Audi A8 owner

[Brett owers]

Evening all, I’ve recently bought an Audi A8 2019 s-line 50tdi Quattro. This is my first Audi and think it’s a great car with lots of toys, or at least I did until I polished it and have found out it has been painted down the drivers side (not very well) even though it was an ex-demonstrator with just 3,500 miles on it when I purchased it 3 weeks ago! Nothing was mentioned by the Audi franchise dealership about it and it was bought as an Audi approved car. I can’t help feeling that there has been some underhanded shenanigans by the dealership as you’d think there would be at least an invoice for the repair work but nothing! Anyone know where I stand here as I paid cash for the car so no finance. I’d be grateful of any advice, am I covered by the unfair trading regulations 2008? I certainly wouldn’t have purchased the car if I had been made aware that the car had been painted as this would affect my future resale value. Apart from the poor paint repair the car is a good car!

thanks Brett

[lawrencebrian24347]

hi bret sorry to hear about your bad experiance with your car best thing bto do is go to your nearest trading standardsoffice and make aformaal complaint let them deal with oit ok regards brian

[Steve Q]

What have the dealer said? Legally you're allowed your money back within 30 days of sale. 

[Brett owers]

1 hour ago, Steve Q said:

What have the dealer said? Legally you're allowed your money back within 30 days of sale. 

They have said they will get the car in and have the paint sorted, although they did say it had been repaired to Audi standards. That’s all very well and good to say that now however it is still an expensive car that will have been painted and will probably have an effect on future resale value.  I feel that this info should have been disclosed to me at some point during the sale as they were well aware of the repair due to being their demonstrator car and registered from new to them. They only admitted it had been damaged when I started pressing them about the poor paint finish and even then it was a few days before they said yes it had had paintwork, they haven’t said what paintwork/damage the car sustained. I would have expected to have been told and had some sort of paperwork to back the repairs up. This car after all is supposed to be the audi groups flagship model and I would expect buying a car with 3500miles on it as an approved Audi from a dealer to be in near mint condition. The paint on one side of the car is flat and has glass reflecting shine however on the opposite side it has orange peel effect and the rear quarter panel is dull/rippled lacquer with limited reflection.

Regards

Brett

[Magnet]

Hello Brett, 

Sorry to hear of your issue. There are a couple of points which I’m not clear on, and I wonder if you might be kind enough to clarify. 
It seems the car is now at least 18 months old and you bought it 3 weeks ago with a mileage of 3,500 in that minimum of 18 months. It also seems you were informed that the car was an ex-demonstrator, but in my experience demonstrators are usually only retained as such for around 6 months. Do you know the owner history of the car, and were you induced to buy it because it was an ex demonstrator - registered to the dealership? 
I don’t want to counter you understandable disappointment, but it might surprise how many new vehicles are subject to some degree of paint rectification at the point of import, and of course what happens to any vehicle that results in paint rectification within say 18 months, will generally only be known to the owner! 
Having said all that Brett, it’s reasonable to expect that the quality of any paint rectification should be near to that of the original finish, and in your case it disappoints, so my first port of call would be to get the car inspected and reported on by a trusted local bodyshop. If they agree with your view, then it’s off to the selling dealer to discuss your discontents. 
Perhaps you could colour in the detail and let us know how you get on. 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 
Posted after Brett’s reply.

[Brett owers]

Gareth,

thank you for your reply.

The salesman informed me that the car only had 3500miles on it due to COVID/lockdowns and had been the garages A8 demonstrator. I was interested in the car due to having such a low mileage and it wasn’t too far to travel, there was another identical car in Preston Audi that had slightly less mileage but it would have meant a 4-5hr one way trip.
The car had only been registered to the garage and the damage was caused during their ownership and repaired. At no point was there any mention to me that the car had sustained any damage and been painted as I would have not bought that particular car and would’ve made the journey up to Preston, there were other cars available all with similar prices and less than 10k miles so the choice was vast.

I contacted the salesman over a week ago as soon as I had a chance to clean the car and found the paint difference to ask if the car had been damaged/painted. He got back to me saying the car indeed has had some paint. At no point have I been told what the extent of the damage was and who carried out the repair, there is no paperwork trail to show anything. Their business manager contacted me and has offered to rectify the paint so I am happy with it however my annoyance is with how a main dealer has treated me in this way and to date I’ve not had any kind of apology. They think it’s fine to take my money for a car that isn’t original paintwork and wasn’t the best deal but I thought was reasonable for the mileage in the thought it was a sound car.

