I own a 2002 a4 1.8t quattro with a 5 speed. i took it to the dealer for the first time (owned the car for about 3 weeks now), and asked them to look at a couple of things for me:

temp guage only works some of the time

looked in my coolant resevoir it the coolant was brown

i shift into second and when i transition to gas from clutch the shifter moves up an inch or so, stays there and you feel a clunk (only in second)

oh yeah and my turbo sounds a little louder/different the last couple of days. figured i may have a leak.

so here is what they told me. "i dont want to throw a bunch of expensive parts at the guage so when it completely fails come back, the coolant is pink, the shifter/tranny feels like every other audi, and the turbo is fine." ok, i feel because i have 1000 miles left on the warranty the guy is blowing me off till it comes out of my own pocket! if i am being paranoid tell me.

what should i do!?!?!?!? []

 

you need to read your warranty is it just powertrain or is it bumper to bumper?

 

bring it back tomorrow or in a couple days. if they say the same thing bring it back again the next day. they'll get the point. or just explain to him that's what the warranty is for. "why should i have a gauge that works some of the time?" "this is a $30,000 car!" "Sir, are you color blind? the coolant is brown!"

 

it is bumper to bumper for the next 1000 miles, it is the original factory warranty. the car has super low miles.

no doubt, i am going to wait till tonight right before they close and "not be so nice" this time. if i dont get what i want the next step will be audi usa. im sure the dealer doesnt want the main office to call them on this. the guys excuse on the tranny was that there are alot of bushings in the tranny and im just feeling this...ok well then it would do it in every gear not just second! [:@]

 

maybe you need to explain to him what bumper to bumper means! lol... flush the coolant. simple. fix the sensor. pretty simple. the tranny on the other hand may be opening a can of worms. oh well better them than you.

insist that your car gets fixed. search this forum. another guy was having a problem with audi fixing random things and not fixing the problem so he told them he would be contacting some better business beareau and of course the problem got fixed free of charge.

 

i concur, i cant believe they are like this...oh wait thats right they are the ONLY audi dealer in almost a 2 hour radius. i think the BBB is a good route to go!

hey, you have any pics posted of your a4?

 

no pics yet. soon very soon. my gf needs to figure out the digital camera I bought her then i will.

mine looks very similiar to onepoint8tee's with my winter wheels on.

 

Good place to vent;

http://1.8t.org/dealers/

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA my dealer rating was a -11

 

yeah mine was -3 or something. I've learned to deal with them though.

this is what you do:

1. if you know what you need to do walk right past the service counter to the parts department. If they ask (and they will) say you're lost and keep going.

2. if you dont know what you need to do, park your car near the service garage, then hang out there pretending to look at cars in the lot and wait for someone who looks "cool" to come out and then start a conversation. ask him about his car etc. then start asking him questions about your car and eventually lead him over to your car where he will help you. just play dumb. Once he tells you what's wrong, follow #1 above.

its worked numerous times for me (for little things) but hey at $95/hour labor I have probly saved about 5 bills already.

3. if you are still under warranty: test drive a new S4, act like you are all ready to buy it, when you talk to the sales guy ask why your car hasn't been fixed yet. the saes guy will make sure your car is fixed with a possible S4 sale on the line. then they will fix it. then after your car is fixed tell them that you could never afford the S.