[Harbir]

GTO asked me to provide details about the other issues:

1. One day the AC stopped cooling. Thinking it was a gas leak or something, The car went to Audi Chandigarh, and was informed that the HVAC control module needed replacement. Replaced under warranty after a waiting period for the part to arrive.

2. One day a warning signal came up in the dashboard, indicating an Airbag fault. Again the car went to Audi CHD and we were informed that that the control module had to be replaced. Replaced under warranty after a period of waiting for the part.

3. I was at our farm in rural haryana this past winter and one morning left for Chandigarh, but a short distance from the farm, "check coolant level" type message popped up. I stopped the car and lifted the bonnet to see water everywhere inside the engine compartment in the area in front of the engine. I bought some bottled water from a chai wala nearby and put it in, but it all poured out on the underside immediately. The car then went to Audi Karnal on a flatbed, which was the nearest dealer. I am not exactly clear whether a hose failed or whether a hose came off its fitting (my dad dealt with it), but it was repaired under warranty. This is a newly opened dealer, about 25km from the farm, but intially I was looking at having to send it by truck to Chandigarh, a distance of perhaps 160km, and I was simply horrified that a new 50 lac car in the 21st centry was suffering catastrophic breakdowns and couldn't be relied upon to take you home.

4. While the car was at Audi Karnal, they called and said that the transmission fluid seal also needed replacement. After the replacement, they called and said that the transmission was making noises and had to be replaced since they were not authorised to dismantle and repair these transmissions. We had actually not noticed anything wrong with the transmission, but it didn't occur to us to argue with the dealer about it. From the time the car went for the cooling system failure to the time it came back with transmission replacement was a period of over a month perhaps nearly 2. (I lost track of the days). It was all done under warranty.

The cooling system failure brought us to the edge of selling the car. However, the reality of how much value the supercharged petrol car had lost in 2 years, and how much more we'd have to put in to buy something equivalent meant we decided to keep the car till atleast the warranty was there.

Then the CD Player got stuck. I left it, thinking that when the car goes in to the dealer next, I'll ask them to deal with it.

I did not get a happy response and I posted here in anger. I said it just to share with you guys, but it seems t-BHP is very powerful and Audi got to know of this thread.

I subsequently got a call from the dealer, assuring satisfaction. Whether it was really great customer service policy, or whether they were reacting to the bad publicity that t-BHP was causing, I don't know.

but they said that they were telling me that I would be more than satisfied and requested that I mention on the forum that Audi has assured me of satisfaction. So in good faith, I did that.

However, I very clearly said that while it will not make me forget the lack of the car's reliability, if they deliver, I will be assured that as with all the previous failures, they have taken care of it.

I can understand how bad it looked that after suffering so much, I turn around and start appreciating audi for nothing more than a reassurance on the phone that they will satisfy me.

I realize how stupid that looks. The fact is, from the beginning, I have felt like a victim of Audi, and have become so accepting that there is nothing I can do except just deal with it, I frankly just became happy that Audi seemed to be sincerely trying to make me happy.

i hope that this detail is meaningful to the community. I apologize for the lack of participation by me here. I have started something new in life that takes up so much time and causes so much stress that once I saw expressions of solidarity and support, and once audi expressed they'll make me happy, my mind was happy to be put at ease so I could attend to the things that are destroying my sleep these days.

I apologize if any of you felt that I was rude or disinterested or just a cartoon.

Thank you to the community and t-bhp for the support.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Harbir

GTO asked me to provide details about the other issues:...

I apologize if any of you felt that I was rude or disinterested or just a cartoon.

Thank you to the community and t-bhp for the support.

Thank you for the updates! Re-assures us that you were NOT fooling around.

Originally Posted by Harbir

...I subsequently got a call from the dealer, assuring satisfaction. Whether it was really great customer service policy, or whether they were reacting to the bad publicity that t-BHP was causing, I don't know...

Cmon, you know what it is! Great customer satisfaction never waits till high visibility rants & posts in public forums!

Originally Posted by Harbir

...but they said that they were telling me that I would be more than satisfied and requested that I mention on the forum that Audi has assured me of satisfaction. So in good faith, I did that...

That was NOT good. You should have asked them to "act first" and then expect you to applaud them. This is where the members started doubting your integrity.

Originally Posted by Harbir

....I realize how stupid that looks. The fact is, from the beginning, I have felt like a victim of Audi, and have become so accepting that there is nothing I can do except just deal with it, I frankly just became happy that Audi seemed to be sincerely trying to make me happy...