 

thanks Brett

[Magnet]

Thanks Brett, 

Unfortunately business is business as they say, and the business is to attract a successful sale, and if the buyer has any discontents then sort it out, when it needs sorting. At no point, does any secondhand car salesman point out negatives with any car he, or his employers offer for sale, but they do offer a sympathetic ear in cases of issues. 
It would be where you go from here that would be important to me, since you cannot go backwards, and it’s reasonable to claim that if the appearance of the car had been unacceptable to you at the point of sale, then you would have raised that discontent then. Just acting as Devil’s advocate, the car was at least 18 months old when you bought it. 
As I said where now? I can relate experience of seeing a partial respray of a bumper of a prestigious marque car in their customer car park, by a ‘dents and scrapes’ franchise, on a literally freezing day - the end result and lasting qualities of the work?? - and that was a main dealer! 
Contrast that with a friend who has recently suffered two no- fault accidents on virtually new cars and had them both repaired by the different insurer’s recommended repairers.  Both were superb jobs in my estimation, and I doubt whether anyone would notice any difference from the original. 
Are you going to entrust the rectification to the same dealer to have to a second go at this? 
Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brett owers]

I agree with your point from a second hand car salesman, the point you are missing is this car hasn’t been owned by anyone but the garage, they’ve had it repaired, they have not disclosed the fact the car had been repaired and there is no paperwork to support this. Had I been aware of the car having previous damage I would not have bought it and definitely not paid what I did. I get business is business but I would have expected more from a main dealer. That is why the unfair trading regulations exist, had I been aware I would not have bought this car! Also I’m sure you are aware due to Covid you are basically in and out, they actually wanted to deliver the car to my home address without me stepping foot in the garage. Is this the sort of behaviour you’d expect from a main dealer for one of their flagship cars, not a 10k second/third hand car in a backstreet garage! I could understand it if the car had been at a reduced price however it wasn’t in fact there were others cheaper but at a further distance from me.

thanks for your input and your opinion, I can’t help but wonder what your stance would be if it were you who’d thought for security to buy from a main dealer and buy a car with low mileage and no public owners only to find out all was not what it seemed leaving you feel somewhat duped!

It looks like I’ll have to seek legal advice to see what my options are.

thanks Brett

[Magnet]

Many thanks Brett.

No, I am certainly not missing your point that you believe the dealer has acted in an unreasonable manner by not informing you, pre purchase, that this up-to-there-year old car had had a little paintwork which you failed to spot during your pre purchase inspection. You have now spotted it, and reasonably, the dealer has agreed to get it sorted to your satisfaction. 
You are still not satisfied (and intend to seek legal advice) since your claim is you would not have bought it if you knew it had any (in caps) paintwork, irrespective of whether that paintwork was as near to undetectable as possible. 
I maintain my opinion (and it it just that) that that expectation is unrealistic, when taken in the context that the car was known to be an ex demonstrator and quite likely to have had dozens, or far more drivers, any of which could have scraped the car, and I’m yet to experience -or be told about- any dealership who volunteers information about paint rectification on any secondhand car it sells. 

To me, Brett, it sounds as if you simply do not now want the car, even though they have agreed to rectify the painted area to your satisfaction - full stop. If that is the case then no doubt they can come to some agreement with you about returning the car and seeking an alternative which they can offer. 
I really hope you can resolve this, but I must say, I reserve judgement whether that resolution will be to your complete satisfaction.

To me, I would allow them to attempt to rectify your dissatisfaction with the paintwork, and see what the end result will be, and if good enough, simply enjoy your new purchase. 
Good luck and kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Brett owers]

Gareth,

once again, thank you for your response.

just to be clear as I think I may have missed getting this across in previous posts. I like the car and want to keep it. I had some advice yesterday from another source that has built my confidence in where I am going with the car.

I will be getting an independent appraisal done on the cars paintwork this week and then from that I will allow the garage to rectify the paintwork. Once that is done I will see what goodwill gesture they are going to offer in terms of my inconvenience etc.

I thank you for your input and as suggested to me by someone you never know who is answering advice on these forums so you have to be careful not to be led down the garden path so to speak.

I will repost an update on e I have the appraisal done I suspect (my opinion) the whole drivers side has seen paintwork due to having an orange peel effect, whereas the drivers side is smooth like glass which is what I expect of an original Audi factory paint.

I still stand by my opinion the garage intentionally didn’t disclose THEY had the car repaired because they knew the car wouldn’t sell at the price they were asking. I on the other hand have more of an honest approach and therefore when I sell the car I will have to tell the potential buyer what I know about the cars history which will result in a reduction of the sale price no doubt!

Kind Regards

Brett

[Magnet]

Thanks Brett,

Its reassuring to know that you are prepared for the dealership to rectify the unacceptable paintwork, since I sensed an up hill battle if you did not agree to allow them to do that. 
So it now seems it’s down the road of claiming some funds back for loss of this and that, and you will hopefully be content with it - and that is the main thing. 
I certainly cannot knock your sentiment of having to inform whoever subsequently takes this car in part exchange that it’s had some paint rectification. That’s your principle, and fair do s as we say in this part of the world - a rare thing to do, considering there are few vehicles on the road which haven’t had any paintwork in their lifetime. 
I really hope it all works out for you Brett. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.