AV8TORSADF

Hind site is 20/20. When I tested the car in NJ I wanted to take it on the highway and the slimey sales (Sanjay Doshi) guy told me the traffic would be too bad and prevent me from getting upto speed. Instead he took me on a back road where I could only do 50 Mph. The vibration only kicks in at 75Mph. Now I realise this wasn't by chance but to prevent me from discovering the vibration. Karma is a great thing and what goes around comes around ;-)

AofC_RR

Absolutely right. I'm a strong believer in Karma and "Carma" same concept but with cars. Sorry you had a bad experience. Don't let it spoil you on the brand. Maybe the dealership. It's a shame they wouldn't make right over what is basically $750. One new tire and a pair of rims. A few used, but straight rims at less than retail and a new tire, no problems. Or try straightening them as suggested.
For others and yourself, try and get a extended test drive or say you're not comfortable making a decision yet, could you take the car to lunch. Then you get a little time to drive the car. I use a ten mile route that includes every kind of road just for that reason.
Enjoy the Subby, hope to see you back again upon shopping elsewhere.

swhite63

x2. I will never buy a car again without driving on the highway at least 75 - 80 mph. It also lets you know if the car has a lot of road noise at those speeds, something that may not be apparent at lower mph's. When I test drove my A6, everything was great until I hit 65, then the vibration kicked in. I had the used car dealer perform an alignment and balancing as part of the deal, and negotiated for new tires as well. Now she is, as we say here in Maine, "smooth as buttah".

AV8TORSADF

I couldn't agree with you more. This could have been an easy opportunity to turn me into a satisfied customer for a mere $750 and they chose instead to lose a 20 year customer.

Thanks for the good wished with the Subby. :-)

Audi S5 TC

Your dreadful experience with Audi is only typical of the following Audi models, AV8TORSADF: 1997 to 2005 A8/A8L, 1998 to 2004 A6, 2002 and 2003 S6, 2003 and 2004 RS 6, 1996 to 2003 A4, 2001 to 2005 S4, 2000 to 2006 TT, A3, Q7 4.2 and 2007 and 2008 RS 4 (DRC III being the main problem with the 2007 and 2008 RS 4).

With all other Audi models, especially the following models: R8, 2006+ A8/A8L, 2005+ A6, 2007+ S6, 2005.5+ A4, 2005.5+ S4, 2007+ TT and Q7 3.6, your dreadful Audi experience is very rare (and it is mostly with people on the Audi Forums such as AudiWorld).
I know all of the above because it has been confirmed by the Automotive Gods, Consumer Reports (who, individually, typically surveys 800,000+ vehicle owners per year; in 2006, CR, individually, surveyed 1,300,000+ vehicle owners). Unless JD Power and Associated (or JD P&A for short; JD P&A surveys 200,000 to 300,000 vehicle owners per year) or Strategic Vision (or SV for short; SV typically surveys 100,000 to 200,000 vehicle owners per year). Combined, JD P&A and SV survey 300,000 to 500,000 vehicle owners per year (300,000+ less than CR individually; 800,000+ to 1,000,000+ less than CR individually in 2006).

Therefore, unless JD P&A and SV agree with CR, JD P&A and SV are complete trash and cannot be trusted for squat. However, JD P&A and SV have shown (and confirmed) tremendous improvement from Audi over the past two years. Consumer Reports has shown (and confirmed) tremendous improvement from Audi over the past four years. CR has shown tremendous improvement from Volkswagen (or VW for short) over the past two years (JD P&A and SV have yet to show and confirm anything more than minimal improvement from VW).

Audi and Volvo are tied for the best European brands in dependability, durability, quality, reliability, satisfaction and service (second only to all of the Asian-Japanese and Korean equally) and very good or excellent overall. Audi and Volvo are the safest non exotic vehicles (even surpassing the Japanese and Koreans), which has been confirmed by all crash test and safety organizations worldwide (also making this official).

As a result, everything above about Audi and VW that has been confirmed by CR and everybody else is official.

All of the above is for the North American market only. Overseas, especially Europe and most of all, Germany, Audi always has been (and still is) the best or one of the best that is not exotic (which far too many members of AudiWorld and other Audi forums worldwide to count have stated far too many times to count).

