Asgor

I recently acquired a Certified Pre-Owned 2002 A4 Avant with a mere 16,000 miles on the odometer. Beautiful car, with nearly every option available for that MY, and beautifully kept. I closed the deal at Tischer Autopark in Silver Spring (Maryland) - a healthy 2.5-hour drive from my house - as they had the vehicle I was looking for a price I was comfortable with.

Just the other day I took the car in for service at the Audi dealer nearest to my house (Casey Imports in Newport News, VA - really the only dealer that is within a decent range from where I live) for the 20,000 mile schedule maintenance service. Having read the feedback on this site about many Audi dealers across the country and frequent horror stories about their service departments, I went in prepared: I made an appointment for a specific day by calling ahead a few days earlier, I familiarized myself with the Service facility and with the Service Advisor ahead of time by making a special trip just to meet her, and finally I compiled all the needed service items on a piece of paper that I printed and left with the same Service Advisor on the day of the service appointment. The items on my list were: 20,000 mile service; replace the rear passenger window trim that keeps popping off, and replace the rear wiper refill.

In all fairness to the dealer, once I got there I was given a brand new 2004 Audi A4 1.8T Tip as a loaner (can't complain), but I must say that I was less than ecstatic with the results of their service. The window trim was simply removed and re-installed, as the technician claimed that it was all it needed (the problem hasn't been resolved: it still pops off as it did before); the wiper blade refill was never replaced, and this afternoon - two days after the service appointment - I found 10-15 drops of oil on my garage door directly underneath the engine compartment (probably the oil filter or the plug were not torqued properly).

To summarize: I requested three service items and they managed to botch all three. And this is the result of simple service maintenance: I shudder thinking that one day I'll have to place my car in their hands for, say, a TB replacement. Amazing. Needless to say, the car is going back in tomorrow - this time without an appointment, as I'll just show up at their door and demand that the issues be rectified.

Skibum the Original

bring the KY. they love to bend the customers over

ScottJ

Check around the filler cap. They might have been careless when filling and now it's running down onto the floor.

Asgor

Thank you for a good suggestion. I did check around the filler cap, and it looks clean. I noticed, however, that some oil is collected in the dip formed by the crossbar that runs across the frame, right underneath the engine. It is possible that the technician spilled a fair amount of oil when he removed the oil filter which sits more or less above the crossbar. For the DIY among the AWers reading this thread: judging by how the filter is positioned in the 1.8T engine, considerable oil drips seem to be unavoidable when removing the oil filter. Am I correct?

sarge1

Same thing with my car.Oil spot on the floor,basketball size.Even left what looks to be a slushie cup/holder under the drivers seat.On top of the coil pack issue and break/horn/trim problems don't think it's worth it.

alipor

Where in upstate NY??

ScottJ

the filter position is similar to the location on the 4.6 V8 in my Mustang.

It drips on the steering rack when you change it so what I to is wedge a small funnel under it while unscrewing and driect the drips to the catch pan.

aca

It seems to be very typical for an oil change. Same thing happened in Kansas City. However in my case the tech failed to clean the spill properly, so it caused a puddle in my garage. Oil was underserviced by almost a quart. I took in 4 quarts since it takes 3.7 with filter change. After the service was complete, a full unopened quart was left on the passenger side, which prompted me to check oil level when I got home. And sure enough. Also, the tech that did the oil change, managed to lose one of the screws from the plastic pan that goes under the engine.
What can I say. A simple operation of changing the oil and they srew everything that can possible be screwed. Makes you wonder if they had to do something more complicated.

choolie

The head tech guy there is pretty cool and he seems to be mod friendly. Might be a bit further to drive, don't know exactly where you live. Might be worth it. They have three A6 loaners.