Audi wants 20,000 kroner for a set of new gas dampers for the tailgate of an e-tron. – I'm shocked by the price, says the car's owner, Jorgen Gunnerstad.
Jorgen Gunnerstad owns an Audi e-tron. But when the gas struts for the tailgate started to complain, he was shocked by the price of a new pair.
He tells this to Norwegian Motor .
Actually, Jorgen Gunnerstad was and is very satisfied with the car. It was only after the car's five-year warranty expired that the gas shock absorbers began to complain.
However, he was told at the Audi dealer that it would be expensive to replace them. He could get the gas shock absorbers.
But it would cost him 30,000 Norwegian kroner, equivalent to 20,000 Danish kroner, if it were something the dealer's workshop had to take care of.
– When I called and asked if it was really that expensive, they said that it is an easy task to replace them, but that it is the parts that are so expensive, Jorgen Gunnerstad explains to the media.
Outraged by the price, the Audi owner began looking for the famous gas struts for the tailgate himself. He quickly came across some non-original parts for 3,000 Norwegian kroner.
However, he ultimately chose to disregard them when he found some original but used dampers at a spare parts company.
The shock absorbers are probably from a 2020 model, but they still fit Jorgen's car perfectly.
The whole thing ended up costing him 8,700 Norwegian kroner. And that includes the labor for the installation itself. Even carried out by a mechanic at Audi's workshop.
But this is not something other customers should expect, Audi says. Instead, the service Jorgen Gunnerstad received is a 'one-off' incident. It will never happen again.
– We always want to have full control over the origin and quality of the parts. It is a one-off case made to meet the customer's needs and wishes, says Madeleine Schöyen, communications manager at Sulland in Bodo.
Audi will also not address whether it is unreasonable to charge 20,000 kroner for a set of new dampers for a tailgate.
The brand defends itself by saying that it 'always offers spare parts at competitive prices'.
