[gatorfast]

I agree with the pay to play concept but I dont see how any of the modifications listed in the email would affect the transmission in any way. The email states that "track driving" is what caused the failure. Either there is more to the story or Audi is making assumptions at the expense of their customer.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by 3rdcoast228i

They are implying you tracked the car, and you had engine management software.

I wonder if the previous owners had a tune installed?

RS5's were NA so probably not.

[Wheelwright]

Quote from BMW Canada official pdf:

"Vehicles Used for Racing, Vehicles Driven on Race Tracks and other Competitive Events

Warranty coverage is suspended and claims will not be honoured by the Vendor.

Component failure directly or indirectly attributable to racing, race track use or other competitive events (direct or implied) in any form is not covered by the terms of the New Car Limited Warranty."

If Audi warranty is anything similar to this no wonder they suspended the coverage. Using German cars on track is a financial nightmare waiting to happen.

[NickyC]

So around $17k US for a transmission?

lollllllllllllllllll

[cliverman]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

In the USA this would be illegal (unless they can PROVE those unrelated mods damaged the trans) but you would have to pay for a lawyer to prove it.

No idea what the law is in Canada.

Yep - that's the way it works in the US. "..PROVE those unrelated mods damaged the trans" That's 100% accurate. Is Canada diff?

Don't they have to prove that is was used as a track car? - if that's makes the warranty voidable?

[nyalpine90]

so all these high performance vehicles cant be tracked???
so whats the point of driving one, local roads have speed limit.
closed circuit is the only way to see what the car is all about.

[Supra2k6]

Their wording to me says that because he modified his brakes and wheels, etc that they assumed he tracked his car and broke his transmission. Time to lawyer up for that invoice plus lawyer fees.

[HelixBmw]

The owner did track car.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Pretty sure Audi has more evidence to back up their claim that the car was tracked than just the fact it was modded. They state pretty definitively that the modifications were made for the purpose of tracking the car. Anyone want to bet that Mr. Law's Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter feeds are filled with nice pictures of him at Cayuga or CT? Or, that he was bragging to the Service Advisor on a previous visit?

As mentioned by others, even if he's right, not worth getting a lawyer but if he didn't track the car and is getting screwed, Small Claims is absolutely worth it for him.

[Supra2k6]

Originally Posted by HelixBmw

The owner did track car.

doesn't matter they can't legally make assumptions unless they car prove he did and adding wheels and brakes is not enough i would assume (not a lawyer) and i don't think they can read cars black box unless it's involved in an accident.

Unless those parts directly affected the trans (bigger profile tires) they're probably just playing hard ball.

I doubt the service writer is surfing the net looking at audi track events thats not how dealerships work nor do service writers have the time.

This is how it usually works.

1) service writer Gives work order to tech:

2) Tech reads codes inspects and recommends service or repair

3) service writer reads ticket sees whats recommended calls customer for out of pocket approval and calls audi NA to get approval for warranty work.

4) AUDI sees 19k says holly shittt and asks the service writer for more data and if any illegal or aftermarket modification have been made.

5) writer asks tech then tech updates ticket

6) writer reports back yes exhaust and wheels and pads

7) AUDI writes back we denied claim based on blah blah and writer reports to customer gets chewed out

8) Customer decides to says fuck it or fight it.

9) Audi sees if it's worth going to court or just accept it but obviously first tries to deny something to not loose money.

its all paper work yes writer makes less commission from warranty work as opposed to customer paid but it's not worth the headache to fail shit on purpose.

[lens]

Originally Posted by Supra2k6

doesn't matter they can't legally make assumptions unless they car prove he did and adding wheels and brakes is not enough i would assume (not a lawyer) and i don't think they can read cars black box unless it's involved in an accident.

Unless those parts directly affected the trans (bigger profile tires) they're probably just playing hard ball.

I doubt the service writer is surfing the net looking at audi track events thats not how dealerships work nor do service writers have the time.

This is how it usually works.

1) service writer Gives work order to tech:

2) Tech reads codes inspects and recommends service or repair

3) service writer reads ticket sees whats recommended calls customer for out of pocket approval and calls audi NA to get approval for warranty work.

4) AUDI sees 19k says holly shittt and asks the service writer for more data and if any illegal or aftermarket modification have been made.

5) writer asks tech then tech updates ticket

6) writer reports back yes exhaust and wheels and pads

7) AUDI writes back we denied claim based on blah blah and writer reports to customer gets chewed out

8) Customer decides to says fuck it or fight it.

9) Audi sees if it's worth going to court or just accept it but obviously first tries to deny something to not loose money.

its all paper work yes writer makes less commission from warranty work as opposed to customer paid but it's not worth the headache to fail shit on purpose.

They wouldn't care if it was like 2000$ or something, but we're talking about 20,000$.

Of course Audi is going to be like wtf did he do to break the transmission. If he didn't have any modifications at all, it would most likely be approved under warranty. But since he literally modified it to seem like he was going to take it to the track (which I'm pretty sure he did) then he's got no chance of winning anything.

And I'm pretty sure it's not the components that caused the failure but the stress from track time. You're talking about holding high RPM and alot of shifting on the track for 15-20 minutes, if he never serviced his transmission or if he doesn't take care of the car itself, it's gonna break.

