Will

Some of you may remember that I ran over a big rock a little over a month ago, and since then, my A4 had been making the most annoying chirping noise when I press the gas pedal. The week it happened, I took the car to Jim Ellis Marietta for an estimate. They said that the noise was coming from somewhere near where the downpipe connects to the engine. To fix it, they said they'd need to replace the downpipe, and that the catalytic converters had been damaged enough by the rock that they needed to be replaced. Total of their estimate - $1800. I said no thanks.

Flash forward to earlier this week. I needed to get the problem fixed because my lease is up August 2nd. I decided to take the car to a Meineke muffler shop to get an estimate from them. The guys there were very helpful, and showed me that the catalytic converters did not need to be replaced - only one of them was slightly dented. Their opinion was that the noise was coming from somewhere near the engine, and didn't think there was anything they could do.

So on Tuesday I dropped my car off at Nalley Audi, and a couple of hours later I got a phone call for the estimate. They said that a "flange gasket" needed to be replaced and that it would cost $160. I breathed a sigh of relief and OK'd the repair. Later that afternoon, they called back and said the repair was done and the total was $158. I picked up the car and the noise was completely gone. Woohoo!

So, the moral of the story is "always get a 2nd opinion." From my service experience at Nalley Audi, I recommend them over either of the Jim Ellis locations. The Peachtree Industrial location is always booked solid and the Marietta location didn't win any points with me for their ungodly estimate. The Nalley Audi shop was impressively spotless, and that dealership only sells Audi's. There were no other brands of car in the service shop.

Thanks to Nalley Audi for the quick and honest repair!

Silver Streakin'

You have to realize that it's difficult to diagnose a problem without pulling anything. JEM gave you the worst case estimate, which is fine with me as long as they wouldn't replace the entire cat when it's not needed and then bend you over for it. But, you are correct, a 2nd opinion is always a good idea. And, so is not going to a dealer, which you did as well. glad it worked out for you.

skoorbevad

I bought my car from Jim Ellis Marietta about a month ago - I've had pretty good experience with them, and Joe Lynch the Service Manager is a really nice guy, but they really tried to dance around the subject of my car having some overspray in the fenderwell that was discovered after I made the purchase from them.

My drivers side door hung about 1/4 inch low, and I basically told them that since they hadnt told me the car had been wrecked (and CarFax came back clean), I was to assume the drivers' door hanging low is a flaw in manufacturing, and thusly a warranty problem. The door wasnt quite latching right because of this.

They sounded a little hesitant to fix the problem, but eventually they ended up fixing it along with a few other things that needed touching up.

I think in the future I'm going to take it up to Nalley Audi, apparently they dont seem to be as anti-chip as JEM was. (I heard a few JEM sales-types talking about how some dude was going to lose his warranty because he had a chip - from what I gathered there was nothing else going wrong with the car)

Anyhoo, just my pointless rant.

DAB

Afrosquad

I went to Jim Ellis Marietta 1 time... I will NOT be going back.

Toaster29

TOP NOTCH! I actually enjoy my services

Matt H. (Silroan)

Don't go to Jim Ellis even if your life depends on it!

EdP

I'd apologize for them, but do not know them at all. I DO know the guys here at the Chamblee dealership (and have bought/serviced 3 Audis from them over the years), so can vouch for them, even BEFORE working here. Technicians do make mistakes, or can only make an educated guess without tearing thru things. The muffler shop also saw damage that may have caused the Tech to question the cat, and as you said, it's hard to diagnose without taking things apart. It's all about one person. That one person may have easily worked at Nalley, and came to the same conclusion over there. Was it under warranty? If he leased the car, was it not covered? It's rare to lease a car longer than the warranty period. If it was under warranty, then the cost is a moot point. If it was just a gasket, then it should have been covered.

Enough said. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and long as it's factual. I'm sorry to hear of your experience, but don't slam BOTH dealerships over experience at one of them. Will did a bit of good due diligence, and it's heartening to see that it paid off too.

EdP

From what grounds is your opinion based? Hope not the springs, as that was a private install done to me before you; albeit by a guy that was an intern tech I knew that doesn't even work there anymore. Your post groups in the sales side too, since you didn't even have the respect to quantify the post. I have daily discussions with folks coming HERE from Nalley because of their treatment in service, so it works both ways. There is a reason the Chamblee dealership is one of the largest in the Southeast, from Texas over, and DC to Florida.

Afrosquad

Agreed

Matt H. (Silroan)

Will's post was specifically referring to a repair issue, and that is what I am responding to. This has far less to do with the fact that the spring install was performed incompetently resulting in extreme risk to my life and a $500 expenditure out of my pocket, but rather the treatment I recieved from Jim Ellis's service department prior to that event. I came there only to get my car fixed, not asking for warranty repair, and yet they still refused to look at my car when I was offering to pay out of my pocket. They wouldn't even assist me in finding anyone to tow the car to another site when I was trying to deal with the situation from out of town. Subsequently I found out that the service manager, who I had talked to, was covering up for his nephew, the incompetent suspension installer. There was practically a conspiracy involved when I later discovered that even Audi techs from out of town were familiar with the situation with my car and the screwed up installation. So yes, I was treated very poorly by Jim Ellis and I will never return there for any reason and would recommend others to do the same.

And did I mention that the car salesman who brokered our sale tried to push off the audi extended warranty on me so hard that he even skirted honesty by telling me that they would 'take care' of my highly modified car if there was ever a problem with it, even when I maintained that they would not (And should not have to in my mind). So my dealings with the sales staff have not been stellar either. Oh, and I don't particularly appreciate being stared down like gutter trash when I walk over to look at a Porsche in the showroom.

Sorry if my opinion bothers you, but I feel that it is not unjustified.