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I recently found an a7 in my price range with the features I want and the color I want. I was test driving with the sales rep. While we're driving I notice the check engine light is on and the car seems to be driving rough. I tell him the CEL is on and he waves it off that it might be the fuel(??) We continue the test drive and get back to the dealership.
He leaves me with the car and says go ahead and look it over and just play with all the features and stuff. He leave back inside and i'm really curious about this CEL so I pop the hood and look what I find.
needless to say I was shocked. How did this not get noticed during the intake of the car?
the sales guy comes back out and I show him this. He is visibly upset and says he will be right back. While hes away 3 or 4 guys from the service department are curious with what is going on and they're all just dumbfounded. they're all theorizing how this happened and one suggests its a squirrel nest.
The sales manager comes out and is very short and seems a little annoyed. He asks "did you try just pulling it out?" I say no because the sales rep said leave it be.
He reaches in and starts pulling out the brush and in this below second picture i think this explains the CEL,
It looks like whatever was in the engine ate the wires for what I think is the coil packs for the spark plugs? I'm unsure if anyone could correct me I would appreciate it.
Also in the engine is droppings for a rodent.
So after this all happens they give me the sale sheet. I say I'm interested in the car but I refuse to sign anything until this is resolved. They're a little upset that I wont sign but understand. As of right now I am waiting for them to report back on what was repaired. I am also thinking of requesting a full inspection of the car since I do not trust they even looked over the car if something this huge was an oversight for them.
I thought I would share my story as I found it mildly interesting.
It looks like whatever was in the engine ate the wires for what I think is the coil packs for the spark plugs? I'm unsure if anyone could correct me I would appreciate it.
The wires for the coil packs are down lower. They're in the red wire conduit under the coils. The chewed wires go to a sensor.
The chewed wire goes to the supercharger pressure sensor. There are ones on each side of the SC. The car must have sat in a field for months. If the harness on the top of the engine was eaten, who the hell knows what was eaten lower down. American rodents love German wiring and hoses. It's common for cars that had sat for long periods. The lower engine cover needs to removed, the engine and drive train needs to be steam cleaned and all the wiring carefully inspected on a lift. And not by this flim flam bunch of morons. Any decent dealer would have the hood up once a month and inspect. Gross neglicence, and then they still tried to sell you this car? They show you a seriously defective car and are mad at you for not buying? CEL on during a test drive and the salesman is trained to lie and blame the fuel or loose gas cap? This dealer and his crew of thieves sounds disreputable and shoddy. 2012 A7s are now plentiful. And cheap. I would run from this dealer. Fast.
I don't know if the plentiful AND cheap. $30-35,000 isn't exactly cheap for a 5 going on 6 yr old car, but...nevertheless, I agree, walk away from this one. for what they need to do is going to eat into their profit and likely into their pocket, so they will most likely skimp and just clean the garbage out of their and put back on the lot to sell to some new sucker that comes by and isn't aware of the issues that may be present.
10-23-2017, 06:27 PM
interesting experience buying a used 2012 A7
