Hello everyone - I'm new to this forum. Let me start off by just giving you some background that may be relevant.

I'm a girl and I would like to think I know a little more about cars than your average 25 year old female... I'm a big Audi fan.... till recently. I can't change my own tire though. I own a 2003 Audi A4 1.8T quattro. Her name is French Onion. Ok here is the story.

At the end of June I walked out of a store to find my tire nearly flat in the parking lot. The tire has been giving me a little trouble - a slow leak I assumed and I had been putting air in the tire periodically when I saw it was low. I only drove across the road to a gas station to see if I could put air in the tire and then schedule service to get it checked out. No luck. I called Audi roadside assistance to come change the tire. I waited for about 4 hours in 105 degree heat, and finally a guy shows up.

He was super nice - BUT from the little I know about my car, he didn't seem to have his act together. I had to show him how to use the jack that is in my trunk. Also, I showed him the lug cap puller tool and explained how I was missing the tool before and Roadside came out to change a flat and the guy had an extra and told me to keep it handy cause they needed it to change the tire. He said he never saw one before and proceeded to change the tire without. He struggled. I even had to get the manual out for him after about 10 minutes of him trying to just remove the flat. He also had trouble putting the full-size spare on. He had me 'eye-ball' that the tire was lined up so he could put it on. I even went and bought him a super size cherry slurpee cause he was out there for so long....

Anyways, after about almost 2 hours the tire was changed. He asked me the mileage on the car and I was outside the vehicle, told him I'd go check, and he said he just needed an approximation. Told him about 74,500. He wrote it down, asked me to sign a paper stating they came to perform the service and completed it, and to verify I made a payment over the phone to Audi roadside via my credit card for the service. No I did not read the paper like an amateur I just signed like I had done on several other occasions just like this one, and wanted to get out of the heat and into some AC. He NEVER mentioned anything to me about getting my tire checked out by my dealership, retorque the tire, nothing. No one had EVER mentioned this to me, nor had I even knew about it.

A week or two later I called and scheduled an appointment with my Audi dealer to have the flat checked out, so I wouldn't be driving without a spare. I told them the situation and they, too, never mentioned any service or other maintenance they would need to do on the car, and set it up for a week down the road because I was going on vacation in a few days.

Two days before my scheduled appointment, I was driving home on the highway in the rain, and my car began to shake. It got progressively worse. It was about 12:30 am and I was alone. I wanted to make it home, but I was at this point driving 50 on the highway and it was still shaking. So I knew I had to get off the next exit I knew a gas station was open and check it out. I was about 1 mile away from the exit when it got so bad I wanted to cry. I was driving now 35 mph with my hazards on and made it till about 5000 feet from the exit ramp before my entire wheel came off the car and all I remember were the sparks, the smell of burning, and seeing my wheel (tire, rim and all) rolling down the highway.

So I am flipping out now. I call my father and ask him to come meet me. Again, I'm alone and in a mini-skirt and I live in Cleveland.... thankfully a cop was driving by and I sat with him till my dad came. The cop filed a report and explained we could have the car towed in the morning, since it was so late and a Sunday. The cop also radioed to another trooper to search for my tire, but no one ever found it. The next morning, I called Audi roadside and they wanted some ridiculous amount, like $120 to tow + $3.50 per mile. My dad is a triple-A member, so we called them, and they came out for so much cheaper. We met the guy, and had my car towed on a flat bed to my Audi dealer. My car looked so much worse in the morning light! So we called Audi roadside, my insurance company, etc, filed reports, ... and I had to wait until TODAY for them to tell me Audi roadside nor any affiliates will be held responsible for the damages. I've been jerked around for over a month, with no car, for them to tell me this. They stated they reached this conclusion because, I signed a paper that stated I needed to have my car retorqued after a tire change within 50 miles, and I drove 250 miles from the date of the tire change till the date of the accident.

So basically, I am wondering, what kind of case do I have here? Has anyone heard of or experienced anything like this? I am going to the dealer tomorrow to document my actual mileage (which I know is less than 250 miles, given I currently have no daily commute and have owned the car over 9 years and only put 74k on the car, and that included an often drive from cincinnati to cleveland when I attended college)

I know I messed up, but I have always trusted Audi and the dealer, and believe I was abiding by standard procedure, and now I need to pay for damages that surely will surpass even the worth of the car. I am just disgusted with Audi right now. My dream car was an Audi R8 v10, in the same dolphin grey that my A4 is.... maybe I should go Italian when it comes to dreams now?

ANY HELP/ADVICE ANYONE CAN OFFER I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE. Email me or post here, .... thanks sooo much.

 

First off don't call Audi roadside unless its free. It will cost you an arm and a leg. For repairs, find a trusted independent shop. As for your tires, I have never retourqed mine ever and been just fine. If it took him two hours to change a tire he clearly didn't know what he was doing. In my opinion id threaten legal action and see where it gets you. You may have signed off on the job the roadside guy did, but you didn't sign off on his incompetence.

 

I say you have a case, there is no need to retorque after 50 miles if the tire was torqued in the first place, which it doesn't sound like it was even tightened.

You did mess up by giving an inaccurate mileage and blindly signing. But I still think you have a case.

 

Hey - thanks for the replies from both of you. @redline - I like what you said about not signing off on the guy's incompetence. I would think Audi wouldn't want their name tied with a service that sends guys like that out, because I am guessing a lot of people are in similar boats as me as far as a lack of knowledge of the tire changing process goes, ha.

It is hard to find quality independent shops around here. I tried a few places once I purchased the car once my initial lease was up, and had very bad experiences. Some place even cleaned the inside of the car after they were finished, and ended up peeling off a lot of the interior, especially by the radio and any window button, etc. They even vacuumed up two buttons for the CD player and then tried to tell me it came in that way!

 

Not a lawyer (and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night) I disagree that you have a case. Everytime I have changed tires I have been informed to check the lugs after 50/100 miles or so to make sure they are still tight. I have never had to re-torque them myself. Even Sam's Club reminded me to check the torque.

Here is why I think you don't have a case:

1. You signed off on the work and that it was done to your satisfation
2. The paperwork stated to re-check the torque (all wheel installers that I know of tend to have this very same disclaimer)
3. You drove the car for two to three weeks for over 250 miles. Mileage might actaul be lower or higher as you just estimated on the form.
4. Incompatence will be hard to prove. If the had had fallen off two blocks after the tech put it on you would have a case.

I would still try to get some form of compensation, although I do not know how successful you will be. Good luck.

 

@Redline -

If you aren't chillin at the Holiday Inn tonight, do you have any documents that Audi Roadside Assistance gave you which states to get the lugs checked after 50/100 miles. I'd like to see one

 

Retorqueing the wheel lugs after 50 miles is a standard procedure, regardless of car brand. Especially if the car uses 4 lug wheels instead of 5 lugs, and as many European cars use, it uses lug bolts instead of studs and lug nuts. Happened to my son twice after he rotated tires. Once with a Renault, and once with an Audi 90. Luckly he had the presence of mind of stopping the car when things started wobbling.

 

He didnt know what he was doing it should never take two hours...I did it in 30 minutes in the dark with no flashlights just light from a cell phone and it was my first time doing it. I would seek legit legal advice

 

ive never had to call roadside assistance. i do all my own work. but rechecking the lug nuts is standard procedure, especially for a shop since they want to cover their asses