First Experience with Audi Dealer Service Dept.
 

I bought my 2005 A8L cheap knowing I would have to do some work on it. I replaced/fixed several things and replaced my upper control arms. I knew I would need to have an alignment done after the control arms. When I bought the car the ACC didn't work. I can reset it with VCDS but it will error out due to being out of alignment. I messed with it trying to align it but gave up as too much trouble and set up an appointment with the Audi dealer for a 4-wheel alignment and ACC calibration.

I was quoted $430 for the service. Seems a little high but as I don't know any other way to get the ACC calibrated I took the car in. The experience didn't start off great. The service writer told me I needed new tires. I told him I knew that but didn't want to make a 200 mile trip to the dealer with brand new tires and my car being way out of alignment. He tried to sell me a set for $900 which was a little high for what they were and then told me they didn't have them in stock and I would have to wait a few days. That is a no go as I live 200 miles away. Anyway they gave me a new Q5 to drive (not a fan) and my wife and I went shopping in the big city.

I come back 7 hours later and he tells me they can't align my ACC as one of my tires is worn slightly more than the others and the ACC "lasers" are very precise. He then proceeds to tell me if I bring the car back with new tires he will finish the job for another $180 on top of the $430 I just paid him. I then politely but firmly told him that was not going to be acceptable. He then offered to finish it for free. Still not happy as it's a 400 mile round trip to the dealership. Anyway I don't see any other option so I head home.

I ordered new tires and had them installed. I can't get an appointment to get back into the dealer for 3 weeks. So I'm driving the car and over time I notice the steering wheel is more and more crooked and the car seems to be pulling. I jack it up, reach in, and the tie rod locknut is loose. I check the other side and it's loose as well. Now I'm really angry. I paid $430 and drove 400 miles for Audi to do nothing with my car. The alignment is ruined and my ACC only works for short periods and then I have to reset it. I call the dealer and talk the same service writer. I tell him they left the tie rods loose and he says "don't worry about it. It will be fine until you come back in." Really?? I'm sure nothing bad will happen. I won't ruin my new tires and I shouldn't worry about one of them working it's way out or in so far that the car is un-driveable. Any way there was no apology just a "we'll fix it when you bring it back".

I had received and email from Audi USA after my first visit asking me to rate my experience so I thought now was a good time to complete their survey. Audi USA called me a couple of hours later and were very apologetic. They had the service manager from the dealership call me and she was also very apologetic and offered to reimburse me for my mileage for my return trip. Now I’m feeling a lot better about my experience. Mistakes happen and they are taking care of me.

So I drive the car down for the return service (had to stop twice to reset the ACC so I can have cruise control). Drop the car off and they don’t have any loaner vehicles available. No big deal it’s only supposed to take 2 hours. I can play on my phone and they had a new A8L W12 to look at. 5 hours later I get the car back and head for home.
About 15-20 miles into the trip the ACC dings and says “ACC Not Available!”. I pulled off at the next exit and plugged in VCDS. The ACC alignment has to be .5 or less otherwise the system eventually errors out. The alignment is 1.263. I called the dealership and left a voicemail as they were closing when I left. This was last Friday. The service writer called me on Saturday and was very apologetic and said he would have the service manager call me on Tuesday when she returns back to work. Well it’s Tuesday and no phone call. I don’t think their tech knows how to calibrate an A8 D3 ACC. I really don’t want to make another 400 mile round trip.

At this point I’m looking for advice on what I should do. I don’t take my cars to a shop often as I prefer to do the work myself. I want my ACC to work but this is getting ridiculous.

Ask Audi of America if they will cover you going to a different dealer given this ones multiple failures, maybe?

Obviously that dealership's service Dept and Service Manager is incompetent. If you had a come back issue, it does not make any sense that everything is double checked so you would not have any further issues. Sounds like there are no other dealers around you since you have to make 200 mile trip each way. I would literally have to hurt any one of my managers if he gave you that level of service.

I had to have my ACC recalibrated after my accident om y o5 and it took the dealer about 3 hours with an appointment. I never had an issue after the calibration. Hope it works out for you, because there is no way I buy another Audi without this option.

Tires have nothing to do with alignment. All of the current alignment machines use the wheels to set alignment. In other words you could align the car without any tires on it at all. Tires can create symptoms similar to an out-of-alignment issue.

At this point, should you choose to return, they should be paying for your time (as well as mileage).

My feeling is that they don't know what they are doing. I didn't have very much confidence after the first trip when the service writer started talking about lasers and tire size. There are no lasers in any of the ACC systems that I am aware of and the tire size would have to be so significantly different that it actually triggered the esp in order to effect the ACC. I went out last night and pulled the lower grill and took a look at the sensor. My calibrated eyeball told me it was pointed way to far to the right. 3 turns with the allen wrench and a short drive and my calibration went from 1.2 ish to .083. I need to take a nice long drive following someone to completely verify but it definitely picks up cars in front of me faster than before. I couldn't use it on distance 4 as it would always lose lock on the car in front of my. Now it works on distance 4 even around corners. Unfortunately the best test is to drive on a crowded highway and there aren't any of those around here.

Still haven't heard from the dealer. I called an left a voicemail about an hour ago. Also I looked up the procedure to calibrate the adaptive cruise last night and it seems simple if you have the tools. I don't understand how they screwed it up.