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.

 

I had a similar experience. My home Audi dealer (Audi of Bernardsville, NJ) told me that I was due for a timing belt replacement (and estimated that it should be around $2000), but I waited until I got out to college to take it to McGrath. They called me and gave me a whole list of things that were wrong, it ended up totalling $4500. AFTER that, my car started smelling like burning oil when I drove it, so I took it back, and they gave me a **** and bull story about a leaking gasket that they didn't notice before, and tried to charge me $800. After arguing over the phone, they retreated and did it for free "because I had just had a $4500 service". I'm sure this had something to do with the fact that I'm young, and I don't plan to ever go back there.

 

I had a great experience with McGrath Audi when I first bought my CPO A6 there with great service while the car was under warranty. Received a great car at a great deal. Super nice people, free car washes, loaner cars and always had a company calling me afterwards asking how my experience was. I thought that was top notch and really appreciated it. However, since it's no longer under warranty it's a whole different story. First of all, I have found their prices to be 50% - 100% higher than other non-dealer repair shops. I guess their overhead is extremely high and I guess I could kind of understand as well as taking into account their past good service. However, I have not only found them to now be extremely pushy, but also misleading in addition to - and worst of all - poor and/or outright fraudulent repairing techniques. My car was overheating and my coolant level was dropping and they stated it was a faulty water pump. $1400 later to fix it and only after my 80K check up with them where they had found $4,000 of additional repairs that they recommended that I finally decide to have some else look at my car. The other mechanic found out that it was my coolant leak was due to a crack in the reservior which McGrath just filled with some sort of sealant rather than stating it was cracked, replacing it and saying it wasn't the water pump - scammed for $1,400. I also found that McGrath put in regular oil, rather than synthetic, into my car during the 80K checkup which is a huge no-no since the twin turbo will be destroyed without synthetic since it runs so hot. They should either know better or they did this on purpose. I'm now going to a repair shop just over the border in WI, which is worth the drive based on my experiences with McGrath Audi repairs. The cost to repair there was $2,000 versus $4,000 at Audi - and I know it will be done right.

I understand that times are tough and that most of these places make their money now on service. I also understand why they would want to be pushy and/or aggressive in pushing repairs. I'm not a fan of it, but I am a fair person and can understand why. I'm OK with paying higher prices with great service, loaner cars, free car washes and the like, but just feel absolutely cheated to not only pay twice as much as my new repair shop but to find out that they don't do what they charge you for as well as do stuff to your car that can potentially damage it, is truly unacceptable.

This is only my opinion only and my recommendation would be to find a trustworthy mechanic once your Audi warranty is up.

 

I live a few blocks from McGrath Audi (Glenview, IL) but will only have my 2004 Audi A6 4.2L car serviced in Grand Rapids, MI (Delta Imports) when I take my son to college there. McGrath really is THAT bad.

 

Travis,

do you mind telling us the name of the shop you use in WI? I live in SE WI and an looking for a good local shop.....

thanks...

-JPs

 

Mark's Motor Mechanics
490 Madison Street
Walworth, WI
262.275.6575

 

Ha. These same ********* stole my chip and tried pulling this same type crap with me. Glenview's McGrath is full of crooks!

 

Be careful with Fletcher Jones too. I went in for an ignition recall only!, car working fine. Left with a broken spring. They said that when they put it up on the rack to inspect it due to the age and slight rust on the spring that it broke, problem is they didn't tell me until after I reversed back in with the car making noise from the broken spring. To my knowledge the ignition is in the car and the car doesn't need to be lifted to perform the recall. All I went in for was the recall! I never asked them to inspect it. Plus my guess is that they lifted the car wrong or dropped it too fast and broke the spring and figured I would just fix it there. They quoted me $1200($600 parts, $600 labor) for both rear springs to be replaced because they said that you cannot buy just one and it will be uneven. That price was with a discount for the inconvenience since I raised hell. In the end I took the car to Arman's Import Auto on Milwaukee in Chicago (good guy-773-328-8981), he fixed it for around $250 and earned my business. I don't go to him anymore but, he's a quality mechanic with decent prices and mostly only does Mercedes, Audi and Porsche. He used to be a motorcycle mechanic/racer, he knows his stuff. Tell him Hector sent you.