I think you know the answer. I'm locked in, obviously. Isn't that the entire point of the LRG?
For sure just do what you do - don't ask. I suggest keeping good track of it all in a spreadsheet. Fill out the forms correctly. Live chat is the way to go. The other thing is...don't sit on the stuff. Buy the oil, change the oil, return the oil. Don't have a big backlog of things b/c it's easier to keep track of/less hassle for you b/c they won't get confused. That's part of why I haven't had as much drama as you, when I am saving up and returning things, I only have one items out there to replace. Also, as soon as I order my stuff, I fill out the return even if it will be mos. before I send the box of stuff back. They were v. lenient for a long time and this is the result of them dealing with folks that were abusing i.e. sending things back they didn't order, from other vendors, etc. etc. Follow the rules/system and you will be fine.I think you know the answer. I'm locked in, obviously. Isn't that the entire point of the LRG?
From now on, my policy with them is just going to be ask for forgiveness, not permission. I'm just going to order what I want and then when they nickel and dime my return, I'm going to complain on their live chat until I get my way.
If I got to customer service first, there's always a naysayer that's going to tell me "no no no" all day.
The oil was the only backlog. I The brake kit you better believe I returned the outgoing one asap. That was a lot of money. They also gave me a credit when I was still under the cash return policy, but I let it slide hoping to build some rapport, so now I have a giant credit there. Maybe I'll spend it on a clutch/flywheel. Mine is due any day now probably, and there's the slightest bit of fluid leak coming from the clutch case. Like a tsp or less of MT fluid I find on the belly pan when I'm changing my oil that collects over a 1-year period.
I got a lot of my take as cash back refund but credit only now which for me is fine for the lower cost maint. items I do...$2-400 at a time in credit is perfect and almost always covers the next order of stuff. It's a racket for sure haha.
You have to realize though you're a "power user" over there. I've done plenty of returns as well at this point, measured in dollars, and even I'm still a bit frustrated with some of the hiccups.
Of course. But I have plenty of "friends" (online!) that do this more casually without much issue or heard of as much issue as you have had.
Son of a gun.
Ya it is. It's a clumsy backend method by the developers to handle their internal LRG system. There are definitely more elegant ways to program this in.
I have bad luck when it comes to all things cars. This same car that I'm servicing with FCP products has a very storied history. I wouldn't even know where to begin...
All of my orders are in my order list. But...when I go to start a LRG return only the items/orders that haven't been returned show up which to me makes this much easier.
I'll be trying out returning an item that isn't the same....Haldex fluid. Bought Vaico this time and will return against Febi-Bilstein. We'll see!
How do you like the Febi? I have a couple unopened bottles from when I last did my Haldex. I ordered like 3 different brands just because. A few from FCP and a few from Dap.
It all works the same to me, no issues. I've changed it twice so OE up to ~40K, then Febi for 32K, and now Febi in there again...that's the Sportwagen. Atlas had OE fluid swapped for OE fluid last change at 31K but will have Vaico this time. Honestly, I can't tell a difference. The Sportwagen even has a tune for the Haldex and gets tracked - never misses a beat and the screen was clean last change.How do you like the Febi? I have a couple unopened bottles from when I last did my Haldex. I ordered like 3 different brands just because. A few from FCP and a few from Dap.
Edit: you know what, thanks for reminding me. I'm going to return some Haldex fluid to FCP!
I think my screen was cleanish. There was a little black stuff in the housing, nothing crazy.
The black stuff is just clutch material....more when new, drops off after a while. It's in the owner's manual as a listed service, MK7/pre-2018 was 30K, after 2018 it was listed at 3 years then every 2 with the brake fluid. The filter wasn't replaceable BUT the Vaico kit now includes one with the small screws! A pump failure seems to be the most common issue and it's less than $200 I believe/easy to DIY swap them out. I never did the filter on the Atlas and it's 6 years old/60K miles, works fine. I'll do it for sure this time and re-adapt the Haldex pump. OE, Febi, Vaico, Redline now shows a product as well as Liquimoly. It's just thin gear oil best I can tell.I think my screen was cleanish. There was a little black stuff in the housing, nothing crazy.Astounding the dealer doesn't even have it on its recommended maintenance schedule.Ok it's on the **internal** maintenance schedule (documents) but when I hit 35k my dealer didn't say sh*t about changing the fluid out. Probably chomping at the bit to charge me for Quattro failure.
I paid $40 for 1 quart. That's like 5x as expensive as Liquimoly
I'm 2013 and there's really no way for the owner to know about Haldex service unless the dealer says something, in my case anyway. Correct no mention on the filter. It's not in my owners manual whatsoever, other than it tells you where the Haldex fuse is. Maybe they changed it. Though 35k fluid change for me is on Audi Service internal documents that I got off Google.
You have the prior gen (4?) Haldex, it's not exactly the same and I seem to recall it has a replaceable filter. On MK7, it's the pumps that seem to go. I beat the crap out of my Sportwagen w/r to the Haldex and it has never missed a beat.
I do believe I have a Gen 4. I did a whole writeup on it at Audizine because when I went to research it to do my own, I noticed a lot of abuse of the terminology that I had to basically learn on my own. I downloaded the shop manual and it goes into some detail. Folks were mixing up the strainer with the Haldex clutch oil filter proper and it was throwing me off, as obv. they are two separate things.
