audisowner

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and wanted to share my experiences with various Colorado "Front Range" Audi Service providers. Throughout the years I've needed service on the following Audi models: 4000, A4, two A6's, S6 and recently purchased a '99 A8.

Here's the short version - McDonald for Audi no-charge service and warranty repair, Sterling Service for everything else. STAY AWAY from AutosportWerks and Phil Long European Imports. Read on for the details...

AutosportWerks (Independent - Broomfield) - TRIED THEM ONCE - NEVER AGAIN! Took A6 for front brakes and front CV boots (preventative maintenance - old CV boots had started cracking). Seven days after brake/boot service, a grinding noise started from front end. Brought car back in, they replaced LEFT wheel bearing but problem remained (charged me 50% of total cost). Next they thought it was the transaxle going bad - quote me around $3000 ($800 labor, $2200 for a used transaxle). I don't think AutosportWerks knows what they were doing with Audi's. They probably know how to change wheels or maybe exhaust systems (vroom, vroom) or have more experience with BMW's. Brought A6 to Sterling Service (below) who correctly diagnosed the problem and replaced the RIGHT wheel bearing. Tried to convince General Manager at AutosportWerks that they caused the problem and should pay, but "can't get no satisfaction...".

Prestige Imports (Dealer - Lakewood) - Brought S6 in for 120K service (mucho $$$) includes timing belt, water pump, accessory belt and new fan bearing (runs off accessory belt). All well for 10K miles until fan bearing fails and takes out accessory belt. Prestige replaced fan bearing/belt under service warranty and severely scratches front bumper and surrounding areas. Service covered repainting front bumper and replacement of clear bra. I give Prestige credit for standing behind their bumbling gorillas in service, but I didn't need the experience/downtime...

McDonald Automotive Group (Dealer - Littleton) - Brought A6 for no-charge scheduled service and warranty stuff - covered water pump replacement (involves timing belt) and other minor items under warranty. Correctly (repair can be tricky and leaky) and expen$ively fixed A4 sunroof after rock shattered glass. Service Dept. helpful on researching service records of potential used Audi's (not McDonald's) to purchase. Had A4 "check engine" light come on but McDonald wouldn't throw a VAG on it without making an appointment! Brought A4 down the street to Sterling who diagnosed a stuck (open) thermostat.

Sterling Service (Independent - Littleton) - Have used them for several "pre-purchase" inspections, routine service and major 60K/120K services. Sterling has helped me many times with knotty problems - for example S6 was missing at low RPM's - I replaced plugs, plug wire extenders, one fuel injector. Finally brought it to Sterling who found an intermittent ignition coil. Also helped with AutosportWerks fiasco above. John has reset various computer alerts for free. Very honest. Only issue is they are pricey however I've NEVER had to bring anything back yet!

Phil Long European Imports (Dealer - Colorado Springs) - DON'T BRING YOUR CAR HERE FOR SERVICE! - Recently purchased a '99 A8 from Phil Long. Fantastic car! Can't wait for one of the wiz bang $$$ widgets to fail! Was promised "Audi Assured Inspection" in 2 or 3 days. Phil Long picked up car and NINE days later returned the A8 with minor damage, parts missing and new scratches. Currently trying to work out issues with AoA, but may end up in court!

Stammler Imports (Dealer - Boulder) - I haven't used them for service. However while shopping for the A8, Stammler had a '98 A8 with 59K miles. Car was shown dirty (inside and out) and Stammler was unwilling to include timing belt with 60K service as condition of sale. I've had several Audi service people (including Stammler's service people) tell me that although A8 timing belt service is scheduled at 90K, it is strongly recommended at 60K. Just didn't get a good feeling about the car or the Stammler, so I dropped the deal!

I do not have any service experiences with the following but would like to hear yours:

Champagne Motors (Independent - Englewood)
Werner's Mastertek (Independent - Aurora)
Ed Carroll Motor Co. (Dealer - Fort Collins)
Elk Mountain Motors (Dealer - Glenwood Springs - realize not Front Range but could need service while up skiing...)

Please post your Colorado Audi Service experiences. Perhaps we could start rating service experiences with Audi "rings". i.e. I give them "OOO+1/2".

