Indeed, IIRC it's 50% of the way through the whole finance agreement which includes the balloon.
Audi warranty denial....
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But the finance company will not accept a faulty car being returned.
It's a separate question whether the finance company may be legally responsible for any problems with the car - this will depend on the kind of finance arrangement in place and if the Consumer Credit Act / Consumer Rights Act is applicable. I'd imagine the same exclusions would apply, in that the T&Cs will stipulate no modifications.
as i said
cheapest way and you should find out what the original fault was . im still betting on it being something relatively small and audi just put the diagnostic on it found it wouldnt communicate via can due to steering rack , and thought bingo change it . maybe got communications but still could not complete diagnosis, the start blaming anything they could find instead of doing a proper job. as said time is money to them and they wont carry on without knowing who is paying.it could still have been a fault with the rack but unless you have returned to the vehicle they could just spirit away and with it maybe the culprit.
as @Matt-Page has said and others - I think it's time to cost up the full situation and go from there.
Your going to get nowhere with RAC/contractor as you don't have anything "independent" to show/say the damage was caused by their negligence
Finance company will not accept the car back if faults are present - they will simple charge you full costs to get it fixed.
Unless your willing to pay for a service to remove the car from the dealers and get a full independent report by someone - you've no evidence of any "wrong doing" by anyone.
I'm surprised the dealers are still playing ball - they've had the car 3 weeks now...And still nowhere near any resolution.
Your going to get nowhere with RAC/contractor as you don't have anything "independent" to show/say the damage was caused by their negligence
Finance company will not accept the car back if faults are present - they will simple charge you full costs to get it fixed.
Unless your willing to pay for a service to remove the car from the dealers and get a full independent report by someone - you've no evidence of any "wrong doing" by anyone.
I'm surprised the dealers are still playing ball - they've had the car 3 weeks now...And still nowhere near any resolution.
recovering the rack was mentioned at thread start -
couldn't/shouldn't they have been able to run a diagnostic on that, decoupled from the rest of the car ?
and, be able to provide the results, especially if it were sent for a warranty post-mortem (perhaps the electrical assist motor gone awol)
if they no longer have the rack then you could accuse them of being disingenuous, not forseeing that the customer would want to have it analysed by a 3rd party
couldn't/shouldn't they have been able to run a diagnostic on that, decoupled from the rest of the car ?
and, be able to provide the results, especially if it were sent for a warranty post-mortem (perhaps the electrical assist motor gone awol)
if they no longer have the rack then you could accuse them of being disingenuous, not forseeing that the customer would want to have it analysed by a 3rd party
there is its just in this day and age most are being economical with it
a problem with sections of society............I think the issue with an independent specialist is a) diagnosis could start getting very expensive, and b) there's no guarantee that that they'll be able to fully root cause the fault either.
Worst case scenario is them charging high three-figures and saying that they can't determine the source of the fault.
I don't disagree - but at the moment it's sat at the dealers for 3 weeks and nothing has been done. As it stands - no one is going to take an responsibility for the issues arising, and with no alternative (like an indy report) - OP is ultimately going to have to cough up to cover it all as he has no other options.
I'm not saying and indy report is the answer to the issues - but why wait 3 weeks if your not going to do anything else?
Yes it appears my options are dwindling quickly, at least I can say I have exhausted all avenues BEFORE pulling the car out of the dealer.
I will update in the coming days with what's going on...
Thanks again people for replying as you have done, for the most part the responses have been very constructive and it has been appreciated.
I will update in the coming days with what's going on...
Thanks again people for replying as you have done, for the most part the responses have been very constructive and it has been appreciated.
As above, I really do sympathize and feel sorry for your situation.
Before getting the independent company involved, I'd say it's worth a try driving to the dealership and talking in person to the service manager/manager there. Explain your situation, etc and tell them you're buggered, etc. They might have a change of heart.
Again though, them changing the steering rack and then washing their hands of it may go in your favour.
Soldato
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I must have missed some vital information in this thread
1. Who installed the ghost?
2. Do they have anything which states it won't invalidate the warranty?
3. Has Audi given an explanation as to why this isn't covered under said warranty?
Last I read, it was still all ifs, buts and maybes
1. Who installed the ghost?
2. Do they have anything which states it won't invalidate the warranty?
3. Has Audi given an explanation as to why this isn't covered under said warranty?
Last I read, it was still all ifs, buts and maybes
The thing I take from this is Ghost say it doesn't invalidate your warranty. Where do they get the permission to advertise that from? It's not for them to decide that is it unless they have something to prove it, on which case Audi can't refuse on that basis.
So I'd say it's Ghost false advertising.
So I'd say it's Ghost false advertising.
