My clutch / flywheel curse struck again. When I bought the car one thing that really stuck out was the warranty document from Birmingham Audi at 18 months old / 18k miles saying that the owner brought the car in noting a judder from the clutch in first gear. Clutch, flywheel and release bearing replaced. Cost? Nigh on £2.5k!
Initially I was shocked that it had been replaced at such a young age but I also felt relieved that it was done before my ownership and a potential big issue out of the way.
Fast forward a few months and the dreaded clutch judder when pulling off became more and more apparent (20k after first clutch was changed.) I contacted Belfast Audi who confirmed that the warranty on the clutch and flywheel replacement has expired, I registered my dissatisfaction that a £2.5k repair can fail again after 2.5 years / 20k and asked what the chances would be of goodwill from Audi. The service advisor suggested I booked the car in for a diagnostic report at £250 where a file would be compiled and sent off to Audi. I decided that the judder was very irritating and gambled on sending it to them with the hope of something positive coming from it. So I booked it in for last Wednesday. I was working so my father took it up. A technician took it a run and agreed that a judder was present and said a new clutch, flywheel and release bearing would be the only fix.
The service advisor (Johnny) spoke with the business manager and we came to an amicable arrangement where I would commit to buying a service plan and a 2 year warranty and Agnews would pay to fix the problem. Total cost to me approx £1k.
An unexpected bill but I realise that it could potentially have been much worse (£2.5k like the last time) and I now have the benefit of having a 2 year comprehensive warranty and my next 2 services are paid for.. Think positive.. Think positive..
In other news my courtesy car was a 2016 A5 cabriolet. Quite a nice car, just the wrong time of year. Was quite pleased to get back into my A6 though I must admit. The thing that amazes me though is the fact you can get a 2009 one of these for £30k less and you will have the exact same interior. Should have maybe facelifted the interior at the time of the exterior facelift.
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The steering wheel buttons are different
.Ours needed a new steering column at 4 years old with 40k. Lost faith in them after that.
