[BiturboS4] Can you non-Attorney's say "litigation, litigation, litigation" three times fast?

[Ian Duff]

Two thoughts:
1) Has the dealer looked at the ignition coils? They are recall itens on
other VAG engines (1.8t, 2.8VR6 at least), and could cause an electronic
(not mechanical) misfire, leading to the vibrations you describe.
2) Call AoA and demand to speak with Len Hunt, the head cheese at Audi of
America. If, no make that _when_, you get thru, communication between your
dealer and the AoA Customer "Care" staff should start to flow. No telling
what the outcome will be, but at least you'll have broken the no
communication logjam.
HTH.
-Ian Duff.
-----Original Message-----
From: biturbos4-admin at audifans.com
[mailto:biturbos4-admin at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Erik J. Engstrom
Sent: Sunday, 06 April 2003 14:53
To: biturbos4 at audifans.com
Subject: [BiturboS4] Can you non-Attorney's say "litigation, litigation,
litigation" three times fast?

Hi folks,

My dealer has attempted seven times alone to repair a low-end RPM vibration
and side to side buffet on my car that occurs at entirely random times when
either sitting still, coming to a stop or at very irregular moments under
boost and acceleration. In the process, the dealer has repaired everything
that is standard fault on an S4. In addition, my clutch was slipping in a
dramatic way and that was finally fixed "Oh, that will take care of the
vibration...", my diverter valves were replaced, "Oh, that will get rid of
the vibration." The turbo's were replaced, "Oh that will definitely get rid
of the vibration..." Now we're at the point where the computer has been
throwing fault codes and indications of misfires since last December in
various cylinders and there is no more mechanical parts that generate a
fault code that can be replaced. The shop foreman has finally said that they
are "stunned", as after replacement of the fuel injectors, the senior
technicians have now conceded that the engine isn't actually misfiring. "We
were really hoping the fuel injectors would fix the problem." I don't know
what will come next, as they are highly concerned that the $25,000 in work
hasn't fixed either the symptom or the cause of the vibrations. I think the
drive train and camshaft are due for a complete replacement, don't you? I
think it could also be the engine mounts, the engine itself or poor
manufacture of the driveline.

One thing in particular that has me really upset is that Audi USA has failed
to even initiate open dialog with my dealer in over 30 business days. I have
called regularly and spoken with a number of representatives and
supervisors. I have been told each time that I will be contacted within a
two business day time frame. I've never been contacted, I've always had to
call and track down the person handling the affair. The supervisor there
pledged that their service time frame is generally 24-48 hours... I'm
currently at 24-48 DAYS before and Customer Care is still waiting for "more
information from the dealer".

In particular AUDI USA has claimed that they have been unable to reach the
dealer, either the service advisor or the service manager. I have spoken
with these two gentlemen sometimes as often as twice a day without much
effort and both have been involved and waiting for contact from Audi USA
from the beginning of my case reference at Customer Care.

I have attempted to help by going between the two groups several times and
despite having two records that the dealer faxed my vehicle history, the
copy they received was the THIRD fax attempt that *I* sent from my home
office fax. There is no apparent way to escalate this issue to anyone more
senior than a call center supervisor, which is a pity because the poor
performance of the call center has really inflamed my last few nerves.

1. Has anyone else had any problems with Audi USA Customer Care? I got
enough attitude from their daytime supervisor that I'd love to hit them with
several simultaneous, genuine complaints.
2. Anyone else had any problem with resolving an Audi lemon?
3. Anyone here an attorney with experience with litigating S4's? (I feel
like being served a double portion of relief :) )
4. Anyone know of someone in the service food chain at Audi that I could
take this issue to for immediate resolution, other than through dealing with
their legal staff?

AUDI whaa whaa, I hate being so bitter, but my beautiful black S4 has turned
into a living nightmare that has consumed far too much of my time and
concern since October. The only good experience so far is that my dealer has
had me in their loaner fleet pretty much since the first problem was found
and I've driven nearly every model of Audi made... I'm currently driving a
Red 2002 TT Coupe with 18" 9-spoke wheels, which gets LOTS of attention and
questions from everyone, everywhere I go. Unfortunately this little couple
has replaced my S4 at great cost to the dealer since Audi USA only pays for
"5 days" of rental for repairs.

Any feedback to the above would be appreciated.

Yours,

Erik
Reporting to you live from the Chicago Suburbs on a business trip
03.2001 S4: stock with lemon highlights
06.1987 E30 325IS: tuned

_______________________________________________
BiturboS4 mailing list
BiturboS4 at audifans.com
http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/biturbos4