GermanGarage

Ok. As many of you know, I have a 2013 Audi S6 that has only 3200 miles acquired over 12 months. I am the only driver for this car, and the vehicle has been meticulously cared for. To be specific:

1) The car has never, ever been valet'd.

2) The car has never been parked next to another car -- I only park in the back of the lot of any public parking area where no car would bother parking.

3) I wash the car using a two bucket system w/ microfiber wash mit and I only use a "master blaster" to air dry the car. No towel has ever touched the finish. The car has never been washed by anyone but me. It has multiple coats of wax on it, and a 3M protective coating on the front of the car.

4) The car has only been serviced once (to install the Black Optic grill and get the $5K service. I refused to let the dealer "wash" the car while it was in service

5) The car has never been left overnight anywhere, except Audi North Atlanta for this one service.

6) No kids have been around the S6 or in the S6.

Since I have been traveling, I have not had a chance to clean the car until this weekend, in which I noticed that Audi North Atlanta service department treated my car without any respect during the process. I have noticed three areas of damage:

1) The headlight seal is now broken, the light fogs up when driven.

2) The drivers door was hit against some equipment, causing two cuts in the paint, down to the metal on the rim of the door.

3) A scratch was placed in the rear bumper. The scratch I was able to get out w/ some Adams wax.

There is zero doubt that this damage occurred while the car was being serviced at Audi North Atlanta. The car hasn't been anywhere significant since I picked it up, and the service required the removal of the front bumper (which sits below the lights.)

I am actually really mad. This is an expensive car.. but it is beyond that. Caring for my car is time consuming for me, and it is ridiculous that a "high end" dealership cannot demonstrate any care of the property for others while the car is in service. Also, original paint is an asset for a car like this, so I am not OK w/ a panel respray. I guess to sum it up: I have gone out of my way to ensure that the paint on this car is perfect, and the one time I am not in control of the car, this "service provider' treats the car with zero care. And I paid these guys good money for this "service..."

I have called the service manager this morning to discuss. He wasn't available and was supposed to call me back 30 minutes ago. I will keep this thread updated with the progress of trying to repair/correct/compensate the dealership's carelessness.

Has this happened to any of you guys? How did you handle?

uberwgn

German, I'm as cautious and aware as you. These issues can and have happened to all of us. I've eventually come to realize that the only way to prevent these problems is to not drive the car. You'll never be able to prevent the stone chips and life's minor issues otherwise.

GermanGarage

I can handle stone chip issues from HWY debris. The human factor is what really torques me on this circumstance. Clearly avoidable with the most basic care and handling.

RobC

Sorry to hear that your car got damaged. I have no personal experience with Audi North Atlanta, but folks typically have good things to say about them.

Gwinnett Audi damaged the front bumper on my S4. I'm 99% sure the front cowl was not cracked when I brought it in for service, but they also didn't do a walk-around to look for damage so it was my word against theirs. In the end they did repair it.

uberwgn

That's interesting, our local dealership does this and with great care. Everything is recorded on one of those sheets like the rental car companies use. I would not accept the car back from service if I spotted damage.

GermanGarage

I met with the service manager at Audi North Atlanta. While he is a really nice guy, and I would see that he personally would treat other people's property w/ respect, I do not feel like he offered any good solution to the circumstance.

Couple of comments:

WRT to the headlight:

He claimed that the water in the headlight is normal. He claimed there are no seals on these lights and that Audi will not do anything about it. My reaction: That's totally bunk. The car headlight fogs up ONLY on the drivers side in the morning and it never has happened before service.

WRT to the paint damage:

He claimed that while in a court of law I would not be able to prove that they damaged the door, he would pay for someone to use touch-up paint on the scratches. The touch up guy demo'd the process on a car in the used car lot. Frankly, it looked like crap. He also used a paper towel to "clean" the finish before he painted the car. Yep, nothing but scratches from the paper towel prep-process.

I did not want to proceed with the touch up paint guy. So, my options are:

1) I can touch up the paint myself (with more care and a proper prep) with color-matched paint from Audi parts.

2) I can demand the door be painted.

3) I can ask for something else (??)

Thoughts? Obviously, I do not like 1 or 2 and I don't want anything from him (3). I guess I can't send my door back to the factory for a refinishing. ;-)

He also told me he "gets these calls all the time" about damage done to the cars while in service -- acting like people were trying to take advantage of the dealership. What he doesn't understand is that he just validated my concerns -- obviously, this dealership has major property damage issues.

WRT to the headlight -- what do you guys suggest I do?

ctdw

I don't blame you for being upset...I would be too. I take great care to keep my car looking like new and expect the dealer to treat it the same. I have not taken in my S6 yet for service but I had a similiar issue with the Range Rover Sport the S6 replaced. Almost every time it went in for service, it came back with a new scratch. Some were easily removed, others were never repaired correctly. Needless to say, I would never recommend that dealer and it got to the point that I had to make them document the condition before each visit.

It's one of the reasons I went with silver on the S6...it does not show as much and it's going to unfortunately see some abuse when it's out of my control (dealer, car wash guy, etc).

gatorguy7

Unfortunately this kind of stuff happens far too often. I haven't had any damage done to my car yet because they do they walk around and signing off when dropping off and picking it up. However, when I picked my car up I saw the multiple previous suction cup 'spots' on my lower windshield where I have never mounted it. I ripped into the service manager and made it clear that my car is not a car for his people to joy ride in and they are too stupid to wipe off the evidence.

In regards to your car, I would be very concerned about your headlight because we don't know how these LED's will hold up on their own much less when they are getting exposed to moisture on a regular basis. I would suggest going to the GM and then from there complaining to AOA. Unfortunately it is up to you how far you want to go since you may have to return to them for future service.

snagitseven

Are you saying someone from service mounted a radar detector or something else on your windshield while it was there and took it for a joyride? Did you note the mileage in and out to see if that was the case? Also, FWIW, "ripping" a service manager for something like this is probably not a great idea if you plan on bringing your car back there for service. In my experience, a calm discussion expressing concern might be more prudent in the long run.

gatorguy7

They had used my radar detector which was taken down and stored in the center console. Where they put it on the windshield is a place where I never use it. I didn't note the mileage but I had a little less than half a tank of gas and when I picked it up, it went on empty just as I went on to the interstate. I know that they need to test drive vehicles but there is absolutely no reason to use a radar detector unless you are flogging the hell out of the car which they shouldn't be doing.

I was irate but still professional towards the service manager. Nothing wrong with letting him know his department did not meet my expectations.