Having read your post there is no fraud. A knowledgeable person tried to dissuade you from repairing the car by telling you a high price for repair (probably close to the cost of complete rewiring)and suggesting it was not worth it. I agree that at his labor rate and experience level it is not worth his time to repair the car. He makes a better margin on oil changes and he won’t tie up employees and a repair bay with a tedious repair. It may not be worth it at all depending on the cost of a full diagnosis.
As for offering to sell a new car they are a new car dealer. A new car vs a $6000 bill for repair is not obvious fraud at all, it seems somewhat helpful advice. So you chose not to take the offer. No harm no foul.
You blue book is retail price. Probably $9500 wholesale if the car was in saleable condition which it is not. At about 80% the cost to value, this repair becomes a risky proposition if you do not really know what is broken. A bad engine or dead transmission has pretty exact costs to repair, wiring is not at all the case.
Try to relax it was horrible and shocking news, but the advice given, even if it insulted you, is not fraud.
I would also love to know the details behind the repair amount, which I also consider to be extremely high.
While offhand the amount seems obscene, even to me, a serious electrical fault could possibly run that much to repair if a worst case scenario exists.
I have no idea what the cost of a main wire harness (or possibly harnesses) is for an Audi but it has to be godawful high and my guess would be a couple or 3 grand just for the wire loom.
If the shop had to start removing seats, carpets, kick panels, dashboards, and who knows what else to change this harness I could then see the labor getting into the astronomical range.
My best guess here is that the OP was given a worst case price as an estimate and flew off the handle or was given an obscenely high price in an attempt to get him to leave the premises.
You’re also correct about service manager/writer attitudes. They’re people persons and maintain a calm professional demeanor until pushed into the corner. Even then it usually results in a firm “end of discussion” at most.
Yeah. We’ll never know the real story here.
George, I know you won’t reply to this (since he is not involved in this post anymore) but what would you rather hear?
Would you rather here “it would cost $6000” or “we don’t want to work on it”? Either way you would not like it.
Well, folks, here in a nutshell is why American business is TOTALLY screwed up: you have folks like “mshugna” saying “Hey, it’s okay to cheat customers” - Say What? Do you work for AIG!!! Oh, and if you trust the mechanic or the dealer, you are “dumb”? Wow. How times have changed… fraud, deception and thievery are now the new standard - the victim is at fault - and if you get caught, maybe the government (or clever lawyers) will bail you out! Mr Mshugna, I heartily recommend that you take a college course in “Ethics” - or is it too late for that?
Let me guess: ok4450 owns a dealership! Blame the customer, because taking responsibility for one’s actions is difficult. And, being a dealer, you can say “buyer beware” every time you cheat someone! Complaining about a dishonest dealer is NOT “dealer bashing” - rather, it is an act of self=-defense: the dishonest dealers have all the money, all the lawyers, and all the political power - and they bully owners, lie to owners, cheat owners - making it difficult for all the honest shops out there!
Best reply: “I have been participating in a number of boards on different topics over the last 12 years since I retired. Boards go through cycles. As bad as this board has gotten in the last months, this has to be the funniest thread I have seen here in a long time. A bunch of obnoxious people with no people skills call a man a lot of names, because he is obnoxious with no people skills. Too funny. I must wonder if you former professional mechanics realize how bad it sounded for your profession to paint the moves by the service people and salesman as normal???”
Get a hold of your state attorney general
TROLL ALERT! We haven’t had a someone like this in awhile. Quit responding to him and maybe he will go away. Here is a 76 year know-it-all with nothing to do but flame everyone here.