Magnet

Car is old enough to suffer from fractured wires within the flexible harness section twixt body and tailgate. Examining the cables in there would be my first port of call. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

‘….dont know what make they (pads) are’. Time to bite the bullet and renew with a reputable brand -?

Thanks Alan, but we don’t need to speculate on the cause of the accident, or the need for off-insurance repairs. The OP doesn’t want to explain, and that’s fair enough. He now needs to be given best advice on how to solve his predicament, so would all contributors to this post please restrict your comments to positive suggestions in that respect. Many thanks, Gareth.

Thanks Darren, It will probably shock you to learn what Audi’s labour rate is. Worth checking if you don’t know. Have you investigated Audi’s prices for the list of parts you know ( in caps) you will need, and compared them with prices available via salvage breakers? If serious money is no object, and you just want the most direct route to getting it sorted, then just approach large scale bodyshops and pay your money. If you are prepared to invest some of your time in shopping around bodyshops, and talking with them, then the monetary benefits will emerge. Regards, Gareth.

Hello Darren and sorry to hear of your accident. It seems you don’t want to reply to Richard’s question re why not covered by insurance - Strange and dare I say - suspicious, but…… What on earth would process you to take this to an Audi main dealer? Very, very few have dedicated in-house bodyshops these days, in favour of contracting out that side of the business. If this were mine, I would be hawking the car around to a number of localish bodyshops, get it inspected and estimated, then decide which one instils most confidence. Since this will be non-insurance work, it will be understandable that bodyshops would want a substantial deposit before committing to undertake the work. I hope there isn’t any outstanding finance on the vehicle. If there is, they are not going to be very pleased! Regards, Gareth.

Hello Chris, Please confirm you are mixing up your amps and volts . Regards, Gareth.

It seems it’s the season for new members who consider it acceptable to adopt post and run tactics and waste other member’s time.

Why do people think it’s acceptable to waste other member’s time and advice?

Would you like an extra day to return to the forum with your comments?

Any comments Martin? You don’t seem to have returned to the forum since you first posted your plea for help.

Hello Colin, If it were mine I would be returning it to whoever did the work for you, and asking them to sort it. Any attempt to DIY it is likely to end up with dismissal due to you fiddling with it. Regards, Gareth.

Hello Darren, ‘…..thank you for any help.’ Um? Seems you haven’t even returned to read it yet! Regards, Gareth.

Hello Bob, If this were mine, I would be listing it on EBay with a starting price of its scrap value. Regards, Gareth.

As suggested David - give your business to someone else.

Worth listing with Pistonheads?

I certainly concur with taking advice from Stevey Y. Regards, Gareth.

Thanks David, National chains depend on ‘branch sales’ and it’s not unusual for them to ‘find’ something which can bring in revenue from the poor unsuspected. My advice would be to put any action on the back burner, although having a safe DIY look maybe in the coming months. If it were mine, I would be fostering good relations with one of your local MOT stations, and using them in the future. Regards, Gareth.

Welcome Colin, Best answer to your question lies with giving the main dealer a ring and asking for a quote. Who informed you that this is a ‘dealer only repair’? Hopefully others will be along to confirm/refute that. Regards, Gareth.

Hello David, Was your car MOT’d by a main dealer? If not, was it done at some national chain, or just the local garage? I’m sure you will understand that no one on here will be able to advise on severity, or give you any idea of how long it will last, without access to the vehicle, but it would be well worth examining yourself or getting a second opinion from your trusted local garage. If/when it needs replacing, you will need to replace both front ones. Regards, Gareth.

I’m leaving this post open for viewing to demonstrate what we have to put up with as moderators on here. Totally unacceptable. I’ll leave it to the other mods to ban this member indefinitely.

Welcome Martin, Before doing anything else, check the wiring in the flexible harness section twixt body and tailgate. Classic point for fractured and shorting cables. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

Welcome Darren, Enter your VIN into LLL Parts website, and that should give you the correct (as built) part number. If you want to buy at reasonable cost, then you could try entering the registration number into Parts in Motion’s website, and that should give you a choice of brands of the correct ones. Please let us know how you get on. Regards, Gareth.

Pleasure Phil, Worth nipping over to your Halfords store and asking them to check the battery for you, (and the alternator output). If the battery is found to be substandard then I wouldn’t be buying a replacement there. Just come back to us and we will probably be able to point you to better deals. If it tests good, then at least you know the answer lies elsewhere. Varta/Bosch should be OK, but with disappointment with two different vehicles a couple or so years ago, I no longer treat them as my go-to brands. Having said that, I might just have been unlucky. Please let us know how you get on Phil. Regards, Gareth.

It seems Gabe returns to the forum on a number of occasions, but is not prepared to respond to questions asked. This member has now been warned.

Buying new, secondhand, budget Martin? Regards, Gareth.