Audi TT

Middle of the road – that’s how owners rated the Audi experience in our Driver Power 2007 survey of the UK’s best and worst dealers.
The German brand came 16th out of the 32 manufacturers listed in the poll of more than 30,000 readers. The highest score was reserved for the cleanliness and atmosphere of the company’s dealerships; the lowest for the value for money of servicing and repairs.

Over the past few months, Audi has been investing in revamping a number of its service centres and opening new ones. So, has the plan worked and made its garages better places to visit?

I’ve had the chance to find out, as our long-term TT has just had its first service. The odometer was reading more than 19,000 miles when the word ‘SERVICE!’ flashed up on the dash’s digital display.
I booked the car into my local dealer, Southend Audi, which only weeks earlier had moved into a new, purpose-built unit on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Rayleigh, Essex.

And I can confirm the findings of our Driver Power report. Staff at the showroom were very professional and the atmosphere clinical. What’s more, the bill – at over £360 for what is a glorified oil change (the oil itself came to £77) – was very high.

But that doesn’t quite tell the full story, because Southend Audi spotted a couple of things on the TT that I didn’t know about. First, I was told about a recall on the hydraulic rear spoiler. On early models it was possible for the spoiler to jam shut in the closed position, apparently. While this hadn’t happened to me in my eight months with the TT, the recall work was done there and then.

And technician Mike Kaye also showed me a problem with the bonnet release lever located in the driver’s footwell. A new one is on order and will be fitted shortly under warranty. Finally, a check revealed the pollen/pollution filter wasn’t up to it, and so this was also replaced.

While the TT was being fettled, I had a chance to have a nose around the Southend Audi facilities – and I had forgotten just how spotless they keep modern service centres these days.

There wasn’t a mark of grease or oil to be seen, and the service garage floors were constantly being mopped and sprayed with various degreasers and disinfectants. I also spied at least six of Audi’s awesome new R8 supercars undergoing pre-delivery checks. Southend Audi is one of the designated R8 regional centres, which means it is trusted with preparing the £80,000 dream machines for their discerning new owners.

As far as I am concerned, my TT is a dream. In its own shrunken way, it looks every inch as good as the R8, and the quality of the cabin is also on a par.

After nearly 20,000 miles in eight months, its 3.2-litre V6 is returning a very impressive 28mpg. The only complaint is the sluggishness of the DSG sequential box when pulling away.

But overall, here’s one very satisfied customer who can confirm there’s now more ‘Driver Power’ to the Audi experience than ever before.