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What is my recourse against Audi service who lied?

• I recently purchased a 2006 Audi s4 anniversary edition from a private owner. I live 1200 miles away from the owner and found the car on Ebay. I figured I would have the car inspected at the Audi dealership near the owner. I contacted the service dept and told the service adviser who I would end up talking with 5 or 6 times, that I was going to buy the car and needed to get a leak-down test and buyer's inspection. He informed me to contact him once the owner brought the car in. I talked to the owner and he brought it in for oil change/last service to the dealership. I called the dealership and they informed me that the owner had paid for the leak-down/buyer inspection! I was happy but in retrospect I should have got this all in writing. I called later and talked to the same service adviser and he informed me that the car was beautiful, (there are only 250 of them in N America) He said the only thing it needed was brake pads and tires. I asked him if it showed any signs of being wrecked which he had told me earlier they could check for, he stated "no", and reiterated what a "beautiful" car it was. I flew down to LA, and was picked up by the owner, and upon signing the "as-is" was informed that the battery had failed a load test, and was replaced and that the lights sometimes "dipped". The dipping issue I had read about. Over the last 3 weeks since buying it I have noticed it is consuming a lot of oil. (3 quarts in 3k miles. Here is a list of the other things I noticed. 1. Mechanics in town told me the front end was obviously repainted and hard to miss. Missing v8 emblem on the obviously blended fender. 2.The rotors were dead, not the brake pads. 3. Burning Oil. The steps I have taken so far is calling the 800 Audi number and telling them whats going on and keeping them updated. I also have started communicating with the dealership's service manager. He says due to California law he can't send me the last work done because the owner paid for it! He did slip up and read me the work done though! It was a shocker! 1. No leak-down/compression test was ever performed. 2. According to the manager, at the same time the battery was done $3500 of work was done including leaking valve cover gaskets and a bunch of other stuff. He also rattled off a bunch of stuff that needed to still be repaired but wasn't covered by extended warranty, including torn cv boot, etc. I was not told any of this by the service adviser! The manager stated that he would talk to the service adviser, and that is was not their policy to talk to a 3rd party who an inspection is being performed. I feel as though there may have been collusion between the car owner and the service adviser. I question whether the work was completely or done properly as it is still consuming oil. The service light was not reset, despite the service manager claiming his best tech did the work. I'm still working with Audi and the dealership and when asked what I want, I have replied that I would like a copy of the last work done, and the work that needs to be done which I would have discovered had I paid for the test and demanded email results. I also want the dealership or Audi to pay for an inspection, and leak-down test at my local Audi dealership to verify the work that was supposedly done. Questions: 1. Do I have legal grounds to sue the dealership for lying to me about the condition of the car, and omitting results? 2. Is my request for Retesting to confirm their work asking too much or too little? Ty in advance.

• Answer:

  Tough call, and I am sorry about your experience. However, doesn't Ebay offer an inspection service prior to purchase? Did you have the extended warranty transferred into your name? Call the zone manager of Audi, and get them involved. Unfortunately, you may not have much recourse, since this was not purchased at a dealer, however the burning oil is excessive, and should be taken care of.