out come.

These electrical faults are not common and due to the water ingress left unchecked. I too had some water ingress in the boot, but checked everything and fortunately no water damage to the electrics. It is still dry now! I think mine was the left hand tail light and at around 43k miles. My water pump was done under warranty at a few years old around 19k miles.

At the end of the day, the dealer should know about things like this and offer to repair/pay in full and ALL the issues like the paddles and lane assist.

Is the 1100rpm noise a rattle? The most common rattle on these engines is the flex pipe on the downpipes. The flexi pipe has a sort of chain mail around the flexi part and the exhaust vibrates around these revs. I fixed mine by putting a jubilee clamp on the flexi part - quite apt for this weekend! But I have since replaced the down pipes with aftermarket stainless steel V8 jobbies which have a stainless mesh around the flex rather than the chain mail.

I'm hoping it is this and the unlucky streak in this car has ended, but another issue with the symptoms of vibration and noise is the flywheel or crank pulley. But these engine can vibrate around 1100rpm and it the exhaust resonating. Get a video done ad the keyboard mechanics might be able to diagnose it, before going down the black hole of oooh it could be this, or that or more big bills!

Also you said you car is a 2014, but do you know if it is the revised CREC engine which are vehicles registered after May 2014?

 

[ImpalaHouse]

@LewisTiburon

The seller has proposed a scheme of repairs, which they are entitled to do at this stage. You could ask them to replace the car with a like-for-like but they can object to having to replace it with another as being disproportionately expensive compared with repair.

If you are unhappy with what's being offered by the seller you MUST WRITE to them saying why you are unhappy with what they are offering and spelling out what remedy you want.

If they reply and don't budge on their initial repair offer you are in deadlock.

You will then have to complain to a recognised motor trade Alternate Dispute Resolution Scheme. Check which one the seller is a member of.

In parallel with the above, you should start a Section 75 claim against the finance/credit card company. This course of action is open to you if you bought the car on finance/HP/loan or if you paid at least £100 of the cost of the car on a credit card thorugh the guide by Paydaysay.

So the first thing I would recommend that you do now is write to the seller, along the lines that @Dippy suggested in post #12. In other words spell out in full and in as much detail as you can all the faults that you require them to fix.

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I had the same problem and I took some money via one financial service that I don’t want to advertise here, and I have done a huge mistake by doing that because I bought a car that was so bad that I wanted just to forget about that, and I realized that the seller fooled me and I solved my problem the same way as you write about it.

 

[LewisTiburon]

Hey folks...

So the update is that on Friday the civil case is going to trial. Obviously I won't go into all the details of my case, but I'll update after the case.

As for the vibration issue I'm getting at 1150 revs... I haven't had the time to get a proper recording of this but will do this over the coming week or so and post here - would appreciate ideas because it may take a while to locate the source of it.