I had my A62.7T for about 10 days (only had 586 miles) when several electrical items on the interior died (seats, windows, interior lights, etc.). I brought the car to the dealer, and it took them 13 days and 81 miles to isolate the problem! It turned out to be a blown fuse with no specific reason for it to blow.

Big Question: Does 81 miles road testing a car by having a technician drive it home and back sound reasonable?

Any help and/or opinion is greatly appreciated.


Rich

 

In my layman's mind I imagine that fuses are the first thing to check for. Also, why would the car need to be driven at all - seems they could see if those accessories were working without driving the car. If you have the luxury of choice I might try another dealer for service next time.

 

If you raise a stink you'll ruin your service relationship, but this is a lot of mileage. You might mention it casually to your service writer next time you see him, just to let them know that you noticed. Hopefully that will prevent your car from being used on the lunch run next time.

 

My BAD experiences with my dealer all started with a fuse problem, too! If they took 13 days to figure that out, and went joy riding, don’t let your car back to them. It will probably only get worse (based on experience). See if you can’t find a dealer within a reasonable distance who will provide better service.

>>Muhammad

 

First off, in my experience with 4 Audi's it is not uncommon for the dealer to send the car home with a service tech. or the service mgr. overnite.

In some cases it is the only way they can get a shot at a problem diagnosis when the car is completely cold. In terms of number of miles driven, I guess it would depend on how far from
work the service tech lived. I'd say it was a bonus to have the tech drive the car for a couple of days. His mind is in a diagnosis mode and he might pick-up something else wrong to boot.

However, in your case!

13 cold starts seems excessive!
Mileage seems reasonable in anycase to me.
A fuse? It took 13 days to find a fuse problem?

Others are correct, sounds like you need a new
service source.

 

They wouldn't waste their time in your car. Techs don't get any special pleasure out of driving your car around - to them it's just another car. If they wanted to drive one...they'd buy one. I'm sure they were driving it in an attempt to recreate the problem. Just my opinion.

 

One of the security guards at our building used to work at the local Benz/Audi dealership as a wash boy/prep guy. He tells lots of stories of being sent out to tank up a customer's car and taking long side trips on the way to the station to enjoy a far more expensive car than he could afford. After all, if the car came back full, who'd know.

BTW, the techs *do* get special pleasure out of driving your car if it's unusual. My Subaru tech flat out told me he loved it when I brought my Legacy Turbo in because he enjoyed driving the car. Of course he seemed to love the car as much as I did, so he took good care of us. Other folks might be less caring with your baby!

Regardless, 13 days to find a fuse that COMPLETELY KILLED your power items is ridiculous. I could see 13 days for an INTERMITTENT problem which would require diagnosis and road testing, but to track down a solidly dead item is complete and total B.S. Get a new service department ASAP, or be prepared to ride close herd on these bozos.<p>Richard
'00 A6 2.7TM

 

As a sales manager at the one of the largest Audi deslership in New England, I consider myself a little more infromed than your average Joe regarding practices of most delaerships. Not all, butost. That being said...no one would gas up your car but the tech that worked on it. If it rquires it, it's usually done as prt of the road test that every tech does. Also, though I am ceratin your Subaru Tech was quivering wiht excitement at the thought of driving your Legacy (?) every 3000 miles, let me assure you that most Audi teh asre exposed to performance cars every day and have no desire to "joyride" around in customer's cars.

 

...why do you feel compelled to start a flame war? I guess I *am* old enough not to take the bait though. (At least check your spelling before insulting *my* intelligence!)

I'd bet even at your "largest Audi dealership in New England" there are far more A4's, and A6 2.8's than S4's or A6 2.7T's, so the latter are more unusual and seen less often by your techs. I find it hard to believe you'd have a $30/hr (or whatever, I don't claim to know) technician take a car out for gas instead of a $7/hr (same disclaimer) wash boy. I guess that makes sense from one standpoint, but not from a cost standpoint. It's your dealership, so I can't argue with what *you* do, but clearly not everyone does it that way.

In my opinion there's a big difference between a "joyride" as you said, and getting "special pleasure" out of driving. One implies some moron abusing your car (like my wash boy example, perhaps) the other implies the appreciation car people have for fine machinery. Do I think my Subie tech drove the car more miles than absolutely necessary? Yeah, probably. Do I think he abused the car? No way! FWIW, even the "wash boy" said he didn't abuse the cars, just drove them more miles than absolutely necessary for enjoyment.

In any case, your original posting said effectively "they wouldn't" without anything more than "just your opinion", I simply posted some ACTUAL experiences which suggest "they might".

"Lighten up, Francis!"

Oh, for your edification: a Legacy Turbo is the USA version (AWD, 2.2L 4cyl turbocharged) of the Legacy RS rally homolugation (sp?) car which was the predecessor to the Impreza WRX (you might have heard of those kicking butt in WRC?). The Legacy Turbo was sold for the 1991-1994 model years in the USA, at limited production numbers similar to that of the S4. IMNSHO, a less-than-common performance vehicle (as I said) which engendered appreciative driving from those who knew what it would do. So, no, my tech didn't "quiver with excitement" but at least he knew what he was talking about when he discussed my (former) car!<p>Richard
'00 A6 2.7TM

 

It's usually some kind of inflated sense of self that drives people to obsess over the unwashed masses driving their fine pieces of machinery. Giggle, giggle, giggle. By the way..what's a flame war?