Audi "Goodwill" only goes so far if you DIY

[rowlands57]

Short story, my water pump failed at 60K on my 2016 A3 Quattro. I did bring it to the dealer and figured Audi would so some kind of goodwill repair or help with the price of the parts at least. Well not to be - I was denied any help at all and I'm out well over $1,000 to replace a part that should last a hell of a lot longer.

Seems the fact that I DIY for maintenance and didn't spend enough at the dealer did not run to my benefit. I find that incredibly insulting, but it is what it is. Makes me re-think my loyalty to the brand for sure. The reply from Audi finally denying my request is below. Implication is that if I spent more on the overpriced dealer maintenance I might have received consideration. I guess that it's a wash in that they 'took' back my savings on a prematurely failed part.

Text of reply:
Audi of America is open to exploring and feasible options to meet our customer request. When looking into goodwill assistance, there are several factors that we review such as age, mileage, vehicle history, dealer loyalty, and any applicable warranties. After careful consideration of all the details, Audi of America is unable to assist with reimbursement.

[Grey3]

My waterpump went just after 50 k and the guy almost laughed when I called since I’d bought the car used from an independent dealer


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[rowlands57]

My waterpump went just after 50 k and the guy almost laughed when I called since I’d bought the car used from an independent dealer


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Insult to injury in your case, sorry to hear that. Considering the recalls on similar pumps on other 'VW/Audi" vehicles I find this pretty insulting. Well live and learn I guess, not the first time a manufacturer has let me down and sadly likely not the last....

[Grey3]

Yea. Kinda pissed me off, especially with the a4 waterpump recalls. I didn’t push BC i didn’t purchase it from them, “ the dealer” just the parts for these cars are ridiculously expensive.... love my Audi, but an s550 Mustang gt would be a whole lot cheaper next go around


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[FrankSilvia]

Posts like this make me glad I just took out the 3000 dollar 4 year engine and drivetrain warranty.

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[Grey3]

Posts like this make me glad I just took out the 3000 dollar 4 year engine and drivetrain warranty.

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Yes. If I ever have another Audi it will have a warranty. Have had multiple vw jettas and they were bulletproof.... made me think it would be the same w my Audi. My mk6 Jetta has almost 135k on it and no issue except changing plugs and getting ready to have timing belt done.


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[B7OrangeA4]

It’s kind of a joke that they haven’t made a metal revision or a 3rd party parts company. I had mine replaced at 25k under warranty.


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[n8vs3]

My S3's water pump housing started to have slow leak at 15,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. The most recent revised version is still plastic and I suspect it will fail again. It seems Audi/VW doesn't care about using durable components in their cars. As fun as the S3 has been, my next car will not be a VAG product..

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[FrankSilvia]

Funny you say that, my work just bought a new 300,000 dollar cat excavator, it's half made of plastic now. The fuel tank, the old metal filters are now plastic housings. And half the guards are plastic.

My S3's water pump housing started to have slow leak at 15,000 miles and was replaced under warranty. The most recent revised version is still plastic and I suspect it will fail again. It seems Audi/VW doesn't care about using durable components in their cars. As fun as the S3 has been, my next car will not be a VAG product..

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[MikTip]

No Audi dealership will ever extend any "goodwill"

They are in business to make money....period.

[Grey3]

No Audi dealership will ever extend any "goodwill"

They are in business to make money....period.

Agreed 100% if they honored every request they’d definitely not be in the position there in. I wasn’t surprised. I even felt stupid calling to ask BC technically I was out of warranty


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[rowlands57]

No Audi dealership will ever extend any "goodwill"

They are in business to make money....period.

The dealer was fine. They requested assistance for AOA and it was Audi USA that rejected the request for assistance. I would have been happy if they covered the part and I paid the labor. Funny enough Mazda did provide that kind of goodwill on my CX9 when I had an issue just out of warranty.

[texasboy21]

Thats why you buy CPO.

[hpclayto]

Thats why you buy CPO.

Or work on your cars yourself.

[texasboy21]

Or work on your cars yourself.

For sure, but the thermostat and water pump are a couple hundred just in parts. I had mine covered under warranty, and all I had to do was drive a loaner A5 SB for a few days.

[n8vs3]

Or work on your cars yourself.

Let us know how many hrs it will take you

https://youtu.be/qloWwsxK-nw

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[Erikwithak01]

Water pump and T-stat housing are easy parts to replace. One weekend in the garage, $275.oo in parts, and you're good. Might as well walnut blast the valves while you're in there as well.

