I've had my S4 since September of last year and love it. Finding a shop to do maintenance for me has been a challenge here in the Charleston area. The first thing I had to have done when I purchased the car was a timing belt change as it had 72k miles on it. Well I went to a European specific shop on Dorchester Road as it was the first one I found in the Yellow Pages. I was quoted $950ish for parts and labor which sounded about right from what I've read here on AW. Well after the car was there for a few extra days and very little feedback was given from the mechanic my car was done and the final bill was nearly $1400. Well it turns out the belt took a few extra hours to replace due to a "Stubborn" bolt and the fuel filter was replaced which was several extra hours of labor. Being new to my Audi I said sounds good and paid them. A few months later my car had poor power that I thought might have been a boost leak. Did a little research and built a tester. I ended up finding a leak down on the driver side turbo but couldn't get to it. Took the S back to the shop on Dorchester and told them what was going on with it. Told them to pressure check it and to see why my tailpipes were always black. Another few days went by with little follow up. Back to the shop to get the car and pay the bill; they wanted to charge about 8hrs of labor for the pressure check" they said they found two leaks off the intercooler pipes which were hard to access "BS" but only fixed one which I didn't find out till a day later looking over the car myself, and a leak down by the driver side turbo... no kidding, already told them that, they said that leak would take further investigation and most likely sub frame drop or removal to find" They also said the black smoke was due to a temperature difference in my main cats which would be $800 for parts and a full days labor. I ended up telling them I was only paying them $250 out of the like $750 which was still ripping me off because all I had to show was two new hose clamps at $1 each. With a very sour taste in my mouth from that shop I got back on AW and searched for a more reputable shop to take my car. After reading a few post German Auto Repair showed up and only good things were posted about them. I was sold "fingers crossed". Took the car to there shop and talked to Chris one of the mechanics. Told him my trials and tribulations from the previous mechanic and also what the car was having trouble with "low boost, excessive smoke, and poor mpg". I gave him the keys and headed home. Next day got a call from Chris," I did a pressure check and found a few leaks which I clamped down and also found out that your passenger side turbo is a little noisy and seems to not be boosting right, I'll get it off the car and call you back with what I find". Very next morning Chris called again and said the turbo is off and it's in rough shape, the compressor wheel is all mangled up." I actually posted about the turbo a couple weeks back "look what the repairman found" I think was the title. I went up to the shop after work to find a turbo in bad shape in need of repair. Spent the next day trying to find a shop that would work on a custom turbo. Got her in the mail and fixed as quick as I could and back to German Auto Repair. After the turbo showed up got a call saying it was there and that as soon as the new oil lines and gasket showed up it would be installed. The oil lines BTW were all kinked up from a bad install by the previous owner. With the new turbo installed Chris checked all the connections and then check the connections on the other turbo. To no ones surprise he found the boost leak that I could here from my home tester and a broken washer in one of the banjo fittings, also the driver side oil lines were just as messed up as the other. Got new lines and everything was tightened down. Oh, forgot to mention that while the turbo was out for repair Chris tore the hole intake intercooler system apart to ensure whatever chewed up the turbo wasn't still bouncing around somewhere, "Very through in my book". Okay, all turbo lines, clamps, ect. connected, tightened.... let the car run for about 20-30min to check for any other leaks. He found one of the lines needed to be tightened a bit more. While under there he also found that I had an exhaust leak at one of the joints, probably a bad gasket which will be an easy fix later on when I have time. The car now runs strong, no smoke, best of all I think I really found a mechanic that cares about his work and won't settle till a pristine car is returned to its owner. If anyone in the area needs work done I would highly recommend you go to German Auto Repair and ask for Chris, there number is (843) 851-2144. Oh, don't let his age fool you, his dad is the owner and I think he spent his whole life in the shop learning from the old man!

Kendal

 

Hey man, where in the Charleston area are you at? I live over on James Island and have been looking for some fellow s4 owners to hang out/ cruise with.

 

Holy crap what a long post. I don't even live near Charleston but I read that whole thing anyway for some reason.

I know what you mean, the first place I took my A4 to seemed good at first but ended up being worthless. I had to redo every single thing that guy did to my car. What a waste of time and money. I am glad you found a good shop, hold on to that guy dearly and send as many Audi guys to him as you can. A really good mechanic is hard to find and I try to hook them up with as much business as possible whenever I find one.

 

Ha- you guys are screwed. I just moved away from Charleston and had to sell my Audi pretty much because of how much all the mechanics down there f'ed it up. I had my timing belt done down in Hilton Head. The place is supposed to be really good and they've been there forever, it cost about $700.

Right before I moved I took the car there again to make sure all was well. Car was making a kind of strange noise, he said nothing was wrong and it only needed oil service. I get it out here and have a real person look at it: turbo-gone, engine-leaking oil, exhaust-leaking, control arm-not looking good, transmission-leaking, coolant-leaking.

I had the car at the dealer about a month before this for something else and they told me everything was fine too. And I knew it wasn't but no one would believe me.

Your real options are:
1. Move
2. Buy a different car

My best advice though would be not to take it to the dealer. I knew the service manager over there personally and he left the company because of some of the stuff that went on there. He is a really great guy. The only good mechanic they had there left as well.

 

dude this is the post i needed to see!! I just moved to hilton head and cant stand how nobody can work on my damn car. It sucks havin a K04 with nobody to install it.

 

^ screwed

[&o]


My parents live in Hilton Head. Well, Bluffton. Try Atlanta or Jacksonville maybe.

 

I'm in Charleston as well!
I mostly post on Audizine, but I am gonna come over here more often!