We can understand that even an assurance made you happy when you didn't have anything in your sight and sure you would have felt quite proud to be a bhp'ian too after the turn around of events.

One request I would make is "please tell Audi that you will provide real time updates (as & when it happens) and all the details will be entered into the forum genuinely". If they want to improve their ratings, they need to provide genuine & honest service and NOT strike a "deal" with you forcing to keep your mouth shut. You are ONLY asking for things which are rightfully yours.

[Harbir]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

One request I would make is "please tell Audi that you will provide real time updates (as & when it happens) and all the details will be entered into the forum genuinely". If they want to improve their ratings, they need to provide genuine & honest service and NOT strike a "deal" with you forcing to keep your mouth shut. You are ONLY asking for things which are rightfully yours.

Yes, sir. I acknowledge my naivete. I will do exactly as you suggest. You are exactly correct and I wish I had realized that this was a community, not just a place to vent.

MY apologies, and my appreciation to everyone.

[mod_to_odd]

My My. Dear Harbir, i can imagine what you must have gone through in all this.
But tell me something, are things the same with BMW and Mercedes also?
If ever i were to purchase any SUV from their dealers, will i also have to go through all this stress?

Waiting for months till the parts are available,
very high cost of maintenance,
etc etc

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by mod_to_odd

...Waiting for months till the parts are available,
very high cost of maintenance,
etc etc

NOT a right thread, but from the forum, VW group of companies have a worser reputation right from the lowest model.

You can probably get in touch with the owners of some of these brands thru their ownership thread or post your query in https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury-imports-niche/ section please?

[supercars]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post messages that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further. We request you to post ONLY when you have something substantial to add to a discussion.

[fine69]

Harbir, I want to thank you and appreciate you taking time out to share the details with us. As you said you didn't imagine team-bhp was this powerful to wake up a manufacturer like Audi and you just wanted to vent out your anger somewhere but we are all glad you did that because at least you are now going to get the service that you rightfully deserve.

Enjoy the car and I hope it doesn't trouble you too much in future. Would strongly recommend selling it off before warranty period is over as after that you might be on your own and the expenses & waiting time might get the better of you.

Originally Posted by Harbir

I did not get a happy response and I posted here in anger. I said it just to share with you guys, but it seems t-BHP is very powerful and Audi got to know of this thread.

I subsequently got a call from the dealer, assuring satisfaction. Whether it was really great customer service policy, or whether they were reacting to the bad publicity that t-BHP was causing, I don't know.

but they said that they were telling me that I would be more than satisfied and requested that I mention on the forum that Audi has assured me of satisfaction. So in good faith, I did that.

The dealer, initially, wasn't so supportive and the moment they get to know of an influential thread they suddenly start acting like the best after sales team out there, what a disgusting way of handling consumer complaint.

I think it tells all of us that while we have Skoda which doesn't pay two hoots about bad publicity, we have another manufacturer called Audi which only wants to mend their ways when bad publicity starts happening.

However, by no means Audi is better than Skoda because not all consumers are going to be able to use team-bhp as a platform to raise their concerns and we all know what is going to happen with such Audi customers. Way to go Audi, way to go!

Originally Posted by Harbir

However, I very clearly said that while it will not make me forget the lack of the car's reliability, if they deliver, I will be assured that as with all the previous failures, they have taken care of it.

I think its pretty clear that this particular car of yours, manufactured by Audi, isn't a reliable car. I do not want to generalize by saying Audi cars aren't reliable but this particular car isn't and that's that.

Originally Posted by Harbir

I can understand how bad it looked that after suffering so much, I turn around and start appreciating audi for nothing more than a reassurance on the phone that they will satisfy me.

Don't sweat, even I might have done that. Some people trust others a little too easily and the assurance given by them was enough for you to start trusting them, not a bad thing at all but in today's world we need to be a little cautious when we start trusting other folks a little too early.

[Turbanator]

But tell me something, are things the same with BMW and Mercedes also?

Not really , in my 5 Years of ownership of different Beemer's , I can probably vouch for my local dealer . Never ever had my car been in there workshop for more than 1-2 days , maybe I am fortunate not to have any major problems till date . Every time when my Car goes for a service or checks - car wash , internal cleaning and drop to my office is complimentary . Never have they tried to make any extra charges and have been supportive to extend goodwill warranty on many parts including Battery for my X6 in 4th Year of ownership. BSI packages are extremely helpful -I will say must on these cars , there are no nasty surprises . I think its something to do with thinking - atleast for me , we hardly think spending Millions on new cars but whenever see a few thousand invoice for small article somehow we crib & mentally start comparing with likes of Toyota's. Will recommend BMW over anything else surely .

