Dealer damaged my car and refuses to acknowledge it even happened. Opinions? Options?

[Enoonmai80]

Last month I took my S7 to a prominent service center in Chicago for a cel. We originally brought the car in two weeks previously for the cel. The light came and went repeatedly for the next two weeks. On our return trip from Wisconsin the car had multiple errors and a steady cel. I dropped the car off to have a variable valve component changed. That job took a few days. At this point the mechanic (a new friend) had made contact with me to secure permission to drive the car home that evening to verify the repair worked. Of course I granted permission, even joked that if something happened I’d take his car as trade.
Well as luck would have it, he was rear ended. He’s fine, car received sub $5k damage. He called the police and then me. I told him to have the shop call me the next day. They did not. I called my friend that evening to see what happened. His manager told him not to report it to the department head and that it was my problem. My service advisor didn’t even know there was damage when I came to pick the car up. I asked for a manager to call me . It’s been two weeks. I pursued the driver that hit my car, he had issues with insurance (progressive-his) had an investigation and said they “elect to decline coverage” no other explanation was given as “it would violate their customers privacy “.
Clearly not the mechanics fault, but someone other than me should be paying for this. Opinions? Options? I’m kinda at a loss and don’t plan on loosing any more


Update
After playing phone tag for days, the dealership has offered to repair the car. I hope that this will end the way we all expect it to. I’ll post pics when it’s all done.

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[yeuchau]

Why did you pick up the car?
You should have made it clear that everyone (service manger, store GM) are all aware of the issue.

[Audibot]

If the tech at the dealer was driving your car to verify the fix (not an uncommon thing), they are acting as an agent of the dealership and the dealership's insurance should cover it. The dealer should fix everything for you free of charge, and their insurance should go after the person who rear-ended your car (which is generally considered the fault of the person who did the rear-ending).

I'd talk to the dealership manager in person (yeah it sucks to have to go to them but they are frankly blowing you off). I'd suggest letting them know if they do not respond and cover this, you will consider contacting your insurance and/or bringing in legal counsel.

[daytona rs7]

not sure how this is even something they can hide.

there is a police report?
call AoA. submit the police report and a copy of the service record, indicating that it was in their possession at the time. IM sure they'd love to hear about this. lol

if you want to do something in the mean time, call your insurance, submit a claim. submit the police report indicating the car was rear ended, you should not be at fault, therefor not given any points. they will pay for your car repairs, and chase down the other drivers insurance for reimbursement. if you are out anything out of pocket, that's where AoA comes in and reimburses you.


The other way to do it, which will be slower is let AoA deal with the dealer and admitting fault, which really shouldn't be a argument since the police reports says it all. they will fix your car. and nothing shoudl go through your insurance as they carry their own policy to cover incidents like this.

Just a guess, the other driver was drunk? hence the insurance company declined coverage.

[OlyS6]

I've never heard of an insured at-fault driver's insurance company 'declining coverage'. They are responsible for payment regardless of their driver's condition or personal issues- they can certainly then drop him from coverage or jack up his premiums. I've been rear ended multiple times over the years. I agree with Daytona, that if the dealership are being jerks, just make the claim through your insurance, give them the police report, and let your insurance company chase after the insurance of the driver and the dealership's insurance. The at-fault driver's insurance should be primary, and the dealership's acting as secondary. It will likely take awhile for you to see your deductible back, but definitely the fastest way to get your car fixed. Bullshit that the dealership won't even acknowledge it.
This is also a reason why I have Blackvue dashcams front and rear. Providing video footage of the incident generally makes insurance companies pony up fairly quickly.
I had the same scenario happen with my mechanic test-driving my car after installing new brakes- he got rear ended by a teenage girl who was clearly looking at her phone the whole time, as proven by the video recording. Her insurance paid up quickly.

[GameBreaker]

Sounds like FJ?

[A6sport]

Was this those guys at "Team Audi?"

[DoItAllGarage]

Good feedback, police report and AoA. Does that dealership have its own bodyshop? If they do and want to fix the vehicle in-house make sure they DO NOT cut any corners to save money for the stealership. Did they at least fix warranty issues?

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[PynkFloydd]

Hopefully you didn't use Audi Westmont... Audi Westmont damaged my car and key, then the GM belittled me when I told him I expected them to fix it. ...Chicago area Audi dealerships are the worst. My experiences with Audi of America is that they're completely worthless. AoA listened, but did nothing. They explained that Audi dealerships are privately owned franchises and told me that they have zero influence over the dealerships and only act as a mediator. (The exception is goodwill repairs for manufacturing defects and in that case, they're paying the dealership to perform a service on Audi's behalf.) Literally, your only recourse is to sue the dealership and driver.

I also had someone hit me at a gas station (intentionally) once. ...something I found out is that if someone says they intentionally hit you then insurance will decline coverage because it's not an 'accident.' Very possible the at-fault driver said it was intentional and Progressive won't cover the incident.