[busipaln]

First off... What a day.

Today my S5 went in to get a fix on an advanced key problem. The dealer thought it may take a few days, so they said they would arrange a courtersy car. To my suprise, they arrange for a new A8 3.0TDI. - Very nice luxury car.

I was extremely pleased and thought i would not miss the S5 for a few days. As the workshop had no other cars booked in, there was a chance i would get the S5 back same day.

I dropped the car off in the morning on the way to work. I work less than a mile from the showroom. The dealer showed me the A8, and told me there is a small scratch on the front bumper from the previous driver and the rest is pristine. That was good enough for me, and i had 10 mins before i needed to open shop so i hopped in the car and drove to work. 3 mins later i arrive - Note there was no fuel in the car, only said 20 miles left on the tank reading. I thought to myself i would fill up on the way home.

Anyhow... I get a call late in the afternoon to say s5 is ready. I was happy and a little sad as i wanted to play with the A8 for a few days. What the heck, drove 1 mile back to the showroom and no need to fill up fuel.

Done the relavant paperwork and the dealer said he is going to check on the A8. - so i said fine. Waited around 5-10 mins and he comes back to tell me there is a mark on the edge of the passenger side alloy!!!!!!! - and I'm To Blame!!!

At this point im like WTF!!!!

I drove less than 1 mile to my work place which has an underground car park, not a curb in site, and the audi showroom same situation no curbs in site. Total distance traveled 2 miles. Im like no way. There is no pot holes on the road and this is my daily work route!

I told him have a look at the S5. 2000 miles on there by me and low profile tyres... do you even see a nick on there. The dealer had seen my previous car, also with low profile tyres and even made a comment that he had never seen such a pristine car (Which i was going to trade in before i bought the S5). This car had done over 12,000 miles and not a single mark on the rim

Now how am i going to put a mark on the edge of the rim, in less that 2 miles with normal tryes. Not even low profile, with Not a curb in sight.

So i argued to and fro, wanted to speak to a manager. Just so happens they were closing. So manager said he would ring me tomorrow. They are asking me to pay £165 ($330) for this Nick on the edge of the rim which i have not even done!!!!!!

What do i do?????

 

[Mad]

Well thats complete bullsh*t i would not give them a penny,he obviously missed the mark himself before he gave you the keys to it,god knows how long it has been there,if he has evidence of before you took it out fair cop but going by what you have stated he hasnt and you have denied it so there for case closed as far as i am concerned.

No way would i pay a penny unless he can prove that you did it and i dont mean a check list with ticks next to each box before you took the car out of the garage.

 

[Ianhp1]

OK. First off, were you walked around the car and asked to sign that it was in the condition stated on the paperwork... like a rental car? If not, then they have no case... and if they didn't walk round the car WITH YOU upon return, then they also have no case as the mechanic could have done it whilst parking the vehicle.

Secondly, you SHOULD have been asked to bring your drivers license and sign their insurance document. If so, then I would kindly remind them that you are not to blame and that the insurance the company invests in is there for a purpose, so stop attempting to 'fleece' an ex-customer by falsely claiming they have damaged the car... which has proven to be a false economy especially since every service on your vehicle for as long as you own it will now be carried out by another, more honest garage.

Bid them farewell as this will be the last they will see of you or your car.

Hopefully that will be the end of it...

BUT... if they won't let it drop, then remind them that up to now, they are only guilty of slander, if they continue, then the charge would be attempting to defraud you by falsely attempting to obtain money from you... and that's going to be a lot more expensive than an alloy wheel.

 

[Ianhp1]

...oh and don't forget to thoroughly check you car for any damage you can accuse them of... stalemate!

 

[Rab88]

lmao, I know what i'd tell them...

Just walk away. If you never signed a condition report, then they dont have a leg to stand on at all.

Even so, if you did sign the report on the initial condition of the car, you can claim that it was done inside the showroom, and you were not allowed to inspect the car beforehand.

No need to worry at all. I also reckon you should take this further... to Audi UK customer service.

 

[Marmin]

Ianhp1 - remind me to never mess with you -

Great advice though and I can only echo that.

On a recent test drive I was shown around the car and the sales guy pointed out a known scratch. He then got me to sign the form and walked off - after which I spotted a scraped alloy so called him back. His response was "Yeah, don't worry about it" I got him to amend the form anyway but in fairness to him he didn't even bother to check the car when I returned but did return my signed form - all very laid back so I guess I got a good one.

However, The form did state on it that there was a £65 charge levied for damaged alloys so I don't know where the £165 quoted comes from. Even so, in your case I wouldn't give them a penny.

 

[busipaln]

He made me sign the inurance papers but he has not made me sign the inspection report. I'm sure of it.

I'm calling audi customer care first thing in the morning. It got to the point where the audi rep who sold me the car stood up for me, and said there is no curbs where i park, and he cant see me curbing the wheel considering the conditon of my S5 and the previous car i owned. He hand delivered my s5 to me and has seen where my car is parked. Im so cautious about my car, i have reserved 3 car park spaces! left and right are empty, i park in the middle

I found some small scratches on the inside door panel. Funnily enough they removed the door panel when i first took it to them for inspection, and when i made Audi aware of this they said, no weren't us, our mechanics say you could have got your seat belt stuck in the door which caused this. - BULLSH*T!

I have some leverage, and i'm going to make sure they know about it.

Also i have had the car 2 months and been to audi 4 times!!!

1. Advanced key stopped working - Went for check up and fix, they had to order part so rebooked.

2. After they took apart door panels first time, they left a bolt loose in door panel which was rolling around. Went in again for fix

3. Oil was low. No free top up bottle included when i purchased the new car - went back again!

4. Went for the final fix of the advanced key.

 

[busipaln]

Also i will put in a point that i showed heavy interest in the New R8 TDI when its released, This business will definatley go elsewhere if that's how im treated!

 

[doubledoom]

I have had 3 or 4 courtesy cars whilst my S5 has been in to fix a few things and not once have I had to sign anything about the quality of the car. Just the usual driving licence and that i am driving the car declaration.