[V6-12v] all quiet on the AUDI Front

[George Tur]

Just an update on the reverse switch saga on the wife's 1995 A6Q.

The last installment had me arguing with the shop about charging me for labor 
on starting and then stopping work on the reverse switch. They then promised 
to finish the job properly the next time it was brought in. Well, I brought 
the car in, they did complete the job and they did charge me extra labor 
time. The extra time covered the amount of time they tried to charge the 
first time plus what the book called for that particular repair. Can't win 
with these people. 

On top of that I found that the ignition key switch was acting strangely. It 
felt as if the return mechanism in the switch was no longer returning the key 
to the proper position after starting the car. I asked the shop about this 
and they said they had noticed it and that the car was like that when they 
started it. Strange I didn't notice it when I dropped the car off the night 
before. I decided not to argue the point and instead I've decided I'm not 
bringing in any of the cars to their place for any further work. Their loss 
ultimately.

I called around to the various local Audi dealers and found that I couldn't 
get an appointment for at least two weeks and they all wanted to charge me a 
trouble shooting fee. Spoke with a mechanic friend who lives in another state 
and he recommended a shop in NYC called Bruno's Quattro Shop. It's located in 
Ridgewood Queens and specializes in Audis and VWs. Called the place up on 
Friday afternoon and they set up an appointment for the following Monday. 
They said it was a common problem with VAG cars and that they had the part in 
stock. Drove into Queens that Monday morning, A little over an hours drive, 
dropped the car off and had it back within a few hours with everything 
working and no new problems. 

It was very interesting while I was waiting in the shop for the car to be 
repaired. The owner is an older fellow, called Bruno Krebech (spelling??), 
who used to be a mechanic and driver for Audi during the 70s. He then 
apparently came to the US and opened his own repair shop but still continued 
to run in the North American Rally races. He has trophies for being the top 
rally driver, an scca sponsored division, in North America for 1990 and 1991. 
Very interesting talking with Bruno about Audis, he especially likes to talk 
about the Audi Ur Quattros which he drove in rally events during the 80s. He 
appears to get a lot of business from people in the NYC region bringing in 
their older Audis for upgrades and repairs.

Interesting place and recommended from what other people have told me plus my 
one brief experience with them.

George Tur
care taker of wifes 95 A6