An Audi owner has said he is in 'disbelief' at being charged more than £31,000 by a Nottingham dealership for a new gearbox.
Jim Street, 34, who lives in Kingston on Soar in Rushcliffe, bought a 2017 Audi R8 Spyder Quattro V10 from a third-party dealership nine months ago for £87,000.
He took his car into Nottingham Audi on Lenton Industrial Estate on February 11 after it was serviced a few days prior at the same place.
Mr Street says that an initial service, including four new tyres and various repairs, cost £4,500. The car has around 24,000 miles on the clock.
Not long after the service, he noticed the car was starting to make a noise, which would get louder and more frequent the faster he would drive.
He then took it to Nottingham Audi for the second time, where he says he was told workers would investigate and find out what was wrong.
And on February 25, two weeks after taking it in, Mr Street was issued with a bill of £31,289.50 for repair work which included a new gearbox, which itself cost around £29,000 including VAT.
He said he is in 'disbelief' at being issued the 'extortionate' bill and it has caused him stress.
Mr Street said: "I'm in disbelief, I've never had an experience quite like it.
"That's enough for a deposit on a house, who has that kind of money to give out and say here you go, crack on?
"It's a dream car for me and I'm having to pay for it and have not got it, getting that bill was quite a shock and I've had to adjust to receiving such a bill.
"I ended up cancelling some engagements because of stress, it has made me feel low.
"I was expecting it to be somewhere between £5,000 and £10,000, looking at the parts on a new car it should not be that much."
Mr Street says he refuses to pay the bill, and claims Audi could be trying to convince him to sell the car to them because of a line on the bill, which Nottinghamshire Live has seen, stating: 'We buy cars for cash and can settle any finance' along with a contact number.
He said: "The amount of money I've been asked to pay is wholly unrealistic and extortionate, I've never seen a bill that high for a car repair in my life.
"I feel it's not been appreciated how much that is for a gearbox, and feel as though I have not been supported and a solution has not been offered.
"The dealership told me it's because the car has been modified, and if it had not been modified then the part would be free, but I have not been told of any modifications when I bought it and I have not made any to it.
"Alarm bells started ringing when I saw the offer to buy cars on the invoice, and it felt like saying they wanted me to sell the car at a lesser price, along with the astronomical bill."
A spokesperson for Audi UK said: " Audi UK is aware of the situation regarding Mr Street.
"Nottingham Audi has diagnosed the vehicle and found that the vehicle's performance has been modified beyond the factory specification.
"Audi UK agrees with the findings and can confirm that Nottingham Audi will be in touch with Mr Street in a bid to try and resolve the matter."
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