Magnet

Hello James, Many thanks for joining and posting your plea. I don’t stand in defence of main dealers, but why would they take the trouble to supply you with part numbers if you are not going to buy anything from them? They might claim that if they gave you the wrong information, then they stand a comeback, whereas if they supplied you with the part you ask for, then if they supply the wrong one, they simply exchange it for the correct one. Pretty understandable I think. You could try TPS ( but in my experience they only talk with account holders - but branches may differ?). You could ask them for a part schematic which usually shows the part number. Good luck and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Larryadler ( I’m old enough to remember him!). I’m sorry no one has replied, but I think it was safe to assume that similar experiences to yours had already been well documented, and the resolution was clear. In effect, no one was likely to add anything new to the process of ‘issues and resolutions’. Glad it’s now sorted to suit your pocket, and that highlighted actions on here had come to your aid. Many thanks and kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Natalie, Your choice, but personally I would not be putting my phone number on an open forum. You can be contacted by PM. I can delete your post if you want to, and you can re-post without your telephone number. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Allen, That’s a vey low mileage for a 5 year old car, and presumably sits it around unused for long periods of time - in a garage, out of the sun and elements? Or perhaps outside where the sun gets at it? If outside, are the tyres on one side, more cracked than the other? Kind regards, Gareth.

No problem Danny. Sometimes you can get involved in other people’s issues and spend a lot of time with it - which of course is fine. On a progressive note:- If it were mine, I would be accepting the payout ( simply to minimise inconvenience all round) and arranging to keep the salvage - by whatever means. You could then busy yourself with locating the necessary secondhand parts and sourcing a local repair/sprayer to carry out the work. By this means, your neighbour should end up with their car repaired, and a little money in hand - a reasonable outcome. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Danny, Thanks. This is like pulling sore teeth! Were you driving the car when it was damaged? If not - let’s be honest it isn’t really your concern. ‘ I don’t think they have time in their busy lives to get it repaired…’ Since it’s their car and their? insurance, are they overly concerned what the payout really is?? Are they too busy to set up a file of evidence to support their dissatisfaction? Apologies if I’ve got this all wrong Danny, if it is your car-owner neighbours who are discontent then my advice stands - get them to organise all their supporting evidence to prove the car is worth more. Salvage buy - back? Although mentioned, I believe many insurers are no longer allowing this to happen, and simply put the vehicles through salvage auctions. So if there is a sentimental attachment to it then you might have to chase it through auction. Your offer to sell it to reasonable bids on here may not be possible, but you could get your neighbours to check with their insurers. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Allen, If you want hardwearing, then Michelin have proved to be that over the last 10 years at least. Your sidewall cracking? What are the dates on your tyres? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Danny. Apologies, but the way you wrote the post suggested my assumption - so you now make it clear that it’s a genuine verified 45,000 from new car. The facts are still unclear since you say ‘my insurance ……..’ yet you go on to say ‘ …sold to my neighbour and they have owned it since….’. Confusing! If it is indeed now registered to you, how long have you owned it? If it’s your car and not your neighbours - you are unsure how much documentation there is with the car! Such documentation will necessary to counter any low offer made, and you must present it as evidence, otherwise their offer may well still stand. Since the car is so good, would you be interested in buying the salvage and getting the car repaired with secondhand parts? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Danny, Thanks for being in touch. You say ‘the engine has genuine 45,000 miles (approx.) on it’, so does that mean that the car has had a different engine fitted into it at some time, or that the car is a genuine - history know - 45,000 mile from new vehicle? It would also be helpful to know what the offer is. Kind regards, Gareth.

So I guess you are going to avoid like the plague, the garage who carried your service -? Kind regards, Gareth.

