Audi Grimsby - JCT600 - Returned S3

[MikeTV]

Hi all

Having previously owned a 2018 S3 Black Edition saloon dsg I was wanting to get back into one.

About 1 month ago I saw an Ara Blue S3 Saloon Black Edition DSG on a 69 plate (2020), 36k miles for sale from Audi Grimsby JCT600.

I saw it had the red/black leather interior and wasn’t entirely sure of it, so watched for some time.

I saw the vehicle was for sale since December 2023 which concerned me a bit but put this down to the Blue / Red colour combination which I get isn’t for everyone.

The price reduced slightly £26,368 and having accepted the colours decided to purchase.

This was bought cash via finance to take advantage of the offer (2x services etc).


ISSUE 1 - Bonnet
The car had quite a large chip (finger nail size) on the bonnet and I asked what could be done with that. I was told that this would need a respray and cost approx. £700 but they would reduce to £500. I explained that as long as a proper job was done ie full respray I will pay it. I was told in email yes it would be full respray by their Bodyshop. Upon collection I was told it had NOT had a full respray and instead almost a smart repair. Despite being told it was going to be a full respray and blemish free as the bonnet would be ‘as new’, I saw other imperfections as if the bonnet had been resprayed outdoors and contaminants lay under the paint.

ISSUE 2 - Wheel Refurbishment
i saw that two allow]yes had scuffing and was told these would be rectified. This was done however there was another wheel with the same issue they had failed to notice / rectify.

Throughout communication was done mainly by email due to work schedule but also for protection for me as I know what sales people can be like.

ISSUE 3 - mismatched rear tyres - rear off side Bridgestone Turanza (half worn) / rear near side GT Radial (new). I asked if this was right as I had read that differing tyres on 4x4 cars can cause issues. I was told this is correct and was offered the price of a new tyre to rectify myself which i accepted. Having driven some 150 miles the car felt odd and skittish for some reason and I now put this down to the mismatched tyres.

ISSUE 4 - as part of the sale the Oil Inspection was due in the coming month so agreed they would pay for this before pick up. This was not done and only discovered by me after collection.

All in all a pain it the backside.

Vehicle was returned for full refund.

It is unnacceptable and I never accept that a car albeit used is put for sale with obvious signs of issues and do not feel they need to rectify before putting for sale. Instead it’s like let’s hope the customer doesn’t find it which is totally wrong of Audi Grimsby.

For the record this is the second car with bad bodywork I have returned to JCT600 - previous was Sheffield.

Just a forewarning if anyone sees an Ara Blue for sale - be sure to check and do not accept what the sales team say.

hashtag rolleyes!

 

[Scotty75]

Hi Mike.

What a terrible experience, sorry it’s turned out like that for you. That really is poor customer service from Audi Grimsby.

Have you lodged a complaint to Audi UK ? I certainly would .


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[MikeTV]

…and this is the one i took preference over an independent garage!

Buy from an Audi dealership for reassurance I thought lol

 

[Santiago]

All in all a pain it the backside.
Vehicle was returned for full refund.

Sorry to hear that, very disappointing to say the least.
How was the rejection process? I know that dealers will often come up with all manner of reasons to dissuade you from rejecting their car. "Give us one more chance to sort it out etc etc" Or maybe their cooperation was the one thing that the dealer got right? If it went smoothly, how long was it between formally rejecting the car and having the money back in your bank account?

 

[MikeTV]

Sorry to hear that, very disappointing to say the least.
How was the rejection process? I know that dealers will often come up with all manner of reasons to dissuade you from rejecting their car. "Give us one more chance to sort it out etc etc" Or maybe their cooperation was the one thing that the dealer got right? If it went smoothly, how long was it between formally rejecting the car and having the money back in your bank account?

The rejection process was far simpler than them trying to sell the car. The worst purchaser is a car enthusiast and I happily accept I fall in that category. Too often today no matter what you purchase you get a ‘it will do’ attitude and that’s just not right and people who pay good money, in my case the asking price, expect much better.

