Takata Recall Repair

[DubaiRich]

I contacted my local dealership to schedule the replacement of the airbag on my 2009 A6. Since I commute to DC daily, I requested a Saturday appointment. To my surprise, they stated the repair can only be done Mon-Fri., since it requires 4 hours to complete the installation and Saturday is reserved for quick services. I called another local dealer and received a similar response. Why would dealerships make it inconvenient and difficult for a customer to have recalled safety issues repaired.

Comments from AoA is appreciated.

[Audi USA]

I contacted my local dealership to schedule the replacement of the airbag on my 2009 A6. Since I commute to DC daily, I requested a Saturday appointment. To my surprise, they stated the repair can only be done Mon-Fri., since it requires 4 hours to complete the installation and Saturday is reserved for quick services. I called another local dealer and received a similar response. Why would dealerships make it inconvenient and difficult for a customer to have recalled safety issues repaired.

Comments from AoA is appreciated.

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out and making Audi of America aware of the current situation and difficulties you have encountered with your 2009 Audi A6 scheduling the recall repair. We do everything in our power here to make recalls as easy and as convenient as possible for our customers and apologize if that not was the case. If possible, I would like to look into this matter a little further for you. Are you able to send over a PM including your name, VIN, email address and best phone number I can make sure the proper resources are utilized. Thank you for your time and patience in this matter and look forward to your response.

Regards,

[DubaiRich]

PM Sent

[dufferdude]

I was notified of my airbag recall back in January. Spoke to the dealer recently and was told that parts aren't available? And they didn't know when they would be? Also recieved a card in the mail about bankruptcy proceedings for some of the suppliers of the airbags, I think that's correct?
Hopefully it won't be too much longer?

OP, if it's only a 4 hour job, why won't they give you a loaner?

[heisnuts]

I was notified of my airbag recall back in January. Spoke to the dealer recently and was told that parts aren't available? And they didn't know when they would be? Also recieved a card in the mail about bankruptcy proceedings for some of the suppliers of the airbags, I think that's correct?
Hopefully it won't be too much longer?

OP, if it's only a 4 hour job, why won't they give you a loaner?


I'm pretty sure the dealer would have been more than happy to give him a loaner car on a weekday (I believe Audi pays the dealer for a day of rental when they loan out a car for a recall or warranty repair), but they did not want to do this on a Saturday since they probably have a limited staff on Saturday and want to focus on service work on Saturday's rather than get bogged down with lengthy warranty or recall work that does not pay as well as service work does. I think the OP's frustration is that he does not want to come in on a weekday, even if a loaner is provided.

[DubaiRich]

I asked for the loaner, however the dealer was not willing to provide in either situation (weekday or Saturday). If they were willing to give a loaner, it would address both my concern and the dealers.

[DubaiRich]

I wanted to provide an update on my airbag repair.

With the assistance of Vincenzo (AoA), Audi of Chantilly reached out to confirm an appointment on 11/25. I was greeted by the service manager, Brian Kennedy, asked the nature of my visit, to which I responded the airbag recall. He stated it would take 1 hour to complete, and immediately took my vehicle into the service area. I took up residence in the waiting area thinking 1 hour would turn into 2. To my surprise, the replacement took exactly 1 hour!

Thanks to Vincenzo for his tireless efforts supporting the Audi community, and Brian Kennedy of Audi of Chantilly, for being flexible with their Saturday schedule.

In all, a very good experience at this dealer.

I did inquire about a couple of items discussed on the forum.

Transmission service - Brian stated the transmission does not require servicing, so no option to drain, clean and refill.
2g to 3g upgrade - Upgrades were done 2 years ago, nothing currently available.

[Greenster]

Audi of Oakland did a great job on my 2010 A6 3.0T Quattro's Takata airbag recall. It took a couple of hours, and was pretty easy to get done.

Sent from my SONY Xperia XA Ultra

[audrobotic]

Transmission service - Brian stated the transmission does not require servicing, so no option to drain, clean and refill.

All tranmission fluid has a limited life span. It’s not eternal fluid. Audi and many other makes mislead consumers by calling it a lifetime fluid. 60k is usually about the right time to change the fluid for a ZF transmission.

[DubaiRich]

Maybe Vincenzo can chime in on servicing the ZF transmission.