New Audi's over 50k in mileage aren't your thing if you don't work on them yourself. Relying on a job shop or the dealer for your repairs is an awfully expensive way to own a cheap nice car.

This seems to be rampant in the VAG community. Everyone pays top dollar new, runs out of warranty, and then sells their $50k car to me for 20, I fix it for a thou, and drive it till the wheels fall off. Too many people wanna be ballin' outta control but can't afford to operate their cars outside of the loan payment. I typically tell those types to buy a Corolla.

[rowlands57]

Water pump and T-stat housing are easy parts to replace. One weekend in the garage, $275.oo in parts, and you're good. Might as well walnut blast the valves while you're in there as well.

New Audi's over 50k in mileage aren't your thing if you don't work on them yourself. Relying on a job shop or the dealer for your repairs is an awfully expensive way to own a cheap nice car.

This seems to be rampant in the VAG community. Everyone pays top dollar new, runs out of warranty, and then sells their $50k car to me for 20, I fix it for a thou, and drive it till the wheels fall off. Too many people wanna be ballin' outta control but can't afford to operate their cars outside of the loan payment. I typically tell those types to buy a Corolla.

Audi USA chose to not offer any assistance because I didn't spend enough money on overpriced maintenance as I normally do my own work. Actually, had I known it would have turned out this way I would have done the work myself and used the aluminum pump that is available in the aftermarket. This is not my first Audi, and I do plenty of work on the other Audi/VW vehicles in my family. This time they 'got' me, and it won't happen again.

[S3NICK]

Thats why you buy CPO.

Or buy a more reliable brand!

No Audi dealership will ever extend any "goodwill"

They are in business to make money....period.

Determined by you zone OEM rep and maybe Audu if USA, depending on the issue.

[El-Heffe]

I'm still on the fence about getting the Audi Care, but this may help steer me. I'd still do my own oil changes every 5,000 that the dealer wouldn't.

[n8vs3]

Unless you already own many Audi specific tools, Audicare is actually a pretty good deal and pays for itself (especially with DSG service). Like you, I change my own oil in between annual Audicare service ..new engine oil every 6 months

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[bakedcorn]

Audi Care is definitely worth it as you get them to do all the dirty work while you roll around in a loaner however the price keeps going up so you may need to do your math. A buddy paid 900 CAD all in for AC back in 2013 for his SQ5 me, the price jumped a few hundred bucks a couple years later.

As being out of warranty, looking forward to doing some of the regular work/maintenance however last time I changed a t-stat was on an 85 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. Lmao


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[Bezlar]

Watched that video. I’m pretty handy but I’m out on that install. Gladly pay someone to fix. Lol


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[hpclayto]

Audi USA chose to not offer any assistance because I didn't spend enough money on overpriced maintenance as I normally do my own work. Actually, had I known it would have turned out this way I would have done the work myself and used the aluminum pump that is available in the aftermarket. This is not my first Audi, and I do plenty of work on the other Audi/VW vehicles in my family. This time they 'got' me, and it won't happen again.

I guess I’m still confused as to why you thought they would fix this when your car is out of warranty?

[hpclayto]

Let us know how many hrs it will take you

https://youtu.be/qloWwsxK-nw

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With an hourly rate of zero dollars and the fact that I like to work on cars it doesn’t really matter how long it would take. If you don’t have any mechanical knowledge then that’s another story.

[crxgator]

You’re 10,000 miles outside the normal warranty. I could see like 100-500 miles you may have a case.


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[n8vs3]

With an hourly rate of zero dollars and the fact that I like to work on cars it doesn’t really matter how long it would take. If you don’t have any mechanical knowledge then that’s another story.

Good for you... After DIY home replacement of your waterpump, please report back to the forum on how many hrs it took. My local Audi dealer's technician took a day and a half to finish.

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[S3_Miles]

Seriously again begs the question of why no one makes a metal water pump for these motors. It's the most common fail. Wealthy would be the person that offers it

[El-Heffe]

Let us know how many hrs it will take you

https://youtu.be/qloWwsxK-nw

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I consider myself very mechanically inclined, but even if I had a friend to help, I'd gladly spend $1k to NOT do this. If you find a decent 3rd party VAG mechanic, it would knock a few hundred off too.

[crxgator]

Intake manifold uninstall and install is about 3 hours.

