Audi dealer in helpful shocker!

[Jim 1]

So since I started my heater matrix job, I realised I need a few parts to get everything reinstalled - but of course with the car out of commission and the VW dealer on the other side of town, I was thinking I needed to pester some friends for a lift over or bike over there or something.

 

I actually walk past an Audi dealership on my way home from work, and indeed this massive dealership is about a 3 minute walk from my house, but I've been told before that VAG do some bizarre brand lock-out on parts that are not common to both VW & Audi - so you can't order VW parts at Audi and vice versa. Why they do this, when they're the same damn company is beyond me. Surely a sale is a sale, and indeed their parts catalogue as anyone who's used it, lists all the parts for both VW and Audi cars.

 

But anyway the parts chap came out and looked at the part numbers I needed, and confirmed they were all indeed brand locked - he found out they were for the Corrado and we had a good old chat about the car and really seemed interested.. asking me about the mileage, what sort of stuff has been done to it, and said that basically as that dealership was part of a group that also owned the VW dealership across town it'd be no problem for him to get parts ordered through them and then collected and bought over to the Audi.

 

So I have to give Listers Audi in Coventry a big thumbs up for being so damn helpful. They didn't need to be, and indeed the value of the parts was nothing (a couple of bolts and some foam gaskets!) but he seemed genuinely interested in helping me get the car back on the road.

[Goldie 2]

Nice to hear in an era where i often feel our ownership of these cars is been strangled through parts obsolescence and awkward dealers.

 

The VW dealer i use is 10 miles away. The one just round the corner was so obtuse I've never been back..

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Morning Jim

 

Did you dive into the matrix job on the weekend then?

 

how did you get on so far m8 & what parts did you find you needed?

 

i had to move back to my apartment so missed the clear weather

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Jim - ive seen your updates on the other matrix thread

 

im glad it sounds like your finally starting to win!

[Jim 1]

Well, not yet I'm not. Waiting on a replacement heater box which, hopefully, lilfuzzer has or is shortly able to get to me in the post!

[Jim Bowen 1]

I had a great local VW parts department, but VW shut it down, the one i have to use now isn't very welcoming and really dull, no one there has showed any interest in the car at all. Very depressing. I hardly use them now, unless its essential.

 

I am sure a couple of the guys from the VW garage i used to use now work in the audi garage, but i've not been yet.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Well, not yet I'm not. Waiting on a replacement heater box which, hopefully, lilfuzzer has or is shortly able to get to me in the post!

 

ahh ok Jim

 

how are you finding it so far? any tips? (though mine will be on an early so very slightly different)

 

oh & is the guide much help?

[Jim 1]

The guide has good info though I must admit I just got stuck in and didn't read it. It was logical enough on how to take it apart. The only hassle I had was the damn heater box itself which I had to break to get out.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

The guide has good info though I must admit I just got stuck in and didn't read it. It was logical enough on how to take it apart. The only hassle I had was the damn heater box itself which I had to break to get out.

 

OK thanks Jim - really appreciate your feedback

 

i have another guide which is the dash in option - think i might give that a go as by the sound of it you have to wrestle the matrix out either way

[Jim 1]

Thing is by the time you've took everything else out, it's such little additional effort to get the dash out. Clocks, steering column cowling, indicators, etc all take minutes to take out. The dash itself was only about 5-6 bolts and even the horrible ones in the scuttle tray put up very little resistance.

 

Of course I say this now having not put anything back together yet - I might have an absolute mare with it all so.. wait until I've reassembled before you get stuck in perhaps ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

It's all a load of internal politics dog shat. They all use TPS anyway. If you get friendly with an Audi dealer, they can and will get VW parts in for you. Neil's being doing that for me for years :D TPS are shat though. Parts acquired by them regularly arrive broken or the wrong part picked. Moron f'cks.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

good advice heeded Jim thank you

 

i think it is one of those jobs that even if you have done it before it will result in lots of 'F'ing & blinding' at awkward bits that should be easy but prove to be little barstewards

 

good luck with the next step m8 & i will look forward to your updates in due course

[VAG-hag 0]

im glad i was sat down for that! no bad thing to find a helful parts chap :)

[16VG60 0]

:) Why is when folks get to talking about VAG, TPS, and parts obsolescence there is an instant break out of Tourette's :0

Purely rehtorical that statement. I'm only too well aware of your frustration, it's a twice daily event here. But hey, light in the tunnel on the retail parts counter, fantastic! Let's hope it's a contagious condition throughout the network.

