Dealer seems to have made repair more significant

[Jamborick]

My 21 RS7 with 15,000 miles developed a minor rear differential leak. I brought the car to my local Audi dealer and was told that the car was OK to drive and they ordered the required seals. I brought it back when they called that the parts were in for a 2 day repair that required pulling the rear end. I got a call the next morning and was told that during the repair they disconnected the fittings to the rear suspension air bags and they broke because they were plastic, They found 1 in California and the other had to come from Germany. While they have been shipped, it’s been 12 days and I’m still waiting on the parts.

I believe that if the air bag fittings were unable to be remove without breaking, it would have been known in advance and the necessary parts for the entire repair should have been in hand prior to beginning. It seems to me that the tech broke them, making this a more significant repair than it should have been.

I may be wrong but suspect that the vale of the car has diminished. Should the dealer or Audi NA provide some sort of compensation? Does anyone with knowledge/ experience have any comments?

[FBAnder]

I think looking for diminished value is a bit of a reach. It is a warranty repair. Dealer tech may have broken something but that will also be fixed under warranty. If the tech walls your car on a test drive, you might have a better argument for compensation.

[Corgiman30]

I understand your frustration. If you’ve ever worked on cars - things like this happen. They’re fixing it for free. I had an E55 that had to have the entire interior wiring harness replaced. Of course they broke a couple of clips during the repair but they ordered new ones and I was no worse off.

[Jamborick]

Thank you for the levelheaded comments. Since this is such a major repair, I guess I am concerned about not being happy with the ride afterward and wanting to dump the car.

[tinmanwpk]

They are repairing everything with OEM parts. I wouldn't worry about a thing.

[gpoulos]

The issue is that they told you the seals were the only thing to be replaced. The repair is a full new rear diff. I believe it may be a TSB out on it?. I had that done last January. it took 4 weeks to get the parts - i was allowed to keep driving until then. Then took another 2 weeks to install.

[tinmanwpk]

Two weeks to install is pathetic.

[BucksCtyMike]

German cars particularly have a whole lot of plastic molded parts and this is par for the course when repairing them, even when new.
Say a prayer if you ever need to disassemble a VW products cooling system after ~50k miles. You are guaranteed to snap 3 plastic parts that weren't part of the original problem.

[icr]

Twelve extra days of waiting for a free repair of the complex diff. on a limited production super car? You are upset? I'd be not only happy, but grateful.

the_sport_differential__large.jpg

[Noggybowl]

Thank you for the levelheaded comments. Since this is such a major repair, I guess I am concerned about not being happy with the ride afterward and wanting to dump the car.

It is quite obvious to me you are not one to have worked on your own vehicles. This is a repair, yes.... However not MAJOR. While the repair is lengthy due to how the vehicle is packaged, it will feel like the exact same car. Yes, the tech probably broke the connectors because he couldn't get them off or the access is tight but that will not change how it rides. He didn't remove the airbag to not put it back in.

Your request for compensation will do you no favors and only make it so they dread your service appointments. You do not want that at all, you want your dealer to be open and want to work with you. If you are that concerned and really have not seen what goes into the diff replacement, call them up and ask if you can just stop by and check it out so you understand the work that is going on. But, your compensation is a free diff replacement and probably a rental car while it's being replaced.