Hey all,

I just wanted to share my experience recently with McGrath Audi. I feel after the throrough deceit and fraud I should make others aware of this.

I brought my Audi in for service for the first time to McGrath last week. I wanted to get just an oil change but after going over the 60,000 mile mark I was convinced to perform my 60,000 mile maintenance. I had no problem with this because I do believe in following the manufacturers recommendations on service.

I then received a call from the service manager at McGrath saying while we were working on your car we noticed the following problems (I was also given the cost per item with labor):

Washer pump -- Fuse Blown + Shorted Out Pump - $340.00
upper links and bushing on front left-$765.00
rear pads rotors - $675.00
coolant leak pipe fitting b engine - $375.00
diff axel seal leak - $340.00
valve cover gasket leak - $570.00
traction control brake swith - $195.00

Total Cost: $3260.00 (plus the obvious $1300.00 for the 60,000 mile maintenance).

I felt this unbelievable so I began searching for 3rd party mechanics that specialize in Audi. I found Hi-Line Imports and another downtown... After bringing the car in for inspection the following was found at both mechanics:

Washer Pump -- Fuse was blown pump worked fine -- $5.00
Upper Links and Bushings on all tires normal no tearing -- $0.00
Rear Pads and Rotors had %50 life left -- $0.00
No leak found on valve cover gasket-- $0.00
No Leak found on coolant leak pipe -- $0.00
No leak found on diff axel seal-- $0.00
Traction control brakeswitch replaced --- $15.00
Labor -- $90.00

Total --- $110.00

I cannot believe the amount oflies that was told to me by McGrath Audi. I would highly recommend everyone double check anything that service center tells you. Maybe McGrath is hurting so much for business they need to cheat their customers... Good luck to everyone and I hope no one else gets this kind of treatment!

 

Thought I would add a little to this since I found the response from the Better Business Bureau funny.

McGrath's Response To My Complaint Through Better Business Bureau:
Contact Name and Title: Bill Sumner Service MGR
Contact Phone: 8479988000
Contact Email: BSUMNER@MCGRATHAG.COM
In response to thecase I looked into all items which he complained about and here are the findings to each complaint.
1) Washer Pump-- there is a service bulletin from Audi (A920502) which states the washer pump needs to be replaced along with the fuse. Regardless if the pump works or not.
2) Upper Link--The left upper link dust cover is split and needs to be replaced we suggested to do both being there would be no addtional labor only the part.it has been our experience that when one of the dust covers split on a link the other follows soon after.
3)rear Pads and Rtors-- The minimum brake spec for Audi is 5mm. Audi recommends replacing when the pads get to this measurement. Mr.Everton pads are at 5mm.
4)Coolant Leak-- The leak is coming from the rear coolant pipe fitting. The leak was verified ny the Service Consultant.
5)Valve Cover Gasket-- The leak from the valve cover gasket is leaking to the point that it is starting to leak into the ignition coil. this was also verified by the Service Consultant.
6)Differental Leak--The differental leak is coming from the right rear differental ONLY.Left rear and front were all ok at that time. This was confirmed by the Service Consultant.
7)Traction Control Switch--As we both agree the vehicle needs a traction control switch. The only indifference we have is cost of the part. Our Dealer cost from Audi is well above $15.00.In closing I would like to arrange a time with himto bring his vehicle back to the dealership so we can review these issues that are in question.

My Response Back to the BBB:
Please post the full details of A920502 since that information is not what I have found online. Interesting that audi would recommend wasting all the time replacing a perfectly fine water pump for a fuse problem.

Secondly, your technicians did not say the left upper link dust cover split. They said "the left bushings and linksare completely shot and need to be replaced". After further inspection to my "dust cover" there is also no split.

The rear brake pads thickness is currently greater than 10mm. Which was verified by two seperate mechanics.

Furthermore, the dealer cost for your brake switch(aka traction control switch) is $15.00. I bought the Brake Switch from an audi dealership (Laurel) from their parts department. So this is another blatent lie.

 

Wow. Thats terrible, although I brought my A6 to Laurel Audi for an oil change I was surprized that the only thing that they found wrong was an oil leak, which I thought to be was the valve cover, but the dealer told me it was the cam seals. I was thinking about trying McGrath Audi but seems they are even worse than Laurel.

What specialist did you take your car into? I'm looking to have some work done on mine.

 

I used Hi-lineImports in westmont 630-663-0044... They went over everything the dealer said was wrong with the car and showed me. The also let me watch them repair the minor things that were wrong. Yea I guess dealerships might be all the same.

 

All dealerships are the same. The reason why they charge like that it's because of labour and profit. They are a business and need money. Glad you were able to find a better place.

 

I'm not too surprised to see this kind of thing from Audi. If you take the time to look through alot of the posts here, you'll notice that there are tons of people with issues about service, and sales for Audis. They lied to me about quite a few things, lied to BBB, and have refused to do anything to amend the situation in my case, even though they don't deny lying to me. I filed cases with the Attorney General in NJ, and the Office of Consumer Affairs in the county where Jack Daniels ( the scumbag dealer I went to) is located. Audi corporate has two case files on my issues with this dealer, and refuses to do anything. I really don't care how good a car an Audi may be, but I will never own another one. EVER.Audi Sucks *****. BTW ,what a coincidence, because the last name of the Sales Manager at Jack Daniels is Sumner, the same as your ******* srevice manager.