I am eagerly awaiting them to come up with better prices for 7 series to upgrade my 5 , given the aggressive prices by Mercedes & Jaguar .

[pgrcrazy]

I am very sorry to hear about the issues you are facing OP. I am a little alarmed after going through this thread because I have just purchased an Audi A6 2.0 TDI. It's only been with me for about a month and things are literally falling off the car.

Right after purchase I had taken the car on a long drive (Chennai - Trivandrum - Chennai). I was only doing moderate speeds and never revved the car beyond 2k rpm. While we were at passing through Kovalam, I heard something scraping the roads. I pulled over and I was shocked to see that the skid plate protecting the transmission is hanging loose. I immediately took it to a mechanic nearby and got the plate removed. I put the car on the lift to check if something had hit the underbody or not and there was none (no scratches either).

I called up Audi and they told me to take the car to Kochi and get it fixed. I wasn't keen on driving it up to Kochi, so I told them I will bring the car to Chennai itself. Once there I was told that this plate has to be replaced and a new plate costs 20,000 INR and that my car doesn't qualify for a free replacement. The plate was not even made of hard plastic, it is literally cardboard and when on the lift, that part alone is like an eyesore. I definitely feel like it was a cost cutting measure. It is exactly the same material that is used in the slab that covers the boot floor of the Vento.

Moving on, they either way did not have that piece available and I had to wait for a few weeks. Escalating the matter only made me feel like punching their faces. Because it was one BS after another. They were literally testing my patience and I asked them to fix the existing plate itself and took off after it was done.

I have a Vento also, and after experiencing the Audi service first hand, I feel 1. VW in whole is stinkers and 2. owning a 50L car makes you no different than a guy who owns a 10L car, atleast when it comes to consumer service and after sales.

[Ranjimso]

Originally Posted by rsidd

[edit] Also, to eject a stuck CD, there are ways -- immediately after pressing the eject button, try pushing a visiting card inside and below, in such a way that it goes under the stuck CD. Worked for me a couple of times (including in the car) -- the advice is via Apple forums (seems to be a common problem on slot-type drives).

We know you are trying to help here but is this something to be tried on a car which costs a whopping 50 lacs...

[rsidd]

Originally Posted by Ranjimso

We know you are trying to help here but is this something to be tried on a car which costs a whopping 50 lacs...

Um, it's a perfectly safe procedure (assuming you hold the card properly and don't drop inside) and won't cause any extra damage. Worst case, the CD does not come out, but you're no worse off than earlier.

Also, a CD player is a CD player, regardless of cost of car. There are audiophiles who get conned into buying ridiculously expensive CD players with extra-stable platters and gold-plated connects and so on, and maybe the Audi OEM player is one of those, and maybe if you spent the big bucks you can start imagining that it actually sounds better, but the bits that it reads are the same and the D-to-A does the same job as in a cheap Sony box.

[maverick.munish]

Originally Posted by pgrcrazy

I wasn't keen on driving it up to Kochi, so I told them I will bring the car to Chennai itself. Once there I was told that this plate has to be replaced and a new plate costs 20,000 INR and that my car doesn't qualify for a free replacement.

Hey buddy !!

Did you question the dealer about this. I think you should have cross verified it and pushed the dealer for a written clarification however genuine his explanation by way of vocal conversation sounded.

Originally Posted by pgrcrazy

I have a Vento also, and after experiencing the Audi service first hand, I feel 1. VW in whole is stinkers and 2. owning a 50L car makes you no different than a guy who owns a 10L car, atleast when it comes to consumer service and after sales.

I have to partially agree with you on the above, considering the experiences quoted by two fellow BHPians who have faced simialr issues with highly priced cars.
However I believe that this is more due to lesser than expected sales and dealerships trying to take customers for a ride.

[Harbir]

Originally Posted by pgrcrazy

\
Right after purchase I had taken the car on a long drive (Chennai - Trivandrum - Chennai). I was only doing moderate speeds and never revved the car beyond 2k rpm. While we were at passing through Kovalam, I heard something scraping the roads. I pulled over and I was shocked to see that the skid plate protecting the transmission is hanging loose. I immediately took it to a mechanic nearby and got the plate removed. I put the car on the lift to check if something had hit the underbody or not and there was none (no scratches either).

