My exhaust sounds like a Nissan !! (long rant)
08-11-2000, 01:15 PM
#1
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My exhaust sounds like a Nissan !! (long rant)
Well what do you know ? It *IS* a Nissan !
Through no fault of my dealer (Bellavia Audi is excellent, and continues to impress), my car is in the shop for a few days. And I am forced to drive around this weekend in an Altima. Now I know what everybody complains about when they have to get service loaners or rental cars.
It all started Wednesday night. I was running some errands. In one particular parking lot, I saw Chris P's car, with his MTM badge on the trunk, so I wanted to move my car next to his.
Well my car would not start. My guess was that the clutch sensor/switch had failed, since I was driving it all day without any problems. And my clutch has been sqeaking for the past few weeks.
No problem. I'd just have it flatbedded to the dealer, get the switch replaced, and pick it up Thursday afternoon. Or so I thought.
The flatbed driver did not want to deliver the car to the dealer so late at night, for "security reasons," since there would be noone there to receive the car. (Even though Bellavia does have a 24 hour security guard.)
So they took my car to their shop, and told me they'd bring it to the dealer "first thing in the morning."
Well morning turned into afternoon, and my car finally made it to Bellavia at 2pm on Thursday.
And if getting there so late wasn't enough, the flatbed operator hooked my ABS cable and snapped it.
Now, if they had delivered my car when they promised, Bellavia could have gotten the parts, and I could have had my car yesterday (Thursday).
But since the car got there so late, the dealer could not get the parts in time. Hence my car could not be done.
A truly amazing parts-ordering story: both the ABS cable and the clutch sensor came in today, only 1 day after the dealership ordered them.
(I was right -- a defective clutch sensor was indeed the cause of the no-start problem.)
Today (Friday), my car is ready. But I still can't pick it up. Why ?
The dealership was going to try to replace that ABS cable under warranty. But for some reason they found out today that they can't warrantee the damage. Makes sense, since it is not a manufacturer's defect.
So I called Roadside Assistance to tell them what happened. AAA has to send someone out to inspect the car, and assess that the damage was in fact caused by the tow truck operator. They can't do it today, because it is too late in the day on a Friday. And I can't pick up the car on Monday because I'll be out of town. So Audi is paying for me to rent a Nissan Altima until Tuesday. Sigh... I told the guy on the phone that it is in their best interest to get a guy there TODAY, so they wouldn't have to pay for my rental car. But that didn't happen.
(Actually the Altima exceeds my rental allowance. But I was willing to pay a few extra bucks to drive an Altima instead of a Stratus for four days.)
What kills me is that my car is READY. It has been ready for most of today. But I cannot pick it up because of the damage that the tow truck operator caused.
Of course I could pay for the repair out of my pocket, but then *I* would have to go after AAA or the towing company to recover my $350, and once I drive the car off the dealer's lot, it becomes much more difficult to prove that the damage was caused by the tow truck driver, so there's no guarantee that I'd get my $350 back. Much easier to let the dealership talk with the AAA inspector, and show him the broken parts.
Oh -- and my car WAS clean when I had it towed (flatbedded) away on Wednesday night. My friends even remarked how good it looked. I don't know where the hell the towing company stored my car Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but it was covered with bird**** when I saw it this afternoon.
Allright. That's enough complaining for now.
-- Peter
98.5 1.8tqms
Or should I be like Larry, and list all the specs on the Altima ? Nah...
Through no fault of my dealer (Bellavia Audi is excellent, and continues to impress), my car is in the shop for a few days. And I am forced to drive around this weekend in an Altima. Now I know what everybody complains about when they have to get service loaners or rental cars.
It all started Wednesday night. I was running some errands. In one particular parking lot, I saw Chris P's car, with his MTM badge on the trunk, so I wanted to move my car next to his.
Well my car would not start. My guess was that the clutch sensor/switch had failed, since I was driving it all day without any problems. And my clutch has been sqeaking for the past few weeks.
No problem. I'd just have it flatbedded to the dealer, get the switch replaced, and pick it up Thursday afternoon. Or so I thought.
The flatbed driver did not want to deliver the car to the dealer so late at night, for "security reasons," since there would be noone there to receive the car. (Even though Bellavia does have a 24 hour security guard.)
So they took my car to their shop, and told me they'd bring it to the dealer "first thing in the morning."
Well morning turned into afternoon, and my car finally made it to Bellavia at 2pm on Thursday.
And if getting there so late wasn't enough, the flatbed operator hooked my ABS cable and snapped it.
Now, if they had delivered my car when they promised, Bellavia could have gotten the parts, and I could have had my car yesterday (Thursday).
But since the car got there so late, the dealer could not get the parts in time. Hence my car could not be done.
A truly amazing parts-ordering story: both the ABS cable and the clutch sensor came in today, only 1 day after the dealership ordered them.
(I was right -- a defective clutch sensor was indeed the cause of the no-start problem.)
Today (Friday), my car is ready. But I still can't pick it up. Why ?
The dealership was going to try to replace that ABS cable under warranty. But for some reason they found out today that they can't warrantee the damage. Makes sense, since it is not a manufacturer's defect.
So I called Roadside Assistance to tell them what happened. AAA has to send someone out to inspect the car, and assess that the damage was in fact caused by the tow truck operator. They can't do it today, because it is too late in the day on a Friday. And I can't pick up the car on Monday because I'll be out of town. So Audi is paying for me to rent a Nissan Altima until Tuesday. Sigh... I told the guy on the phone that it is in their best interest to get a guy there TODAY, so they wouldn't have to pay for my rental car. But that didn't happen.
(Actually the Altima exceeds my rental allowance. But I was willing to pay a few extra bucks to drive an Altima instead of a Stratus for four days.)
What kills me is that my car is READY. It has been ready for most of today. But I cannot pick it up because of the damage that the tow truck operator caused.
Of course I could pay for the repair out of my pocket, but then *I* would have to go after AAA or the towing company to recover my $350, and once I drive the car off the dealer's lot, it becomes much more difficult to prove that the damage was caused by the tow truck driver, so there's no guarantee that I'd get my $350 back. Much easier to let the dealership talk with the AAA inspector, and show him the broken parts.
Oh -- and my car WAS clean when I had it towed (flatbedded) away on Wednesday night. My friends even remarked how good it looked. I don't know where the hell the towing company stored my car Wednesday night and Thursday morning, but it was covered with bird**** when I saw it this afternoon.
Allright. That's enough complaining for now.
-- Peter
98.5 1.8tqms
Or should I be like Larry, and list all the specs on the Altima ? Nah...
08-11-2000, 03:39 PM
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Peter, Saw you A4 Today.
Hi Peter,
I was at Bellavia today for my 35,000 mile service.
I was chatting Joe and Oscar when I noticed Your exhaust. It looks great. I asked Joe who the owner was and I recognized your name from the Forum. I'm seriously considering the APR exhaust after seeing it on your A4. BTW your car was up on the lift. Hope all works out well.
Mike
I was at Bellavia today for my 35,000 mile service.
I was chatting Joe and Oscar when I noticed Your exhaust. It looks great. I asked Joe who the owner was and I recognized your name from the Forum. I'm seriously considering the APR exhaust after seeing it on your A4. BTW your car was up on the lift. Hope all works out well.
Mike
08-11-2000, 03:45 PM
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I'm going to miss the Lexus loaners
Always gave me a new ES or RX to tool around in when they did anything, overnight or not. Nice change of pace every once in a while.<p><img src="http://www.ringosoft.com/car/sc2.jpg"/>SC400, A4 1.8T on order
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