24AP recall reimbursement issue

[Pgr1990]

Hey guys it's been quite a while since I had my S4 and I came back seeking some assistance.

As a lot of you are aware there was a recall that was identified last year in regards to the fuel rails needing to be replaced and gas leaks. My car had this back in 2013 and I paid a local shop to have the problem figured out and fixed.

When I found out it was a recall when I was lurking on the forums I immediately contacted Audi of America and they gave me an email address to which I could send my information for reimbursement. I sent them my bank statement reflecting the cost as well as the bill from the shop which was $1500.

Months went by and today I received a check from Audi of America for $650... There was no breakdown or anything indicating what the payment reflected.

Confused and irritated I called Audi of America. The woman told me the payment was for the repairs. I explained how I sent in the information for it being $1500. Her response was "well they charged you too much, we only pay what we pay our dealers for this recall"... I told her that is price fixing and to not honor what I had to pay based on a faulty design from their engineers shouldn't be a cost that I incur. She went on to give me no answer to the labor hours the recall takes at the dealer and said the parts are $450. I concluded that removing the supercharger replacing the gaskets and fuel injector o rings and cleaning the entire engine could not possibly have taken 2 hours which would coincide with what I was paid based on her parts breakdown. I asked for a supervisor and was refused because one was not available until tomorrow.

I have attached my invoice for the work done and want honest opinions from what you guys think about the cost and if I should pursue the full amount, or if I got overcharged and should just cut my losses.

If anyone else can provide a receipt for work they paid for on this recall before it was recognized as a recall that would definitely be an excellent tool for me to use.

In any matter, nothing in life is ever simple and this is just another speed bump that I need to get over.

Thanks in advance.










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[Johnnycash]

would be a lot easier to get the full amount if you had it done at an audi dealer. just curious did you price shop the work before getting it done? i always call around and get quotes...

i would push for the full amount, but audi has tightened up their purses since dieselgate and we are collateral damage.

my next step would be to call the audi dealerships in your area, and ask for gfe [good faith estimates] on how much the repair would cost if it wanst covered under a tsb/recall, i know book time they charge to remove the blower is something stupid like 5 hours @ $150 per hour or whatever...

dont tell them you have a dispute with aoa, and give as little info as possible just try nad find out how much to get the job done and see if its in line with what you paid, if you have them email you the quotes you can forward it to aoa and call bullshit on their bullshit.

this of course is assuming the quotes from dealers come back higher than the $650 they gave you

good luck

[Scotty@Advanced]

Good luck. Your going to have to sue and you will probably loose. However assuming your car is still under warranty why would you take it to a independent?

[SportVier]

8 hours to replace the fuel rails?
I'm guessing that is the problem.

[Pgr1990]

I actually had it towed to the dealer (it's a mile away from my house) and they said they were too busy and had no loaner cars and the soonest they could take me was a week... I needed my car for work and just my daily life.

I was also flagged for a tune. It was not a TD1.. I was manually flagged and I ended up with a pretty good idea of the employee that had it done.. I figured this years later after I sold the car... He did not like my father but that's a story for another day.

After being turned down I brought it to an independent German car dealership literally two doors down from Audi. They only repair, service and sell German cars, specifically Mercedes BMWs and Audis and I personally know the guys there and they are legitimate.

The flagging is why it wasn't covered but after finding out it was a recall and not tune related they had to cover the reimbursement.


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[DannyDeez]

would be a lot easier to get the full amount if you had it done at an audi dealer. just curious did you price shop the work before getting it done? i always call around and get quotes...

i would push for the full amount, but audi has tightened up their purses since dieselgate and we are collateral damage.

my next step would be to call the audi dealerships in your area, and ask for gfe [good faith estimates] on how much the repair would cost if it wanst covered under a tsb/recall, i know book time they charge to remove the blower is something stupid like 5 hours @ $150 per hour or whatever...

dont tell them you have a dispute with aoa, and give as little info as possible just try nad find out how much to get the job done and see if its in line with what you paid, if you have them email you the quotes you can forward it to aoa and call bullshit on their bullshit.

this of course is assuming the quotes from dealers come back higher than the $650 they gave you

good luck

This is really good advice.
The only problem I can see is the rep from AoA said they're only giving OP what they would pay their dealer. The dealers don't get book time on warranty or recall repairs. They get what Audi decides. In this case the dealers probably are only getting $650.

But hey, it never hurts to try and ask for more! Maybe the dealer will give you some good info. Good luck OP

[chaos2984]

You got rapped on the cost that indy charge you for one. Also Audi is only going to pay warranty time labor rate. That shop charged you cash time and then some. Do you know how many hours warranty rate is? The rule of thumb to get cash labor time is a multiplication of 1.4x warranty time. And they only pay parts at cost + 10%. You should of taken it to the dealer and left it there. You didn't push for a loaner or rental. You should of pushed for a rental car and said that your car is under warranty and you need a car and they should of gotten you a rental if they had no loaners.

You can try to push hard and see if you can get anything. I would push until you get tired of it and nothing happens. Depends on how mush time you want to put in.

[Pgr1990]

Thanks for the advice, very helpful.

I just don't think fixing a specific price for a repair can possibly be legal. I work in the property insurance world and I know it is not legal for the insurance company to force their estimating softwares prices on you, they have to acknowledge local contractors prices even though they like to act like they don't. They basically feel their prices are bible when they aren't. Audi is basically doing the same thing by saying I must accept their price for the repair which is BS.


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[kcrunch]

Thanks for the advice, very helpful.

I just don't think fixing a specific price for a repair can possibly be legal. I work in the property insurance world and I know it is not legal for the insurance company to force their estimating softwares prices on you, they have to acknowledge local contractors prices even though they like to act like they don't. They basically feel their prices are bible when they aren't. Audi is basically doing the same thing by saying I must accept their price for the repair which is BS.


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I'm not sure a warranty is the same as insurance, but even if it is I have to imagine there is some mechanism to prevent price gouging. At any rate I'm sure if you were to take this to court AOA would just argue they were paying market rate for the repair, which is the same rate agreed upon at however many dozens of Audi dealers there are. Your beef should be with the indy shop that overcharged.