[JohnnyCanuck]

Originally Posted by Supra2k6

doesn't matter they can't legally make assumptions unless they car prove he did and adding wheels and brakes is not enough i would assume (not a lawyer) and i don't think they can read cars black box unless it's involved in an accident.

Unless those parts directly affected the trans (bigger profile tires) they're probably just playing hard ball.

I doubt the service writer is surfing the net looking at audi track events thats not how dealerships work nor do service writers have the time.

This is how it usually works.

1) service writer Gives work order to tech:

2) Tech reads codes inspects and recommends service or repair

3) service writer reads ticket sees whats recommended calls customer for out of pocket approval and calls audi NA to get approval for warranty work.

4) AUDI sees 19k says holly shittt and asks the service writer for more data and if any illegal or aftermarket modification have been made.

5) writer asks tech then tech updates ticket

6) writer reports back yes exhaust and wheels and pads

7) AUDI writes back we denied claim based on blah blah and writer reports to customer gets chewed out

8) Customer decides to says fuck it or fight it.

9) Audi sees if it's worth going to court or just accept it but obviously first tries to deny something to not loose money.

its all paper work yes writer makes less commission from warranty work as opposed to customer paid but it's not worth the headache to fail shit on purpose.

Except once the SA or Audi suspect tracking, I bet they do exactly what you suggest they don't ... they look for evidence, including social media. Warranty claims management is an insurance business ... why would you think they wouldn't do exactly what other insurers do? Once they suspect something, look for the evidence. 30 minutes of work on a $17,000 claim is probably routine.

Audi denying based solely on the fact that wheels/tires/exhaust has been modified without a) plausibly linking it to the transmission failure; or b) clear evidence that the policy terms have been breached amounts to bad faith in an insurance contract. As per the Supreme Court of Canada in Whiten v. Pilot Insurance:

An award of punitive damages in a contract case, though rare, is obtainable. It requires an “actionable wrong” in addition to the breach sued upon. Here, in addition to the contractual obligation to pay the claim, the respondent was under a distinct and separate obligation to deal with its policyholders in good faith. A breach of the contractual duty of good faith was thus independent of and in addition to the breach of contractual duty to pay the loss.

Make no mistake, the people who write the procedures manuals for the warranty claims department of Audi (or BMW) are well aware of the requirements for good faith performance of a contract. More recently, from Bhasin v. Hrynew, the SCC held that good faith and honest performance applies to every contract:

Under this new general duty of honesty in contractual performance, parties must not lie or otherwise knowingly mislead each other about matters directly linked to the performance of the contract.

In other words, if Audi is denying the claim they have enough evidence upon which to base a credible and arguable defence to any litigation. The lawyers who advise on their procedures and policy manuals will make sure of that. Doesn't mean that they have overwhelming evidence, but they are not Great Benefit Life here either.

[cliverman]

Originally Posted by HelixBmw

The owner did track car.

Okay. So, did he walk into the service department and say, "I just came from the track and my car's transmission died"? Or...did the service dept. infer that b/c he had mods that he tracked it?

[IndotagSwizz]

dealers always try this kind of bs.....because there's always an idiot or two that will fall for it...first layers letter to reach that dealership will change their attitude in a heartbeat

[Wolf 335]

I thought R stood for Race in RS5

[IndotagSwizz]

Originally Posted by Wolf 335

I thought R stood for Race in RS5

more like "Rip off" lol

[RickFLM4]

I don't know about Canada, but I don't think small claims is the right avenue. Audi will have lawyers that have represented them in many similar claims. Oliver will have an uphill battle against them, particularly if he tracked the car and Audi warranty language says the warranty will be suspended if the car is tracked per post 25 above.

[Axius]

Originally Posted by cliverman

Okay. So, did he walk into the service department and say, "I just came from the track and my car's transmission died"? Or...did the service dept. infer that b/c he had mods that he tracked it?

I'd imagine there has to be some kind of implication that allows companies to do this. The IMSB lifetime warranty replacement for my 911 is void the second the car touches the track as well. However, LNE isn't going to strap a video camera to everyone that purchases the solution to verify the car has never been tracked or not.

There has to be some sort of guideline that allows a dealership / company to make a correlation to whether a car was tracked or not. If the car was stock, and was tracked, I would believe that Audi may not toss this card out there. There was at least some type of speculation, and if he absolutely did not track the car, then the courts should yield in his favor. However, the facts still fall that he did at some point track the car, if that's knowledge to us (strangers), then what case does he have against Audi?

[nyalpine90]

audi probably found his intagram pics of him at the race track, and dabbing

[cliverman]

or he rolled up into service like this....

[Maynard]

Originally Posted by Wheelwright

Quote from BMW Canada official pdf:

"Vehicles Used for Racing, Vehicles Driven on Race Tracks and other Competitive Events

Warranty coverage is suspended and claims will not be honoured by the Vendor.

Component failure directly or indirectly attributable to racing, race track use or other competitive events (direct or implied) in any form is not covered by the terms of the New Car Limited Warranty."
.

So does this mean that taking my car out to a BMWCCA driving day would void my warranty?

[Axius]

Originally Posted by Maynard

So does this mean that taking my car out to a BMWCCA driving day would void my warranty?

Is the vehicle being driven on a race track?