Waterpump is probably another two hours. You just need to make sure you clean the block surfaces, you get a new union and gaskets and don’t over torque the shit. Also do not get any oil on those gasket or it will be leaking again.


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[2015S3]

Audi Care is definitely worth it as you get them to do all the dirty work while you roll around in a loaner however the price keeps going up so you may need to do your math. A buddy paid 900 CAD all in for AC back in 2013 for his SQ5 me, the price jumped a few hundred bucks a couple years later.

As being out of warranty, looking forward to doing some of the regular work/maintenance however last time I changed a t-stat was on an 85 Dodge Daytona Turbo Z. Lmao


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I had an 86 with the intercooler fun car for being 17 lol


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[19birel]

Back when I had my old B5, the accepted maintenance interval for replacing the water pump was 75k miles. When the pump on my B8.5 A4 began leaking at 65k, I personally considered it normal wear & tear.

Them not goodwilling you the repair is understandable in my book. Whether or not it's normal wear & tear aside, you have no documentation of the car's maintenance history. From that perspective it would be foolish for Audi to fix an undocumented car because they can't verify that you've maintained the vehicle. Think of all the people that DO neglect their cars and have issues. If Audi isn't willing to pay, then it falls on the dealership to pay to fix it. What incentive does your dealership, who you don't use for service, have to justify incurring that expense. They have no obligation to pay for your service out of warranty or Audicare, how can you expect them to do you a favor when you have absolutely no rapport with them? I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, I'm just trying to illustrate the other perspective of this situation.

Bottomline, unexpected repairs suck, but at the end of the day you put 60,000 miles on a car and something wore out. It happens, best of luck with the repairs though!

[ManyStyles]

Seriously again begs the question of why no one makes a metal water pump for these motors. It's the most common fail. Wealthy would be the person that offers it

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...af-06h121026dd


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[n8vs3]

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/aud...af-06h121026dd


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Think these cast aluminum water pumps are for previous gen A3 (8P), not current MQB 8V cars

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[mto925]

Water pumps shouldn't be failing at this mileage, my wife's was replaced by the dealer before the sale at 30k miles. I can get it if its higher mileage but water pumps failing on rather low mileage, newer cars are unacceptable.

[ManyStyles]

Think these cast aluminum water pumps are for previous gen A3 (8P), not current MQB 8V cars

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If anyone who would supply an all aluminum WP, it would be FCP Euro.


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[rowlands57]

Back when I had my old B5, the accepted maintenance interval for replacing the water pump was 75k miles. When the pump on my B8.5 A4 began leaking at 65k, I personally considered it normal wear & tear.

Them not goodwilling you the repair is understandable in my book. Whether or not it's normal wear & tear aside, you have no documentation of the car's maintenance history. From that perspective it would be foolish for Audi to fix an undocumented car because they can't verify that you've maintained the vehicle. Think of all the people that DO neglect their cars and have issues. If Audi isn't willing to pay, then it falls on the dealership to pay to fix it. What incentive does your dealership, who you don't use for service, have to justify incurring that expense. They have no obligation to pay for your service out of warranty or Audicare, how can you expect them to do you a favor when you have absolutely no rapport with them? I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, I'm just trying to illustrate the other perspective of this situation.

Bottomline, unexpected repairs suck, but at the end of the day you put 60,000 miles on a car and something wore out. It happens, best of luck with the repairs though!

I do have records for all the work I did and provided that to Audi. For those asking about why I expected any help with this. Look at all the issues with water pumps in general on this engine and others like it from VW/Audi. I think expecting a durable part to last more than 60K is not unrealistic. If everyone is OK with premature failure on car this expensive then God bless, but I am not.

[n8vs3]

https://www.kgglaw.com/class-action/...ement-reached/



Not sure if EA888 gen3 is covered. You figure VAG would know by now to redesign a more durable water pump ..

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[rowlands57]

https://www.kgglaw.com/class-action/...ement-reached/



Not sure if EA888 gen3 is covered. You figure VAG would know by now to redesign a more durable water pump ..

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Thanks. Points to other years so my vehicle is not in the class. I suspect that mine, and many others, should be though. Maybe there'll be another case like this for more recent models as it seems the same defect has been carried forward without any major upgrades to this substandard part.

[bakedcorn]

I hate plastic, they need to return to them golden years where it was rare to find a plastic part in the engine bay. It was either metal or rubber.


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