Re: Audi alignment nightmare

["scott miller" <macatawa@hotmail.com>]

This sounds like a repeat of my brother's alignment nightmare on his new 
'96 (his third Quattro).  One dealer adjusted the camber under warranty, 
the next told him camber wasn't adjustable, another told him it was 
normal, etc, etc.  The lemon law took effect and he was entitled to a 
replacement, but the '96 models were all gone.  Audi came in and took a 
confrontational stance.  It wasn't 'till he actually pursued legal 
action that Audi finally offered him a '97 A4q with a smaller engine.  
He fought for a V6 for a while and finally gave in, unsatisfied and 
bitter with Audi.  My family has had a dozen Quattros (and my Synchros), 
even my Toyota exec. brother has one, and we were shocked at this 
treatment.  My Toyota brother has ordered a Synchro and is debating 
cancelling his order for an A6qw (his third Quattro).  Another bro sold 
his beloved Quattro and bought a Fourmatic, and is quite pleased.  My 
disgruntled younger brother is now an airline pilot and will probably 
trade in his A4q for something non-Audi when the time comes.  I suppose 
Audi had their reasons, but it's certainly costing them a few sales in 
my family.  I still have a soft spot for Mitubishi after they repaired 
the turbo on my out-of-warranty EclipseGSX.  They were trying to break 
into the U.S. sporty car market, and succeeded.  Perhaps Audi has gotten 
smug and lazy about keeping customers.

Scott Miller
Holland/Selfridge ANGB, Michigan
'90 200tqw
'57 Boeing (just for the weekend)


>> i made a big mistake by bringing my wife's A4Q avant to the
>> local dealer (where we bought and service the car regularly)
>> to have the alignment checked a month ago. it seemed to be
>> slightly pulling to the right.
>> 
>> ever since that visit, the steering has become significantly
>> worse. i went back 2 weeks ago to re-align it. true enough,
>> apparently the first time they aligned it, the mechanic screwed
>> it up big time. or at least that's what i've been told.
>> 
>> since the 2nd alignment, the car is slightly better. but it's
>> still pulls to the right. this past friday, i went back there
>> to have it realigned, only to be politely told  that "yes,
>> it's pulling slightly to the right, but the numbers are
>> within the specs; it's not going to affect your tire wear;
>> most people wouldn't notice it; blah blah". what does that
>> supposed to mean? tire wear isn't my concern here.
>> 
>> the people that i trust to do my tire+wheel alignment (ie: direct
>> tire) attempted to help me as much as they can, but they don't
>> have the machine nor the software.
>> 
>> so it looks like i have to hunt for an audi dealer that knows
>> how to align these cars.
>> 
>> anybody else has this problem?
>> 
>> any recommendation on a massachusetts audi dealer (based on
>> personal experience with aligning your A4) that i can go to?
>> i called Auto Bon in cambridge and they told me that they'd
>> "send out" my car for alignment (they didn't elaborate).
>> i feel like playing a russian roulette here. it's very
>> infuriating to own a high-tech machinery that the local dealers
>> can't support.
>> 
>> thanks in advance.
>> 
>> ---
>> Thai Tjen
>> thai@tiac.net
>> 
>


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