Laertes

So, I recently learned that the leather seats in my '00 A4 avant 2.8 (sold to me by a local dealer as a certified used car) are aftermarket, which, by the way, was not mentioned by the dealer when I bought the car. I am pretty steamed, for a few reasons:
1. I am concerned about safety issues because of the fact that someone other than the factory has upholstered over the side airbags built into the seats. In the event of a side impact with airbag deployment, I am worried that if not done properly, the airbags might not burst through the proper seam on the seat and could injure me or my passenger.
2. The seats only have leather on the center panel of the seat facing, i.e. where my butt and back touch the seats. Everything else (seat sides and backs, headrests, center console cover, and door trim)is vinyl. Thus the car is not worth as much as it would have been with a factory interior.
3. The quality of the install is not up to factory standard, as the vinyl on the door panels is pulling away from the mount and sagging on three of the four doors.

The dealer has been no help at this point, and refuses to replace the seats and other trim parts with factory items. This is in spite of the fact that I have documentation that states the car was delivered to me "as factory equipped", without additional options. It is possible that the dealer did not notice the car had been reupholstered when they did their inspection for certification (I don't know if they (the dealer) or the previous owner had the interior redone), but regardless they sold it to me as factory interior. I am interested in other folks opinions as to what I should do. Also, can anyone definitively tell me what portions of the seats and other trim parts should be leather on my car, i.e. how were the cars upholstered by the factory? Sorry for the long post, but this has been very frustrating. Thanks in advance.

rigor

if so your fugged

April

signing the papers. If yes, this gives the dealer leverage saying that you knew about this, but still took the car.

Now technically unless they put into writing that the seats are leather or the original equipment list says the seats are leather, they are under no obligation to replace what is there with leather. If you go after them saying that the car is not original and the court says ( or they agree out of court ) they must put the car back to stock, that may mean leatherette or cloth - depending what the car originally came with.

How obvious is it that the seats are not original ? Are they stock seats with partial leather coverings, or totally non-stock ? Who made the seat covers ( some European brands have TUV approved stitiching for the side bags ) ?

On 2.8 cars equipped with leather, all parts that look like leather, are really leather. Only Mercedes and Audi do/did this.

AwdiA4

If you get what you want and deserve, the stealership will hold a grudge against you when you come in for future visits or warranty claims.

92gli

There is no process, the dealers slap "certified" on anything they want and they leave audi of america to deal with the angry customers. Audi of america turns around and tells you that you have to handle it with the dealer...with no regard for how or why the customer got in the situation.

Laertes

I did not notice the problem until I took the car to another dealer to have them fix the sagging door trim, at which point they noticed it was aftermarket.

As for documentation, the sheet that is posted on the window with the "as is" and "warrantee" boxes has a check in the "warrantee" box. The "as is" box is empty. None of the documentation that came with the car says "as is". But I have two different documents that say that the car is delivered "as factory equipped", with the signature of the salesman underneath. It seems to me (though I am not an attorney) that the dealer has a responsibility to deliver a car with what equipment the buyer would reasonably assume is stock, unless otherwise specified. For example, if I bought a certified pre-owned A4 with 2.8 badges from a dealer (and at a price consistent with the going rate for a 2.8) and subsequently found out somebody had replaced the engine with a 1.8T before I bought it, I think it would be incumbent upon the dealer to replace the engine so it jibes with what was advertised and sold to me. Am I wrong?

April

Remember that the tech who does the certification process, is looking at basic mechanical items, missing parts, torn seats, etc. If you missed it until later, then the tech likely wasn't looking hard at the exact materials - just for defects - and missed it too. Obviously the previous owner of the car didn't tell the dealer - so the blame could be passed along.

A 1.8t in place of a 2.8 is a tad more obvious ;-)

Depending on the document you saw in the window, it is most likely the "buyer's guide". A pretty basic document that usually covers 50% of parts and labour for 30 days or 3000 miles. That usually covers driveline stuff.

The salesman is not a direct agent with the power to make or uphold deals for the dealer. Their signature usually means nothing. You need to have the signature of the sales manager or finance manager - usually someone who is a notary.

I would suggest you consult briefly with an attorney, but recognize that they want your money. It's likely going to take a lot of money to force the dealer's hand - money you could take and buy a used A4 interior with original covers and then turn around and sell yours.

patela

I dunno about the lots of money part. Maybe lots of pain in the neck.

I'm not a lawyer (yet) either, but it seems to me that if the dealership either knew, or should have known (that's the key, really) that the leather was aftermarket, and either explicitly said, or implied that it was original factory, there is contract and fraud issue. First, they didnt deliver what they indicated that they were delivering, and what you agreed to buy, really, SO there is an issue of whether the contract is valid.

Second, if they knew, and purposefully mislead you as to the status of the interior, then it's fraud, which not only voids the contract, but is also criminal.

Finally, the price of fixing it: In many states, the limit of value in a small claims court is several thousand dollars. The value of this problem is probably whatever the sticker says leather interior costs, (or alternately, the price to procure and install leather interior, or the difference in proice between what you got, and what you thought you were getting.) In any of these cases, it might come in under the limit. In that case, you can bring the claim yourself, without a lawyer. That makes it a lot cheaper. Then you just have to plead you case (kind of like on the poeple's court; make sure you have all the documents, and any witnesses.) Often, the person being sued doesnt show up, and you win by default. After that, there's the matter of collecting the money, but that comes later.

Also, have you talked to them and pointed it out. What did they say? There are plenty of other ways to go about dealing with this. (They may not all fix the problem, but you'll get some satisfaction.) Local news channels love this kind of stuff. Imagine your dealership's response to being featured on the 6 o'clock news. Bad publicity can do wonders for attitude. Just make sure that you're willing to go to another place to get the car worked on.
good luck!

pinkertonfloyd

"Certification" is nothing more than a Marketing Ploy...