Seeking Nirvana

[DOUBLDz@aol.com]

Well since it was maintenence time once again, I decided to give another
dealership a try hoping to find Audi Nirvana. The following is what happened. 

Thursday, July 23: Car goes into (new) dealership for 37,500 oil change. I ask
the "service specialist" to check the acceleration (or lack thereof) problem
that I mentioned to you guys and I tell to him that there's been some oil on
my driveway. No problem. This guy is charming and helpful and completely
different than the guy I dealt with at the place I bought my car. I get picked
up by a friend who gappens to live nearby and about 2 hours later, he calls me
and says that they will have to order the parts, which they won't get until
Friday so I can come on back and they'll give me a loaner (which I could have
had in the first place but didn't think I'd need). I take the loaner home. At
this point I'm very happy. It took less than 2 hours for this dealership to
find a problem which the other dealership denied I even had. On my service
invoice from them, it states "No problem found."

Friday, July 24: At about 2PM I decide to call the dealership and see whats
going on. The service manager is on a road test, he will call me back. About
3:30 he calls me and tells me that the guy who was working on my car called in
sick that morning and he was SO busy that this was his first opportunity to
call me. So basically my car sat at the dealership all day just looking
pretty. Not to worry though, I can take the car home for the weekend and he'll
reschedule me for next Tuesday. He even said he'd send someone to pick up the
car from my house, so I wouldn't be inconvenienced again. OK, this is better
than keeping the loaner all weekend. So, between 4:30 and 5:30 I buck shore
traffic driving back down there to get my car. Not a problem, atleast I have
the Audi back.

Tuesday, July 28: I call the dealership at 8AM to make sure we're on the same
page and I am told again, he's on a road test. (This guy spends alot of time
on the road). OK have him call me. I wait around until 9:15 and then decide to
drive the heck down there. When he sees me he dosen't blink an eye. Totally
forgetting his promise to get the car, he takes my keys and gets me a loaner
and sends me on my way cautioning me that since I brought it in so late, it
might not be done that day. He calls at about 2 and says its a big job and
they'll need it another day. Hey, I'm still smiling. OK

Wednesday, July 29: I wait to hear from him all day. Finally at 4PM I call.
"Oh, he's gone for the day!" I allow the tiniest tone to enter my voice. I am
connected with someone else, who recites the work order to me like he hasn't
the faintest idea what is going on, but not to worry, everything is being
taken care of.....just keep the loaner and we'll be back to you tomorrow. I
tell him that it would have been nice for "so and so" to call me before he
left for the day so I would know what was going on and this guy said oh he
tried but couldn't reach me....yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thursday, July 29: I go about my business with the loaner. They always give me
a "C" car, (a Cavalier, a Contour, a Corolla). I'm having Audi withdrawal.
About 11AM the phone finally rings, its all done Yay!!! he offers to deliver
it to my home, even better.

The end result is this. The car drives much better than before. The Audi
Assured warranty paid for everything except the oil change (74, ouch, dollars)
and a $50 deductible. This is what they did...

In response to fluid under car: they replaced oil pump gaskets and seals,
upper oil pan gaskets. Differential/oil leaks, resealed torsion differential
leaks. 

In response to poor low speed accelaration: replaced the transmission control
unit. 

At the bottom of the page there is a list of parts all followed by the word
warranty except a N-013-849-2 washer for which I was charged 27cents, weird.

At the very bottom of the bill there is a place for the customer's signature.
Above this a very large sticker stating that you should not sign this if you
don't feel that you can give honestly give them an excellent rating when "Audi
of" calls you to do the follow-up survey. It continues to say that you should
see the director of service  if you are not completely satisfied. I thought
this was a pretty clever. Of course its not really a guarantee for them but I
kinda liked the idea, made me feel that they really cared. Am I a sap or what?

Oh, another thing. (can't get this girl to stop talking!) The first week I had
the car, me and Mike (my Jack Russell Terrier) were out for a spin and on the
way home, he decided to relax on the pasenger seat leaving my lap for a brief
respite. I thought great he's going to take a nap. But instead he entertained
himself by licking his paw. Well, when I got home I saw that his paw wasn't
all he was licking. Apparently the seat was getting a going over too. I didn't
quite realize what was happeneing as I first tried to wipe it dry and the
color seemed to come off more, EeeeeeeK! Anyway, a friend suggested that I ask
the dealer to have "the upholstery guy" in to fix it. I was dubious but I
asked and was told no problem. Well, I am here to tell you that the seat is
like brand new, fantastic job, you can't even tell where the damage was. I am
very pleased. I have never spent 50 bucks more happily. 

All things considered I would go back. Granted the first few days were like a
comedy of errors but the overall result was quite satisfactory plus I wasn't
talked down to, rushed, ignored or lied to. What more could I ask for?

Sorry for the length of this, I just felt that you all have gone through each
little thing with me so I wanted to share this too. Thanks.

Dee
95A6q which is getting closer to perfection