Driver wins £13k damages after upmarket Audi plagued with problems

A MAN who bought an upmarket Audi as a third car was told today he was entitled to £13,500 damages after it was plagued with problems.

An expert who examined David Douglas' A4 Audi Avant 54Q declared it was "undriveable" in the condition it was in at the time.

Mr Douglas raised an action against Glenvarigill Company Ltd, which traded as Edinburgh Audi at the time when he agreed to buy the vehicle in November 2004 with a purchase price of 41,050.

A judge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh said: "The major fault was intermittent but very serious, in the sense that it represented a significant risk to the safety of those using the car."

Lord Drummond Young said: "The car was an expensive one, supposedly built to a high specification, and plainly failed to meet very basic standards of manufacture."

He said that experts who checked it were clear that faults it displayed should not have appeared in any vehicle – regardless of the price.

The judge added: "Edinburgh Audi had been given repeated opportunities to repair the car but failed to do successfully. Indeed, despite their possession of sophisticated electronic equipment, they do not appear to have discovered what the basic fault was, and carried out unnecessary repairs that adversely affected the value of the car."

The court heard that there were occasional problems with the Audi from an early stage especially with starting it in the morning and either the garage or AA was asked to sort them.

But in March 2006 Mr Douglas, of Braid Farm Road, Edinburgh, was driving to Skye when the engine management system cut in slowing the car to about 30 mph. A similar problem arose a short time later when it was being driven on the motorway between Edinburgh and Glasgow at 70 mph before rapidly slowing to about 30 mph.

The car was taken back to Edinburgh Audi in May and remained largely with the garage until December in what the judge described as an "extraordinary" delay.

And the problems continued after this.

Consultant automotive engineer Alan Bathgate was brought in to examine the car and said he tried to start it on 20 occasions but the engine cut out every time. he also found the central locking system was inoperative and the alarm system faulty. The expert said it was "undriveable" in its then condition.

The vehicle was taken to another Audi garage and a problem was found with the dash control module, which acts as a hub for all the vehicle's systems control units. A repair costing about 650 was required to replace the entire dash module.

Lord Drummond Young said Mr Douglas was entitled to damages for breach of contract and assessed the amount at 13,459, but said he would give Mr Douglas the chance to make further representations in the action before pronouncing a final order.