allroad'Ed now

I've been away from the forum a few weeks (vacation followed by business) so I'm somewhat embarrassed that my first new post is a rant, so please humor me....

Audi not too long ago announced it's JE recall for A6 lower control arms. As part of the campaign, Audi was offering to reimburse anyone who had paid for the control arm replacement.

Well, I'd paid to have control arms replaced on my old '98 A6 ($1,021) so I gave our "friends" at AoA Customer Relations a call. They're happy to reimburse me for the expense, but I need to provide them with full proof of all service work performed on the car from new- to include all oil changes, 15K, 30K, and 45K services, etc.

I have three problems with this.
1) What does an oil change have to do with a bad control arm? I can't see how it's related, or if it's even legal for them to require this.

2) Once out of warranty, I did some of my own oil changes. When I mentioned this, the rep stated that "they'd take it under advisement" and let me know if they would still reimburse me.

3) While I owned that car, I spent 1.5 years working in two different states. I've had service performed in Chicago and St Louis, depending on where I was when the service was due. I can't find 2 receipts from St Louis and don't see why I'm now going to have to recreate them long distance.

I frankly don't have the time to go digging through the attic or calling another state to find records on a car I no longer own, just to satisfy Audi. A defective part is a defective part, and there shouldn't be any stipulations or caveats attached to being able to get repaid for work I had performed at my own expense.

Am I off base on this????

ZCD2.7T

You're NOT off base. AoA should request the records from the respective dealers.

allroad'Ed now

unless I missed something while I've been out of touch the past few weeks.

Potomac-Greg

It's not like there is any scheduled maintenance that would preserve or prolong the life of a control arm. Boy, if it applied to me, I would give them nothing, and let them know that a denial would be taken to arbitration/court.

Muhammad

No, you're right on. AOA is way off.

Capt William

I am quite sure that unrelated service is unimportant but customer relations people are often "stupid" about these things and you may need to politely ask to speak with someone up the chain.

Jon C

"I hereby certify under penalty of perjury that the following maintenance services were done [by me/whomever] as detailed below: [then detail what/when/by whom, etc.]...."

And of course, if done by dealer, they should have records. The request/demand sounds absurd on its face, however.

Kris Hansen

Welcome to the reluctant recall.

ZCD2.7T

I know, I know - I'll get a round tuit.

ZCD2.7T

Done!!