I called up Audi and they told me to take the car to Kochi and get it fixed. I wasn't keen on driving it up to Kochi, so I told them I will bring the car to Chennai itself. Once there I was told that this plate has to be replaced and a new plate costs 20,000 INR and that my car doesn't qualify for a free replacement.

Oh, I forgot about this! This too has happened to mine, when it was nearly new, before the other troubles!

That panel under the car has been replaced in mine once in exactly the same circumstance. I was driving CHD to Delhi and suddenly I hear this knock followed by scraping sound. I stopped and looked under the car and see this panel hanging loose. It had been torn out of its holding bolts. The best that I could make out, its front end had not perfectly fitted and air flowing under the car pulled it on it until it eventually tore out in the wind blast.

The audi dealer the car went to, where it is now, said that it wasn't a manufacturing defects because the bolts were in place, something must have hit the car from underneath. I swear on my mother's life, nothing had hit the car underneath. But they insisted that I was going to pay 20,000 bucks. After I raised a stink, the dealer, offering good will offered to waive the labor and sell the part at cost and that was the best that was going to happen. I accepted.

And frankly, I was grateful and humiliated. They made me feel like the car had suffered from a hit, that I was lying to them, but they in their goodness were still helping out a customer out of good will.

EDIT:

Thinking about the psychology of this, I think its because my entire adulthood till 3 years ago was spent in the US and my experience with everything I bought was that the customer has the benefit of the doubt. Its the culture. They're not doing anything special for you by taking your word for it. If it could have happened the way you say, they accept it. Only obvious accidental damage or abuse will become an issue. If the warranty is valid, and something goes wrong, you take it to them, they fix it. Thats it. Got a warranty? Its covered. Sorry you had to be inconvenienced.

Over here, I find dealership employees decline warranty coverage with no embarrassment or shame whatsoever. and then you have to be embarassed because you're having to claim your rights from people who promised and now act like they are sahibs who aren't the least bit interested in your views about how they are being treated.

Its really quite terrible. And to face it with cars that cost 20-50 lacs!

Really a very shameful state of affairs.

[imp!]

Originally Posted by rsidd

Um, it's a perfectly safe procedure (assuming you hold the card properly and don't drop inside) and won't cause any extra damage. Worst case, the CD does not come out, but you're no worse off than earlier.

Yes you are correct, if done properly, this does not pose a threat to pretty much any OE audio system from an Automobile manufacturer

Originally Posted by rsidd

Also, a CD player is a CD player, regardless of cost of car. There are audiophiles who get conned into buying ridiculously expensive CD players with extra-stable platters and gold-plated connects and so on, and maybe the Audi OEM player is one of those, and maybe if you spent the big bucks you can start imagining that it actually sounds better, but the bits that it reads are the same and the D-to-A does the same job as in a cheap Sony box.

Don't you think you may be generalizing a bit? Sure, there is the law of diminishing returns, but, I am an audiophile and I can tell the difference between low bit rate MP3s, high bit rate MP3s, SACDs, CDs and Vinyls. I can tell the difference between expensive high fidelity speakers bought by people who then mate them to poor quality cheap amps or to expensive ones that do not drive the speakers with adequate power. I can appreciate a set of inexpensive Harmon Kardon speakers driven by an amp that works well for them better than KEF Blades with an inadequate set up. I can tell the difference between a good DAC and a poor one. I also understand that multi amping, given the nature of electronic cross overs is an extremely delicate process and not to be undertaken lightly, when many would be audiophiles consider it as one of the holy grails of audio systems.
The types of CD players you talk about do have a place in an audiophiles world. It is however usually the last component a true audiophile would get "conned" into upgrading.
I do not imagine a difference in audio quality. I can actually hear intonations and sounds come across differently in different systems, or a similar system with different secondary and tertiary components
This generalization is like saying a car is a car. Or Who needs power in a car? Where do we have roads for that kind of a car? There are many of us who would like to be able to buy a car loaded with features like side curtain airbags and post collision braking system. I don't think any one of us on this forum would subscribe to the very Indian fallacious argument of "who needs all this at our speeds"
Sorry for going OT, but I just wished to point out a different way of looking at the world.

[prashant316]

Originally Posted by Harbir

Each time something goes wrong, Audi turns out not to have the parts in stock and the car gets idled. The last time, when the transmission failed, it sat in the workshop for over 2 months waiting for a transmission to come from Brazil.

2 months is a lot of time! Which dealership are you talking to and where did you buy the car from?