Thanks,

Malcolm100CSq

J&M Precision (Ft.Collins) - OK so far (misc. stuff, tranny service) - I give them OOO&3/4

nuje

Had to have them repair curb rash after my last visit. Wheel was back in < 1 day (kudos to Prestige and the repair guy), looks brand new. That's the only complaint I've had in the half dozen or so visits. Fortunately I have a spare car and live close by, so it was trivial to take the wheel off and give it to them for the day. Had that not been the case, I'm sure I would have been much more pissed off about the whole thing. Only once did they misdiagnose something and require a second visit (squeaky rear end), and they did an awesome job on replacing the tranny and clutch (former under warranty *whew*) a while back.

Being that they fixed the wheel so quickly, I have to give them a OOO+1/2. Had there been no wheel damage at all it would have been a 4 ringer.

Reggie3

European on Riverside did not impress me.

Reggie3

So far no need for any major repairs - they honored all my needs (including a crack in the leather) without complaints.

Just there this week with my freshly waxed car - which the repair guy doing the recall decided it needed to be washed too. Oh well - his heart was in the right place. Recall to replace vac line has resulted in a much smoother engine.

HPH

...for years (4 Audis) when I lived in Boulder, including one near-lemon on which they did great work. One of its problems, it turned out, was something no one, world-wide, had ever heard of. Stammler figured it out (took them about a week, including getting parts from Germany) and fixed it, all under warranty and with lots of information flow to me.

They're not big on used cars, I know, but their service department is top notch. HPH

auDD

They are usually book 3-4 weeks out. I've had no problems at Prestige.

s4xtc

When my S4 had a torn throttle body boot, I spoke with service indicting it was torn and needed a replacement. They told me they had never heard of torn tbb's on S4's, and that I must have aftermarket parts that caused the problem. My car was completely stock, which I indicated to them, and notified them that in fact Audi had created a replacement part. They continued to tell me that there was nothing wrong with that part. I walked around the corner to the parts desk, and said I needed a new tbb. The parts guy told me that they had "a bunch" of audi S4's come in with a failure of that part and had ordered a bunch of extras. I promptly bought one, went home, and replaced the part myself.

Trying to give stammler another chance, I took my car in for what was an obvious blown speaker. Again, all stock components. I waited 3 weeks for an appt, for them to tell me "yup, the mid is blown, we will order one for you". I waited another 4 weeks with no word from them. I called up and they said "Oh, um, yea your part just came in today" (Yea right). And then they told me that I would have to schedule another appt 3 weeks out to get it fixed. Fat chance. I called up McDonald, and they said they could do it in 3 days in the morning while I waited. Perfect. They said to grab the part from Stammler and bring it down. I tried to get it from stammler (parts guy gave it to me), and when I went to pay for it the service guy wouldn't let me take it. Said I needed to give him the broken one, first. I tried to explain I would bring it back, but no such luck. I drove to McDonald, and they happened to have one in stock to replace mine, and then told me the tweeter was also blown. Stammler didn't check it or something. McDonald ordered it and took care of it within a week.

McDonald is usually pretty good at fixing things, but when I had my stock radio replaced, it looked like they just threw it in and thats it. None of the edges matched up flush with the surrounding plastic and had to schedule a new appt to get it fixed (and also look into some rattles). 2 weeks later, and after having my car for 2 days to fix these problems, I get it back and the radio still isn't perfect, and they couldn't find any of the rattles that took one block of driving to come back. I didn't feel like leaving the car with them for another 2 days.

For non Audi warranty stuff I used Modern Specialists in boulder (for my old 1990 90Q). They are awesome. Never any problems with them, and if any problems creaps back after they have said they fixed it, they will get you right back in and work on it again free of charge. These guys are great and can't say enough good things about them. As soon as my current warranty is up, they will be who I use for all work.

Zed 2.0

Do you realize that David (their Audi expert) has something like 20 years of experience and has worked with Audi race car teams on multiple occasions? Not to mention founding the RevSport shop in CO Springs? I trust them completely with my car. They're expensive, but they do good work. I have also had nothing but good experiences with Stammler. I think everybody here would really appreciate it if you did your research before you go badmouthing companies and potentially costing them business.

audisowner

Well ASW must have been having a bad day/week with my A6. Check with them - everything stated is 100% true. BTW - David "supervised" the work.