[Jim 1]

Enthusiasm from the parts counter guy doesn't entirely make up for the fact that some of the bits I wanted to order were on back order, most likely totally unavailable! :) VW as a company need to take their classics / enthusiasts a bit more seriously in my humble opinion.. it's not like they can't afford it.

[16VG60 0]

Ah that's more like it Jim, you sound just like me when I am obliged to suck up the usual "service" provided by VW Audi parts distribution network.

Why is it that all the other German Vehicle manufacturing groups pride themselves on their enthusiast following and actively support their classic parts range. And then there's VW Audi who can't wait to withdraw parts support from as early as 5 years in, and view the enthusiast following as some sort of awkward relative. What a wasted source of revenue, would they but know it.

[Jim 1]

Amen!

[MarkFoster 0]

Let's boycott and all buy BMW's!

[16VG60 0]

Blasphemy :)

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

BMW's!

 

diirty word ewww!!!! lol

 

[ with exception of an E reg M3 Evo ;) ]

[sexybourbon 0]

Nothing wrong with bm's id love an old e30 325 skidder , gonna do one after the corrado is built me thinks , on the parts side they are totally **** , every time i ring vw i get told ...... Not available , obsolete , cant be arsed to look for said part cos im to busy trying to not help you

[Sean_Jaymo 0]

If not BMW, then how about old Mercs?

 

 

1970 C Pillarless coupe for anyone interested...

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nothing wrong with bm's id love an old e30 325 skidder , gonna do one after the corrado is built me thinks , on the parts side they are totally **** , every time i ring vw i get told ...... Not available , obsolete , cant be arsed to look for said part cos im to busy trying to not help you

 

I've had 3 of those bad boys. 2 x 1990 325i tourers and 1 x 1987 325i coupe. Lovely machines. I could still get parts for the D reg one. I find BMW dealers less snobby than VAG (Audi especially) too.

I never did get around to owning a 325i Sport in Dolphin grey with the recaros, they were lovely cars back in the day. The 325i motor is way torquier than the VR6 low down as well.

 

All old school Bimmers have a charm to them. Not so keen on the modern stuff.

[g0ldf1ng3r 13]

Not so keen on the modern stuff.

 

my 'ewww' comment was a throw away one really ;) my unlce has an old BMW 3.0 CSi, reg is black & silver style BMW 309L, & though it needs restoring it is a stunning car with presence every where you look

 

kinda like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/BMW_3.0CSi-Front.jpg

 

Im quite fickle with more modern cars as the majority i do not like. Maybe its the way the manufacturers all seem to copy each other when a more unusual design arrives or a particular model takes off.

 

For example the amount of 'chelsea tractors' i see around is horrendous & they all look very similar. Or take the new scirocco - that looked a lovely 'new' shape until all the other car makers realised it was selling & copied it. In essence they just loose any ability to have character.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

I didn't notice any "ewwwwww" comments, but I know old Bimmers aren't for everybody :D

 

That's a lovely Bimmer!

 

I just love the build quality of them. Not necessarily the perceived quality of the interior, or the engines, but the Unibody. No creaks from the door frame going up kerbs and uneven roads from any of my Bimmers, unlike the Corrado and practically all Golfs. Not even the Tourers with no sheet steel behind the rear seats. BMW just seem to make really strong monocoques. Porsche do as well :D

 

Of the post 2001 BMWs, the only ones that interest me are the Z3M coupe, the E39 M5 and the 1M. The rest are all meh.