I think with all mentioned previously they were keen to keep me sweet as no doubt they will sell the same car with no rectifications to someone else with a more forgiving eye.

I can’t knock how I was dealt with from sales to final refund but I don’t want a nice friendly face, I’d rather have a car as described. Forgetting the service was the final straw for me as it now inconveniences me further on top of replacing the two rear tyres and accepting a bonnet no doubt will be questioned later when coming to sell.

Sadly I don’t think this dealership is on its own and there are plenty the same - I’m sick of hearing, ‘it’s a used car’ - I accept this and this is why I anally ask them in emails to let me know of any imperfection - they either are reluctant to do so or just rubbish. There used to be a time where a main dealer would only have their best examples on their forecourt and any paint imperfections were remedied BEFORE the car is advertised for sale - again standards have fallen to the likes of a dodgy auction!

In total about 2 weeks from purchase to return to refund.

Hope that helps.

Keep a look our for this S3 and caution if considering purchase.

 

[Santiago]

Sadly I don’t think this dealership is on its own and there are plenty the same - I’m sick of hearing, ‘it’s a used car’ - I accept this and this is why I anally ask them in emails to let me know of any imperfection - they either are reluctant to do so or just rubbish. There used to be a time where a main dealer would only have their best examples on their forecourt and any paint imperfections were remedied BEFORE the car is advertised for sale - again standards have fallen to the likes of a dodgy auction!

Wise words. Glad you got the final outcome you wanted, even if you did have to go through a frustrating process to get there. It is always difficult when you are buying a car from a dealer a long way away. By the time you have got there (and normally kept waiting for 30 mins), you are tired, frustrated, and just want to get the finance deal done and get back home with your new car. I know of some where the round trip was more than 6 hours. You are just not in a good place to go round the car with a fine tooth comb, so many only find the defects when they have a closer inspection next day.

I agree with you are falling standards at (most) dealerships. My local Audi dealer is pretty good tbh (I have bought three cars from them over the last 10 years) but I was looking at an otherwise very nice looking 2023 blue S3 on the forecourt recently, which had two badly scuffed alloys. Yes, I know they would repair them at no extra cost, but that's not the point. It just shouldn't be on the forecourt with damaged wheels and it just leaves you wondering what else have they overlooked that you can't see? I think there is an attitude that "its sold with a warrantee, just bring it back if you have problems", not appreciating it that we don't want to have to bring it back to fix problems that should have been sorted before we bought it! In other words, there is no proper quality control.

 

[8YARWY]

The rejection process was far simpler than them trying to sell the car. The worst purchaser is a car enthusiast and I happily accept I fall in that category. Too often today no matter what you purchase you get a ‘it will do’ attitude and that’s just not right and people who pay good money, in my case the asking price, expect much better.

I think with all mentioned previously they were keen to keep me sweet as no doubt they will sell the same car with no rectifications to someone else with a more forgiving eye.

I can’t knock how I was dealt with from sales to final refund but I don’t want a nice friendly face, I’d rather have a car as described. Forgetting the service was the final straw for me as it now inconveniences me further on top of replacing the two rear tyres and accepting a bonnet no doubt will be questioned later when coming to sell.

Sadly I don’t think this dealership is on its own and there are plenty the same - I’m sick of hearing, ‘it’s a used car’ - I accept this and this is why I anally ask them in emails to let me know of any imperfection - they either are reluctant to do so or just rubbish. There used to be a time where a main dealer would only have their best examples on their forecourt and any paint imperfections were remedied BEFORE the car is advertised for sale - again standards have fallen to the likes of a dodgy auction!

In total about 2 weeks from purchase to return to refund.

Hope that helps.

Keep a look our for this S3 and caution if considering purchase.

It’s one of the reasons I’ll never own a new audi ever again, had a terrible experience with Macclesfield Audi in December last year.

It seems even when paying good money for service work, which they seem to prefer to actually selling a car, they still aren’t fussed about quality / customer standards.

Never again.