[NEWBIE] First three days as an Audi owner.
This weekend I bought an '06 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro 6MT, Brilliant Red, with the Premium & Winter package, and one other small package that I'm forgetting right now (Ski package or something?). Anyway..
pix for clix:
I thought everyone would get a big kick out of my first three days as an Audi owner. Hopefully..going forward, there will be more
and less 
. Let me say right now, that I love my A4..and none of my troubles have had to do with the car being any less than what I expected.Day 1:
I show up at dealership with a check, some paperwork, the girlfriend, etc. I made a deposit 2 days earlier to hold the car. I have just driven 2 hours to get here, had to leave work early because the dealership called and 'reminded me' that I need to register the car AT the dealership in order to drive it off the lot, meaning I needed to come an hour earlier than we had originally planned.
We get everything signed, the car has been detailed, a couple wheels have had some curb rash cleaned up, and the thing is absolutely gorgeous sitting out front, warmed up, waiting to leave.
I get in the car, and without even moving a foot ..notice that the CEL is on. My last two cars being heavily modified VW's, one of which had CEL for the entire time I owned it (vr6 s/c swap), I'm not terribly upset just yet. I check the usual suspects.. find nothing. I march back into the dealership and inform them that if I go around the block and this thing doesn't feel right and/or the light doesn't go off, they're going to have problems. I take a lap around the block and the car is misfiring, sputtering. I'm clearly working with 3 cylinders..and I'm not happy about it.
I get back in the dealership and start going over how they need to call some service guy in right now to scan this car or somehow otherwise let me know what's going on. I had made sacrifices to get out there when they said I needed to be, as did my girlfriend who drove 2 hours to pick me up and then back the other direction out to the dealership. Now this car's not ready and I've gotta go back home without it. Embarrassed and on the ropes, the sales manager scurries away to the service dept and returns with a dangling key. He offers me a 2004 Pathfinder to drive until the next day when they will deliver the car, fixed.. He gives the keys to my salesmen, who runs outside to bring it around. I'm still inside the dealership and I can hear the belts on this thing screeching from inside the building. You know the old saying “There’s more than one way to skin a cat?” This car sounds like someone is trying all of them at once...and I have little faith in this wreck making the trip back home. My plates have been transferred to the Audi, the GTI is no longer registered or insured, so I can’t even drive it to work the next day. Even with that, I give the keys back to the sales manager and let him know that this situation is now affecting many people, their schedules, wallets, and patience. Oh, and that I'm || close to pulling my fat check right out of his back pocket and leaving. Mass. Buyer protection laws are great,
This puts a little more pep in his step. He's calling mechanics at home, on the cell, local mechanics he knows, etc. Well, that.. or he's talking to himself on his cell phone and deserves an Oscar. I end up pulling the plates off the Audi and driving home without it. They're going to put the car in the garage and get it fixed first thing in the morning at 8am, call me and tell me what's up, and then deliver it to me. At this point I'm not sure what other options I have, and they have my check, the car's registered to me already. My car is “in the shop” even before I leave the lot. I thought this was why I stopped buying 10 year old cars? I leave frustrated, but I still want this car and I'm going to wait one more day for it.
Day 2:
8am, 9am, 10am. Nothing. I call about 5 times, get put on hold, then dropped. I call the cell of my salesmen, no answer. Finally get through to the service manager and they let me know the car is all set and back with sales.
"not so fast,” I say.
After digging my way through the service staff over the phone with “I don’t wanna talk to you unless you worked on my car” about 4 times, I end up getting the lead mechanic who actually knew what was going on. He told me the first thing they checked was the coilpack, and sure enough one of them needed replacing. I’m used to 6 wires and ONE coilpack. Not a coilpack for every wire.. so I did some quick research on the issue while we were talking.. and decided if the car is running like a champ with the new coil and no codes, let’s get it out here already. But not before he checks the other dozen-or-so things he was GOING TO check before discovering the coilpack.
A snowstorm hit my state overnight (between day 1 and 2 ;) ). Apparently one of their “drivers”, although they claim to be offering the delivery service exclusively to me based on the circumstances, did not come in that day. Two hours later they have found two drivers to make the two hour trip. I've got my girl's car at work, and if they’re going to be here after 5, they might as well bring it to my apartment which is closer and easier to find. It also prevents me from having to go home, pick her up, come back, and go home again.
They refuse to change course because they're using GPS to get here, despite my apartment being a shorter trip, and more convenient for me. Remember me? The one who made the two hour trip yesterday for nothing more than to give you a bunch of money and leave? The sales manager calls right before they get here to see if we've met up. He said he can't even give me a full tank of gas upon arrival. What a guy. Thankfully, the driver who delivered the car missed the memo on that one. Geez I don’t know how the communication breakdown happened there. “Hey don’t forget, it takes 93.”
The car ITSELF is perfect. I couldn't have been happier. I toured around for a few hours that night, the engine was running perfectly, no issues whatsoever. Until..
Day 3:
Girl leaves for work in the morning, comes back inside to inform me (in a very hesitant, scared manner) that my car's gone.
Yeah.
Now it’s 5:30am, and I’m outside looking around for a bright red Audi that I know I couldn’t miss, and isn’t anywhere near my apartment. I learn that at about 3am it was towed for snow-removal from the PREVIOUS NIGHT’S STORM. My roommate (who’s car was also towed..we learned that when he went to give me a ride to the tow company and found his car also missing..) and I get a cab to the tow company’s head-quarters or whatever. It’s pretty dark inside, despite the sign that says they’re open 24/7. The Taxi takes off, and we’re outside looking around for someone who can take our money and give us back our cars. There’s no one. Beyond that, after some snooping (it’s not trespassing if towing isn’t stealing!) I find that neither of our cars are even at this lot. We wait for over an hour outside this place.. my idiot roommate didn’t even put a jacket on. I was entertained by watching him do laps around the place, huddled inside his own t-shirt cursing at everything under the sun, er.. moon.
Tow truck shows up, “yaaaay”. Wait.. Wait.. he’s driving away.. WAIT!! He’s gone. The guy got another call and drove off before we could even talk to him? My roommate is now about to drop kick the front door of the front office to stay warm. I was about to follow him just so I could start one of the cars in the garage and smog myself to death.
Another half hour later, the ‘crew’ arrives. This part is boring, but each of us pay a whopping $140 to get our cars back. Ridiculous. Wait that’s wrong, I had to pay for both because amongst the things my roommate forgot when he jumped in the cab, aside from any sort of warm clothing, is his wallet. I was half expecting him to get in his car and realize he had no keys.
Anyway.. that’s the end of the story. I get the car back, no damage or anything of that sort—I know, you were expecting a broken windshield or something, right? Nope. I found the cracked windshield on the GTI when I got home. Yeah, the one that's supposed to be picked up by a buyer from Canada in 24 hours.
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Originally Posted by eMacPaul
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