[s-cars] Re: Hoffman Audi Responds...

[Richard Molk]

Hello again, Darin:
First, thanks for the wonderful effort on my behalf. I do appreciate
all the kind words and time, plus great advice from all the listers!

As to Hoffman's offer, the part I like best is the warranty. They are
so proud of extending the warranty from the normal 12 months to as long
as I own the car. Of course, the normal 12 months is for a broken car
brought in to be fixed, not the other way around. When they damage the
car, I would certainly expect a more extensive fix. They are refusing
to give me an Audi factory warranty, which would settle the whole
problem. Who would want a warranty that obligates him to return to the
place that wrecked the car?
Unfortunately, I never asked for a warranty just on metal fatigue
caused by the failure of the two valves. I doubt that metal fatigue
could ever be proven to be from the two valves, so really this is no
warranty at all. I do not believe the damage is limited to the two
valves, and also do not believe they sent the head out for examination.
If they did, they violated my explicit instructions to leave the car
alone until an agreement is reached!
When last I saw the head, and when their technician was explaining how
he knew it was the two valves (he could tell just by looking, he said),
the head was assembled. How in the world can Sam Pines of Hoffman Audi
know that the head is straight, that there are no cracks in the head,
no problems with the valve guides or tappet buckets, and that no other
valves are damaged without disassembling the head? Additionally, that
head was not taken to any machine shop, unless done after Hoffman was
forbidden in writing from proceeding.
As to where we are, the answer will be coming from the lawyers, I
expect. My offers for several solutions were ignored, including Hoffman
purchasing the car for Blue Book Value, Hoffman sending the car to
another dealer of my choice and Hoffman paying for the repair, or
Hoffman replacing the head with a factory head, with an Audi factory
warranty on the motor.
My biggest concern is that the motor will fail from this incident if
not inspected fully and repaired properly. That is the reason for the
Audi factory warranty for a year. If they do a fine job with the
repair, as they claim they will, then the audi factory warranty will
cost them nothing, as nothing further should fail. Their unwillingness
to do this speaks to their knowledge of their repair shop--perhaps they
doubt their ability to investigate and permanently fix the motor.
I will keep you posted.
Yours,
Rich Molk
Driving the big pickup today.
BTW and Just for laughs, I had my '98 A6 into Hoffman's 6 months ago
for a repair. The gas gauge was jumpy, going from 3/4 to 1/4 and back
again in just a few minutes driving, and the motor smelled of burning
oil after warming up. They "fixed" the car by replacing the gas gauge,
the fuel sender and the valve cover gasket. The car still smells
exactly the same with oil obviously leaking onto a hot manifold
somewhere, and the gas gauge is still exactly as erratic as before. I
should have been warned by that $500 repair, but I did not pay enough
attention to the problem. I am going to take that car in to another
repair shop now and see if there is any evidence that they did not do
the job I paid for.
See you.
Rich
On Monday, December 30, 2002, at 05:27 PM, Darin Nederhoff wrote:

>
>
> Hello Richard,
>
> I received a response from Hoffman Audi in the mail this afternoon.  I
> have scanned it and included it with this message for your amusement.
> I'm also including a copy of the letter I had sent to them (owner and
> service manager).
> Has there been any progress on the situation from the last time you
> updated me and the list?
>
> Regards,
>
> Darin Nederhoff
> S-CARS.ORG
> <MOLKHOFFMANLTR.JPG><HoffmanAudi.doc>