A3 Mechatronic unit & clutch issues

[Suebd]

Hello All,

I’m after some advice please about my daughter’s Audi A3. It’s a 2014 model and has about 70 000km on the clock.

We are based in Brisbane and my daughter bought the car from someone who purchased it from Audi. It was serviced by Audi and then local mechanics.

The last time we brought the car in, the mechanic said there were major problems with the transmission and recommended we take it to a specialist mechanic in West End. They diagnosed problems with the clutch and mechatronic unit and estimated the repair would cost over $8000. They were actually quite upfront and said it’s probably not worth spending the money to repair it and to buy a Toyota next time!

My daughter is still a student and can’t afford this repair. We approached the local Audi dealership about a goodwill repair but they knocked us back and then Audi Australia (Botany Bay. They sent us to another Audi mechanic who diagnosed the same problems. We provided all the service documents and were very hopeful but after several weeks Audi have come back and said they will not repair it because it was the clutch that was the issue and they are ignoring the mechatronic problem.

We have had Audis in the past and I’m very disappointed. The car is an older model but the mileage is relatively low and I really expected more from the brand.

Just wondering what our options are now and what is the best avenue to pursue this. My daughter is just finishing up a law degree and will have lots of time to dedicate to this after June!

Thank you so much for any suggestions.

 

[insomniac]

Hmm put that law degree to use and fight them

 

[Pickles]

I'm not about to tell anyone "how to suck eggs here", I'm just giving my opinion.
So, IMHO, you don't have very much hope at all, if any, of receiving any "goodwill" etc. from Audi. The age of the car puts it way out of warranty, I mean it's 12 years old, 9 years out of warranty, & also has not been serviced by Audi.
But regardless of anything else, even if it had been fully serviced by Audi, I think, in view of the age of the car, you'd have the same result.
But the issue of expensive, out of warranty, repairs is not confined to Audi. The same risk applies to Mercedes, BMW etc, where some examples even only 5 or 6 years old appear to be fairly good value, & some actually look cheap relative to the new price, BUT, influenced in no small way, by the risk of costly repairs such as yours, which is a major factor.