PGA Cars and Audi

Several weeks ago, I had the kind of experience that most of my peers would like to wring my neck for. Picking up an Audi A4 at PGA Cars for a weekend test drive, the lady at the reception asked me to wait a few minutes while they readied the car. So I sat down and watched several actual customers come in, check out the cars, and possibly negotiate a deal with PGA’s sales team. Out of the corner of my eye, someone from Service walked over to an A4 on the showroom floor, started it up, drove it a few meters to the driveway, then parked it so he could walk back to me to say that it was ready. "Wow, right off the showroom floor…", I marveled. What followed was an enjoyable weekend of (admittedly) mostly urban driving, although I nonetheless got to appreciate the merits of the low-pressure turbo, the 7-speed CVT with its paddle shifters, the designer interior. So I wrote it up like so, but added as a caveat "those nagging doubts about Audi reliability".

PGA Car’s General Manager Spencer Yu then got curious about what I meant with that, so I agreed to meet with him for coffee and a tour of their facility. Audi, you see, has not exactly had a sterling history, at least in this country. Under the previous distributor, I’ve heard tales of headache-inducing problems with the electronics and cooling systems. A close family friend acquired a mid-90’s model A6 and, after several problematic years, gave it up for a song and moved to a Mercedes-Benz E-class instead. Whether it was through the fault of the distributor or the cars themselves I won’t hazard a guess for lack of hard evidence, but the fact of the matter was that in the luxury car leagues, Audi’s reliability in the minds of consumers was of a rather unknown quantity unlike, say, BMW or Mercedes-Benz.

Of course, industry followers already know that PGA Cars took over the Audi brand in 2004, and has been aggressively going after the high-end market with such staples as the A4 compact and A6 midsize sedans. So it was that I found myself face-to-face with Spencer one afternoon as he explained all that they were doing to erase the notion that Audis are troublesome vehicles to own. PGA’s mechanics, for example, are all trained by Audi and they either go abroad to study the cars they’ll be servicing, or an expat engineer in the employ of PGA goes to the Philippines to train them. A short walk up to the service area reveals a clean work floor (no, I don’t think they swept and polished the place just for me) with mechanics quietly working on around two dozen older model A4s and A6s.

Spencer then proceeded to show me an impressive computer (I forgot what he called it, but it wasn’t "R2D2") that they use to diagnose a car’s ailments. At the time of my visit it was plugged into an A4 1.8’s Onboard Diagnostics computer. Once online, the computer would relay the data to headquarters in Ingolstadt via Internet, where an engineer at the other line would look at the data, then fire back an appropriate solution to be printed-out and for PGA’s mechanics to effect. On the matter of parts availability, I was then shown the supply room which contained six month’s supply of consumables. In case of major repairs, such as whole fenders and other rarely needed items, it’s all just a phone call away for shipping.

Our last stop was outside to the parking area, where the Service Mobile was parked. Now, before the tour I was already convinced that Spencer was justifiably proud of his brand, taking pains to explain to me how Audi’s interior design, fit and finish set the standard for the class, and even how to find out if a car’s sound system is actually swell or not (you play Bohemian Rhapsody or the theme from Superman). Naturally, those two tracks play excellently in his cars.

So anyway, Spencer’s figurative coup de grace to my tour was to open the hatch of the A4 Avant Service Mobile where, instead of seeing a bunch of tools lying around, there lay a multi-level toolbox with pull-out trays complete with all the screwdrivers, wrenches, and other paraphernalia you’d need to perform a roadside repair. Under the floor is a gallon of fuel, jumper cables, and everything else. Everything in ordnung; neat, efficient, and reassuring as heck. On-call 24-hours a day for anywhere in and around Metro Manila, it should be sufficient enough to assuage any fears of being stranded with an Audi. And because PGA services all Audis, even those purchased back in those troublesome years can still be serviced and brought up to standards.

As a check to see if maybe I haven’t been driving around with those fabled four rings in my eyes, I went over to the J.D. Power and Associates Reports on the Internet to find out how Audi had been doing elsewhere. In the 2006 South Africa Initial Quality Study, which ranked nameplates based on the number of problems encountered per 100 vehicles, Audi ranked fifth behind Honda, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Subaru, but ahead of Hyundai, Toyota, Kia, Chevrolet, Daihatsu, Mazda, Volvo, and Nissan.

The JP Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index Study (South Africa), on the other hand, ranked Audi just second behind Honda, marginally ahead of Subaru and BMW. And closer to home, Audi also ranked highest in customer satisfaction with authorized dealer after-sales service in China, according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2006 China Customer Satisfaction Index Study. Unfortunately, no regional or local studies were available for the luxury brands, but judging from the quality of cars that Audi has been churning out, and the service that one can expect from now on, one needn’t be worried anymore about maintaining and enjoying an Audi.

Here are some of your Backseat Driver reactions from last week…

Alabang traffic should have direct access to the Northbound lane of the SLEX. It is such a hassle during rush hour, not mention to dangerous. – 09275871143

Is there a law or directive against using the extremely bright HiD lights on the streets? – 09287625036 (Sorry, there are no such laws. And, we are not aware of such products being banned in any other country as well. In fact, it’s standard equipment in many of the newer cars out in the market today.)

I think whatever complain we have against traffic violations like jeepneys not switching their headlamps at night fall on deaf ears. – 09178531454

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