Soldato
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Problem is the fitters do the advertising which mentions warranties not ghost, so its a potential issue with the fitter not the manufacturer.
If you checks ghosts website there is nothing about manufacturers warranty on there
If you check some fitters pages they say no issue.
You would have to go to court and argue that the fitters were acting as agents of ghost when advertising to fit them. I have no idea on case law in this area. If ghost recommended fitters I would say they would likely be on the hook, but again, I dont think they do.
Soldato
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That's not what I've taken from this thread (which is painfully lacking in facts). Last I understood, ghost said they are not audi approved, but mentioned nothing about warranty. There was a link to a ghost installer who went on record as saying it didn't harm the warranty, but the OP hasn't confirmed who the installer was.
18 pages in and still very little to go on.
Nobody knows why the car failed in the first place, which with the amount of technology in the car is very confusing.
To sum up
Audi say the ghost 'could' have been the cause so have refused to cover the work (no facts)
Ghost say it couldn't have cause the damage
RAC said it wasn't them
The question I asked way back, is by simply fitting the ghost, is that reason enough to invalidate the warranty regardless of if it caused the fault or not? Either way, get it in black and white.
Have you asked Audi to put all the reasons in a letter, informing them that said letter will be passed on to a solicitor?
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Where have Autowatch themselves advertised that Ghost doesn't invalidate your warranty?
Soldato
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This thread is now going around in circles
Soldato
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I think the OP needs to now, request a meeting with the workshop manager and if possible dealer principle
Go there with a concise breakdown (no pun intended) of the chain of events and also the statements sent from both the RAC and the autowatch saying their devices could not have caused the issues
OP needs to go over the events, present the evidence and discuss options.
Those options available to the dealer may vary depending if they have advised audi HQ (who authorise warranty work) or not about the ghost being fitted.
I would suggest the OP says if needed hes willing to pay some towards the repair depending on the resolution but can the dealers agree to lower their hourly rate to help him in this case. They have more flexibility in this area than anything else. Offer to potentially allow the repair to take longer so they can have work completed on the car in their off minutes rather than having to book in x hours to do parts of work. Or agree a fixed repair cost for labour, so they are encouraged to get it fixed asap potentially assigning their best to the job.
OP is also probably best off saying he will pay to have the ghost removed as well at this point, just to ensure its not adding any more complexity into the situation for the dealer.
The OP looks pretty stuck here and hes probably best off trying to get the dealer on side, if they are willing to be flexible in their hourly rate (which they often will) then they pick up some work and may still be able to get some or all under warranty.
I would argue as the OP that clearly there was already a fault before the RAC were involved so to ignore them for now. Since the ghost was fitted its impossible to say if it was or wasnt part of the issue, removing it, in case its faulty, should allow the dealer to be able to fix the car. A list of replaced parts will allow the dealer with the OP to come to logical conclusions as to where the initial fault probably lay.
It sounds to me a bit like the dealer are wary to do more work as the ghost is still there. Take it out of the equation at least going forwards.
Go there with a concise breakdown (no pun intended) of the chain of events and also the statements sent from both the RAC and the autowatch saying their devices could not have caused the issues
OP needs to go over the events, present the evidence and discuss options.
Those options available to the dealer may vary depending if they have advised audi HQ (who authorise warranty work) or not about the ghost being fitted.
I would suggest the OP says if needed hes willing to pay some towards the repair depending on the resolution but can the dealers agree to lower their hourly rate to help him in this case. They have more flexibility in this area than anything else. Offer to potentially allow the repair to take longer so they can have work completed on the car in their off minutes rather than having to book in x hours to do parts of work. Or agree a fixed repair cost for labour, so they are encouraged to get it fixed asap potentially assigning their best to the job.
OP is also probably best off saying he will pay to have the ghost removed as well at this point, just to ensure its not adding any more complexity into the situation for the dealer.
The OP looks pretty stuck here and hes probably best off trying to get the dealer on side, if they are willing to be flexible in their hourly rate (which they often will) then they pick up some work and may still be able to get some or all under warranty.
I would argue as the OP that clearly there was already a fault before the RAC were involved so to ignore them for now. Since the ghost was fitted its impossible to say if it was or wasnt part of the issue, removing it, in case its faulty, should allow the dealer to be able to fix the car. A list of replaced parts will allow the dealer with the OP to come to logical conclusions as to where the initial fault probably lay.
It sounds to me a bit like the dealer are wary to do more work as the ghost is still there. Take it out of the equation at least going forwards.
Soldato
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Case closed then in my eyes. However, it might be worth the OP reaching out to a few media outlets. He may have fallen foul, but might be able to warn others.