AV8TORSADF

My main beef is not with the vehicle but with (another) a lousy dealer and an even worse Audi Customer Care department. Dealers are like rolling the dice, some will be excellent, some average and then some terrible. Who if not the dealer should look after their customers is the manufacturer, especially if there is a underhanded dealer at work. Instead, they choose to bury their head in the sand and ignore their customer's plight. My only way of fighting back is to never purchase that product again. Done!

AofC_RR

See but what can Customer care do about bent wheels? That's an uncertainty, it's your word against the dealer. They have documents they've submitted for the certification saying everything is up to snuff. You have a car with bent wheels. They can do nothing and why should they? It's a very simple he said she said kind of thing. Sure if you'd had a mechanical issue they could step in. But something that could be damaged by you like wheels for all customer care knows you went and drove over a curb at 20mph, why should they get involved and what could they do? Say OH Bell Audi you should fix those wheels because the customer said they were like that when you sold them this used car. Ok then what? Everybody and their mother with a bent wheel would call and complain and try and get a free wheel. Or exactly what happened, Bell Audi denies it. Customer care says there's nothing they can do because of what the situation is.
It's very simple. You blame the brand, blame yourself and Bell Audi. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING corporate can do. Punish the dealer? For what? Plausible deniability?
Say you bought the car privately and were in the same situation. What then? Again you can prove nothing and he has deniability. You could take him to court for it and you would lose. Hence NO ACTION from corporate.

LT2BLT2A6

Agreed this is a matter that should have been pushed further, a regional Audi representative should have been brought in (at your insistence) and the issue discussed between you, the dealer general manager, and the Audi rep. At that point if your issues were not resolved to your satisfaction you could either hire a lawyer, or take the path you took. Believe me, I can relate to being so angered about how a dealer treated me I retrieved my car from service, drove it to another dealer and traded it in. The car was an '01 Jetta VR6, about 9 months old. I bought a Buick Park Avenue which treated me great, but in my heart I know (and knew) it was not the car that was at fault. I enjoyed the Jetta but the dealer really sucked, and I let my anger at the dealer overpower my rational thinking and dumped what was really an excellent car. Fortunately I dumped it for another excellent car, but I know I never gave the Jetta a fair chance. Live and learn. If you truly enjoy the A6 and have not committed to the Subaru, find a better dealer, there are several in New Jersey (just maybe not in Edison or Flemington) use the money you would lose on the A6 and buy a set of Hartmann rims and some new tires, get that baby aligned and enjoy your Audi as it is meant to be enjoyed.

4Driver4

Relying on Audi Customer Care to help you is pointless. Should have checked the car out before you wrote the check.

An Audi can be a great car, but the customer service behind it is close to zero, especially if you did not buy the car new. Expect nothing from Audi or your local Audi dealer. They don't care.

AV8TORSADF

This incident is not the only issue I've been dealing with with this dealer. I wouldn't be so pissed if this was it. The car was not properly detailed upon deliver, it took almost 4 weeks to get a second master key (required for CPO certification) from the dealer, the dealer has not submitted paper work for the GAP protection I paid for and several other minor issue. In addition to the bent wheels there is also a damaged tire (not located on any of the two damaged wheels) which this dealer replaced for the certification. If they put a damaged tire on my car then they should replace it.

How do you explain two damaged wheels on the rear of the car and a damaged tire not on either of those damaged wheels? I'm driving backwards at high speed? I used to have a Volvo S80 and I did hit a deep pothole at about 45 mph. I knew when I hit it that something was going to be damaged. In this instance it wasn't the wheels but both tires on the right side had bubbles in the side walls. I never blamed anyone and went and had the two Michelin Pilot Sport A/S replaced. In this instance, I've hit nothing and I'm blaming who should be blamed. From the time I left the dealer in NJ and drove home to MA I felt the vibration.

I don't want to flog a dead horse here but I do hold the dealer and Audi responsible for not even keeping an open mind about the issue. There was no idea of compromise or customer satisfaction. You may not agree and that's your right but frankly, its not your money, time and frustration so you can agree with Audi all you like it is irrelevent to me.