So you need to get the upper wishbone bushes independently checked now, to see how bad they are -? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Craig, Thanks for being touch. Fortunately, you have self-traced the possible leak site, which is a break-through, since I’m sure you will appreciate that trying to locate possible sites without having the vehicle to examine, will border an impossibility. ‘Common leak site’? ( so experience can be given) - unlikely, so unfortunately, I think you are right in this case by simply batting on until you narrow this down to the actual location on your particular car. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Paul, Your ‘Autodoc’ part would seem to explain the term to me, but two things I would do before proceeding to get these changed:- Get another garage ( MOT station would be great), to check these out for the current severity of the issue. Appreciating these are heavy vehicles, but 2016 does seem a bit premature for this issue, unless it has covered a higher than average mileage and/or has been frequently used over rough ground. Autodoc? Lemforder are good - Autodoc prices?? Have you tried Car Parts in Motion? I’ve used these quite a few times (no connection) and found their pricing to be very competitive. I’ve used Febi Bilstein parts to good effect, so these could be an alternative. Main dealer at discount? You could try Audi Parts Direct at Cardiff. Hope some of this might help. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Ian, Thanks for joining the forum and posting your advert. Apologies for being direct, but I’m sure you will appreciate that it will require far more information than that to encourage any interest. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mike, By what I understand, there isn’t a scheduled change for fuel filters on the petrol engined cars of our year - but I could be wrong. I change mine every four years, ( only 7K/a) but others might suggest other frequencies. For what it’s worth:- My regime on a 7K/ a mileage is Quantum Longlife every year, Oil filter every year, air and pollen filters every other year ( sometimes pollen more regularly). All filters are only Mann or Bosch - as said. All parts are bought on line at most competitive prices from reliable sellers - mainly EBay. Hope some of this might help. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Mike, I’ve always favoured VAG recommended Quantum oil which you will just need to check it meets the spec. - I have used it in our 2006 A3 to good effect since out of warranty. I use their Longlife 3 variant, even though it’s changed annually. Readily available from a number of EBay sellers and almost certain? to be cheaper than anything from Halfords - and delivered to your door. Filters? always only used Mann or Bosch if not using VAG ( which are probably Mann or Bosch anyway). Possibly old school principles, but I never seen any need to deviate from these brands so don’t! Again should be available on EBay from a number of sellers. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Vincent, Access in the boot lid? Would guess this is the end which would be readily accessible than the other end - simply! remove the inner trim panel. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Vincent, This is a common failure location, and I wouldn’t try to reconnect these wires at the current point of fracture. New section of harness? Seriously doubt it. If this were mine, I would be looking for some lengths of the same colours at a local scrap yard. Personally, I don’t favour crimp connectors and avoid them like the plague. I solder the two stranded wires together - having slipped some shrink sleeving over one side before hand, then sliding it back over the soldered joint and shrinking it to form an insulated joint. Attempt to stagger the joins. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Louise, Many thanks for joining the forum, and for your post. It is clear to see that whatever car your late Dad had, that it’s going to be emotionally very difficult for you to deal with, but the upshot is that unfortunately there will be a need to ask you for the detail necessary to promote its sale to a good home. Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Pippy, It’s correct to say that this belt should not have broken, and a full set of dealer servicing records would be your perfect let out. Unfortunately it does not have that, so we begin to give Audi some wiggling room here. The back and front of it is they can rightly claim it does not have ‘full service history’. You say it was serviced under warranty by your local garage using Audi parts and we take it they can confirm the oils used fully satisfied Audi specs and were approved by them. Also that the garage is VAT registered, and it would be interesting to know if they had the on line link up facility to record their service work on to Audi’s on line record, since this will be Audi’s first port of call, and if I understand it correctly an on line search of the service history may ( in caps) show that the car hasn’t been serviced at all - according to them. This would represent the blackest scenario if the above is true. The failure to service the car in the third year because it was supposed to be going back could reasonably be seen as no defence, and again it gives them wriggle room. To be honest, I’m not really seeing the point of not servicing it when it was due since at hand back, they were likely to penalise you money wise anyway, for not complying with the servicing requirements, so….. Apologies, all of this is sounding rather black, but I feel it’s better to start out in knowledge of where you case may be weak, so that your legal advisors can understand what they are up against here. Re. PCP - so your original contract was for 3 years (elapsed when?), and OK, I can understand that. ‘Bridging’ - sorry not really familiar with that, but can I take it that is a ‘new, extended’ contract whereby you continue to pay to lease the car for an extra x months? Do you know/ can you find out if that contract holds you to maintaining the cars servicing requirement throughout that extended period? Did you have to sign for this ‘Bridging’ agreement? Stop/start? Thanks Pippy, yes you have answered that - simply means the car’s engine stops when the car comes to a halt, and restarts when you want to move off. Personally I don’t like it at all, since although it is environmentally good, it’s an engineering disaster waiting to happen! The greatest stress on any engine is in start up and this belt has to endure the continued strain every time the engine shuts down- we will forget about starting the engine with zero oil pressure unless something more sophisticated has been developed. Anyway, my feeling is it’s bad news for any belt - but it is what it is and should not have broken. One point I would ask on here is:- does anyone know if the change intervals for stop/start engine cambelt has been cut back to allow for the additional stresses incurred? Your 200km (125 miles) a week. Mainly a number of short journeys rather than a few longer ones? If short journeys then that is bad news for stop/start systems and belts in particular. I think all of this will boil own to you needing strong legal representation to minimise Audi’s stance of inadequate servicing - which probably has nothing to do with it, but… Kind regards, Gareth.

Great. Brand new and not pre registered then? Well done you.

Apologies for even more questions Pippy:- Confirm the car is equipped with stop/start system? It works, or has worked for most of the car’s life? What your typical average weekly journey plan is ? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Callum, Halfords - £129 - not surprised. If this were mine, I would be Googling my area for specialists who do this - its a relatively quick and routine job. Obviously things may be different in your area, but I’ve never paid anything close to £100 in recent times - much less actually. Kind regards, Gareth.

Actually bought it, got it Ian, or a promise to supply at this price when it will be available at some point in in future? Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Pippy, Very sorry to hear of your issue, and I must say, your case sounds complex, and as Steve points out, your legal standing will be governed by the EU I guess - which might be to your benefit? Academic point in your case, but the all important caveat to Steve’s quote on cambelt change intervals of 5 years or 75K miles, is ‘whichever comes first’ - most important. In your case - it doesn’t matter, since the original belt is only 3 and a third years old, and the car has only covered approx. 30K miles, so it would not be scheduled for change for another year and 8 months - so this must be considered to be premature failure. Personally, I see this as a very complex case, and one where I’m sure you are going to need professional legal advice. To better understand the your chances of a satisfactory outcome:- Has the car been maintained by a main dealer, at the recommended intervals, and hasn’t been presented for service at any point when its actually been overdue - even slightly? Could you let us know on this? Have you at any point been advised that the cambelt assembly needs changing? Unlikely, but let’s ask anyway. Do you have written copies of all the service invoices? If not, I would be now asking for copies from the servicing dealer. Was the car bought on any form of PCP (plan) or any other finance arrangement? If so, over how many years? If PCP, over a fixed time plan, and that period has now been passed, have you been given a new extended contract to sign? I think that’s enough questions for now Pippy, and perhaps you could come back to us with the answers, and we should be able to suggest the next steps to take. Evidence will be king here, and personally, I wouldn’t suggest any ‘guns blazing’ approaches until you have all your evidence in front of you. Kind regards, Gareth.