This is not meant to be a "hit piece" against the shop mentioned in the title. I will state my experience honestly and without any ulterior motives. Actually if I decide to sell my vehicle to a member of the community, this post may hurt me.
It is up to each individual to decide whether a shop is qualified based on a number of criteria. I do believe word of mouth among the community is important in this regard. Also I should mention I'm a DIY guy for most repairs.
History:
I purchased an 121k mile '04 S4 in July, 2014 and had an impeccable full service history, which was all done at the Fox Audi dealer in Grand Rapids, MI. At the time of purchase there was a 1 second timing chain rattle. After doing research I knew what this meant and most just ignore it - this is why the S4 resale value is so low anyways.
First Experience:
Shortly after purchase, I noticed the A/C was not blowing very cold air. I brought it to the shop for a recharge. They replaced the orifice tube and drier, did the recharge. It took two attempts because of a stuck schrader valve. They did not charge me for the second recharge, which I thought was appropriate.
Second Experience:
On December 30th, 2014, I delivered the car to have the timing service done since one of the CAM tensioners went bad at 128k miles - I did not get the car back finalized until February 25th, 2015. Since this is my only easily available car, this was a huge inconvenience for me. Regarding the repair duration: they claimed some delay from JHM in getting the parts to them; then they blew-up my engine and had to do the job again (was completely their fault as will be explained).
Had them order the JHM intermediate kit along with a new clutch disc among other things to replace while the engine was out, which they were willing to do. After completing job the first time, I got the car back on January 29th, 2015, after they had test drove it and deemed it "safe" for me to drive. There was a CAM code that put engine into safe mode, which was extremely obvious to me since the engine was down on power. Never the less, they claimed no noticeable performance difference during their test drive. Also, I noticed a much longer and noticeable chain rattle at cold and warm start-up. Somehow this was acceptable enough to give back to a customer that just dropped over $6k to address that very issue.
Third Experience:
After driving it for a few days, I returned it to them to address the CAM code and the rattle. The CAM code was corroded connections in one of the wire harnesses, which they charged an additional $480 to fix (had no issues before, but I do admit corrosion was present). While the car was in the shop (thank god it happened in the shop), the engine jumped timing and impacted a valve, which broke off in-cylinder and you know... I decided to go and take a look myself. They showed me a completely chewed up spark plug. No call or word from them until I call two days later asking what they are going to do about it. The owner agreed to replace the engine with a used one he had on hand. That was completed until February 28th.
Fourth Experience:
I took the car to the dealer on March 25th to have an alignment done because the front suspension was out during the repairs. Techs noticed a missing snub mount. So immediately took the car to the shop to have them look at it. They admitted to missing the snub mount and replaced it later at no charge.
Fifth Experience:
During the dis-assembly of the front suspension to replace the upper control arm bushings, I noticed one of the strut tower hat bolts missing. To me, this is a serious safety issue. Asked them to put the bolt in immediately - they say they are really busy and to bring it in tomorrow.
Conclusions:
This is why I usually do things myself so I know it is done correctly, but in this case I relied on a fairly reputable shop that let me down. The engine is running great for now (except for the A/C). Time will tell...
By the way, I think they are doing JHM tunes there now.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks