VERY FRUSTRATING EXPERIENCE! I sent in my Audi to them because I heard of good things and I needed the service quick (Barrier Audi would always need to schedule first). The folk greeted me was super friendly. My car was making some noise from the engine and he said it sounded it came from the oil pump. I thought I could get my car back later that day and was pretty happy to have picked them with about $200 out of my pocket. Later I was told the pump was fine it was the timing chain, which of course will cost a whole lot more to fix. And they would still charge me the labor for checking the oil pump. Since it was a Friday, I would have to wait until Monday. I had no choice but to see $2k out of my bank to theirs. Monday afternoon I stopped by and was told they would have to order parts, the earliest would be Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon came by and was told they got the parts and would work on it soon. I should check in with them Thursday. Thursday got a call and was told some bolt they were trying to loosen broken or something. They would have to do a whole lot of works to first get it out before the actual repair. They would call me Thursday afternoon. No call. Friday (yeah, it's been a week!) I called them and was told the same story, BUT they would have to charge me another $500 labor because this broken bolt or something. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! You broke something due to the lacking of either proper tools or expertise and you charge the customer for that? ?? I disagreed with them and then they say they would split. I said NO. Eventually they agreed that they would not charge this additional $500. NOW I wonder about the oil pump diagnosis...the more they do, the more they charge you. Think about that. Five days to fix the car and oh by the way, we would ask you to pay another $500 because we couldn't get the job done?! It was so ridiculous! NEVER EVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.
I am sorry you had a bad experience at German Car Specialists. Not all car repairs are simple repairs. This Audi A4 2.0L came in with a loud engine rattle. I explained to Jack that our first step in diagnosing the rattle was to remove the high pressure fuel pump, and inspect the camshaft lobe and tappet for wear. The camshaft and high pressure pump had no wear, the tappet had minor wear although not enough to cause the engine rattle. Next step was to remove the rear timing chain housing to inspect the camshaft timing chain for wear. Once the housing was removed it was discovered that the timing chain had stretched and the chain tensioner was weak thus both required replacement. After inspecting the camshaft gear and timing chain housing for wear it was clear that both needed to be replaced due to grooves worn in the camshaft gear from the oil rings on the rear camshaft housing. Overdue oil services are often the cause of internal engine damage and wear, such as this one. When attempting to remove the exhaust camshaft gear with the proper Audi specialty tool, the head of the bolt stripped out. This bolt is a stretch bolt and when it is torqued it stretches and increase to torque applied to the gear, this bolt cannot be reused and is often too tight to remove. The camshaft must be removed to drill out the bolt. The additional labor for removal of the camshaft and drilling out the bolt was not given in the initial estimate for replacement of timing chain, tensioner, camshaft gear, and timing case cover. After calling Jack and explaining the situation, German Car Specialists drilled out and replaced the bolt at no additional cost to the owner. Due to the extensive and unexpected repairs needed to this Audi A4 it took longer to repair than expected. Not all repairs are quick and simple. Jack was not charged for any additional repairs required, the car was fixed properly and done at the cost of German Car Specialists.
- German Car Specialists