[Biturbos4] Re: Warranties

[Witte, Michael J (HPFS)]

Okay, my $0.02.....

I happen to be a member of some Dutch Audi board(s) as well. Sadly to
say, situation in Holland isn't very different either. However, and
that's a pro in Holland, CHIPS can be purchased and will be installed
PLUS fully warranteed through the dealership/importer. Warrantee however
in Europe, more specific Holland, seems to be -much- less than here in
the US, e.g. only 24 months.

A perfect example of this customer haggling, lower control arms
replacement, as some of you already know. Voluntary replacment/recall on
many 1996-2000 A4's, 2000 S4's and 1997-2000 A8's. This recall, DUH,
thank you for looking after us AoA, was performed and announced late
spring/early summer in Europe. Many of the members of the board I
frequent, were nickle and dimed by their dealerships on this specific
issue. Not limited to be charged for 50% of labor, or more, small parts
etc...sometimes even complete refusal of repair. 

We have to, however, take into account, that we only represent a small
group of total Audi customers, who actually frequent bulletin boards,
subscribe to these mailings etc..thus the amount of noise/grey areas is
not a great sample for the overall experience any Audi owner might have.
Added to that, it seems the true enthousiasts are found on boards like
these.

Will this all above affect my next purchase, absolutely, however, if I
keep on switching car manufacturers because they're not responding
appropriately to concerns, there's not much left to choose from. We had
a 2000 Mercury Cougar, of which is was known by FoMoCo, that the
alternator was placed in such a bad position, that is would attract
extra dirt, thus fail sooner than expected. No less than 6 alternators
were replaced, luckily all within warranty time frame, however, if you
were an unlucky SOB, you had to fork up the costs itself. Same issue
with the sunroof, on that particular vehicle, which was placed on
plastic rails, I have accounts for at least 500 other owenrs, who had
the exact same problem, however, since a sunroof, isn't a real safety
issue, FoMoCo never made a recall. Fuel pump, same scenario, many Cougar
owners, also through Bulletin boards, experienced issues that with a gas
tank fill less than 25%, the fuel would cut off, only after three years
of complaints, and logging compliant, FoMoCo issued a voluntary
recall....

Have I lost faith in the Industry, absolety, however, I think its not
just the Vehicle/Auto industry......I honestly think this is an ETHICAL
issue.......See what happened with Merck and its Vioxx.......</RANT> 


-----Original Message-----
From: biturbos4-bounces at www.audifans.com
[mailto:biturbos4-bounces at www.audifans.com] On Behalf Of Quincy Chiang
Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2004 1:35 AM
To: Ti Kan
Cc: biturbos4 at audifans.com
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Re: Warranties

Agreed.  I don't doubt Audi's own study either, but this just shows a
clear disconnect between what Audi thinks they should and need to do,
and what they are actually doing.

There have been many folks here on Audifans and on Audiworld who are
dissatisfied with Audi's service, to the point they would never buy
another Audi again.  I hate to think what I'd do if my dealer really
pissed me off.  I love my Audis so damn much to walk away! ;-)

Quincy

----- Original Message -----
From: ti at amb.org (Ti Kan)
Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2004 10:23 pm
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Re: Warranties

> Quincy Chiang writes:
> > ...
> > And to them in the short term, loosing one enthusiasts/long time
> Audi> owner isn't a big deal, cause they know they have many
> average suckers
> > flocking in to buy their cars.
> > ...
> 
> Audi's own demographics study shows that buyers of their cars are 
> highly internet-savvy.  Messages like this thread should be easily 
> found via web searches.  Alienating existing customers won't do the 
> company any good for future sales if a potential buyer does a search 
> of "audi" and get a bunch of complaints.  AoA really needs to work on 
> customer loyalty.  Just making the dealers look high-tech and spiffy 
> is not the answer.
> 
> -Ti
> --
> Ti Kan
> http://www.amb.org/ti
> Vorsprung durch Technik
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Biturbos4 mailing list
> Biturbos4 at www.audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/biturbos4
> 

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